It seems that some users of Sony‘s flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z1, are getting a curved smartphone experience, but not in a way that anyone would desire. A number of users are sending in complaints of some amount of bending with the smartphone’s frame.

To be fair to those users, they claim that no external force of any strength have been applied to the device. It just inexplicably came to be that way. The result is that the frame of the Xperia Z1 has become so uneven that it can no longer lie on a flat plane without some section of it sticking up.

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As of the moment, there is no known explanation yet or cause that would trigger this somewhat rare occurrence. It could be related to the phone’s aluminum body, though Sony is hardly the first nor the only one to use such a material. It could also be a side effect of the phone’s very thin profile. If that were the case, this might be an argument against those vying for the title of world’s thinnest smartphone.

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At the moment, there has been no report of other negative repercussions of the bending, though we wonder if the situation could potentially get worse. We also wonder if there will be reason for concern that this incident will also happen to the Xperia Z1S and Xperia Z1 Compact unveiled recently at CES 2014, both of which share similar builds with the flagship.

VIA: Xperia Blog

16 COMMENTS

    • true, but if you expose a metal to heat and cooling periods and repeat the process many times daily for months the metal will tend to warp.

    • also to add, the warping is at the top left area of the phone (screen side) and whenever the z1 is doing more tasks ie( gaming, long periods watching video etc.) it tends to heat up a significant amount in that area, sometimes to the point that i cant hold my phone there for more than a few seconds.

  1. They “Claim” no external force has been applied. B.S. My guess is this is a result of “Phone in pocket and user sitting down” syndrome.

  2. I have a z ultra. They bend from being in our pockets when we sit down. If you flex it gently in the opposite direction, it goes back to flat. There’s a whole thread about it on xda.

  3. Hi guys. I want to tell you something. I have care with my phones (every phone of mine has a cover, i don t forget it at charging etc). I bought a Z1 last month. I left the phone charging in a safe place in my room and after 1 hour maximum (battery charge level 99% not 100%) I was really surprised because the cover for sim it is open. I didn’t understood why and after a better look I discovered that Z1 is bent like in the second photo from here. I’m thinking that is a heat problem from the inside because it heats very easy .

  4. I’m having this problem with my z1, but i have a theory that could rule out most “pocket syndrome” cases. If you own a z1 you would know that when the phoen is being put through its paces it heats up quite a great amount at the the top left area of the phone (screen side). sometimes it gets so hot that i cant hold the phoen there for more than a few seconds. this ehating usually accurs whent he phone is being used extensivley or during charging. Metals expand when heated and contract when cooled, but if the metal isnt pure then there will be sones or spots in the metal that will expand more/less or quicker/slower in relation to the other metals around it. The z1 usually goes throught these ehating phases a few times a day ( matter how much its usued and how frequently) so if we amount these heatign phases on a daily bases and add all these up over a few months we amount to a great deal of warping ( since im guessing sony wont be making pure aluminum frames for these phones). but this problem can lead to other major failures int he phone system for example, the back cover glass will lose adhesion and probably wont bend witht he metal meaning it will raise off the edge a bit, with this the phone loses its water proof capabilities ( this happened to my phoen, i was lucky i caught it on time to save it from water damage) but also as the frame warps the small doors wont cose properly either thus not creatign a seal which also effects the phone’s waterproof capabilities. im not sure for a fix to this, maybe turning the phone off and heating it with a hair dryer and trying to bend the frame back in place (i wouldn’t recommend it, it could cause further warping) Lets just hope sony realizes this problem and adds it to their warranty or maybe even does a recall on the phones and changes the frame’s metalic properties to avert this problem.

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