Database Users

Video calls - front camera brightness problem

I have the XDA Exec (for 1 day), seems like a good bit of kit, but I haven't been out of the house with it yet, so it will be interesting what living with the beast, in an inside jacket pocket will be like!!
I need to find out if the problem I'm having with the front camera brightness is just my unit or a common problem, I can adjust the brightness for the back 1.3 mega pixel camera jus fine, but the adjusting the brightness for the front camera has absolutely no effect, and all the images are very dark?
Is this normal, or should I be hot footing to my nearest o2 shop for a replacement?

Nope, its normal. I have handled quite alot of 3G phones (as you can see from my sig) and currently have about 10 atm (althought they are all really really bad, but still classics). Nearly all of the 3G phones with second cameras are really dark. The phone makers like nokia, sony ericsson or HTC in this case, dont acually put alot of consideration into the front cameras. As the network only runs video calls at 64kbps (on most 3G networks) then there isnt any need for more than a VGA camera really. They concentrate mostly on the back camera, as this is what people will use most.
Besides, the front camera has to be really small (otherwise it would look stupid sticking out of the front of the phone) so they dont really bother with it. Video calling hasnt really taken off properly yet and for most people, its an extra gimmick that they wont use. But your not alone. Nearly all phones with a internal camera are terible quality, excluding rotating cameras, as they would be the same as the back (as its the same camera).
Hope this answers all of your questions.

Front camera, brightness controls don't work.
Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, if I select the front camera for a video call, there is a brightness control on the screen. But sliding the control up and down actually makes no effect on the image whatsoever, I guess I would aspect to see some sort of change, no matter how small, but this doesn't appear to work.
If I select the back camera, then there are a range of controls, including contrast and brightness. The brightness control does work here.
Just need to find out if anyone is able to get some sort of brightness improvement on their front camera, i.e mine is faulty, or if this slider has no effect on the xda exec.
Also side point, the front camera on the Nokia n70 3g phone is very good, for any one that is interested.

Hm dont acually have any experience with the N70 as its a fairly new phone, but on my 6680, the front camera is reasonable, but nothing to shout about.
Yes its the same on mine, it does nothing. Maybe it changes on the peoples you are calling screen?

Well, I think there's something wrong with your devices. The brightness setting on the video-calling camera definitely makes a difference to the picture on my JasJar.
It isn't the biggest change in the world, but there's definitely a visible difference in the brightness.
(By the way, I don't have a "slider", just five buttons to tap on to vary the brightness, that's not where the confusion is, is it??)

Front camera brightness
I just changed my handset for another xda exec, as I tested the new unit in the store, on the general camera mode, which does indeed have brightness levels 1-5 as sub69 says, and this does have a small but noticable difference.
However, on getting the phone home and actally trying a video call, which has a different brightness contol on screen (showing 5 values from black to white) on a vertical slding scale... I notice this control makes little or no difference to the picture.. which leaves me back where I started, plus I think my signal is weaker than on the last unit!!!
Oh well, I'll see how I get on

Hhm yes I have also got a slider. I think it might be somthing to do with the Exec, as you are on e jasjar. It will probably be rectified in the next ROM update, whenever that may be!

Camera Software

I know that im not the only person who has a problem with the cam on the Wizard. I found that the light intake is rubbish unless you turn the contrast all the way up but even then its still quite dark. Also i dont think the flash works that great either, and videos are just as bad. Now someone will probably say change it to night mode. This works great apart from the fact its so jerky that every image u take is blurred and videos are very jerky as well. Does anyone know a fix for this or an update on the software or are we stuck with a rubbish cam? By the way when i use the cam i have no other programs running.

