[obsidyen]

This is the phone I've been waiting for. Compact size with flagship specs. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 which is said to have a high quality DAC, though personally I'd prefer a separate  Wolfson, AKM or Burr Brown DAC. That said, we know Sony cares more about audio than most other phone manufacturers as they have a history with audio and also a strong Walkman brand. They could implement some of the new technologies in their new DAPs to this phone. It's probably going to sound similar to Z1 which I have never listened to, but since the screen is different than the Z1 (Z1 Compact has IPS technology whereas Z1 does not) there could be some differences in the implementation of audio circuitry which could result in a better sound. The review on Phonearena says the earpiece of the Z1 Compact sounds amazing and the loudspeaker is also great. That makes me more hopeful regarding the headphone out. Also, I know it differs from region to region but I hope Sony includes high quality iems with 3 button control cable. That would be great.
 
The phone is already on sale in some countries so any review would be much appreciated. I will also write a review myself when I buy it in my country, and compare the sound to my Sansa Clip and also the headphone out of Teac UD-H01 DAC.
 

 
 
 

Weight

1. 137 grams

Dimensions

1. 127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm

Camera

1. 20.7 megapixel camera with Sony Exmor RS® for mobile image sensor

Display

1. 4.3 inch TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile with X-Reality™ for mobile picture engine
2. 16,777,216 colours, 1280x720 pixels

On the inside

1. Google Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
2. 2.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974 Quad Core

Durability

1. Waterproof (IP55 and IP58) ***
2. Dust-resistant (IP55) ***

Battery

1. Talk time: Up to 18 hours**
2. Standby time: Up to 670 hours**
3. Music listening time: Up to 94 hours**
4. Video playback time: Up to 12 hours**
5. Battery: 2300 mAh minimum

 

[dc-k]

Funny how the meaning of compact has changed though, I had a compact Xperia X10 mini which was lovely and measured 83 x 50 x 16 mm and 88g!
 
I do like the look of it though and thanks for flagging it up, I may get one, if I do I'll let you know

 

[NZtechfreak]

I'm getting one, probably from Clove unless I can get it sooner from somewhere else without being price gouged.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

 

1. Music listening time: Up to 94 hours**

Wow, now that something.
 
Any micro-sd / sd support?

 

[NZtechfreak]

Wow, now that something.

Any micro-sd / sd support?

Micro SD is included, you could also use USB pendrives etc to expand storage even further.

 

[obsidyen]

  Wow, now that something.
 
Any micro-sd / sd support?

 
Yes, up to 64 GB. I think it will be a great phone for music.

 

[endallchaos]

Very interested in this phone.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Yes, up to 64 GB. I think it will be a great phone for music.

Whenever 128gb cards come out it'll take them too.

 

[obsidyen]

Whenever 128gb cards come out it'll take them too.

You can always carry another sd card with you. It's much easier than what we did in 90s, carrying cassettes for our Walkmans.

 

[NZtechfreak]

You can always carry another sd card with you. It's much easier than what we did in 90s, carrying cassettes for our Walkmans.

I dislike swapping the cards since my SD card has a lot of other stuff like app data, so the phone doesn't work as well for me unless that is all duplicated to the other card. Better to use USB OTG or a wireless drive.

Should mention that I'll be modding my Note 3 to take SD cards so I can have 128gb (or even 256gb if I feel like splurging), just waiting on the adapter.

 

[ClieOS]

I am getting one as well. I like the Z1 spec but I don't want to carry a big smartphone around and 5in screen is just something a little over the edge. Currently I am carrying the 4.55in TX, which I find optimum for me. The Compact 4.3in screen will be a downgrade in term of size but otherwise I reckon it will be just like TX, but better hardware. Another big point for me is that, like Z1, it will support apt-X on Bluetooth, so it is as lossless as it can be for wireless music and I already have the new Sony SBH-80 (the one that just announced on CES) which also support apt-X. The only thing I wish Compact has is 32GB instead of 16GB internal memory. I am pretty much running out of space on my TX 16GB so I know 16GB just isn't enough for me, especially since I like to install big games on my smartphone.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Ha, totally the opposite here - like my phones large and only reason I can live with this (and with the 16gb restriction, which is terrible for my use also) is because it'll be a secondary device with the Note 3 being my primary device.

Good that there is choice in the market, and well past time someone finally did a small Android right.

 

[ClieOS]

Having carried a Galaxt Tab 7+ for a year, I think it totally cure my 'big-is-better' fever for good. Now I appreciate something that can fit into my pocket and disappear. I am glad Sony is doing this because almost every other 'mini' version of flagship sucks.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Should have my Z1 Compact next week.

 

[ads1107]

GSMArena review:

"Audio output is clean but quiet.

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact did excellently in the active external amplifier part of the audio quality test. The smartphone posted great scores top to bottom with the below average volume levels being the only weak point to its performance.

Better still, there's only a slight quality drop when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk rises significantly, but distortion remains undetectable and signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range remain great. Volume levels are below average here as well, so we can't give perfect marks for overall performance."

http://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z1_compact-review-1037p7.php

I don't read into their audio tests too much but thought some may be interested.