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Sony Xperia Z1 Compact vs iPhone 5s and Moto X: specs comparison

posted by Victor H. / Jan 07, 2014, 3:34 AM

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact vs iPhone 5s and Moto X: specs comparison

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is finally here, and it’s the first Android smartphone to pack the latest and most powerful Snapdragon 800 system chip in a ‘mini’ sized form factor. While most current Android flagship hover around a large 5” screen size that is not perfectly convenient for single handed use, the Z1 Compact is able to shrink it down to 4.3 inches.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 system chip with a full-on 2GB RAM, however, is not the only highlight of the Xperia Z1 Compact. It also packs the same excellent 20.7-megapixel camera that the flagship Xperia Z1 had, and that’s great news.

You might still be wondering, though, whether there are downsides to making this phone this small?

There are a few trade-offs we ought to mention, but few of them will be real downsides. The first is the fact that the Xperia Z1 Compact is a hair thicker than the Z1 at 9.5mm. That’s more than the average, but this does not make the new ‘mini’ chubby by any means. Also, the smaller, 4.3” screen size dictated a lower resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. That might seem like a downgrade from most 1080 x 1920-pixel flagships of today, but in reality the smaller screen justifies the lower resolution decision, and pixels look very sharp at 342ppi. The battery has also shrunk in size to fit the smaller chassis, and it’s now a 2300mAh unit on the Z1 Compact. Sony claims that the smaller screen consumes less power, and - even with a smaller juicer - it’s capable of delivering similar battery longevity.

For all other technical details, and how they compare against the Xperia Z1’s closest rivals - the similarly sized and specced iPhone 5s and Moto X - take a look at the table right below.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact vs Motorola Moto X vs Apple iPhone 5s

Display

Display size

4.3 inches

4.7 inches

4.0 inches

Resolution

720 x 1280 pixels

640 x 1136 pixels

Pixel density

342 ppi

316 ppi

326 ppi

Technology

IPS LCD

AMOLED

IPS LCD

Screen-to-body ratio

61.72 %

70.63 %

60.82 %

Peak brightness

500 cd/m2 (nit)

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

20.7 megapixels

10 megapixels

8 megapixels

Hardware Features

Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Autofocus

Sapphire crystal lens cover, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.0; Focal length: 27 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.3"

Aperture size: F2.4; Focal length: 30 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.6"; Pixel size: 1.4 μm

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal length: 29 mm; Sensor size: 1/3"; Pixel size: 1.5 μm

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (120 fps)

Recording format

MPEG4, H.263, H.264

H.264, MOV

Features

High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Continuous autofocus, Video light, Digital image stabilization

Time-lapse video, Picture-taking during video recording, Digital image stabilization

Front

2 megapixels

1.2 megapixels

Video capture

1920x1080 (Full HD)

1280x720 (HD)

Design

Dimensions

5.00 x 2.56 x 0.37 inches (127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm)

5.09 x 2.57 x 0.41 inches (129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4 mm)

4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches (123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm)

Weight

4.83 oz (137 g)

4.59 oz (130 g)

3.95 oz (112 g)

Materials

Back: Aluminum

Resistance

Water, Dust; IP 58

Biometrics

Fingerprint (touch)

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960

Apple A7

Processor

Quad-core, 2200 MHz, Krait 400

Dual-core, 1700 MHz, Krait

Dual-core, 1300 MHz, Cyclone, 64-bit, 28 nm

GPU

Adreno 330

Adreno 320

PowerVR G6430

RAM

2 GB LPDDR3

2 GB LPDDR2

1 GB LPDDR3

OS

Android (5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.4, 4.4.2, 4.3)

Android (5.1 Lollipop, 4.4.4, 4.4.3, 4.4.2, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2.2)

iOS (12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x)

Battery

Capacity

2300 mAh

2200 mAh

1570 mAh

Talk time

10.00 hours

13.00 hours

Stand-by time

27.9 days (670 hours)

10.0 days (240 hours)

10.4 days (250 hours)

Talk time (3G)

18.00 hours

10.00 hours

Stand-by time (3G)

25.0 days (600 hours)

Stand-by time (4G)

22.9 days (550 hours)

Music playback

94.00 hours

40.00 hours

Video playback

12.00 hours

10.00 hours

FEATURED VIDEO

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27 Comments

1. bananana

Posts: 34; Member since: Oct 27, 2013

erm i think the screen on the z1 compact is IPS instead of the TFT on the Z1

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 3:58 AM 6

24. ihavenoname

Posts: 1693; Member since: Aug 18, 2013

It seems to be TFT (Gsmarena), but it's really damn good one. TFT doesn't necessarily mean bad experience, I tried S4 Active and display is excellent (not as good as IPS, but great still). Btw great phones, really like 'em all.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 9:30 AM 0

26. bananana

Posts: 34; Member since: Oct 27, 2013

nah, i think its IPS based on what is revealed by Digi-wo website and also a vietnamese sony website where they compare the display of the z1f ( the similar cousin of z1 compact) with the big brother z1. so yeahh... IPS =) ... hopefully ... =)

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 4:55 PM 0

2. yudi.nemesis unregistered

iPhone 5s have a better OS, while Moto X has a better screen to bezels ratio but Overall Xperia Z1 Compact is much better than the iphone 5s or Moto x.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 4:07 AM 2

