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I had the N1 which i soled, now i have the NS - i have been using it for about 2 Weeks and here are my conclusions so far:
Note: i'm not trying to tell you if you should buy this Smart Phone Or if you should replace your N1 for the NS. i'm just going to give you some Information and explain the differences between these two devices as i see them.
To my opinion the N1 is a unique device. it has a good feel in your hand (metal feel), it has a trackball. it has many ROM options (Modaco,Cyanogen,and many others) which provides enough options for you if you want to get the most of it.
To me, until the last day that i had it it felt perfect. and after tweaking it (Root+Recovery+ROM+Lang+Bidi+RTL+Keyboard+Kernel+More-Tweaking) i got To the place where all i had to do is ROM-BackUp from time to time and that's all.
Than Why should i sell it you say ? - that is a good question.
Well, the first thing you notice when you turn on the Google NS is the Super Amoled Display - it doesn't matter how much i'll try to explain it, one glance at it And you will notice that too. it is much brighter then any other screen i saw, the Colors are beautiful. when you are out in the open, you can use your device Almost as if you are inside a room by increasing the brightness level.
For me this is one of the main reasons to choose this SmartPhone.
The NS comes with Android 2.3.1-Gingerbread (after OTA update from 2.3.0) - which is much faster then FROYO.
(yes,you can install it on the N1 too)
Ok, so it has a better screen.. is that a good enough reason to buy the NS ?
Well there are other things that should also be considered:
It has a front camera ("Skype" should allow Video calls soon... and "Google Talk" will probably too) and there are already apps such as "Tango" that let's you use
the front camera.
Another thing is being the first to get the Google updates.
If you want to always be the first to get Android/Google apps updates that is the SmartPhone for you.
The NS also has the NFC device (near field communication) which currently has no Use and when it will - you probably use it with a newer SmartPhone... so this is Not a point for the NS
Battery - this is only a speculation right now but the NS should have a better Battery life then the NS. the combination of a bit larger battery (1500 mAH), Tweaked kernel and the more efficient screen, should provide better battery life.
We will probably see that when Stable ROMs will go out.
SD - No SD ?
yea, no SD - ever.
It has a 16GB FlashDrive(you get a free space of about 13G) which for me is More Then enough.
If you need more then that ,you will have to go with the Samsung Galexy S.
Which has an SD Card.
Not having the SD card actually makes life a bit easier. no messing with Partitioning , App to SD and all that. just install you apk.
Buttons:
Same as the screen there is a big difference Here:
If you are using the N1 you already know that the buttons (Back,Menu,Home,Search) are not so responsive and sometimes it can be Annoying.
At the NS the buttons are a part of the screen and they are much more Responsive.
You use them as if you are touching an icon on the screen.
This gives a very responsive device and i believe anyone will notice the difference At first use.
SIP:
Native sip support is more then a nice thing to have.
Yes there are apps such as "SipDroid" that provides the same thing.
But it is more likely that native support means less CPU, less leggy functions.
Don't get me wrong, "SipDroid" is doing a great job. but in time we will probably see that Using an integrated SIP account (and Video Calls) runs a bit better and that it is well integrand to the phone (account,calls,notifications, receive calls...)
Update: 11.01.2011
GPS Lock:
Some people say they notice a slow GPS Lock.
I decided to check that and i'm updating the results here:
I tried the GPS about 10 times while driving to work and back, and also while standing out in the open.
At each time the GPS Lock took less then 30 seconds, and i was even able to use my Navigation app "Waze".
there where times that the Lock was about 5 seconds after i turned on the GPS.
As far as i can see GPS Lock is fine.
please confirm / disagree
So in the end you get a:
Much more responsive, crystal clear, faster, updated device that can make Video calls.
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That is how i see it.
Enjoy android.
Ummmm.. I thought you still need to move apps to "usb storage" on the NS?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
imneo1 said:
I had the N1 which i soled, now i have the NS - i have been using it for about 2 Weeks and here are my conclusions so far:
Note: i'm not trying to tell you if you should buy this Smart Phone Or if you should replace your N1 for the NS. i'm just going to give you some Information and explain the differences between these two devices as i see them.
To my opinion the N1 is a unique device. it has a good feel in your hand (metal feel), it has a trackball. it has many ROM options (Modaco,Cyanogen,and many others) which provides enough options for you if you want to get the most of it.
To me, until the last day that i had it it felt perfect. and after tweaking it (Root+Recovery+ROM+Lang+Bidi+RTL+Keyboard+Kernel+More-Tweaking) i got To the place where all i had to do is ROM-BackUp from time to time and that's all.
Than Why should i sell it you say ? - that is a good question.
Well, the first thing you notice when you turn on the Google NS is the Super Amoled Display - it doesn't matter how much i'll try to explain it, one glance at it And you will notice that too. it is much brighter then any other screen i saw, the Colors are beautiful. when you are out in the open, you can use your device Almost as if you are inside a room by increasing the brightness level.
For me this is one of the main reasons to choose this SmartPhone.
The NS comes with Android 2.3.1-Gingerbread (after OTA update from 2.3.0) - which is much faster then FROYO.
(yes,you can install it on the N1 too)
Ok, so it has a better screen.. is that a good enough reason to buy the NS ?
Well there are other things that should also be considered:
It has a front camera ("Skype" should allow Video calls soon... and "Google Talk" will probably too) and there are already apps such as "Tango" that let's you use
the front camera.
Another thing is being the first to get the Google updates.
If you want to always be the first to get Android/Google apps updates that is the SmartPhone for you.
The NS also has the NFC device (near field communication) which currently has no Use and when it will - you probably use it with a newer SmartPhone... so this is Not a point for the NS
Battery - this is only a speculation right now but the NS should have a better Battery life then the NS. the combination of a bit larger battery (1500 mAH), Tweaked kernel and the more efficient screen, should provide better battery life.
We will probably see that when Stable ROMs will go out.
SD - No SD ?
yea, no SD - ever.
It has a 16GB FlashDrive(you get a free space of about 13G) which for me is More Then enough.
If you need more then that ,you will have to go with the Samsung Galexy S.
Which has an SD Card.
Not having the SD card actually makes life a bit easier. no messing with Partitioning , App to SD and all that. just install you apk.
Buttons:
Same as the screen there is a big difference Here:
If you are using the N1 you already know that the buttons (Back,Menu,Home,Search) are not so responsive and sometimes it can be Annoying.
At the NS the buttons are a part of the screen and they are much more Responsive.
You use them as if you are touching an icon on the screen.
This gives a very responsive device and i believe anyone will notice the difference At first use.
SIP:
Native sip support is more then a nice thing to have.
Yes there are apps such as "SipDroid" that provides the same thing.
But it is more likely that native support means less CPU, less leggy functions.
Don't get me wrong, "SipDroid" is doing a great job. but in time we will probably see that Using an integrated SIP account (and Video Calls) runs a bit better and that it is well integrand to the phone (account,calls,notifications, receive calls...)
So in the end you get a:
Much more responsive, crystal clear, faster, updated device that can make Video calls.
That is how i see it.
Enjoy android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great overview + screenshots. Been looking for a overview between these two. I was considering getting one, but now i have changed my mind and think im going to wait for the dual-core LG Optimus 2X and otther phones.
The LG Black has a NOVA display, i would like tp see how that compares with the Super Amoled.
Great Overview
You forgot one of the worse things on the Nexus One. The "multi-touch"
-Nexus S
NS has much more space for applications before app2sd applied.
Touchscreen is much more responsive on NS than nexus one.
Speaker and speakerphone are better on NS.
However...
Nexus one can take SD which has up to 32GB of storage.
Nexus one has slightly better 3G reception by dB value.
Nexus one will work with ANY T-Mobile internet service while NS is flagged for 4G web only.
An excellent overview and very nice personal account of your transition journey, it's still been less than a month for UK users since the NS's launch I too am looking forward to what the updates will provide for this handset.
Despite what some people think, I think the NS is a worthy upgrade over the N1. It corrects every flaw that the N1 had.
It's without a doubt faster. Doesnt have the same annoying hitching and lag. The touchscreen and capacitive buttons actually respond to touch. The cellular radio performs better. The screen is bigger and much easier to read. Has more internal storage.
My biggest gripe with the NS is the lack of LED notification. That was an extremely cool and useful feature on my NS. I personally dont care that the NS is made of plastic and I actually like the sleek shiny blacked out look.
Good review. OP, where did you get that clock widget of yours? Is it one of the skins from beautiful widgets?
I still like my Nexus One. what hold me back.
1) High power consumption coupled with slow charging(Nexus S)
Nexus One charging time is very fast..Nexus S charging rate is much slower and causing long charging time..at least 3 hours to get full charge..
It lasts 15 hours..the most and take long time to charge..very inconvenient.
I need to always carry charging kit around..
=> I am now trying to turn off background service to conserve power.
2) Freaking GPS locking speed on Nexus S...> 1 min ..impractical for geo tagging picture taking. Luckily once locked,the GPS is stable for road navigation,relatively better than Galaxy S but no where near Google Nexus One.
3) The bugs on 2.3.1 are definitely much more than Nexus One when first launch with 2.1
I hope to have quick OTA to make this phone perfect..
Charging time on the Nexus is a definite bummer.
I wonder if the longer charging time on the Nexus S is a result of the .7amp charger shipped with it.
Most other smart phones, including the iPhone, EVO, Nexus One, et al, use a 1amp charger.
unremarked said:
I wonder if the longer charging time on the Nexus S is a result of the .7amp charger shipped with it.
Most other smart phones, including the iPhone, EVO, Nexus One, et al, use a 1amp charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea if there is a problem with using the NS and a 1amp charger? I imagine not, but why else would they ship a .7amp charger?
I have been using a 2 amp charger with mine with no problems, though it is certainly not taking all 2 amps - charging times are still not that fast. The advantage with the NS is that it will go into what-passes-for-fast-charging mode with any USB source that offers more than the 0.5A spec'd by USB.
