Buying Guide: The Best Sony Xperia Z1 Compact deals

Sony's mini marvel is that rare beast: a phone with a fairly small screen but high-end specs. While it won't cost you as much as the Xperia Z2, the fact it's stuffed to the rafters with top end tech means the Xperia Z1 Compact can still be pretty pricey.

We're talking a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a premium build and a great camera, all stuffed into a 4.3-inch screen that makes it a lot nicer to hold in the hand.

But while it's going to be priced towards the upper end of the market wherever you get it, you can still save yourself a substantial chunk of money, or come away with some generous allowances, if you take a look at the following deals.

EE

EE has a strong Z1 Compact deal right now, which will get you the handset in black or white with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data for just £29.99 per month and no upfront cost for the handset.

It's a 24 month contract, as all these deals are (unless specified otherwise), and comes out at £719.76.

EE also has the Xperia Z1 Compact in black for even less money: £23.99 per month but it doesn't come with the most generous of allowances.

Again, there's no upfront cost but on this deal you only get 500 minutes, 500MB of data and unlimited texts. Over the life of the contract it adds up to £575.76, though, so a pretty cheap way to get a top phone.

O2

With O2 you can get the Xperia Z1 Compact in black for just £23 per month and no charge for the handset.

That amounts to £552 and for that you get 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data, which is the same as one of those EE deals except a little cheaper, though bear in mind that EE's 4G coverage is wider and faster.

Alternatively you can get the phone in black or white with 1GB of data and unlimited texts and minutes for £28 per month with no upfront cost. That totals £672 over 24 months.

Vodafone

Vodafone has a couple of tempting deals for Sony's diminutive darling for under £30 per month. First up: pick up the Z1 Compact in black with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data for just £25 per month, which, as there's no upfront cost, comes out at £600 overall.

Or if you're going to need more data and minutes you can get the smaller Xperia in white with 1GB of data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts for £29 per month. Once again there's no charge for the handset itself, so the deal works out at £696 for the duration of the contract.

Vodafone also has a 12 month tariff which, at £43 per month, isn't exactly cheap, but does give you more flexibility in changing your handset earlier. It comes with unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB of data.

That's for the phone in black and there's no upfront cost so it's £516 overall.

Three

Three has a couple of different deals at £38 per month with no upfront cost, so they both add up to £912 after 24 months. On the face of it, that's a lot of money to spend when you can get it £300 cheaper on another network, but you get quite a lot for your money too.

One of the deals gives you a choice of the handset in white or black and comes with unlimited data, unlimited texts and 600 minutes, so it's a good choice if you tend to use a lot of mobile data.

The other deal gives you the Xperia Z1 Compact in black and only comes with 2GB of data, but it includes unlimited minutes and texts, so that's a better bet if you want to be able to make a lot of calls.

However, while Three does offer peace of mind with unlimited elements of its deals, it's pretty expensive compared to the others on show here.

T-Mobile and Orange

T-Mobile is offering the handset in black or white with 500 minutes, unlimited data and unlimited texts for £27.99 per month with no upfront cost. Overall that's £671.76, which is pretty good value, though remember you only get 3G data with T-Mobile.

Last but not least there's Orange, which also offers the Xperia Z1 Compact for £27.99 per month in black or white, so as there's no upfront cost it totals the same £671.76.

But here it's with 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and just 500MB of 3G data. We're inclined to say that that's a worse deal overall than the T-Mobile one, but obviously it's a better bet if you value minutes more than data.

• Want something slightly bigger? There are some great Xperia Z2 deals too.

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