(Before I start, I am going to warn you that this will be long. I will space it out appropriately.) I have had this phone for a week and have used it consistently as my phone for that time frame.
The tl;dr version (too long; didn't read):
-Size is great and the display is fine for me
-Battery life is excellent
-Performance is great
-Fingerprint sensor is fast
-Sony's UI is light, even though there's a lot of addons
-Cameras have improved this year on the software side but in low light situations, the picture can be yellowish
-The stereo speakers sound so good
Overall rating is 9 out of 10.
Alright, on to my more detailed review:
Design & display
-I love the size of this phone. It reminds me of the size of the iPhone SE which I do own, but a little bigger. To me, it's great for those of us who desire a small phone that is actually powerful and has a good amount of screen, which I will get to that point shortly.
-This time around, Sony decided to put the volume rocker above the power button which is a great place. On the X Compact, it was below the power button, which was just a pain for me. The only quirky thing about this is that I find myself pressing it and then realizing that isn't the power button because of my other phones.
-Almost forgot the concern about the corners that some people have. It's been fine for me, the corners don't feel sharp to me, and I have had no issues holding it and using it with the same hand. (I'm naturally thin so one would think if anyone would feel sharpness, it would be me.) Speaking of one hand usage, this is a perfect one hand use phone. Like the SE, you can reach all corners with one hand.
-I haven't had any issues with the 720p display. It fits the phone. Also the LCD is pretty good.
-The brightness has been fine to me. There's actually a setting that stops the screen from dimming once it senses that it is in your hand. For the most part, this has worked well. When it doesn't sense that it is fully there, you see the screen debating if it wants to go dim or stay lit. It doesn't bother me but it is noticeable.
-Speaking of modes, there are three display modes. The default mode is not very saturated but there is a mode for that. I just hate that look so how it looks is fine for me. It doesn't look cold. Additionally there is a glove mode which is awesome to have when it gets cold.
Performance & battery life
-Performance has been great, as expected on a phone with a Snapdragon 835 processor. I have only had one app closure (Instagram), and just one time, so it might be the app itself and/or Oreo. It feels as fast as the Pixel.
-App reloading is minimal.
-For the first few days, I had a hard time putting this phone down and I expected the battery life to be shot but somehow it never was. I can use it heavy and get an entire day (like 24 hours). It was great to get the phone the first night, update all of the apps and then not feel the need to top it off the next morning in order to get through the next work day.
-This is not a phone where you would worry about battery life, just know that.
-The fingerprint sensor is fast, sometimes too fast for me when I just want to see what time it is.
-LTE speeds are solid, as expected for a phone with LTE Category 15 connectivity.
Sony's skin/UI
-A section for this is necessary, because there are some pros and quirks relating to this.
-Sony still uses an apps button in the dock to get to your app drawer, which is alright. Not really a con but something to note.
-They also have this weird thing that if you want to add an app from your app drawer to your home screen, you have to hold the app and drag it to the "add to home screen" at the top. This is kind of annoying. At the same time, I enjoy that you can make folders in the app drawer.
-Sony now has this great feature in the launcher that enables you to use icon packs from the Play Store with the default launcher, which I am enjoying. There are some other small additions, like adjusting the icon size.
-There's no ambient display/double tap to wake/always on display, which I miss.
-In regards to the pre-installed apps, AVG Protection, Spotify, Facebook are there. You can't uninstall them, only disable them. I use Spotify so I disabled the other two.
Cameras
-Sony has finally improved the software processing on the camera side. Pictures are pretty good.
-Sony is finally done with the never ending list of additional modes.
-The low light performance has improved. Pictures can get noisy in really low light conditions and a bit yellow but you can adjust the temperature before taking the shot.
-As for the front camera, you have the option of wide angle and also regular shots. I noticed improvement on this side too (over the X Compact). It just looks better, but has a similar situation in low light as the main camera. Also, the soft skin effect is on by default, which isn't as crazy as it can be in some other phones but I prefer to turn it off.
-The camera button is so nice to have as well but I only use it to take a shot and not to open the camera since I enabled that on the power button (just personal preference).
Audio
-Stereo speakers are so nice to have. It's been a while since I have had a phone with speakers like this.
-Call quality (no one talks about this, but I'm going to talk about it) is fine. Calling people on 3 different carriers has sounded good. I also don't know if it's just me, but it feels like calls connect much quicker than they have before on my Pixel.
Final Thoughts
-I can see myself keeping this phone. I enjoyed my iPhone SE but the front camera has been hard to me to be pleased with. I have been trying to find an Android replacement for a while now, and I feel that I can finally replace my SE with this phone. I give it a 9 out of 10 because it hits the spot for my most important things in a phone. It's worth the money, but if you want to wait for a price drop, do it.
