Sony XZ1 Compact renders make an appearance

The first purported renders the Xperia XZ1 have surfaced in renders courtesy of @onleaks. It picks up the design language of the original Xperia XZ, but otherwise looks very similar to previous iterations of Sony's Xperia Compact line. While most of the Android smartphone market has shifted to large screen smartphones, Sony has found a subset of users who want the full-powered Android smartphone experience in a device with sub 5-inch display. The appeal of these more compact devices is that they are generally easier to use one-handed.

The only trade-off here is that the Xperia XZ1 Compact measures 129.5 x 64.5 x 9.4 mm, which is substantially thicker that most competing high-end Android handsets. However, this does allow Sony to incorporate features like a headphone jack, a microSD card, a USB-C port along with a relatively generous 2,600 mAh battery. From a performance perspective, it is quite possibly the only sub-5-inch device on the market that has managed to integrate Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon chipsets with each generation.

This time around, the Sony XZ1 Compact is expected to pack in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835, which is featured in most flagship Android devices this year. Devices featuring the Snapdragon 835 include the LG V30, the Essential Phone, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the HTC U11 and the OnePlus 5 among several others. In each case, though, these handsets are married to displays well over 5-inches thus affecting their one-handed usability.

The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is expected to officially debut at IFA in the coming weeks.

but this does allow for the inclusion of a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD card slot along with a USB-C port. The good news is that it also thought to sport dual-front facing speakers for stereo sound. The battery appears to be relatively modest at just 2,600 mAh, but the smaller display should draw substantially less power meaning that it should still deliver all-day battery life. It is also expected to run Android 7.1.1 Nougat when it gets launched at IFA, as anticipated.

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