The N1 only fast charges (mode AC) if the charger has two of the USB pins shorted. The charger that ships with the N1 does this, but just about no third-party chargers do it. So, if you use even a 2A (lot of third-party charges are 2A) or a 5A third-party USB charger (iPad charger, anyone?) with the N1, it stays in "USB" charging mode and will not draw over 450mA - and the N1 at 450mA and being used takes more than 7 hours to charge.
Also, the battery life on the NS is AT LEAST one and a half times the duration of the N1 with equivalent use, if not longer. I could make a "short" day with the N1, but I HAD to top it off before going out at night if I didn't want to get left high and dry. The NS will probably make it without any problem.
So, here are the NS wins versus the N1:
Screen
Screen touch sensitivity
Real, reliable multitouch
Capacitative button sensitivity
Readibility outdoors
Battery life
Charging time with third-party chargers
The "current" Google phone = first updates
Performance - the 1ghz ARM + SGX540 kills the Snapdragon's 1Ghz ARM plus Adreno 200 - and it kills it by a LOT.
Much better back cam
Better video (stock v. stock) especially in the sound, since it uses a better codec.
Front cam
Maps 5 with "full" capabilities
Better speaker and speaker phone.
Here are the N1 wins versus the NS:
Trackball with light inside
LED notification light
Longer history, so there are tons of mod choices just waiting to be tried out.
For now, a somewhat smoother browser experience on certain sites thanks to better rendering configuration and (maybe) more GPU acceleration in the browser. This will certainly change, either with a Google-furnished update or with custom roms that use the old tricks pioneered on the Droid and used equally on the Nexus One.
After 5 days usage with Nexus S versus Nexus one
Weakness of Nexus S
1) Super slow charging, regardless of charger type used(including the ship with original charger).
2) GPS locking speed is bad, > 2min
3) Weaker wifi reception showed on Nexus S..I dont know is this status bar display calibration problem or really the reception is lower..Any other method that can report Wifi reception in dB..so that I can do side by side comparison between Nexus one and Nexus S...
4) Power consumption
=> Nexus S definitely dry up faster than Nexus One..So far, I have never successfully getting Nexus S to last > 15 hours without recharging..
Similar usage and programs installed on Both Nexus one and Nexus S, Nexus one will last >24 hours versus 15 hours on Nexus S.
On light usage, Nexus one can last for 40hours..
Jonathon Grigg said:
Any idea if there is a problem with using the NS and a 1amp charger? I imagine not, but why else would they ship a .7amp charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm inclined to agree with you. A quick googling of this question seems to say that the ampage(.7 vs 1) wouldn't cause an issue so long as the voltage was correct. This agrees with what little I know on the issue in that the phone will pull as much charge as it can and not pull more than it can handle regardless of what's connected to it.
I can't imagine, however, that the Nexus S is incapable of handling a 1amp charger because like I mentioned, every other high end smart phone on the market uses them. Unfortunately, I don't have such a charger now otherwise I'd test it out.
I used my original N1 charger on the NS and it is still slow....
I had the phone for nearly a month and while I agree that it is a step up from the N1 in almost all regards I reluctantly returned it last week.
In terms of smoothness, I felt the NS and N1 were quiet similar, especially with the N1 running custom ROMs and Kernels. The biggest thing I will miss about the NS is the screen. The 4in screen is perfect and anti-fingerprint screen worked well; fingerprints and smudges wiped off easily.
Nexus one charger Nexus S
I have been using the N1 charger on my NS since day one. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
I will try and time the actual charging from dead to fully charged over the next few days to see if there is any time difference (although I doubt it).
I am also seeing that my phone will only charge to 98%. I will never mark a full 100%. This has been since day one.
Teknojunkee said:
I am also seeing that my phone will only charge to 98%. I will never mark a full 100%. This has been since day one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10characters
unremarked said:
Q: I unplugged my phone, and my battery dropped from 100% to 95% immediately, or it won't/takes along time to charge past 99%, what gives?
This is by design. Your phone will slow down and eventually stop pulling charge at or slightly greater than ~95% regardless of what your battery indicator says. This is to extend the overall life of the battery, as constant 100% to 0% charge/discharge cycles will cause it to fail prematurely. If you're interested in really pushing it to 100%, you can use a technique that is called "bump charging" and is better detailed here: http://bit.ly/f6xiZ0
Q: When I reboot my phone while it's charging, the battery jumps from X% to Y%, what gives?
I'm honestly not sure what causes this, but sometimes Android/Gingerbread gets confused on how much exact charge is in your battery if you reboot it while it's charging. However, from personal observation, it's just a display issue. Android/GB will eventually start showing the correct percentages once the battery has "caught up" with what it thinks it is at. Also wiping the battery stats(root only) seems to help alleviate this issue. Either way, it's not a large concern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmanxx said:
After 5 days usage with Nexus S versus Nexus one
Weakness of Nexus S
1) Super slow charging, regardless of charger type used(including the ship with original charger).
2) GPS locking speed is bad, > 2min
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? coming from a nexus one, I find that the gps locks almost instantly on the nexus s.
I haven't had the phone for too long and only used the gps 4-5 times. Every single time, it's locked on the gps the moment I turn on google navigation.
I've had my NS for about 6 days now and am having nexus one withdrawals.
My thoughts:
I miss the N1's noise cancellation mic. You can vacuum and talk on the phone I've done it.
No LED is annoying and the noled app is a subpar solution for the NS.
Miss the N1 grip and design, gorilla glass screen, teflon feeling back.
Wifi reception seems reduced.
Battery life seems to be about the same.
5 Point multi touch NS vs 2 N1 is nice
Screen size upgrade is nice
The feel is actually decent, light
I love the gingerbread battery performance stats now.. much more informative than the battery graph I used for the n1
Heya, I tried to put as much information in the title and although I could easily write a wall of text here I'll try and keep it short and sweet
I was wondering if this type of topic belonged in the Q&A section.. But I believe it is more of a general discussion topic rather than something which can be solved
Please note that I am not asking which is the better phone or trying to start another flame war.. I'm just going to list my thoughts and hope that some of you can share yours!
Baseline facts:
Sony Xperia Z - Unlimited data £26pm (LTE later this year)
HTC One - Unlimited data £28pm (LTE later this year)
So, I received my Xperia Z today and to be completely honest I am not blown away by it at all (Which is actually a first for me as every phone I have ever owned has astounded me in some fashion).
I decided on it due to the overall price and the screen size (bigger is better) thinking that both were evenly matched
Okay, strait to the point.. Here is what's bothering me:
The screen size - Comparing it to my Nexus 4 (With the onscreen buttons hidden) a 4.7" screen is almost identical to a 5" screen with on screen buttons.. So one of the advantages over the HTC One is null
As the HTC one has dedicated buttons
The look - Maybe it's because I had my heart set on the HTC one or maybe its because I fell in love with the curves of the Nexus 4 but.. This just looks like a slab (Covered in fingerprints)
The feel - The phone actually kinda feels sharp / awkward when I hold and use it in one hand
Rooting worries - I've always ended up rooting and flashed every every android phone I've owned.. But I've read some horror stories about losing features (DRM and Bravia Engine). I really don't want to lose these as they are one of the few "WOW" factors this phone has
This is one worry that I'm sure could easily be put to rest by someone here
Battery life - Granted, I have been playing with it for most of the afternoon but it's lost a hell of a lot of battery in a rather short space of time. I'm not usually one to moan about battery life as I routinely charge every night but I need my phone to last all day with mid-heavy use
Notification Lag - Strangely enough while using Google+ auto-backup / instant upload feature my nexus 4 is getting notifications much faster (Minutes) than my Xperia despite the fact that the Xperia is the one uploading (Thus not in deep-sleep). Is this something anyone else is experiencing?
Speaker position - In a word.. Annoying. I've covered it more times than I can count and I've only used it a few times
Internet Lag - It seems to take about 5 seconds to switch from "H" to "H+" and then to start sending / receiving data leaving me staring at a blank page for a while.. Could be an issue with my network but I'm just throwing this out there.
Finally just general factors such as less power (Poorer specs) to the HTC One.. Almost every review site I have seen claims the HTC One is just "Better", even the camera on the HTC One is "Better" according to most of them so the Xperia really falls short on every mark.
Now the reason I posted this here is because I want to hear the opinions of those who actually own an Xperia Z and to get your opinions.. I already know what answer I'd get if I posted this over in the HTC One forums
On a side note I got one of these packaged with my Xperia Z:
http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/accessories/stereo-bluetooth-headset-sbh20/
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It's still sitting in the box along with my contract simcard, headphones, charger and screen protectors as I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them. Its a nice touch though and defiantly a plus point :victory:
I was planning on buying a bluetooth headset anyway, this one even has NFC and a much "higher-end" product than I would consider
Thanks to everyone who read this topic, I'm really not asking which one is "better" or trying to start any form of a flame war. I just want to know your opinions.. Would you switch? Why? Why not?
And please, please, please list out some positive features of the Xperia Z as I'm seriously disillusioned here
I'm talking about features, gimmicks, accessories, anything to make it standout!
Azurren said:
Okay, strait to the point.. Here is what's bothering me:
The screen size - Comparing it to my Nexus 4 (With the onscreen buttons hidden) a 4.7" screen is almost identical to a 5" screen with on screen buttons.. So one of the advantages over the HTC One is null
As the HTC one has dedicated buttons
The look - Maybe it's because I had my heart set on the HTC one or maybe its because I fell in love with the curves of the Nexus 4 but.. This just looks like a slab (Covered in fingerprints)
The feel - The phone actually kinda feels sharp / awkward when I hold and use it in one hand
Rooting worries - I've always ended up rooting and flashed every every android phone I've owned.. But I've read some horror stories about losing features (DRM and Bravia Engine). I really don't want to lose these as they are one of the few "WOW" factors this phone has
This is one worry that I'm sure could easily be put to rest by someone here
Battery life - Granted, I have been playing with it for most of the afternoon but it's lost a hell of a lot of battery in a rather short space of time. I'm not usually one to moan about battery life as I routinely charge every night but I need my phone to last all day with mid-heavy use
Notification Lag - Strangely enough while using Google+ auto-backup / instant upload feature my nexus 4 is getting notifications much faster (Minutes) than my Xperia despite the fact that the Xperia is the one uploading (Thus not in deep-sleep). Is this something anyone else is experiencing?
Speaker position - In a word.. Annoying. I've covered it more times than I can count and I've only used it a few times
Internet Lag - It seems to take about 5 seconds to switch from "H" to "H+" and then to start sending / receiving data leaving me staring at a blank page for a while.. Could be an issue with my network but I'm just throwing this out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Screen size: Can't really say anything about it since I came from the Note, and compared to that, the XZ is "a lot" smaller (Depends how much a lot is for some people)
- The looks: Just a matter of ones opinion. For me the XZ is the best phone I've seen thus far.
- The feel: Yap it could have been better
- Rooting worries: Totally bs. You will lose the things you mentioned when you unlock your Bootloader, but you don't need to that for root. And by saving your TA partition before you unlock your BL for the first time you can always re-lock it to get BE2 etc back.
- Battery life: What can we expect from a 2300 mAh battery, for that "small" capacity it's actually quite good. (Removable would've made it even better) Since the new FW the battery life has gotten worse for most people I think.
- Notification Lag: ?? No clue
- Speaker position: I Guess I'm one of the few that it doesn't bother, I use my speaker like.... once per month? Why do people complain so much about it. Listening music through such things is already bs if you're a real music lover, the only thing I use it for is like my ringtone when I receive a call. But most of the times I'm not holding my phone in my hand when I'm receiving a call so I have no problem there.
- Internet Lag: Once again no clue there.
It's a good topic you made, purely based on your own opinion, but because of that reason I also wonder why you made it in the first place.
It doesn't really add anything since (like I said before) it's purely based on an opinion.
Edit:
P.S. I also wonder why they didn't put like a dedicated button for the camera on the XZ.
You can say because of the water resistance, but the phone already has 3 buttons on the side (vol +/-, power) so I wonder if a fourth one would've mattered that much.
I also wanted to buy a HTC One instead of my XZ. The main reason why I went to the XZ is because the XZ looks in my opinion ofcource more like a buisness phone. The reason why HTC One dropped away from my list is also because it doesn't have an equalizer for my taste. As for me, I don't have a facebook nor any other social media account, so the UI of the HTC wouldn't be any handy for me. Can't say anything about the batterylife of the One because I never actually used it longer than a few mins, but the XZ's batt life is really crap compared to my Arc's. But I've managed to get it all along with automatic app killer and closed alot of apps and dimmed the screen a bit. The specs are good enough to run everything smooth, we're not going to play crysis on it. Browsing is fantastic on this phone, never lagged on the websites I browse. The screen is simply amazing especially with the new firmware. The smallapps is really something I really got used to it, can't do without them anymore. Videos and pictures are for some not good enough, but for me it's brilliant. Just need to play with the settings of the camera and got the most amazing pictures ever. Walkman and other Sony dedicated apps are also good.
Don't get me wrong, I also like the HTC One, I just don't find the htc handy enough. The Htc sense it just nothing for me, just eats alot of memory. The speakers ofc beats the XZ's speaker, but that's something nothing to worry about. Just use the headset, nobody wants to listen to your music.
As for built quality, XZ feels very solid in the hand. Drop the htc and u get the screen in pieces because the glass is edge to edge. And the Htc doesnt feel really premium quality in my hand. It has something of a toyish feeling in the hand.
Just an advice, go test the HTC One out in a local store like I did. Compare them to eachother, and you'll see what I mean. However, it's still your opinion and taste to buy the better one you think of. They are both very good phones, and blast the hell out of samsungs plastic toys.
Edit: Just browsed at thr HTC One topic and I'm actually glad I've bought the Xperis Z. Build quality sucks they say. Screen cracked easy in pocket and camera screen cracked etc. The battery ain't wow either.
Sent from my Xperia Z
Cool, just do it we don't have to know
Dsteppa said:
- Screen size: Can't really say anything about it since I came from the Note, and compared to that, the XZ is "a lot" smaller (Depends how much a lot is for some people)
-Snip-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your comments!
Yeah I don't use the speaker for playing music but if I hear a new song or find something funny / amazing on youtube I instantly want to share that with friends and family.. What's easier than just whipping out your phone?
Thanks for clearing up the root worries, I read a few horror stories and thought it may not be worth the hassle.
This is kind of a selfish topic as I only created it because I have less than 7 days to send it back if it isn't right for me. But hopefully with people sharing their thoughts / opinions like yourself this could help other people facing the same problems!
JasonX199 said:
I also wanted to buy a HTC One instead of my XZ. The main reason why I went to the XZ is because the XZ looks in my opinion ofcource more like a buisness phone. The reason why HTC One dropped away from my list is also because it doesn't have an equalizer for my taste. As for me, I don't have a facebook nor any other social media account, so the UI of the HTC wouldn't be any handy for me.
-snip-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll definitely try-out the HTC One instore. Who knows, it could feel worse to grip than the Xperia Z! I have been tweaking the camera and it's taking really nice shots even in poor light, I'll take it on some trips and see if the battery can keep up
I hadn't heard about the issues people have been having with the HTC One
danw_oz said:
Cool, just do it we don't have to know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's just it.. All the review sites have given me plenty of reasons to switch to the HTC One, I really hate making any decision with only half the story..
As I know I'll regret it if I ended up with the wrong device for me
The screen size
i came from iphone and previously even smaller phone, so first impressions were like ''OMG 5 inches way too big'', after using during some couple days, it fits to me naturally. the weight balance and thickness make it less big it really does
The look
i am not degrading HTC, XZ is simply more beautiful, i agree with others, its one of most design smartphone ever seen
i had a Sony Ericsson W880i before, somehow it reminds me it has some similarity between these
i honestly dont understand why people find HTC One as brilliant design, it just look pretty normal, maybe its because of full alu
actually i prefer square design over curve's one. One has some curve in its shape.
The feel actually it could be as better as worse, square design does not give good hand grip
that is the other side of the coin
Rooting worries if you were willing to root, you should accep the fact of avoiding guarantee, why not? lemme explain, rooting it will be at your own risk, Sony wouldnt prevent you from further issues with root like bricking, bugs... if you brick ur phone for good, dont go crying to Sony, that why they make such decision about DRM
anyway be patient, some developers will fix it and find safe root instruction in order to save DRM (i think it s possible to save it even if phone was rooted)
Battery life on average, all latest smartphones on the market have pretty same battery life according their use of customers
an user who spend day and night on social network, notification, playing game, LTE network etc will drain battery dratiscally
battery life its a matter of use, define your needs in order to find good setting for
Speaker position yes it could be a trouble if you dont use earphones for listening music as exemple
it does not bother me at all since i m using SBH20, NFC and wireless speaker
Internet Lag i didnt get any lag on internet, everything is fine
final advice for you if you focus on aesthetic and design, definitely XZ is for you, otherwhise HTC has its own interface Sense and i know many users like it
Trust me OP, switching to the HTC one would make you happier, the display alone is out of this world. The Xperia Z is a decent phone but I feel like it competes with last year`s phones like the Butterfly/DNA, LG optimus G and Galaxy S3. It doesn't not compare to the galaxy s 4, HTC one or LG optimus G pro in my opinion.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
barondebxl said:
The Xperia Z is a decent phone but I feel like it competes with last year`s phones like the Butterfly/DNA, LG optimus G and Galaxy S3. It doesn't not compare to the galaxy s 4, HTC one or LG optimus G pro in my opinion.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh::laugh::laugh:
I don't think so that the battery life is crap. Yes it can be improved a bit like the HTC one gets 6-7 hours of on screen time with a marginally smaller battery than the Z..here's my result
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Ame123 said:
I don't think so that the battery life is crap. Yes it can be improved a bit like the HTC one gets 6-7 hours of on screen time with a marginally smaller battery than the Z..here's my result
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sigh.
stop trolling.
we know it is impossible to get 5 hours of on screen time.
the average is about 3 hours.
samxool said:
sigh.
stop trolling.
we know it is impossible to get 5 hours of on screen time.
the average is about 3 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not trolling...i regularly get 4.5 to 5 hours of screen on time..if u dnt want to believe u can stop commenting on my posts..i have not posted this for guys like u
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
samxool said:
sigh.
stop trolling.
we know it is impossible to get 5 hours of on screen time.
the average is about 3 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3 hours I got 4 hours and 55 min with average use
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
samxool said:
sigh.
stop trolling.
we know it is impossible to get 5 hours of on screen time.
the average is about 3 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got over 5 hours many times, even on Cyanogenmod which has worse battery life than stock.
samxool said:
sigh.
stop trolling.
we know it is impossible to get 5 hours of on screen time.
the average is about 3 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sigh, don't be a dink. Give it a rest.
OP, I've used both phones. Battery life is definitely better on the HTC, but it's nothing special. I would get an extra 15-20 minutes out of the HTC. As much as I love the design and build materials of the HTC One, I had some pretty severe gaps all over the phone. A buddy of mine has one as well and his isn't much better. The camera on the HTC is great in low light, but leaves a bit to be desired in good lighting conditions, which is where I take the majority of my photos.
I love the feel of the Xperia Z. As nice as the HTC One feels, I think the XZ is the better built phone. I worry about the glass back on the XZ but I think it's sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of day to day life. There isn't much the Z does a lot better than the One (except water resistance and arguably camera), but for some reason I like it a lot more than the HTC.
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
If you can ignore the bad camera and build quality of HTC One why not?
And I can get 6 hours of screentime at %40 brightness.
Aresmar said:
If you can ignore the bad camera and build quality of HTC One why not?
And I can get 6 hours of screentime at %40 brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Build quality and the camera are the most hyped features of the one if one ignores them then whats the use of buying it?
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Ame123 said:
Build quality and the camera are the most hyped features of the one if one ignores them then whats the use of buying it?
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but camera fails at photos taken at broad daylight and panoramas vistas etc. 4mp doesnt cut it I have seen it with my own eyes. It may be good at low light but fails at outside photos.
And HTC One has very bad manufacturing. Just read how much problems the buyers have.
BTW I was a HTC phone user before. Not biased or anything. I was considering buying HTC One too. Now I am glad I didnt.
since I bought my Xperia z i have been considering this. I had a chance the other day to go for the HTC but I thought leave it.
I have had a play in store with the one.nothing initially impressed me about it, the screen was great but the Xperia screen is good too and bigger. I don't really like sense either. I couldn't gauge the sound quality due to the noisy environment but I guess that and the camera are the killer points. that's the only two things that would make me switch.
say what you want about the megapixels but I've saw some shots from the HTC one and they look great. the main thing is the quick shutter speed and brilliant low light performance.the Xperia z shutter speed is average at best and low light performance abysmal on the latest Rom.
the speakers on the Xperia z could be better and I always like good sounds quality on my devices.
but then you have to look at it from the other side too. build quality on the z is great, there's been many complaints about the HTC one build quality. when you have a phone for 2 years the build quality needs to be top notch. I guess most devices should be okay but when you hear the stories about gaps you do get slightly put off.
also the Xperia z is waterproof which could save the phones life some day and the stamina mode does help battery life quite a bit plus the rgb notification led is a lot better on the Sony.
as somEone said previously battery life is currently around the same for the top phones just look at the users posts about the phone you'll find out. design is personal preference.
you get used to each phone in the end tbh, they all have things that stand out for them. personally I can live with the sound quality but they need to improve shutter speed and low light performance I'm still on.434 and I might keep it that way.
Well, if I agree that HTC is a better phone than Z in term of hardware but not by much. I also had a dilemma when choosing Z or One but ended up choosing Z as I think it has better design and much cheaper in my country
Screen: Screen is definitely better on One but Z's screen with BE2 when viewing movie is better in my opinion. I really don't care about viewing angle and it isn't as bad on Z as I thought before (maybe my unit got good viewing angle).
Speaker: Yeah, nowhere near boomsound on HTC but it is loud enough. I can use it to view Youtube with my friend with audible audio.
Speed: Sense 5 is fast as hell, I would say that it is the fastest phone on the market right now, it is even faster than Galaxy S4. But most regular users don't really need it, XZ is plenty fast enough
Feel: I don't like the feel of One, although it is thicker than Z on white paper, the edge thickness is only half of Z's which make holding feel weird. Moreover, the buttons on One is the worst I have ever used. The power button is hard to press as it is so flat and place on top of such a big phone like One, volume rockers are also flat as well.
Battery life: I guess it is slightly better than Z. Maybe you will got 1 hour more of screen time.
my workmate has just got the HTC one and is having major problems with it, honestly really glad i've got the xz.
Hello!
Just wanted to make a quick mini review of my S6. Received it yesterday around 5:30 pm after waiting all day impatiently for UPS to show up haha . I chose the 32g white model, primarily cause I'm not a super heavy user so I don't need a ton of extra space, as well as it doesn't show fingerprints as much as the darker colors. Right now it's sitting in a white Spigen feather case. Here's pics (images taken with a Blackberry Z30 that I don't use anymore lol):
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I'll just keep this review super simple and to the point:
Screen: Amoled has definitely come a long way. Beautiful screen, good color reproduction using the basic setting, good brightness levels. Overall, it rocks. :good:
Build: Feels nice in the hand. Coming from an Iphone 6, it definitely feels as premium. Beware the fingerprints though haha, you will get them all over!
Camera: Not even going to lie, I don't know a damn thing about photography so I'm not going to pretend that I do. It takes great photos, but then again I personally felt that the Iphone 6 camera was good for what little photography I do, so I'd say look at other reviews for more in depth info about that topic.
Quick sample photos. Everything set to auto. No changes made to the photos:
Fingerprint Scanner: Never used the one from the previous Samsung phones, but coming from the Iphone 6, it works just as well. Registered four different prints, and it hasn't messed up once. :good:
Software: I appreciate Samsung's toning down of Touchwiz. At this point, since I haven't been on Android for awhile, I'm still getting use to the UI overall. Definitely appreciate the ability to install themes.
Reception/Service: Don't see any issues here. Sounds good when on phone calls and the reception seems on par with what I was getting with my Iphone 6.
Some things I've found so far that I'm not a fan of: None of these have anything to do with the hardware of the phone really. These are just a few annoyances that I haven't been able to fix just yet.
I can't seem to find any settings to adjust the lights for the capacitive buttons. As such, it's really annoying to use at night since every time you touch the screen, they light up for a second and a half and then disappear again. If anyone knows how to adjust the time or completely turn them off, please let me know. The only setting I've found that disables the lights is power saving mode.
The second thing I don't like is that both the stock Samsung web browser, and Chrome, don't have settings for full screen mode. I don't like having the status bar sitting at the top all the time. Call my crazy, I'm afraid of screen burn in with Amoleds .
At any given time, a high amount of RAM is always in use, and I honestly haven't installed many apps. I just checked right now, and my phone sitting idle is at 77% of RAM in use. I have 1 push gmail, and that's about it. No apps are running. I don't use any social media at all, and all of the bloat of the phone is disabled.
When I open the stock battery app, I cannot find 'screen' listed under the usage tab. As such, I don't know how I can test what my SOT will be on charges. (I know SOT is subjective and can vary greatly depending on use, but it'd still be helpful to have it listed regardless.
Don't really know what else to say at this point. If anyone has any questions or anything, let me know. Overall, I'm definitely enjoying the phone, and I'm super glad to be back on Android. :good:
Cheers,
-Matt
Thanks for sharing!
One point about the ram usage: don't bother looking at it. On almost every android phone you will have high consumption, regardless if the phone has 1/2/3/99 gigs of ram. Simply the more ram you have, the more applications will remain open. The fact that you consumption is around 77% means absolutely nothing - just enjoy your phone
derWolf_ said:
Thanks for sharing!
One point about the ram usage: don't bother looking at it. On almost every android phone you will have high consumption, regardless if the phone has 1/2/3/99 gigs of ram. Simply the more ram you have, the more applications will remain open. The fact that you consumption is around 77% means absolutely nothing - just enjoy your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I'm gonna try and just ignore it unless I start having a bunch of like redraws or something when switching between apps. Thanks for the input! :good:
-Matt
Roflwafflez said:
Hello!
Just wanted to make a quick mini review of my S6. Received it yesterday around 5:30 pm after waiting all day impatiently for UPS to show up haha . I chose the 32g white model, primarily cause I'm not a super heavy user so I don't need a ton of extra space, as well as it doesn't show fingerprints as much as the darker colors. Right now it's sitting in a white Spigen feather case. Here's pics (images taken with a Blackberry Z30 that I don't use anymore lol):
I'll just keep this review super simple and to the point:
Screen: Amoled has definitely come a long way. Beautiful screen, good color reproduction using the basic setting, good brightness levels. Overall, it rocks. :good:
Build: Feels nice in the hand. Coming from an Iphone 6, it definitely feels as premium. Beware the fingerprints though haha, you will get them all over!
Camera: Not even going to lie, I don't know a damn thing about photography so I'm not going to pretend that I do. It takes great photos, but then again I personally felt that the Iphone 6 camera was good for what little photography I do, so I'd say look at other reviews for more in depth info about that topic.
Fingerprint Scanner: Never used the one from the previous Samsung phones, but coming from the Iphone 6, it works just as well. Registered four different prints, and it hasn't messed up once. :good:
Software: I appreciate Samsung's toning down of Touchwiz. At this point, since I haven't been on Android for awhile, I'm still getting use to the UI overall. Definitely appreciate the ability to install themes.
Reception/Service: Don't see any issues here. Sounds good when on phone calls and the reception seems on par with what I was getting with my Iphone 6.
Some things I've found so far that I'm not a fan of: None of these have anything to do with the hardware of the phone really. These are just a few annoyances that I haven't been able to fix just yet.
I can't seem to find any settings to adjust the lights for the capacitive buttons. As such, it's really annoying to use at night since every time you touch the screen, they light up for a second and a half and then disappear again. If anyone knows how to adjust the time or completely turn them off, please let me know. The only setting I've found that disables the lights is power saving mode.
The second thing I don't like is that both the stock Samsung web browser, and Chrome, don't have settings for full screen mode. I don't like having the status bar sitting at the top all the time. Call my crazy, I'm afraid of screen burn in with Amoleds .
At any given time, a high amount of RAM is always in use, and I honestly haven't installed many apps. I just checked right now, and my phone sitting idle is at 77% of RAM in use. I have 1 push gmail, and that's about it. No apps are running. I don't use any social media at all, and all of the bloat of the phone is disabled.
When I open the stock battery app, I cannot find 'screen' listed under the usage tab. As such, I don't know how I can test what my SOT will be on charges. (I know SOT is subjective and can vary greatly depending on use, but it'd still be helpful to have it listed regardless.
Don't really know what else to say at this point. If anyone has any questions or anything, let me know. Overall, I'm definitely enjoying the phone, and I'm super glad to be back on Android. :good:
Cheers,
-Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well , thanks to share your thoughts ! I have right now the iPhone 6 and I'm thinking to upgrade to Galaxy s6 edge I watched lot of reviews and like the phone. Like you coming from iPhone 6 it's worth the upgrade ? I used to have the Galaxy s3 years before. Thanks again !
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
edyfrances said:
Well , thanks to sure your thoughts ! I have right now the iPhone 6 and I'm thinking to upgrade to Galaxy s6 edge I watched lot of reviews and like the phone. Like you coming from iPhone 6 it's worth the upgrade ? I used to have the Galaxy s3 years before. Thanks again !