The only thing you can do is wait for a new rom release with an updated driver for the cam, of find a 3rd party cam driver/software with better support.
But I'm guessing we'll have to life with it. :roll:

For me most of it comes from the fact that the sensor simply is very bad quality...

was the same on the magician
in fact it was worse un usable till hacks and fixes came out, which made a marked improvement.

more ram?¿
i hate the blurry factor in my MDA's camera, i would like to be able to press the trigger and take a photo and walkaway, instead i have to click and hold my position VERY VERY still (in low light) or i'll get a blurr...
could the camera app have more ram assigned to it, like in the old mac OS9 era where you could manually change ram usage per app.
(any more news on the camera rom upgrade?)

Thanas has some tweaks - that make the camera better - clearer and better contrast see here http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=45123

It's ridiculous how you have to hack every aspect of any HTC phone even to get acceptable functionality.
It's like the phone that does everything, but does nothing well.

For Z1 Compact owners: any regrets?

Where I come from there's a saying "every Gipsy praises his horse".
Having that in mind, I'm asking you, Xperia Z1 Compact owners, to reply here honestly, if you have any regrets and remorses for buying this phone.
It's a serious money for me, and I plan to have my next phone for at least next two years (I've had Motorola Atrix for three years), so please, serious answers only.

I have regrets buying it at launch lol! In my country right now the phone had dropped it's price for like almost 1/4 already. Could have saved some money if only I had waited a week or so.

Honestly for the Specs and Size. Its a "YES" for me. I had HTC One X for 2 years but the thing I don't like is the Battery life. Was thinking about Nexus 5 or Moto X which has very similar specs but i go for the "size", "battery" and IP57.
Z1C last me average 2.5 Days with 4 hrs screen time. (For normal usage)
Regrets on Z1C was only the screen had ASF (Thin layer of film to prevent glass shutter) which easily get scratch. (Solution - Get a good screen protector, prefer a Glass with 9H)
Liking - Battery, Water Resistant, Power, SD Card Slot, Camera and a slick design.
Not talking about the software side but I read that Sony quite reliable on updating their software + Firmware. Currently on 4.3 and likely to get 4.4 kitkat (Hopefully the battery will get better then).
Hope this helps!

No regrets!

I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!
calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
"superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
proximity sensor issue: 1-2 second delay in screen switching back on if it was switched off by proximity sensor. i.e when you make/receive a call, you have to wait to hang-up the call. minor inconvenience really.
And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!
oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)

stevo_125 said:
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!
calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
"superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
???
And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!
oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only experienced the walkman issue
Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

stevo_125 said:
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Root + xposed is mandatory, unlock + custom ROM optional

calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app <-- Well the equalizer was polished for walkman. This is the same even on my HTC One except for beats audio at least.
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
"superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo <-- Ok for a smartphone camera though... It's meant for average users for average results. Hence why manual mode is added. If superior auto was the best of everything then what would be the use of manual mode then.
Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode <-- Well stamina mode is stamina mode. It's doing its job. I would have been disappointed if it can't control system apps though... Android is all about customization. Would defeat the purpose if we can't control system apps here. If you want it to work with stamina mode then add it on the whitelist.
volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing <-- Never encountered this yet.
Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers <-- Like? Been using Opera and firefox here since I disabled chrome because of the first issue you mentioned.
???

Another software bug needs to be fixed is 'proximity sensor issue'.

@Riyal the speakerphone big didn't go away by removing or freezing chrome here. It popped up again even after switching to boat browser.
But I have learnt to work around this by changing the way I swipe to unlock.
The real regret is camera. Nothing else. Everything else has solution so far. Camera is weirdo. Very inconsistent.
And no, that is not acceptable for today's high end smartphone camera. Nexus 5 trakes better and consistent photos indoors at the moment.using its tiny sensor. Sony should be ashamed of this.
From my Xperia Z1 Compact, in your face!

