At last year’s CES, we saw quite a big display of mobile phones, as the company brought its new waterproof phones to people’s hands before release. Now, it’s doing the same this year, only with smaller hands in mind.
Launched overseas in Las Vegas at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony is showcasing the smaller version of its Xperia Z1, a handset that first saw release in Australia at the end of last year, and was designed with a 5 inch screen.
The newest iteration of that handset is the Xperia Z1 Compact, a version that’s little smaller, but brings many of the same features to people who might not want the big screen protruding from their pockets.
“Xperia Z1 Compact is a welcome addition to our expanding range of premium Z series smartphones,” said John Featherstone, Managing Director of Sony Mobile Communications in the Oceania region.
“Xperia Z1 Compact brings Australians all the premium features and performance of Xperia Z1 in a pocketable form factor making it truly a compact smartphone without compromise.”
Those premium features include the 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor found in the Z1, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot, and the 20.7 megapixel camera on the back.
But rather than sit under a 5 inch screen, they now sit under a 4.3 inch IPS screen supporting 720p HD resolution, making it ideal for pockets, with similar water-resistance applied just like the Z1 had.
Telstra will be taking this one exclusively in Australia, with 4G LTE running here, though when you go home, wireless connectivity can run on 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, and Bluetooth.
“Following the huge success of the Xperia Z and Z1, we are thrilled to be the first to bring the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact to Australia,” said Telstra’s Andrew Volard, Director of Device Management and Operations.
“We are confident our customers will be delighted by this impressively compact and stylish handset, especially when teamed with Telstra’s superfast 4G mobile network, which now reaches 85 per cent of the population.”
Pricing for the new handset isn’t yet known, but we do have a sort-of release date, with the Z1 launching globally from February.