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No prob! Honestly, it's hard to tell. In my honest opinion, the S6 and the Iphone 6 are both great devices in different ways. It really just depends on what you're looking for in a phone. Personally, I wanted to get back to the customization side, so the switch was an easy choice. :good:
-Matt
Nice write up man. It is nice to se what phones people are coming from to get the right perspective.
Don't ever worry about the burn in anymore
Maknora said:
Don't ever worry about the burn in anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And why would you say that? The burn-in problem of the AMOLED displays is still very, very likely to occur. I've seen massive burn-ins on the Note 4, which has basically the same display as the S6.
derWolf_ said:
And why would you say that? The burn-in problem of the AMOLED displays is still very, very likely to occur. I've seen massive burn-ins on the Note 4, which has basically the same display as the S6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any input on ways to avoid burn in (besides the obvious I mean hehe)? Specifically it's that damn status bar. Everything else changes pretty regularly, but that thing is always there .
-Matt
Roflwafflez said:
Any input on ways to avoid burn in (besides the obvious I mean hehe)? Specifically it's that damn status bar. Everything else changes pretty regularly, but that thing is always there .
-Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now with Lollipop the status bar isn't such a big problem, because it constantly changes colors. In kitkat and with older versions it was a problem, as it was constantly black (or color close to black).
But I'd suggest rooting, xposed and force immersive mode.
derWolf_ said:
Now with Lollipop the status bar isn't such a big problem, because it constantly changes colors. In kitkat and with older versions it was a problem, as it was constantly black (or color close to black).
But I'd suggest rooting, xposed and force immersive mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll definitely look into rooting and all that for this device. Haven't messed with any of that stuff in awhile lol :good:.
-Matt
I had all 4 notes never had any problem with burnin. I'm not quite sure I had it with my s2 it was ages ago lol
I have one favor to ask though
Can you please install all the apps you use (and possibly some that you won't use, but just for the sake of testing), take a few hundred pictures and tell us if the phone feels as snappy as it did at the beginning?
When I played with the phone in a store I thought this was the fastest Android phone ever produced (without exaggerating even a tiny bit), but since it Samsung we are talking about, I have fears that after having all your stuff on the phone, the device's performance will suffer greatly.
@avenging - the fact that it didn't happen to you (which is great) doesn't mean that the technology doesn't suffer the issue. I have personally seen at least 3 units of the Note 4 with burn ins. Just go to your local electronics shop and check the Note 4. I can almost guarantee that it will have some degree of burn-ins.
derWolf_ said:
I have one favor to ask though
Can you please install all the apps you use (and possibly some that you won't use, but just for the sake of testing), take a few hundred pictures and tell us if the phone feels as snappy as it did at the beginning?
When I played with the phone in a store I thought this was the fastest Android phone ever produced (without exaggerating even a tiny bit), but since it Samsung we are talking about, I have fears that after having all your stuff on the phone, the device's performance will suffer greatly.
@avenging - the fact that it didn't happen to you (which is great) doesn't mean that the technology doesn't suffer the issue. I have personally seen at least 3 units of the Note 4 with burn ins. Just go to your local electronics shop and check the Note 4. I can almost guarantee that it will have some degree of burn-ins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can certainly give it a try!
-Matt
Roflwafflez said:
I can certainly give it a try!
-Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And when you look into that, make sure you note your remaining space leftover.
It's fairly well-known that devices grow more sluggish as their storage fills up, so with the 32GB unit you'd have the easiest time seeing at approximately what % of space is remaining when the "threshold" is crossed and the device slows down a bit.
Frankly, it should be pretty hard to get the device to exhibit this behavior due to the UFS 2.0 within the device, but it probably does still happen to some extent.
This is actually relatively important to know because people sometimes exclude the necessity of having "empty" space for a device to perform at its best, and they often end up making a purchase decision without factoring that into their decision and regretting it down the road.
So on that note, the sake of Galaxy S6 science depends on you!
Let us know how that battery life is! That's the only thing I am worried about with this phone.
Poetique said:
And when you look into that, make sure you note your remaining space leftover.
It's fairly well-known that devices grow more sluggish as their storage fills up, so with the 32GB unit you'd have the easiest time seeing at approximately what % of space is remaining when the "threshold" is crossed and the device slows down a bit.
Frankly, it should be pretty hard to get the device to exhibit this behavior due to the UFS 2.0 within the device, but it probably does still happen to some extent.
This is actually relatively important to know because people sometimes exclude the necessity of having "empty" space for a device to perform at its best, and they often end up making a purchase decision without factoring that into their decision and regretting it down the road.
So on that note, the sake of Galaxy S6 science depends on you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, maybe I should defer this project to someone who is better capable lol.
-Matt
Burn In on Note 4? I had one since day it was launched, have no idea what your talking about. I sold it a week ago and am using iphone 6 right now until s6 Comes. I notice a lot of differences in note and iphone. Iphone is so slow for me. Can't wait to get s6.
Roflwafflez said:
Hello!
Just wanted to make a quick mini review of my S6. Received it yesterday around 5:30 pm after waiting all day impatiently for UPS to show up haha . I chose the 32g white model, primarily cause I'm not a super heavy user so I don't need a ton of extra space, as well as it doesn't show fingerprints as much as the darker colors. Right now it's sitting in a white Spigen feather case. Here's pics (images taken with a Blackberry Z30 that I don't use anymore lol):
I'll just keep this review super simple and to the point:
Screen: Amoled has definitely come a long way. Beautiful screen, good color reproduction using the basic setting, good brightness levels. Overall, it rocks. :good:
Build: Feels nice in the hand. Coming from an Iphone 6, it definitely feels as premium. Beware the fingerprints though haha, you will get them all over!
Camera: Not even going to lie, I don't know a damn thing about photography so I'm not going to pretend that I do. It takes great photos, but then again I personally felt that the Iphone 6 camera was good for what little photography I do, so I'd say look at other reviews for more in depth info about that topic.
Quick sample photos. Everything set to auto. No changes made to the photos:
Fingerprint Scanner: Never used the one from the previous Samsung phones, but coming from the Iphone 6, it works just as well. Registered four different prints, and it hasn't messed up once. :good:
Software: I appreciate Samsung's toning down of Touchwiz. At this point, since I haven't been on Android for awhile, I'm still getting use to the UI overall. Definitely appreciate the ability to install themes.
Reception/Service: Don't see any issues here. Sounds good when on phone calls and the reception seems on par with what I was getting with my Iphone 6.
Some things I've found so far that I'm not a fan of: None of these have anything to do with the hardware of the phone really. These are just a few annoyances that I haven't been able to fix just yet.
I can't seem to find any settings to adjust the lights for the capacitive buttons. As such, it's really annoying to use at night since every time you touch the screen, they light up for a second and a half and then disappear again. If anyone knows how to adjust the time or completely turn them off, please let me know. The only setting I've found that disables the lights is power saving mode.
The second thing I don't like is that both the stock Samsung web browser, and Chrome, don't have settings for full screen mode. I don't like having the status bar sitting at the top all the time. Call my crazy, I'm afraid of screen burn in with Amoleds .
At any given time, a high amount of RAM is always in use, and I honestly haven't installed many apps. I just checked right now, and my phone sitting idle is at 77% of RAM in use. I have 1 push gmail, and that's about it. No apps are running. I don't use any social media at all, and all of the bloat of the phone is disabled.
When I open the stock battery app, I cannot find 'screen' listed under the usage tab. As such, I don't know how I can test what my SOT will be on charges. (I know SOT is subjective and can vary greatly depending on use, but it'd still be helpful to have it listed regardless.
Don't really know what else to say at this point. If anyone has any questions or anything, let me know. Overall, I'm definitely enjoying the phone, and I'm super glad to be back on Android. :good:
Cheers,
-Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't help but notice how many reasons you mentioned that make me believe you really don't need a smartphone at all.
CraigP17 said:
I can't help but notice how many reasons you mentioned that make me believe you really don't need a smartphone at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh you're probably right lol. I use to do a lot more with my phones (I rooted and did roms and such on my DNA, Droid M, and Galaxy S2), but just seems like lately I'm just addicted to getting new gadgets haha. Don't get me wrong, I still take photos, watch youtube videos, check my email and browse the web when I'm out and about, just not in the same capacity as almost everyone on XDA I would surmise. Was heavily into the whole social media thing too, but I just got burnt out feeling like I had to check a bunch of apps every 10 mins to keep up to date with what everyone I know is doing.
-Matt
Recently received the Sony Xperia Z3+ and I must say – I quite enjoy it. Dare I say it’s even better than the LG G4 (for me). I’ll break down the pros and cons of the Z3+, then compare it to the G4 in whole.
A few pics of the Z3+ and its contents here!
Pros:
Astonishing build quality
Expandable storage
Near stock Android UI (personal preference)
Dust/water resistant
Side buttons have great tactile feel
Dedicated camera button
Battery life and settings for extended use
Very fast and responsive
Cons:
Screen real estate could be better (bezel to screen ratio)
Camera is very, very outdated. Lots of noise from the front facing camera
Speakers do not get loud at all
Overheating issues (on newest firmware, still gets hot)
The phone was ordered off eBay from never-msrp without a hiccup. They shipped it on Monday and I received it Wednesday afternoon. This is the E6553 version, I decided to get this specific one since it has the bands that T-Mobile’s LTE runs on. As you can see from the pictures, the phone came with an added car charger, European power brick, and a converter for use in the U.S.A. It also came with headphones (something my Z1 C6906 didn’t come with) and your standard black micro USB cable. Nothing really special.
