While Samsung and HTC have made fairly noble attempts with their respective Galaxy S4 Mini and HTC One Mini smartphones, small form factor handsets have in general been pretty disappointing.

This is because, in general, most small-hand-friendly Android smartphones to date have been woefully under specced, and have featured low-resolution displays and low-end, dual-core processors. So Japanese tech giant Sony moved to plug the current gap in the market with its Xperia Z1 Compact handset.

Unveiled at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, the 4.5in Xperia Z1 Compact features a host of top-end internal components. Chief of these are the Compact's powerful 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor and high-quality 20.7MP rear camera sensor. However, costing £440 SIM-free, the Xperia Z1 Compact's top performance comes with a premium price tag.