New Delhi: It has been another phenomenal year for the smartphones. Even if are so fond of your handset, there's bound to be a newer, specs-rich device on the shelves. No surprisingly, smartphone sales exceeded feature phone sales for the first time in the April-to-June period, according to research firm Gartner. The highest smartphone growth rates came from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, the firm said.
Here's our best picks from the bunch:
10. Sony Xperia Z1
The Sony Xperia Z1 is an amazing phone-tablet hybrid that comes with great rectangular design and some nifty features. Like its predecessor, the Xperia Z1 is made of two glass slabs held together by a metal frame. The glass and aluminum meld into each other to create a design that is sleek and stunning. The Z1 is a slick handset that has warm-feeling edges that fits the hand nicely, despite the 5-inch display. Weighing in at 170 grams, the handset is on the heavier side. Not enough to dissuade you from carrying it though. The smartphone is dust- and waterproof offering an excellent built quality.
The Xperia Z1 has an impressive 5-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 1080x1776 and a density of 480dpi. The panel uses a Sony IPS TFT LCD with the company's BRAVIA engine for better quality graphics; great viewing angles, along with great color reproduction. The 1080p display of the Z1 is impressive. It offers great color reproduction and crisp images. The icons are sharp and the web text readable.
The device is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800, a 2.2 GHz quadcore processor and Adreno 300 GPU, making it a good choice for mobile gaming.
The Xperia Z1 comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean pre-installed as its OS, complete with a few handy and unobtrusive Sony apps and features.
The Xperia Z1 has a decently large 1/2.3 inch camera sensor with a resolution of 20.7MP resolution along with 27mm wide-angle autofocus lens, BIONZ image processor and a single LED flash.
The camera also performs great on the outdoors, managing bright days, gloomy contrasts, sunsets, movement and more with ease. However, indoor shots without the flash show some noise.
The good part of about Z1 is that is is powerful enough that it won't be outdated even after few years. It's sleek and big enough to turn heads.
