For some people a bigger screen is a real plus point with a mobile phone. For others, it just means it won’t fit in their pocket!The popularity of Apple’s iPhone SE with its relatively small 4 inch screen shows that not everybody wants a massive screen. However, over the years it’s been Sony who has been at the forefront of more compact handsets. Crucially, Sony’s smaller versions of their flagship models such as the Z1 Compact and the Z3 Compact didn’t have significantly lower specifications than their larger screened cousins. So you could have a smaller phone which still had an up to date processor, albeit with a lower screen resolution.

In recent years Sony’s offering has failed to compete with other Android makers such as Samsung, despite their phones’ specifications being comparable and in some cases superior to their South Korean rivals. However, the 2017 models sported overly large bezels which failed to compete with Samsung’s edge to edge screen technology.

Sony recently announced the Xperia XZ2 and the Xperia XZ2 Compact, which should be available in the UK from April. The Compact version largely matches the specification of its larger brother, The 5″ display is full HD ( (2160 x 1080) and the phone measures 135 x 65 x 12.1mm. Compare that with a Samsung Galaxy S9 (147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5 mm) and what’s interesting is that the XZ2 Compact is almost 50% thicker – presumably necessary to fit in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 4GB ram and 19megapixel camera capable of 4K HDR video and shooting super slow motion at 960 frames per second. This last spec is the same as the larger Galaxy S9, whereas the iPhone X can only manage 240fps. The Xperia XZ2 retails at £549 inc VAT so it’s definitely worth a look if you’d like a smaller phone but don’t want to compromise on speed and quality.