Switching to the XZ1 Compact from the iPhone 8 was jarring in terms of design. Flipping back over to the front, Sony has made some use of the big edges flanking the screen to include dual front-facing speakers, alongside the front-facing camera and other sensors. On the back there’s the camera lens at the top left, ringed with a shiny metal highlight, and a flash module in the middle. The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is a fast, slick device that can be comfortably used one-handed. It reminds us of a portable battery charger, which is not a pleasing aesthetic for a phone. Flat, angular, metal panels on the top and bottom accentuate the bulky look. We don’t like the seam where it meets the Gorilla Glass 5 on the front. The glass fiber plastic body feels and looks a bit cheap. The XZ1 Compact is seriously chunky at 9.3mm thick. Sony still shows no interest in jumping on the bezel-less bandwagon, but it’s not just the large borders above and below the 4.6-inch display that bother us here. There are things we like very much, but there are also some serious issues here. At $600, we wish Sony could have found a way to shrink the price tag as well as it did the hardware. It stands out in a sea of large-screen phones, but it’s not an unqualified success. It’s fast, slick, and can be comfortably used one-handed. The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact has the same cutting-edge processor, camera, and battery in as the flagship XZ1. Sony has failed to keep up with the smartphone crowd over the last few years, but it’s one of few still making small phones that can pack a punch.
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