Overall, the Z3+ is great. It may not be a direct upgrade for those that have the Z3, but I still have my old Z1 and it’s a definite upgrade from that. I’ve used a Z2 before and it’s an upgrade from that as well. The phone feels great and I have been enjoying it for the past couple of days. It has definitely not hiccupped at all, save for some Bluetooth issues with my car (my Tesla can be cumbersome connecting at times, had issues with my G4 too). The phone is fast as hell, and I LOVE the near stock Android UI. After running CM11 on my Huawei Ascend Mate 7, CM12 on my G3, CM12.1 on my Nexus 6 – I really cannot stand bloated UI’s. Nova Launcher helps a bit with bloaty UI’s but it doesn’t mask it completely. The pull down quick settings, and full settings interface on the Z3+ (and on Sony’s version of Lollipop in general) is great and deeply desirable. As mentioned above, the cons of the phone are apparent – the overheating issues have not dissipated as of the latest firmware update (I’m currently on 28.0.A.7.24), and the camera is really showing its age now, especially in comparison to its rivals. The speakers do not get loud, but at least emit clear sound. And while the phone is 5.2” in screen size, it is overall the same size as the G4, which has the added benefit of .3” in screen size. It may seem miniscule, but after using the two phones back and forth, I definitely notice the difference.
On to the comparison – the G4 vs. Z3+. I used the G4 for a little bit, and while I enjoyed it, I was growing tiresome of the issues it faced. The unresponsive screen (double tap to wake was a travesty), the bloated UI, and the lag I sometimes experienced ruined it a bit for me. The G4 is still an amazing phone, but until LG can work out some software issues, it isn’t so fun to use every day. Where the G4 shines is its camera. I’m sure many of you have heard of its magnificence and I’m here to further perpetuate it – it’s a brilliant camera. The shots you see of the Z3+ were taken with the G4. In comparison, the Z3+ takes good shots, but just overall clarity and low light performance – the G4 wins out easily. I can honestly say that if Sony were to just insert the cameras from the G4 into the Z3+, they’d easily have one of the best phones of 2015.
Ergonomics wise, the Z3+ is just as comfortable as the G4, don’t let the “curved” aspect of the G4 fool you, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all. The Z3+ is better to use while it lays on a flat surface too, as the G4 is curved and does shakes about when tapped on either side. The G4 wins out in terms of screen real estate though. The two phones are nearly identical in terms of height and width, but the G4 has more screen. I also feel as if QHD is worthless on these smaller screens, and you cannot tell the different in terms of sheer pixels between QHD and FHD with your naked eye. I’d much rather have better battery life and performance with an FHD screen.
The Z3+ also obviously wins out in terms of battery life due to the aforementioned FHD, and the stamina modes that Sony provides. The inability to take out and replace the battery means the G4 wins in that aspect, but the build quality and feel of the Z3+ more than makes up for it IMO. At 40% brightness, and texting with Google’s Messenger, WhatsApp, some music from Poweramp, and with some light Chrome browsing, the absolute best I could get was a little over 4 hours of SoT on the G4; this was done with WiFi off, no GPS, no Bluetooth. The Z3+ however, has given me a 4 and a half hours of SoT at higher brightness (well above 60%), location set to battery saving, music being played via Bluetooth, and a Moto 360 connected with the same use – texting, WhatsApp, and some internet browsing using Chrome while on WiFi.
Overall, I’d say the victor is the Z3+ for me. I have a penchant for stock Android, and the G4 is just far too bloated for my taste. Both phones are fast, but the Z3+ is just a bit snappier thanks to the 810 SoC. The Z3+ has its ups, but if you’re the type that enjoys a bigger screen and likes taking photos, the G4 is definitely for you. But being the type of guy that values battery life, stock UI look, and what not – the Z3+ is definitely the phone for me. If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!
AhsanU said:
Recently received the Sony Xperia Z3+ and I must say – I quite enjoy it. Dare I say it’s even better than the LG G4 (for me). I’ll break down the pros and cons of the Z3+, then compare it to the G4 in whole.
A few pics of the Z3+ and its contents here!
Pros:
Astonishing build quality
Expandable storage
Near stock Android UI (personal preference)
Dust/water resistant
Side buttons have great tactile feel
Dedicated camera button
Battery life and settings for extended use
Very fast and responsive
Cons:
Screen real estate could be better (bezel to screen ratio)
Camera is very, very outdated. Lots of noise from the front facing camera
Speakers do not get loud at all
Overheating issues (on newest firmware, still gets hot)
The phone was ordered off eBay from never-msrp without a hiccup. They shipped it on Monday and I received it Wednesday afternoon. This is the E6553 version, I decided to get this specific one since it has the bands that T-Mobile’s LTE runs on. As you can see from the pictures, the phone came with an added car charger, European power brick, and a converter for use in the U.S.A. It also came with headphones (something my Z1 C6906 didn’t come with) and your standard black micro USB cable. Nothing really special.
Overall, the Z3+ is great. It may not be a direct upgrade for those that have the Z3, but I still have my old Z1 and it’s a definite upgrade from that. I’ve used a Z2 before and it’s an upgrade from that as well. The phone feels great and I have been enjoying it for the past couple of days. It has definitely not hiccupped at all, save for some Bluetooth issues with my car (my Tesla can be cumbersome connecting at times, had issues with my G4 too). The phone is fast as hell, and I LOVE the near stock Android UI. After running CM11 on my Huawei Ascend Mate 7, CM12 on my G3, CM12.1 on my Nexus 6 – I really cannot stand bloated UI’s. Nova Launcher helps a bit with bloaty UI’s but it doesn’t mask it completely. The pull down quick settings, and full settings interface on the Z3+ (and on Sony’s version of Lollipop in general) is great and deeply desirable. As mentioned above, the cons of the phone are apparent – the overheating issues have not dissipated as of the latest firmware update (I’m currently on 28.0.A.7.24), and the camera is really showing its age now, especially in comparison to its rivals. The speakers do not get loud, but at least emit clear sound. And while the phone is 5.2” in screen size, it is overall the same size as the G4, which has the added benefit of .3” in screen size. It may seem miniscule, but after using the two phones back and forth, I definitely notice the difference.
On to the comparison – the G4 vs. Z3+. I used the G4 for a little bit, and while I enjoyed it, I was growing tiresome of the issues it faced. The unresponsive screen (double tap to wake was a travesty), the bloated UI, and the lag I sometimes experienced ruined it a bit for me. The G4 is still an amazing phone, but until LG can work out some software issues, it isn’t so fun to use every day. Where the G4 shines is its camera. I’m sure many of you have heard of its magnificence and I’m here to further perpetuate it – it’s a brilliant camera. The shots you see of the Z3+ were taken with the G4. In comparison, the Z3+ takes good shots, but just overall clarity and low light performance – the G4 wins out easily. I can honestly say that if Sony were to just insert the cameras from the G4 into the Z3+, they’d easily have one of the best phones of 2015.
Ergonomics wise, the Z3+ is just as comfortable as the G4, don’t let the “curved” aspect of the G4 fool you, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all. The Z3+ is better to use while it lays on a flat surface too, as the G4 is curved and does shakes about when tapped on either side. The G4 wins out in terms of screen real estate though. The two phones are nearly identical in terms of height and width, but the G4 has more screen. I also feel as if QHD is worthless on these smaller screens, and you cannot tell the different in terms of sheer pixels between QHD and FHD with your naked eye. I’d much rather have better battery life and performance with an FHD screen.
The Z3+ also obviously wins out in terms of battery life due to the aforementioned FHD, and the stamina modes that Sony provides. The inability to take out and replace the battery means the G4 wins in that aspect, but the build quality and feel of the Z3+ more than makes up for it IMO. At 40% brightness, and texting with Google’s Messenger, WhatsApp, some music from Poweramp, and with some light Chrome browsing, the absolute best I could get was a little over 4 hours of SoT on the G4; this was done with WiFi off, no GPS, no Bluetooth. The Z3+ however, has given me a 4 and a half hours of SoT at higher brightness (well above 60%), location set to battery saving, music being played via Bluetooth, and a Moto 360 connected with the same use – texting, WhatsApp, and some internet browsing using Chrome while on WiFi.
Overall, I’d say the victor is the Z3+ for me. I have a penchant for stock Android, and the G4 is just far too bloated for my taste. Both phones are fast, but the Z3+ is just a bit snappier thanks to the 810 SoC. The Z3+ has its ups, but if you’re the type that enjoys a bigger screen and likes taking photos, the G4 is definitely for you. But being the type of guy that values battery life, stock UI look, and what not – the Z3+ is definitely the phone for me. If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem but I did a repair on PC after the OTA update and the "overheating" is completely gone now (even when I record in 4k). It might fix your problem, just saying.
Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
xDope said:
I had the same problem but I did a repair on PC after the OTA update and the "overheating" is completely gone now (even when I record in 4k). It might fix your problem, just saying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Pure+ said:
Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he meant is
1. Get the latest fw (.24 version) if you haven't already
2. 'Repair' through PC companion even if it says 'phone is up to date'
Btw, I also have an S6. I was interested in G4 too as I need to carry two phones. Just like OP's case, the bloated UI killed it for me. SD808 coupled with LPDDR3 didn't help either. It's a great phone nonetheless.
Great Review, OP!
Pure+ said:
Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Visit this link:
http://www.sonymobile.com/us/tools/pc-companion/
Click on Download PC companion
2.Run the software
After the installation the first screen will show you the PC Companion Startup Guide which gives you a brief explanation on the main modules of PC companion (Support Zone, Xperia Transfer, Contact setup and Media Go) Keep clicking next.
3.Now you will see the screen with the different modules.
Select Support Zone> Click Start. *The program will download the module.
Then click on start on Phone/Tablet Software update. (Here you can choose to update an accessory, go to step 14 for instructions)
*
Note:*At this point*if*you get an error stating that "unable to install update components" or "server is busy" Please proceed to step 13 . If you not see that error then continue with step 4.
