Ptolemios: February 2014

I've gotten acquainted with Sony smartphones in early 2012 and ever since I've been keeping track of the phones they have released and even the ones they will release. One of the ways I keep track of their phones are by reading up reviews from many many different sites or youtube channels and try to find the opinions different reviewers have on their phones, and also which opinions tally and which do not.

Now, when it came to software, the Sony UI, some were pleased with it saying it greatly resembled vanilla android (the true android UI google made, not the one with custom skins) and others said it was too low on features. It was the same thing with the camera, where some reviewers praised their phones for having excellent cameras, while others said that their cameras lacked in some areas, namely, noise and over sharpening. While these aspects fall under very diverse opinions from different reviewers, there was one aspect everyone seemed to agree on, what aspect you may ask? Well, that Sony phones had TERRIBLE screens

Now don't get me wrong, the screen itself isn't horrible, I mean, it displays colour and such but the screens had terrible viewing angles. I have the Xperia Sola and I can personally agree to this, I slight tilt and the screen's colours start to wash out, contrast also starts to disappear and so does the details of that picture.

Although some reviewers were fine with it, others bashed the phone manufacturer for this shortcoming. Personally, I don't find wide viewing angles to be much of a problem, I think it adds to privacy, I do find it hard to share something I have on my phone, like a picture or an article.

While I do find it rather unnecessary, it does seem to be something people look for, especially in a high-end phone, one of the reasons why the Sony Xperia Z didn't make it to the top ten lists of many reviewers. Sony's claim that the Xperia Z is the BEST of Sony in a smartphone, Sony is well-known for their good displays on their TVs so it begs to wonder why does a smartphone like the Xperia Z have such bad viewing angles. The camera was also under much heated discussion, the camera didn't produce stills and video that matched up to that of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5, two phones that were well-known for their excellence. Another surprising discovery because Sony cameras produce excellent photos. Which brings me down to the topic of this post, congratulating Sony, because they have finally managed to get things right with their most recent addition to their long list of smartphones, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.

Sony has finally fitted this phone with an IPS display, which was still surprising, considering this issue was already highlighted during the time of the Sony Xperia S. Before this Sony has opted for a TFT display, which was apparently no match for the Super LCD screens found on the HTC One and Super AMOLED on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (somehow good screens all have SUPER in their name, a subject for further research?)

Well what about the camera, well, firstly, I'd like to applaud Sony for being able to fit the phone with a 20.7 MP camera, and being able to do so without even the slightest camera hump is a feat I'd deem commendable. The Sony phone finally manages to produce stellar shots, although its a hit or miss at most, it is certain that this smartphone camera is certainly capable of producing shots comparable to that of a DSLR.

AND, to top it all off,

The phone is almost as small as the iPhone 5C, making this, the first high end small android smartphone. Being able to fit a better and slightly bigger screen (4.3 inches compared to the 4 inches on the iPhone 5C), they've finally cleared that viewing angles problem, they've also managed to fit a 20.7 MP shooter and a larger battery than the iPhone 5C, yet only a tad bit bigger, as you can see for yourself. AND the phone is waterproof.