Sony Unveils Xperia Z1, SmartWatch 2 & QX Lens-Style Cameras

At this year's IFA in Berlin, Sony has unveiled several new devices, including a new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z1, previously known as Honami. Sony has also launched the successor of the SmartWatch, the SmartWatch 2, and Cyber-Shot QX100 and QX10 lens-style cameras.

Image by GSMArena

The Xperia Z1 is Sony's newest flagship smartphone. It packs a 5-inch Full HD Triluminos display with X-Reality and OptiContrast technology. It has a pixel density of 441 ppi. It weighs in at 170 grams and measures 144 mm x 74 mm x 8.5 mm. It is protected by a unibody aluminum frame and shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass for the front and back panels.

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It powered by a Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 chipset, quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400, Adreno 330, and 2GB RAM. It has 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 64GB through microSD card support. It has a non-user replaceable 3,000 mAh battery.

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One of its most touted features is its 20.7-MP camera with 1/2.3" Exmor RS sensor and Sony G Lens, F/2.0 aperture. It is able to capture videos of up to 1080p Full HD with HDR mode. However, there is no 4K video capture as previously rumored. With the Xperia Z1, Sony managed to house a large 1/2.3" sensor – that's about 70% larger than the sensors on most phones - without a hump on the back like most other handsets. It has a 2-MP front-facing camera as well.


On the software side of things, it runs on the Sony-customized version of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. As for connectivity options, it has everything covered: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, and NFC. It also has 4G LTE connectivity. Of course, it's unique selling proposition is its IP58 certification, which makes it dust- and water-resistant.


Aside from the Xperia Z1, Sony has also launched the SmartWatch 2. With it, you can check incoming messages, accept, reject or mute incoming calls, control the music player, use it as a remote viewfinder, see upcoming calendar events, check your RSS feeds or the weather.

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The SmartWatch 2 sports a 1.6-inch screen with a 220 x 176 pixel resolution (176 ppi). It's a transflective LCD, meaning it has better sunlight legibility than LCDs on smartphones. The watch faces are also customizable so you can change them daily to match your mood and outfit. It uses NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 to pair and communicate with any Android 4.0+ smartphone. It's battery life can last for up to 4 days. And like most high-end Xperia smartphones, it is splash-resistant with an IP57 certification. Even without a smartphone, the SmartWatch 2 can still function as a watch with alarms, timer, stopwatch, and compass.

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Not to be outdone by smartphones and smart watches, new Cyber-Shot cameras have been launched by Sony. These include the QX line of lens-style cameras, which are the QX100 and QX10. Both have their own optics and image sensor and can use an Android or iOS device as viewfinder (pairing is done with NFC if available then the image is streamed over Wi-Fi). The QX100 has a huge 1" Exmor R sensor with 20.2MP resolution, F/1.8 ZEISS Vario-Sonar T lens, 3.6x optical zoom and stabilization. The QX10 is more compact and features a longer zoom range – 10x – and has a Sony G Lens coupled with a 1/2.3" 18.2MP Exmor R sensor.

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Both lens-style cameras shoot 1,440 x 1,080 video at 30 frames per second and have enough juice in their batteries for 230 shots (or 55-65 minutes of video recording depending on the model). The QX cameras can attach to smartphones of various sizes and some Xperia phones will get dedicated cases that protect the phone and offer an attachment point for the camera. Both QX100 and QX10 can work separately from the phone, while still streaming to the viewfinder, which makes framing in tight spots a breeze.

Image by GSMArena

The Sony Cyber-Shot QX100 and QX10 are available for pre-order in the UK starting today and will go on sale in Europe by the end of September. The QX100 will cost you $500 and the QX10 is half that at $250.

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xoxo Nash