4. The program will show a window saying "could not find phone/Tablet”*Do not Connect*phone*instead select*Repair my phone/tablet.*This will bring you to a window with a warning that says "data will be lost" (do you want to continue) Select to continue (Data in the phone will be deleted, only data in the SD card will remain. Make sure you have done all proper backups if possible)
6. The program will issue a second warning stating that “data saved in the phone /tablet will be overwritten during the update of your phone”. Click on the checkmark box next to the acceptance text and select Next to continue.
7. Next the computer will download the necessary files (Prepare stage, this can take several minutes depending on the speed of your connection) and then its done it will show you a list of recommendations for a successful update operation. When you are done reading this section click on the checkmark box and press Continue
8. Next you will get a Battery level warning that states that your phone should have at least 80% battery. (If the issue in the phone does not permit the unit from turning on, then charge it connected to the wall charger for at least 2 hours and then comeback to this step) Then click on the checkmark and select Next
9. Choose the Phone from the list then click on "next" then you will see a new section telling you how to connect the phone.*(don't connect it yet)*Again, at this point the phone must be*off and disconnected*from the PC.
*
10.. Connect the cable to the PC not to the phone, then while*pressing and*holding*the indicated button*(in the steps on screen an specific button will be shown for you to press on the phone) connect the cable to the phone and keep holding the indicated button until the program says "the update of your phone has started..." (in some cases a message of *"Installing drivers" will appear before the message of "the update of your phone has started..." *is shown.)
11. If you failed to follow the steps correctly the phone will turn on. If this happens disconnect the phone from the cable, turn it off and repeat from step 10).
12. If the phone is connected properly, PC Companion will proceed with the update ( It will tell you to let go of the key) then wait for the update to finish and follow instructions on screen to disconnect the unit.
Screenshot of my battery life for today.
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WiFi on 90% of the time since my home is a T-Mobile dead spot. Brightness at 55% or so. Day consisted of heavy texting via Google Messenger and WhatsApp. Decent amount of Google chrome use, light camera use (myfitnesspal, Snapchat), light music via Bluetooth, light Facebook and Instagram use as well. 5+ hours of SoT, I could've easily squeezed out more if I didn't have background services like MightyText running. With root, and Xposed - we'll get amazing battery life.
Sent from my Xperia Z3+ E6553
AhsanU said:
Screenshot of my battery life for today.
View attachment 3397037
View attachment 3397038
WiFi on 90% of the time since my home is a T-Mobile dead spot. Brightness at 55% or so. Day consisted of heavy texting via Google Messenger and WhatsApp. Decent amount of Google chrome use, light camera use (myfitnesspal, Snapchat), light music via Bluetooth, light Facebook and Instagram use as well. 5+ hours of SoT, I could've easily squeezed out more if I didn't have background services like MightyText running. With root, and Xposed - we'll get amazing battery life.
Sent from my Xperia Z3+ E6553
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
AhsanU said:
If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really think Sony would include a camera to compete with G4? I don't think so bro.
I mean I have Z2 and Superior Auto mode they need to really fix and give more manual settings. I mean we have the same exact Camera app on KK and LP for Z2 users. Then there comes the Z3+ but it has the same Camera app and UI.
I meant they could just give user to give more controls to play with and get rid of the Bluish Tint effect on Superior Auto mode so the photos won't be crappy or blown or you know etc...
I hope you could shoot up some pics and share with us. G4 and Z3+ and see if the Red is really Red when you shoot photos in SA cause Z2 it's all pink
Pure+ said:
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a 'repair' through PC companion. Actually it's always a good idea to do a 'repair' after OTA updates. My available RAM is now 1.9GB compared to 1.6GB I used to get on the same fw build with the exact same apps running. I can't get more than 1.2GB on my S6 without any app running.
My S6's battery life is also quite worse than my Z3+'s. What's your SoT & display brightness setting?
schecter7 said:
Try a 'repair' through PC companion. Actually it's always a good idea to do a 'repair' after OTA updates. My available RAM is now 1.9GB compared to 1.6GB I used to get on the same fw build with the exact same apps running. I can't get more than 1.2GB on my S6 without any app running.
My S6's battery life is also quite worse than my Z3+'s. What's your SoT & display brightness setting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use auto brightness. Sot was 2.2 hours at 30% charge left.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Pure+ said:
I use auto brightness. Sot was 2.2 hours at 30% charge left.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 'auto' brightness doesn't exist anymore. It's semi-auto now on newer android versions. So what's the 'brightness level' even though the 'adaptive brightness' is on?
Could you also post the screenshot of battery usage like OP did?
Pure+ said:
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.
schecter7 said:
The 'auto' brightness doesn't exist anymore. It's semi-auto now on newer android versions. So what's the 'brightness level' even though the 'adaptive brightness' is on?
Could you also post the screenshot of battery usage like OP did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brightness is 50. Cant do a screeny. Apps crashes every time i try.
AhsanU said:
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instagram and screen are the only 2 culprits.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ----------
AhsanU said:
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have every Google apps aside from chrome and Google voice disabled.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Pure+ said:
I have every Google apps aside from chrome and Google voice disabled.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean just the apps right? Not things like Google Service Frameowrk, Google Play Services, Google Partner Set Up, etc.
I also have Stamina mode constantly running with my main apps on the list of apps that are exempted (WhatsApp, Greenify, Google Messenger, etc.)
AhsanU said:
You mean just the apps right? Not things like Google Service Frameowrk, Google Play Services, Google Partner Set Up, etc.
I also have Stamina mode constantly running with my main apps on the list of apps that are exempted (WhatsApp, Greenify, Google Messenger, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yes. The apps only. And yeah I have the same setup.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Pure+ said:
Haha yes. The apps only. And yeah I have the same setup.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn! I have no idea what's going on then. If I were you, I'd just run a repair through Sony's PC Companion software (backing up is painless, might as well do that too) and try running the phone again afterwards. If that fails and you're still getting really bad SoT, it might be worth contacting Sony and telling them you've got a faulty product. There's no excuse for the type of SoT you're getting honestly.
Yeah that's the plan. Goota wait til home though. WiFi is so awful at my job.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Pure+ said:
Brightness is 50. Cant do a screeny. Apps crashes every time i try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set brightness level to 0 with adaptive brightness on. It'll still adapt even under direct sunlight as long as your light sensor is not dead or blocked. You can trust me on that.
How come things crash when you try to do a screenshot? Doesn't make any sense. You just need to go the battery usage under setting and long press the power button!!
schecter7 said:
Set brightness level to 0 with adaptive brightness on. It'll still adapt even under direct sunlight as long as your light sensor is not dead or blocked. You can trust me on that.
How come things crash when you try to do a screenshot? Doesn't make any sense. You just need to go the battery usage under setting and long press the power button!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry no. I meant Tapatalk crashes.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
We're not the same page. Whatever.... good luck anyway.
So my LG G4 is with me for more than 2 weeks now and I had the time to root it first with Low Effort then with official unlock.
Coming from a long history of HTC phones and a short period of S6 I will try to be as honest as possible with my review of the G4.
Design:
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The LG G4 I bought came with both leather (black) and gold plastic(silver in reality) covers. Of course using the leather cover gives it a more premium look while the ''gold'' one is more heavy duty. I am using the plastic one for days of gym and other sports, while the leather one is for casual days like going to diners, dating...
Ok even with the leather you won't reach the high levels of premium feeling an HTC M9 can give but it's easily better looking than the S6 back glass and ugly face, also thanks to the fact the battery cover can be opened and replaced you won't have to babycare your phone with additional covers,bumpers...
I am planning to get the red burgundy color as it's more special and vibrant than both black and brown colors.
The screen is slightly curved as well as the back, it's good for handy use but the plastic cover will be a little slippery while the leather one will bounce left and right if you put it on a table and try to write a message for example, due to the extra sewing in the middle of the back.
The sides are very nice with a titanium effect that looks way more durable than the Note 4 chromes.
So all and all the design is pretty nice and the phone doesn't feel cheap specially with the leather back.
Screen:
The G4 sports a big 5.5'' screen with 1440p resolution. This is one of the main reason I switched from the M9, I had sometimes troubles reading fonts with my near sighted vision problems without glasses.
The screen on G4 is simply splendid! it's more vivid than M9, way better viewing angles and nearly closed amoled blacks. The details are amazing as expected thanks to the 1440p resolution and the high contrast ratio, I have faced zero problem reading text without glasses and playing games are a real pleasure.
Sunlight visibility is slightly better than M9 which was already very good.
The advantage of this LCD is that you won't face the amoled known burn-in problems as well as the S6 board traces under sunlight and the infamous pink tint.
So to conclude, the G4's screen is simply the best smartphone screen of 2015 as it has very high resolution, very high contrast and very good viewing angles without any problem known on other phones.
Some people faced touchscreen problems on their G4 but they claimed the latest FW updates (10f and newer) fixed it.
Sound Quality:
Sound quality and volume are important for me, specially coming from the best in that field HTC M8 and M9. I use my smartphone as audio source for my car stereo pairing it with the HTC stereoclip module (BT to AUX) or AUX, and of course for sports (gym,skiing,...) using my HifIman RE272 or my Sony SBH50.
Let's begin with the main speaker: it's very loud! Louder than both speakers on the M9, quality wise it's way superior to the Note 4 and louder than S6. The speaker is at the back but because it's curved it won't get muffled on most surfaces.
Out of the box the G4 has pleasant sound quality over my earphones hifiman RE272, the soundstage is very good but it lacks some bass, as for volume loudness it's perhaps 1-2 steps under what I would like as max volume. Weirdly enough using the BT option, the loudness is way better and even louder than the M9's BT.
Thanks to Root, using Viper4android boosting volume and equalizer I can finally reach a very satisfactory volume level and the lacking bass is fixed, some roms like Marcosuper7 have already a boosted volume.
BT in my car is pretty loud and sound quality (aptx + BT 4.0) is as good as AUX, while AUX (with root advantages) will produce even louder sound.
Conclusion: I am not missing the HTC sound quality and loudness, the G4 just need root and V4A to reach high quality sound and volume.