4. boosook

Posts: 1442; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

Overall does not make any sense... it all depends on how you use your phone. Both the Moto X and the Z1 Compact are great phones. If you're not interested in camera quality and water resistance, I'd get the Moto X over the Z1 any day, for its bigger screen, active notifications, smaller bezels and great ergonomics, while if you use the phone as a cameraphone, good camera and water resistance are more important. P.S.: i don't agree with your statement that the iphone has a better OS, especially when compared to the Moto X, but I don't want to start a flame war! ;)

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 4:21 AM 2

7. yudi.nemesis unregistered

Let me make it simple the title of the article is "specs comparison" and i'm 100% sure "overall" Z1 Compact has much better specs than Moto X. I really want to know how Moto X performs if the Cpu is only 1.3 GHz with only 1GB of Ram and compare it with iphone 5 ;)

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 5:38 AM 0

10. Klamba92

Posts: 212; Member since: Jun 25, 2012

The Moto x has been constantly praised for being very quick and smooth and very well optimized. Also the Moto X has 2GB RAM not 1GB. I can't tell you much more else as I have only heard and seen from reviews have not actually played around with it as its US only. We have the Moto G though which is a cheaper version of it!

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 5:50 AM 2

11. yudi.nemesis unregistered

Read my comment correctly please!!! "I really want to know how Moto X performs if the Cpu is only 1.3 GHz with only 1GB of Ram and compare it with iphone 5 ;)"

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 6:21 AM 0

13. livyatan

Posts: 867; Member since: Jun 19, 2013

You have NO CLUE about systems on chips dude. The A7 is a completely different architecture than SD800 and has way more registers, and instruction width. It is a swollen, feature rich fewer core design in comparison to more swifter, trimmed down small cores with increased frequency. The overall die size of the A7 is actually not smaller than that of snapdragon 800. Bottom line- the power consumption, raw performance and size of the Apple A7 and Snapdragon 800 are comparable, with a slight edge to the latter in perf per watt actually.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 6:39 AM 0

19. yudi.nemesis unregistered

Lol... i think you are the one who have NO CLUE Read this correctly please!!! "I really want to know how Moto X performs if the Cpu is only 1.3 GHz with only 1GB of Ram and compare it with "IPHONE 5" ;)" Apple A6 is pretty similar to Cortex A15 and Krait processor. I'm sure Moto X can't keep up with with IPHONE 5 performance if the clock speed is 1.3GHz and the Ram is only 1GB.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 7:35 AM 0

9. dratomic

Posts: 483; Member since: Oct 09, 2013

iphone 5s has a better os?! what a joke

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 5:49 AM 4

12. yudi.nemesis unregistered

Maybe you can show me any ANDROID phone with 1.3 GHz and 1GB so we can do some performance comparison with iphone 5.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 6:27 AM 0

16. fireblade

Posts: 717; Member since: Dec 27, 2013

because iOS is lighter OS than android. You should check Armando Ferreira channel on youtube to see why multitasking in iOS is still considered fake.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 7:03 AM 2

17. fireblade

Posts: 717; Member since: Dec 27, 2013

And also, iOS doesn't have back button. Only home button. It's a pain in the *ss

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 7:09 AM 0

20. dratomic

Posts: 483; Member since: Oct 09, 2013

i dont consider whatever thats inside iphone an os as long as theres no system wide filemanager and multi tasking and a lot of other stuff. iphone is a super powerful feature phone in my opinion and thats why my parents are using it and not me

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 7:42 AM 4

23. Jklaz

Posts: 159; Member since: Jul 01, 2013

Amen.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 9:18 AM 0

15. fireblade

Posts: 717; Member since: Dec 27, 2013

iOS is better you say? Are you drunk?

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 6:58 AM 0

25. Ashoaib

Posts: 3282; Member since: Nov 15, 2013

Better OS? Wow, who is providing you a false information? What does iOS has? Nothing! Might be good for ifools, they are fools anyway, frogs in the well... while andriod is nearly a full flug os...

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 2:30 PM 0

3. imMature

Posts: 87; Member since: Sep 04, 2013

Z1 compact has an aluminum frame. It adds to the feels so that's a point!

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 4:14 AM 3

5. CrabQQ

Posts: 2; Member since: Jan 07, 2014

Z1 compact has an IPS screen, fix it in description

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 4:22 AM 2

6. emadshiny

Posts: 1144; Member since: Dec 05, 2012

1.Z1 Compact 2.iP5s 3.Moto X

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 5:30 AM 3

14. livyatan

Posts: 867; Member since: Jun 19, 2013

Z1 by a landslide!

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 6:40 AM 0

18. panda_xx

Posts: 3; Member since: Dec 12, 2013

Z1 compact is the best

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 7:35 AM 0

21. Diazene

Posts: 129; Member since: May 01, 2013

the moto x has a 1/2.6" sensor? I think it's around 1/3"

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 8:17 AM 1

22. Kadmspb

Posts: 5; Member since: Jan 02, 2014

Size wise Moto X has the best build out of all 3 of them. Motorola engineers managed to cram 4.7 inch screen on the phone that is not much bigger than IPhone 5S or Sony Z1.

posted on Jan 07, 2014, 9:11 AM 0

27. yudi.nemesis unregistered

Maybe you forget Z1 Compact is a waterproof smartphone with IP58 certification the bezels is about the same size as my GS2 and its thinner than moto x but Z1 Compact has larger battery and larger camera sensor. Sony engineers is doing better job than motorola and if you think that waterproofing is nothing to do with the size please tell me why S4 Active and Optimus GJ is bigger than S4 and Optimus G??