Stylish yet powerful , the new Xperia Z1 (aka Honami) is Sonys latest  flagship smartphone to join the Xperia Z series of smartphones and tablets ,
The new Z1 , with its all new display , new camera sensor and a new engine has managed to keep everything slim at 8.5mm ,and the overall dimensions of the unibody device measure in at (144x74x8.5 mm)

which makes it only a few millimeters larger than the Xperia Z it replaces .The new Xperia Z1 features a 5" "TRILUMINOS Display" with 1920x1080 resolution and now features higher color
saturation and reproduction and it now has greater viewing angles compared to its predecessor.
Although the display is a sure treat , the main highlight of this device is its camera .The Sony 1/2.3 type Exmor RS 20.7 megapixel G sensor which is said to be the first of its kind on a smartphone , the camera features a 27mm wide angle
lens with a f 2.0 aperture and it offers 8x lossless zoom , HDR video ,Sonys augmented reality technology dubbed as "SmartAR" . The camera also has the ability to capture 61 frames in 2 seconds thanks to Sony BIONZ image processor which also happens to control the 2 megapixel 1080p
front facing camera .

Under the dust and water resistant unibody we find a allmighty Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, and this obviously means that the Z1 "Honami" will surely win some benchmark drag-races and destroy any evidence of visible shuttering , The Qualcomm chipset also means that ,the device will
support 4G LTE (Bands 1-5 ,7,8 and 20 ) and all HSPA+ bands as well . the system is complemented by 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage which is expandable upto 64GB using Micro/SD cards.Other features include NFC,ANT+ for sport fittness devices ,AGPS/Glonass and IR Blaster which are all handled by
Android 4.2 and Sonys latest version of the Timescape overlay which has some neat features such as a improved stamina mode to improve battery life on the already large 3000 mAh built in battery. The Sony Xperia Z1 will be available in black,white and purple variants , the Xperia Z1 will be available  for sale this month *    
(* we will update pricing options ASAP , )

Written by Rakitha Peiris for MashDroid magazine , you will be able to download the PDF issue on Saturday ,the 7th of September , read some more articles from IFA , by clicking the IFA 2013 tag below 

Photo credits - Sony 

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Sony Ericsson and I were old friends. Before there were slim phones, there was Ericsson T28. Before there were colour screen phones, there was Sony Ericsson T68. Before there were touchscreen smartphones, there was Sony Ericsson P800. These are phones that I had the privilege to own and experience.

Now, there is Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S, the phone with an arced back. The moment I switch on the phone, the crisp LCD display impressed me. Specs in summary:

• 117 grams
• 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor (not dual core)
• 8.1 megapixel Exmor R Camera f/2.4
• 4.2-inch Reality Display TFT LCD 854x480 pixels
• Shatter-proof sheet on scratch-resistant mineral glass
• 320MB system memory
• 2nd microphone at the back of the phone near the camera lens
• HDMI mirror output (excellent!)
• Capture screenshot easily by opening the power button menu

Xperience
Being a single core, the arc S certainly cannot match the processing power of dual-core phones, but it certainly feels fast when navigating among apps, perhaps partly due to the fast screen animations. Like every other branded Android phones, Sony Ericsson customised the OS and included a handful of pre-installed apps and custom settings. I like the data monitor app that tracks data usage, the LiveWare Manager that auto-launches app when accessory is connected. When you pinch the home screen, instead of displaying all the pages like most Android phones, the Xperia arc S shows all the widgets floating around, and you can shake the phone to shuffle them. I also like how the installed apps can be easily sorted by tapping the sort icon on the lower left of the app list screen. Saves a lot of trouble searching for apps.

Timescape is Sony Ericssons answer to managing your social feeds, including SMS, email, Facebook, Twitter. You can find dozens of plug-ins in the Android Market, for instance, Foursquare, Gmail. Timescape merely aggregates the feeds, and when you select the item, it will bring you to the app or online to retrieve the full information.

Battery life is no worse than the average Android phones, considering it runs on higher processor. I can last one working day of usage despite turning on Timescape, Gmail and Tweetdeck.

Capturing Images
The Xperia arc S comes with a dedicated camera button at an extreme corner. The 2-step shutter button is small and stiff, so I find it hard to take a shot without jerking the camera. The button would be useful only to start the camera easily, but I would prefer activating the touch-capture mode to snap your images.

As for the camera quality, The Xperia arc S is touted to perform well under low light conditions. A simple comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S2 shows the following result:

Xpera arc S vs. Galaxy S2. Scene Mode: STD

The Galaxy S2 refuses to shoot at higher exposure despite increasing the EV. So I switched to Night Scene Mode on the S2 and got this:

Xpera arc S vs. Galaxy S2. Scene Mode: STD vs. Night

The Xperia manages to capture decent images under low-light normal mode, while the Galaxy S2 captures more details at lower noise level after coaxing it with Night Mode. If I were to switch the Xperia to Night Mode, the shutter speed became far too slow for me to shoot handheld. The result then seems to be the reverse of the Samsung - underexposed.

Xpera arc S vs. Galaxy S2. Scene Mode: Night

Conclusion: Xperia arc S standard scene mode is more flexible in capturing images for all lighting conditions, but noise level is generally higher than Galaxy S2.

Weaknesses
As a top-range model, the Xperia arc S lacks many features that are present in other competitors.

• No front-facing camera for video chats or self portraits.
• Small system memory to hold all your apps. Once you run out of system memory, you will not be able to add more apps, unless you install supported apps on external SD card.
• No built-in user memory. The Xperia arc S relies on the external microSD card to store user data.
• Lock screen does not have any direct music player controls when media is playing. A shame considering Sony Ericsson to be associated with portable music players.

Summary Impression
The Xperia arc S stands out to me as a uniquely designed lightweight smartphone that provides above-average screen display and OS performance with 1.4GHz processor. It is integrated with Facebook connectivity, and together with Timescape, encourages ease of social interaction. The HDMI-out port lets the user share content on large HDTV easily. I like the interface theme and animations are smooth. Consumers who want a touch of style for their phone should look at this.

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