User Interface:
The G4 has Android 5.1 out of the box, the UI is fluid and lagless, the double tap to wake and sleep are very cool, the smartnotice widget is cool (though will cover half your wallpaper), it's much better build than Touchwiz and is closer to HTC Sense logic and added value.
One of the thing I hated on the S6 was the lack of automatic connecting BT, when I used car apps with the S6 I had to manually pair it everytime I went in my car, with the G4 like with the M9 it will autoconnect to the HTC Stereoclip, added to that I successfully run the HTC Car app on the G4 which is for me the best Car app on Android.
I can install the Sense 7 port which is as fluid as on M9 but I losed the double tap to sleep feature.
I am using the HTC gallery app instead of LG stock one as it's also better structured.
Conclusion: I was afraid the G4 UI was poor compared to Sense but it's finally very good and I can add some apps from Sense to make it perfect.
Camera:
One of the main feature that people liked in the G4 is the camera...and they are not wrong!
It has a 16mp sensor with f1.8 and OIS meaning great low light photos, compared to M9 low light photos are miles better, they have less obvious noises (the M9 used to have big yellow ones in very low light) and details are much better, compared to S6 it's sometimes as good and sometimes slightly better.
In daylight the G4 is equal to S6 in Auto mode meaning very good, but like with the M9 you can use RAW and increase much more details.
The advantage of the G4 is that it has a great dynamic range, so you won't have to use the HDR thingy too much (like on M9).
Macro shots are fantastic with the G4 and it produces natural bokeh due to the f1.8, though because the focus is very limited on macro shots due again to f1.8 if you don't want the bokeh effect you will have it anyway.
Lightroom will produce vignette if you open DNG photos directly, so it's better to use the Cornerfix software with the G4 profile given by vincent2167 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61360315&postcount=314 then open it with Lightroom.
In conclusion the G4 is easily on the top 2 camera of 2015 with the S6
Some samples:
Macro, low light no flash:
Macro, low light flash:
HDR:
Battery:
All 2015 Android flagship phones are suffering from the same not so good battery life, the S6,M9 and G4 will not give you more than 24h battery with normal use and 80 to 100% brightness.
The M9 I had was better than S6 and the G4 won 30mins more SOT over the M9.
I had 3.5 hours SOT with M9 and now 4 hours with the G4, but as said before it's not as good as a 2014 Z3 that have over 6 hours SOT.
In another hand all these 3 2015 phones have the Quick Charging 2.0 feature, meaning much faster charging time.
The G4 is not only compatible with this feature but it's clearly faster than M9 to charge from 0 to 100%.
I took nearly 1 hour and 20 minutes on M9 and now 50 minutes on G4 :good::good:
Of course it's better to alternate between QC 2.0 charger and the normal one for the battery lifetime.
You can also buy an extra battery as you just have to open the back cover, an advantage you won't have on M8,M9,S6,Note5...
Conclusion:
Did I finally made the right choice in swapping my M9 with the G4? Absolutely yes!
I don't miss the M9 at all, the G4 has a better screen, better camera, on par audio quality (earphones) with root, very nice design thanks to the leather and curvatures, well done UI, no faulty materials (it looks like the touchscreen problem some faced was only a software bug).
For me I can easily say the G4 is the king of 2015 in Android world (and all smartphones if you hate ios like me).
The S6 is a very good flagship too but it has build faults like board traces, very slippery back, very fragile glass back...and of course the ugly touchwiz.
I agree. I didn't take S6 because of no Raw, no manual mode as G4, no SD Card, and specially bad Ram Management !
May I ask which version of the phone you purchased and where you got it from? Also which carrier you are using it on?
I'm thinking of ordering one of the unlocked H815 models off Amazon to use on AT&T.
Was going to ask you
vegetaleb said:
Did I finally made the right choice in swapping my M9 with the G4? Absolutely yes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good
The S6 is a very good flagship too but it has build faults like board traces, very slippery back, very fragile glass back...and of course the ugly touchwiz.
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what is a 'board trace' ?
One Twelve said:
Was going to ask you
good
what is a 'board trace' ?
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Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/weird-lines-s6-screen-t3124664
Oh I forgot to talk about the pink tint of the majority of S6 screens too that you won't have on G4
zook388 said:
May I ask which version of the phone you purchased and where you got it from? Also which carrier you are using it on?
I'm thinking of ordering one of the unlocked H815 models off Amazon to use on AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the NDL H815 version not branded
LG's UI is definitely not lag free.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
LG's UI is definitely not lag free.
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Which version of the phone did you have? I've heard that the US carrier versions have worse lag.
zook388 said:
Which version of the phone did you have? I've heard that the US carrier versions have worse lag.
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Click to collapse
I had the H815T. I don't deal with the US carriers, my network is cricket so I buy all my phones outright. That version of the G4 did lag quite a bit. Like exiting an app and starting to swipe though the home screen it would stutter 70% of the time. Then you have the touchscreen responsiveness issues. Don't wanna even speak about that.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
I had the H815T. I don't deal with the US carriers, my network is cricket so I buy all my phones outright. That version of the G4 did lag quite a bit. Like exiting an app and starting to swipe though the home screen it would stutter 70% of the time. Then you have the touchscreen responsiveness issues. Don't wanna even speak about that.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The touchscreen issue that some people faced is already fixed since 10f, you can't blame LG if your carrier didn't release the update yet
All OS have micro lags, it all depends on the apps you are running in the background, though I tried Note 4 for example and found it really laggy, like 3 seconds to open the app drawer
vegetaleb said:
The touchscreen issue that some people faced is already fixed since 10f, you can't blame LG if your carrier didn't release the update yet
All OS have micro lags, it all depends on the apps you are running in the background, though I tried Note 4 for example and found it really laggy, like 3 seconds to open the app drawer
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That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
Those stutters in the G4 are not micro stutters.
I can't blame LG? They're the ones who shipped the phone that way no?
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
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My rooted G4 with animations disabled is way faster than waiting on the animations that can't be disabled on the iPhone.
oldjackbob said:
My rooted G4 with animations disabled is way faster than waiting on the animations that can't be disabled on the iPhone.
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That's great. A jailbroken iPhone can speed up the animations as well. You didn't know that though....
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
That's great. A jailbroken iPhone can speed up the animations as well. You didn't know that though....
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
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Believe me the iphones also lags, at least on Android phones like G4 you can change launchers, I said in my review you can install the Sense 7 port on G4 and get the exact same speed and lagless feeling than on M9.
Also ALL manufacturers without any exceptions release flagships with bugs, but the thing is that they iron out these bugs in the weeks or months that follow, LG fixed the touchscreen issue some G4 had. I used to have extreme heat on my M9 out of nowhere but they reduced it in later FWs, though there is an horrible screen wake lag when you open the dot view cover that could reach 4 seconds and I don't know if they fixed it yet.
There is something a little annoying with the G4 though I dunno if it's a Windows 10 thingy, there are some files in the G4's memory I can't see in windows explorer! When I download a torrent file with Vuze and come in Windows to see it, it won't show up at all.
barondebxl said:
That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or a nexus or droid turbo or the xperias on tricked out roms.
Those stutters in the G4 are not micro stutters.
I can't blame LG? They're the ones who shipped the phone that way no?
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Click to collapse
You are saying you can't handle it because you've got addicted to speed. Can't do without it now. Must root, jailbreak whatever.
But you will always be the slowest link. the device is waiting on your lag 99.99% of the time
Skins are always going to have these issues so ppl say give me a thin one, well there are vendors out there that do that. If what they offer meets your requirements great. But i find that does not happen often. so more choice means chances are better you get what you want.
Why are you on a G now ? its a good device but bit of a come down isn't it.
One Twelve said:
Or a nexus or droid turbo or the xperias on tricked out roms.
You are saying you can't handle it because you've got addicted to speed. Can't do without it now. Must root, jailbreak whatever.
But you will always be the slowest link. the device is waiting on your lag 99.99% of the time
Skins are always going to have these issues so ppl say give me a thin one, well there are vendors out there that do that. If what they offer meets your requirements great. But i find that does not happen often. so more choice means chances are better you get what you want.
Why are you on a G now ? its a good device but bit of a come down isn't it.
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Click to collapse
No my friend no. You are making your own conclusion based on nothing really. I'm not making the lag up, I have used a lot of phones and I mean a lot. I just know good performance vs not that great performance. Compared to the M8 and the iPhone for example, the G4 stutters quite a bit. That is a fact. Now if you wanna deny that then its ok but its there. And I disagree that skins will always have these issues cause again, the M8 is one of the speediest Android devices out there and it runs with sense on top. It's about the UI and its optimizations.
I am using the Moto G3 until the IPhone is released of the nexus. Maybe the Moto X pure edition, we will see.
Keep in mind, I owned the G4, I also owned the S6, IPhone 6 and 6 plus and many other high and devices. The G4 doesn't perform as well as any of those devices in my opinion. It's a fast device that stutters more than it should.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
LG G4
After reading this much clear to know the LG G4, maybe 8 years ago when i walked on the street found full of LG ADS on my side. Honest speaking Apply, Susamg knocked the off LG, it's a pity. however , i like the appearance!
I had the S6 too and it was slightly more laggy than the G4, I come from an HTC M9 which is the fastest phone out there in terms of UI, the G4 is perhaps just 5% slower using the LG launcher but again (and this is why you are here in XDA) once you use a launcher like Sense 7 port (thanks xpirt) it's as fast as on M9 meaning fastest UI speed possible in 2015.
People having lags on G4 have obviously branded G4 with additional bloatwares
G4 does not lag at all with me, QHD screen and no lag, so it's very cool... I put animation to x0.5, that's perfect.
My phone is unbranded
How you can get Sense 7 on the G4 ?
Great review. I agree with you completely. The best phone I've ever used.
I'm wondering where you find the HTC Car app. When I go to the Play store nothing shows up from HTC when I type that in.
Richard