That's all I got. If you have made it this far, you're a champ and thanks for reading
The tl;dr version (too long; didn't read):
-Size is great and the display is fine for me
-Battery life is excellent
-Performance is great
-Fingerprint sensor is fast
-Sony's UI is light, even though there's a lot of addons
-Cameras have improved this year on the software side but in low light situations, the picture can be yellowish
-The stereo speakers sound so good
Overall rating is 9 out of 10.
Alright, on to my more detailed review:
Design & display
-I love the size of this phone. It reminds me of the size of the iPhone SE which I do own, but a little bigger. To me, it's great for those of us who desire a small phone that is actually powerful and has a good amount of screen, which I will get to that point shortly.
-This time around, Sony decided to put the volume rocker above the power button which is a great place. On the X Compact, it was below the power button, which was just a pain for me. The only quirky thing about this is that I find myself pressing it and then realizing that isn't the power button because of my other phones.
-Almost forgot the concern about the corners that some people have. It's been fine for me, the corners don't feel sharp to me, and I have had no issues holding it and using it with the same hand. (I'm naturally thin so one would think if anyone would feel sharpness, it would be me.) Speaking of one hand usage, this is a perfect one hand use phone. Like the SE, you can reach all corners with one hand.
-I haven't had any issues with the 720p display. It fits the phone. Also the LCD is pretty good.
-The brightness has been fine to me. There's actually a setting that stops the screen from dimming once it senses that it is in your hand. For the most part, this has worked well. When it doesn't sense that it is fully there, you see the screen debating if it wants to go dim or stay lit. It doesn't bother me but it is noticeable.
-Speaking of modes, there are three display modes. The default mode is not very saturated but there is a mode for that. I just hate that look so how it looks is fine for me. It doesn't look cold. Additionally there is a glove mode which is awesome to have when it gets cold.
Performance & battery life
-Performance has been great, as expected on a phone with a Snapdragon 835 processor. I have only had one app closure (Instagram), and just one time, so it might be the app itself and/or Oreo. It feels as fast as the Pixel.
-App reloading is minimal.
-For the first few days, I had a hard time putting this phone down and I expected the battery life to be shot but somehow it never was. I can use it heavy and get an entire day (like 24 hours). It was great to get the phone the first night, update all of the apps and then not feel the need to top it off the next morning in order to get through the next work day.
-This is not a phone where you would worry about battery life, just know that.
-The fingerprint sensor is fast, sometimes too fast for me when I just want to see what time it is.
-LTE speeds are solid, as expected for a phone with LTE Category 15 connectivity.
Sony's skin/UI
-A section for this is necessary, because there are some pros and quirks relating to this.
-Sony still uses an apps button in the dock to get to your app drawer, which is alright. Not really a con but something to note.
-They also have this weird thing that if you want to add an app from your app drawer to your home screen, you have to hold the app and drag it to the "add to home screen" at the top. This is kind of annoying. At the same time, I enjoy that you can make folders in the app drawer.
-Sony now has this great feature in the launcher that enables you to use icon packs from the Play Store with the default launcher, which I am enjoying. There are some other small additions, like adjusting the icon size.
-There's no ambient display/double tap to wake/always on display, which I miss.
-In regards to the pre-installed apps, AVG Protection, Spotify, Facebook are there. You can't uninstall them, only disable them. I use Spotify so I disabled the other two.
Cameras
-Sony has finally improved the software processing on the camera side. Pictures are pretty good.
-Sony is finally done with the never ending list of additional modes.
-The low light performance has improved. Pictures can get noisy in really low light conditions and a bit yellow but you can adjust the temperature before taking the shot.
-As for the front camera, you have the option of wide angle and also regular shots. I noticed improvement on this side too (over the X Compact). It just looks better, but has a similar situation in low light as the main camera. Also, the soft skin effect is on by default, which isn't as crazy as it can be in some other phones but I prefer to turn it off.
-The camera button is so nice to have as well but I only use it to take a shot and not to open the camera since I enabled that on the power button (just personal preference).
Audio
-Stereo speakers are so nice to have. It's been a while since I have had a phone with speakers like this.
-Call quality (no one talks about this, but I'm going to talk about it) is fine. Calling people on 3 different carriers has sounded good. I also don't know if it's just me, but it feels like calls connect much quicker than they have before on my Pixel.
Final Thoughts
-I can see myself keeping this phone. I enjoyed my iPhone SE but the front camera has been hard to me to be pleased with. I have been trying to find an Android replacement for a while now, and I feel that I can finally replace my SE with this phone. I give it a 9 out of 10 because it hits the spot for my most important things in a phone. It's worth the money, but if you want to wait for a price drop, do it.
That's all I got. If you have made it this far, you're a champ and thanks for reading
. I'm currently using the Compact X and will be receiving my Xz1 in blue color within the next few days. I know I've made a smart decision buying this phone. Again, awesome job
. I'm currently using the Compact X and will be receiving my Xz1 in blue color within the next few days. I know I've made a smart decision buying this phone. Again, awesome job
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