I currently have an XPERIA Z3 Compact which has served me well for close to 3 years. Its age has started to show and it has become very sluggish recently, so I think it's time for an upgrade. I've just had the pleasure to discover that Sony may be releasing a new XZ1 Compact in a few weeks, so I'll definitely wait to see what they have to offer, but I'd like to know which other options are out there that I may want to consider. I don't game on my phone at all and don't have any intention to start now. It has to handle streaming music, and video is a plus (but my Z3C can do both so I'd be negatively surprised if a new phone can't). The most important use cases are browsing (teh redditz) and occasional pictures. I'm in Northern Europe for the time being.

Things I like about my Z3C:

• Battery/screen time was very good (several days/charge initially, ~1 day/charge currently)

• MicroSD allowed me not to worry about storage for a long while.

• Camera was good initially. Not sure when it happened (might have been Android 6), but it felt like it was getting worse after about a year? It's completely possible that it wasn't that great ever and I just found it so much better than my previous phone.. Either way I value a good camera.

• Size is just about right (including Sony's famously big bezels; if a phone has smaller bezels I might be okay with a slightly bigger screen.)

• Water proof is a nice-to-have; some degree of water proof is really appreciated (use outdoors in the rain), though 1m submerged isn't a necessity.

• I'm familiar with the Sony UI. I don't know much about other phones' UIs, so they could be better for all I know, but I like Sony's.

Things I'm actively annoyed with:

• A fair amount of bloat, seems to have become more of it recently(?). "Features" I can't disable and apps I can't uninstall.

I have a feeling the compact requirement will limit my options a lot, so price isn't really a concern. I'd rather have more of the nice features than a cheaper phone. MicroSD isn't a necessity as long as the phone has sufficient internal storage (think thousands of pictures and an average number of apps a couple years down the road).

Also if you want to inform me about nice-to-haves that I either didn't mention about the Z3C or that it doesn't have, I'd be interested to see what else I might want to value. Same goes for nice-to-avoids.

I have Bluetooth headphones so I don't need a 3.5mm. Also don't really want a fingerprint scanner.

update: I realise I might be screwed on size unless Sony delivers an excellent flagship XZ1C. So assuming they don't; what's the best "small" phone (stretching the definition of "small" until the phone is on par with great current phones). Feel free to keep disregarding budget; I'm curious what's available for a fuller picture if I'm willing to compromise.