Should you buy a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact smartphone almost six years after the start of sales? How does it work, does it look like, and what are the further prospects for such a purchase?
Oddly enough, but even now Sony Z1C can be bought in a state of new, or “like new”, for five to six thousand rubles. Years later, this can only be explained by a large number of spare parts, from which new smartphones can be assembled, or by the flow of unsold leftovers from one country to another. And the events of December 16, 2014, which halved the ability of citizens to buy foreign goods, played a sad role. Many of those who previously thought about buying a Z1C for 21,990 rubles were forced to abandon this idea, looking at the explosive growth in prices for the most common products.
Even in the tiny palm of Natasha Shelyagina, the smartphone does not seem large
You can get acquainted with the smartphone in the corresponding review, I recommend doing this, because six years is a long time, it will not hurt to refresh your memory. Sony Z1C was the first swallow from Sony, in its concept to duplicate the flagship smartphone with a compact version, which technically differs only in the screen diagonal, leaving all the rest of the 'stuffing' unchanged. With a screen diagonal of 4.3 inches, the Sony Z1C (D5503) repeats the hardware configuration of the Sony Z1, it is a full-fledged flagship of its time with all possible communication means, except for 5G.
Five thousand rubles is very little money for a new (but old) flagship, but how much does it correspond to this price category?
History
The smartphone was bought for the same 5,000 rubles three years ago and has been the main smartphone ever since, used every day.
Dent from falling on a stone in the forest. Soft aluminum collected and dispersed the dynamic load, the smartphone remained safe and sound
There was a plastic grill here. The reason for the disconnection is a hot summer and a smartphone left on the windowsill
The famous Sony button is fine, but the volume rocker is shabby
Neglect of covers and protective films yielded results, scratches appeared on the aluminum 'sidewall', and the main speaker grill eventually fell off. The volume button turned out to be plastic and also 'peeled off'. This did not affect the waterproof Z-series 'must-have' from Sony – the smartphone can still be washed with soap under the tap from the kitchen faucet, only it must be held upright.
The rubber-lined plugs, behind which all the connectors are hidden (except for the 3.5 mm Mini-Jack), did not dry out over time and continue to function properly, despite the daily charging of the smartphone via a regular USB cable.
The smartphone started selling with the operating system Android version 4.3, but quickly received an update to 4.4, then to 5.0, and ended up with version 5.1.1. About a year ago, we started to feel a lack of main storage capacity, which in all versions of the Z1C is 16 GB. This shortage was caused primarily by Sony's policy that even 'frozen' pre-installed applications wake up and download updates. On the latest version Android 5.1.1 in the version for Z1C, there is no way to get Root access and remove system applications. For the average user who is not ready to tinker with firmware and settings, this can be a problem that turns a productive smartphone into a simple phone. Several applications for communication in social networks, a couple of simple toys, that's, in principle, and all that is worth counting on, there is not enough memory for more memory. Unless, of course, you do not reset your smartphone to factory settings every six months.
But if the user understands the basic things regarding the firmware, then smartphones and tablets from Sony Z series will delight him with a rich selection of alternative options. And, perhaps, the AICP community offers the most stable versions Android, among giving complete freedom to users. The level of development and support of the AICP can be assessed at least by the implementation of the FOTA update system. That is, the user of a smartphone with the AICP OS installed can receive updates 'over the air', without downloading an image and installing it manually from a MicroSD card, or by cable via a companion application on a PC. It looks like this:
Updating may cause one or two third-party applications to work incorrectly, but reinstalling them solves all problems. NFC and Google Pay work properly, the camera works no worse than the original one (without DRM keys and even without a partition for them on the system drive), GPS and other popular topics for questions do not cause objections. In this state, my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact survived until the end of 2019 – inside AICP Android 9.0 Pie, full functionality of Google services (after installing Open GApps) and general external 'shabby' case.
Performance tests
It would probably be wrong to compare Snapdragon 800 with any of the budget Spreadtrum chipsets or MediaTek older generations in smartphones for 5,000 rubles, the winner is known in advance. Therefore, we will compare with budget Snapdragon and MediaTek Helio. So it will be fair.
In terms of performance per core, the SDM800 is still unattainable for chipsets from the budget segment.
The Adreno 330 performs poorly in the heavy graphics test SlingShot (OpenGL ES 3)
Compared to price competitors, it's not all bad. The difference between 6 and 10 FPS in the test does not matter
The performance of the first Snapdragon 8xx series chipset is still relevant and unrivaled in its price segment. When using, the smartphone instantly reacts to taps on the screen, quickly opens heavy WEB-pages, instantly takes photos, etc.
Camera
Sony's top photo module of 2014 'out of the box' shoots disgustingly. Everything is in order with the resolution and focusing, but mistakes happen with the choice of exposure and the photos turn out to be blown out. I read that this is a problem with many Sony Xperia Z1Cs, and it is caused by the reflection of light on the inside of the metal camera bezel.
It's a working afternoon in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, but it seems that evening has already come. It's not a camera problem, it's a harsh reality
This problem is solved by underestimating the exposure by one, and then you can get quite decent shots (for a smartphone for 5000 rubles, for sure).
power usage
Since the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is a flagship, albeit a small one, they did not skimp on components, this also applies to the battery.
Over the years, its capacity has not decreased, and the charge lasts until the evening.
Conclusion
Does it make sense to buy a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact in 2019 for 5000 rubles? Yes. The buyer will receive a reliable and fast smartphone that can be used for years without a case and protective films, which is convenient to operate with one hand, and which, if desired, can be worn on a neck strap (there is a hole in the case for this). And all its disadvantages are negligible compared to the problems of other smartphones in this price group. Plus they are easy to fix, either with firmware or tweaking. Soon, the smartphone will be updated to version Android 10 (AICP), which will further lengthen its life path.
Friends, what old flagships can you recommend buying now, based on the price / relevance ratio?