Sony Xperia Z1 Compact up for Pre-order in Europe; Price Revealed

Sony's recently unveiled feature-rich mini-flagship phone Xperia Z1 Compact can be pre-ordered in Europe.

Many tech critics have heaped praises on the Xperia Z1 Compact for its powerful internal hardware and have even touted the new Sony handset as an iPhone among the Android devices.

Buoyed by tremendous response, Sony, network carriers and major retailers in Europe have already begun taking pre-orders for Xperia Z1 Compact with attractive incentives like free Sony SmartWatch 2 and expensive headphones for early bird buyers.

As of now, the unlocked version of Xperia Z1 Compact price is hovering between €499 (around ₹41,950) and €549 (roughly ₹46,150) in UK, France, Italy and other European countries, reported Xperia Blog.

The new Sony phone is expected to hit stores in Europe around mid-February and also in other select global markets.

Though European price structure seems a tad expensive, many believe that Sony's new mini phone will cost much less in India, considering the fact that the Sony flagship 5.0-inch Xperia Z1 with similar features costs a little over ₹40,000. Prospective buyers in the subcontinent may have to shell out around ₹30,000 to ₹35,000.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact flaunts a 4.3-inch display HD (720x1280p) screen with TRILUMINOS display technology, X-Reality for mobile picture engine and Sony BRAVIA Engine 2.

It runs on the Android v4.3 Jelly Bean OS powered by a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU paired with Adreno 330, 2GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt memory (expandable up to 64GB).

Other notable feature is that it houses a 20.7megapixel snapper on the rear-side with  G Lens, intelligent BIONZ^TM - mobile image processing engine , LED flash, Sony Exmor RS mobile image sensor, HDR, 8 X zoom and a 2.0-megapiuxel camera on front side with full HD video recording ability.

With water-resistant and dust-proof IP55/IP58 certifications, users can also take snapshots and videos under water up to five feet for close to 30 minutes.

To further enhance photography experience, it comes pre-loaded with a host of value-added smart-camera applications such as time-shift burst mode (allows users to snap 61 pictures in two seconds), Sweep Panorama, Social Live (it lets users to broadcast live video on social platform like Facebook), Info-eye feature, AR Effect feature, which lets user to put 'Augmented Reality' scenarios on to a picture to make funny, short video clips.

Once released, the new Xperia Z1 Compact will give a stiff fight to the popular brands like Google Nexus 5, Apple iPhone 5C (and 5S as well), Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nokia Lumia 1020.

Key specifications of Sony Xperia Z1 Compact: