The only way to get large sensor quality is with a large sensor! It's just plain physics, no amount of technology is going to get round that. I have no idea what the reviewer was on about (linking to the review for some context might help)!

Large sensors are about more than just light gathering and noise. They offer many advantages:

- sharpness / microcontrast
- fast wideangle lenses
- improved light gathering ability
- shallower depth of field / greater subject isolation.