Comments inline, excuse the lousy formatting and typos, I wrote this one my z1c
Riyal said:
calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
Wasn't aware of this, thanks for the tip
sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app <-- Well the equalizer was polished for walkman. This is the same even on my HTC One except for beats audio at least.
Would be fine if 3rd party equalisers worked, but they don't.
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
My network does support fast dormancy, but there is still an issue with it. FD works for a short while after a factory reset (can see FD working), then at some point it stops functioning. (connection stays as "H" not falling back to "3g" and the wake locks start. Have replicated this 3 times.
"superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo <-- Ok for a smartphone camera though... It's meant for average users for average results. Hence why manual mode is added. If superior auto was the best of everything then what would be the use of manual mode then.
I'm more than happy to use the manual mode, and that works fairly well. One annoying "feature" is that the lock screen shortcut and camera key launch the camera in superior mode.... No good.
Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode <-- Well stamina mode is stamina mode. It's doing its job. I would have been disappointed if it can't control system apps though... Android is all about customization. Would defeat the purpose if we can't control system apps here. If you want it to work with stamina mode then add it on the whitelist.
Again, a replicatable issue with notifications coming through delayed. You can sometimes get a notification for a text message or something whilst already reading it! (if you so happened to check the app just before it arrives - Verified on two Z1c's as my friend also bought one after playing with mine.
volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing <-- Never encountered this yet. only happened to me a couple of times, and it has been mentioned on sony forum by someone else. It seems there is a timeout or something and the phone pops up with a warning message and reduces the volume automatically. If using speakers or high impedance headphones, this is not useful!
Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers <-- Like? Been using Opera and firefox here since I disabled chrome because of the first issue you mentioned. I've seen reports of others having lag/stability issues with other browsers. Not tried one myself. Was trying to give a complete list of possible issues here
???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall, I'm happy with the phone, it's just extremely frustrating to *have* to start rooting and flashing custom roms because Sony couldn't get it right..... We'll see what they fix.

I love it!! I had a Z and a Z1 before so I new what I was getting into software wise I just hope kitkat gets here soon. Love the size and performance of this thing
The Z2 is tempting but I remember not liking the Z1 because it was too big
Sent from my D5503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

No regrets here.
Of the previous listed 'weaknesses' the only one I regularly encounter would be the superiour auto mode in camera, but manual mode is quite fun to play with.
My main grip with auto is that it's limited to 8mp, to get 20 (yeah mp isn't everything, but it is nice to have) you need manual mode.
Sony are generally very nice with updates, so optimistic for 4.4 and beyond support.

no regrets

Only regret is not using a screen protector - the anti-shatter film (ASF) scratches very easily (front and back).

Couple of quirks, like intermittent sound distortion (almost only on GEL launcher, only happened once on stock launcher), occasional battery drain (but my 13 N7 is even worse the last couple of days so i aint even mad),
But other than that that the build quality, form factor, and general benefits far outweigh those few quirks, im quite smitten with it.
just waiting on kitkat now. Not even gonna bother rooting till there's a simple super-noob friendly method.
edit: i should add that after a weeks use my phones still completely scratch free. only precaution i take is to make sure it gets a pocket to iteself whenever i put it in my pants/jacket. Thats pretty much it.
Also, people have been mentioning its a lint / fingerprint magnet....so get the white one. The black store demo model i saw looked like it had been dipped in room temp bacon grease and covered in lint. The white one hides those kind of blemishes ALOT more compared to the black one.

stevo_125 said:
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!
calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
"superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
???
And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!
oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of your information are very very wrong.You do not have the real idea or knowledge about xperia z1 compact.
---------- Post added at 04:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 AM ----------
I think some people have not enough idea or knowledge about this phone and just trying to find out some complain that most of the user never face such problem

Riyal said:
calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
My phone sometimes does this too. Very occasionally, and the trend I have noticed is when I receive calls from telephone numbers not in my address book. Maybe my idea was just coincidental. Anyway, can you ELABORATE on this idea that it is the chrome browser? How can they be related?
fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
So our phones are turned on by default? Can you be kind and tell us, if you know, how to turn it off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks,
And I have no regret about buying this phone, just to answer the OP...
There seems to be nothing that is critically problematic, hardware wise, so future updates can address most problems.

No regrets.
The only regret is that I dropped it on the floor once. :crying:

I have no regrets.

