Sony Xperia Z1 Review: The Waterproof Flagship With a 20.7MP Camera
Sony unveiled the Xperia Z1 at IFA 2013 in Berlin, and within weeks the handset landed on shelves across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as one of the year's most talked-about Android flagships. Two features set it apart from the pack: a sealed body that could survive a dunk in the kitchen sink, and a camera module borrowed from Sony's Cyber-shot compact line. For Australian buyers dealing with sandy weekends at Bondi or sudden storms on the harbour, a phone that did not panic around water felt like a genuine leap forward.
This article walks through what the Xperia Z1 actually delivered once the marketing settled. It covers the build and display, the much-hyped 20.7-megapixel shooter, the Snapdragon 800 chipset, the Xperia skin on top of Android, and the realities of running the device on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks. Pricing at launch, retail availability through JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, and how the Z1 stacked up against the HTC One M7, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nokia Lumia 1020 are also covered for shoppers weighing their options in late 2013 or early 2014.
Design and Build: Glass, Aluminium and a Tank-Like Feel
The Xperia Z1 carried forward Sony's "OmniBalance" design language, pairing two flat sheets of tempered glass with an aluminium frame around the edges. At 170 grams it was heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S4 and noticeably chunkier than the iPhone 5s, but the trade-off bought real rigidity. Pick it up and the phone feels like a solid slab, which is exactly the impression Sony was going for.
The defining feature was the IP55 and IP58 rating, meaning the Z1 was sealed against dust and could handle submersion in fresh water beyond a metre. All ports sat behind captive flaps, including the micro-USB socket on the left edge, the SIM tray on the right and the headphone jack at the top. Sony even included a dedicated two-stage camera shutter button, a rarity on modern phones and a nod to its Cyber-shot heritage. Available colours at launch in Australia were black, white and purple, with retailers in Melbourne's Chadstone and Sydney's CBD stocking all three within a fortnight of release.
In everyday use, the Xperia Z1 handled accidental splashes from a kitchen tap, a sandy day at the cricket and the occasional over-the-shoulder beach shot without complaint. The glass back was a magnet for fingerprints and felt precarious without a case, which most JB Hi-Fi staff were quick to recommend at the checkout.
Display: 5-Inch Triluminos With X-Reality
Sony fitted the Xperia Z1 with a 5-inch Full HD panel using its Triluminos technology, paired with the X-Reality engine borrowed from its Bravia TVs. Pixel density sat at 441 pixels per inch, comfortably above the threshold where individual dots disappear at normal viewing distance. Colours skewed a touch cooler out of the box, but the X-Reality sharpening pass helped punch up photos and videos.
Compared to the AMOLED panels Samsung was pushing on the Galaxy S4, the Xperia Z1's LCD looked less saturated but more natural in daylight. Brightness peaked around 470 nits, which was enough for a coffee in Adelaide's Rundle Mall or a quick message on a sunny Perth verandah. Viewing angles were solid, with only mild brightness drop when the phone was tilted.
Where the screen fell short was in direct sunlight contrast. The reflective glass front caught glare more than the matte finish on the HTC One M7, and dark scenes in Netflix shows tended to crush detail. For most Australian buyers watching YouTube clips on the train or scrolling through Instagram at the footy, the panel did its job without ever feeling cutting-edge by 2014 standards.
Camera: A 20.7MP Sensor Borrowed From Sony's Compact Cams
The headline feature was the 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS sensor, a 1/2.3-inch chip the same physical size as the sensor inside many point-and-shoot cameras of the era. Sony paired it with its G Lens optics at f/2.0 and its BIONZ image processor, the same branding used on its standalone cameras. In default Superior Auto mode the phone shot 8-megapixel oversampled images, with a manual mode unlocking the full 20.7-megapixel resolution.
In good light the camera delivered sharp, detailed images with reasonable dynamic range. Macro shots of food at a Brunswick café or wide shots of the MCG during a Test match looked clean and vivid. Low-light performance was the obvious weak spot: noise crept in above ISO 800, and the absence of optical image stabilisation meant handheld night shots were a coin toss. Video topped out at 1080p at 30 frames per second, which was standard for the period but a step behind Nokia's 41-megapixel flagship. For a closer look at how that camera-first approach played out elsewhere in 2013, the Nokia Lumia 1020 review on the site is worth a read.
The dedicated shutter button made a real difference. Half-press to focus, full-press to capture, even underwater with the dedicated underwater scene mode. The Timeshift burst mode, which captured 61 frames in two seconds before and after the shutter press, was a useful trick at a kid's birthday party or an AFL game at Etihad Stadium.
Performance: Snapdragon 800 Under the Hood
At the heart of the Xperia Z1 sat Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, paired with the Adreno 330 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. This was the same chipset powering the LG G2 and a step ahead of the Snapdragon 600 inside the HTC One M7 and Galaxy S4. Storage was fixed at 16 GB, but a microSD slot under the rear flap accepted cards up to 64 GB, which Australian buyers quickly filled with offline Spotify playlists for long drives.
Day-to-day performance was smooth. App launches felt snappy, multitasking between Chrome, Maps and Spotify rarely caused reloads, and 3D games like Real Racing 3 and Asphalt 8 held steady frame rates. Synthetic benchmarks placed the Z1 in the top tier of 2013 flagships, comfortably ahead of last year's Xperia Z and roughly on par with the Galaxy Note 3.
The downside was heat. Push the chipset hard with extended gaming or 4K video playback and the glass back warmed up noticeably, particularly around the camera module. It never became uncomfortable, but it was a reminder of how thin Sony had packed the internals to keep the waterproofing intact.
Software: Xperia UI on Android Jelly Bean
The Xperia Z1 launched with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and Sony's Xperia UI overlay on top. The skin was relatively restrained by 2013 standards, closer to stock Android than Samsung's TouchWiz but with enough Sony flourishes to feel branded. The Walkman, Movies and Album apps replaced Google's stock players, and the small apps overlay let you float a calculator or timer over a full-screen app.
Sony eventually rolled out a KitKat update to Australian units in mid-2014, which smoothed out some early lag and brought translucent system bars. A Lollipop update followed in 2015, though Sony's track record for timely Android updates was patchier than HTC or Samsung by that stage. The PlayStation Mobile tie-in gave Z1 owners access to a small library of PlayStation-branded games, which felt more like a novelty than a serious reason to buy.
For Australian buyers, the carrier-branded bloatware from Telstra and Optus was the bigger irritant. Pre-installed apps like Telstra One or Optus Now sat in the app drawer and could not be fully removed without root. None of them were deal-breakers, but they chewed through the limited internal storage and nudged buyers towards a microSD card from day one.
Battery and Connectivity: STAMINA Mode and Australian 4G
Sony equipped the Xperia Z1 with a 3000 mAh battery, sealed inside the waterproof body and not user-replaceable. In real-world testing the phone comfortably lasted a full day of mixed use, including a commute on Melbourne's Cranbourne line, a few hours of music streaming and some camera use at a Saturday market. The headline STAMINA mode aggressively killed background apps when the screen was off, easily stretching a 15% battery to last the train ride home.
Connectivity was comprehensive for 2013. The Xperia Z1 supported LTE Category 4, meaning theoretical download speeds up to 150 Mbps on Telstra's 4G network and Optus's growing LTE footprint. Wi-Fi ran on the 802.11ac standard, Bluetooth 4.0 handled wearables and speakers, and NFC made contactless payments possible through Telstra's now-defunct Wallet service. The single-SIM model was the standard in Australia, though dual-SIM variants appeared in Asian markets shortly after launch.
Call quality was solid on all three Australian networks, with clear earpiece output and effective noise cancellation on busy George Street in Sydney. The waterproof seals did not degrade audio quality, a worry some buyers had at launch.
Pricing and Reception in the Australian Market
At launch in September 2013, the Xperia Z1 carried a recommended retail price of A$899 outright, putting it in the same bracket as the iPhone 5s and a step above the HTC One M7. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all stocked the handset on contract, with 24-month plans starting around A$60 per month for a modest included data allowance. JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman both ran launch promotions, often bundling a Sony SmartWatch 2 or a pair of NFC-enabled headphones.
Reception was generally positive, with local reviewers praising the camera, build quality and battery life. The recurring criticism was the slippery glass back and the slow rollout of Android updates compared to Samsung and HTC. For shoppers weighing the Z1 against the year's other flagships, the snapshot below breaks down the key specs side by side.
| Phone | Display | Chipset | Rear Camera | Battery | Launch Price (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z1 | 5.0" 1080p LCD | Snapdragon 800 | 20.7MP, f/2.0 | 3000 mAh | A$899 |
| HTC One M7 | 4.7" 1080p LCD | Snapdragon 600 | 4MP UltraPixel | 2300 mAh | A$799 |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 | 5.0" 1080p AMOLED | Snapdragon 600 | 13MP, f/2.2 | 2600 mAh | A$849 |
| Nokia Lumia 1020 | 4.5" 720p AMOLED | Snapdragon S4 | 41MP, f/2.2 | 2000 mAh | A$899 |
By early 2014, retailers like Dick Smith Electronics had discounted the Xperia Z1 to around A$699 outright, making it a more attractive pick against the incoming Xperia Z2. For buyers who wanted a different take on the 2013 flagship formula, the Moto X 2014 brought a customisable shell and an always-on display that the Xperia could not match.
If the Xperia Z1 caught your attention but the software support window is a worry, the archive here at New Mobile Arrivals includes detailed entries on the Lumia 1020, the original Xperia Z and several other flagships from the same period. Browse the smartphone tag for coverage of more Sony handsets, follow the blog's social channels, or subscribe to the RSS feed to catch future reviews of classics from the early 2010s as they go up.