List your 'small' things that make this phone great.

Well it's not even out for sale yet but we've all seen plenty of reviews & videos giving us a taster of what's in store when we get our hands on one. Of course we're all well aware of the headlining specs - 20.7mpx, waterproofing, small form factor etc. but what about the lesser known bullet points, the small things that may have escaped attention or been quickly glossed over but still contribute to making this a great device. If you have any, share em here. Here's my three -
F2.0 camera aperture - great, nice & big
Dust proof - yes, not just dust resistant like other phones, this is fully dust proof.
Smart window case available - I'll be having one of these. Smart window with smart orientation, awake on opening, and phone still fits in the charging dock when folded back.

For me it came down to the battery life and a quality camera. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

I like how the percentage is inside the battery icon. It saves notification space. I like how they removed the consumer logos from the back of the phone and hid it inside the phone. It looks cleaner.

I'm also liking the 'smart connect' app it comes with. I plug in my headphones, it's set's the volume, opens Google play, starts playing, when I unplug headphones volume gets reset.
It's also got configurable settings for charger dock, headset and normal charger.

The stamina and ultra stamina modes - I wish those and the FM Radio could be ported to AOSP too.

Small thing but coming from exynos devices it's a blessing:
Whenever you hit the power button or double tap, the screen is on_instantly_ no lag or anything. considering how often you wake up your phone that is kinda important!

One Month Review [good not perfect]

Title says it all. I will keep it short and sweet.
Upgraded from an OP8. The Oppo definitely feels heavier in the hand and pocket but can attribute this to the ceramic housing. Feels good in the hand, even with the stock case. I did receive the gift pack which had the Kevlar case and that is lovely but the top, bottom and side buttons are exposed to the elements and that has put me off using and I am continuing with the stock case.
Camera - good. Better than the OP8. Better than a Pixel6 Pro? No, almost as good. I am no camera expert so I don't tinker with all the settings, I am more your regular point and shoot user. I rarely shoot video so can't comment much but again no issue, playback is nice and crisp, sharp smooth quality.
Good battery - charges quick, although I'm not convinced the wireless charger is as fast as it claims i.e. 50W.
User experience - this is where I have some gripes. On the whole it is fine and slick and snappy most of the time but...
1. Sometimes there is a moment of freeze/lag/sticks when I have tried to leave an app or switch to another app- not snappy.
2. When I am listening to YouTube via Bluetooth in the car and somebody calls me, the YT playback continues so I hear both the caller and YT. The caller does not hear the YT playback but can hear me. I have tried the various permission settings but no joy.
3. Screen sometimes wakes up with fingerprint. What I mean here is I can place my thumb on the screen and it signs in. However sometimes I have to double tap the screen to wake it up THEN apply my finger to unlock.
4. Power button - does not power down. Have to use volume up and Power button. Not a biggie but quite annoying.
5. No lockdown mode. I badly want this, but again this works in tandem with the power button.
6. No alert slider like the OnePlus range (which I hear is ditching the alert slider which means they will be using and rebranding Oppo hardware going forward). I usually have my phone on vibrate or silent, very rarely on Loud/ringtones. A helpful XDA user advised me to use the vibrate button to switch between silent and vibrate.
7. I use the Podcast Addict app. The player appears in the banner (pull down) even after I have closed the app. Annoying. This did not happen on the OP8, ever.
Appreciate 6 of the 7 above are software issues and this might be a ColorOS thing and needs tidying up. If anyone has answers to the above that can help me, please do let me know.
I like my phone. Is it significantly better than my OP8? No... better camera but on a day to day, that's it. Again this comes down to what people use their phones for. I am not a gamer so the new SD8.1 will be of use to others.
Thanks all

I trust user reviews more than the mainstream glowing it's great reviews...
All Androids need to be optimized to get the best performance. Workarounds need to be found for issues.
Try modifying the notification settings for Pod Addict. For badly behaving apps I will turn off notifications for them completely... or just take out the trash
This setting is useful to kill ads globally: