Database Users

Desire HD to SGS2 - Thougts and AMA for anyone considering the upgrade!

I posted this in my ROM thread but thought it may be worth moving it to the General section, as I've noticed users asking what the SGS2 is like coming from the DHD.
These are just some initial thoughts, but feel free to ask me anything about the phone that would influence your decision. Just to be clear, don't turn the thread into a Sensation vs SGS2 thread please!! That said, I have had a good play with the Sensation so can answer some questions about it.
Being a HTC Fan for the best part of a decade, I was apprehensive of making the move to Samsung. Their previous Android offerings all had major flaws and didn't cut it for me. I used to laugh at the original SGS with it's lag/GPS/lack of camera flash issues. I upgrade my phones often and naturally assumed that my next phone would be the Sensation but the whole issue with the bootloader turned my head. Even though HTC have now backtracked, I'm grateful they turned my head because the SGS2 is unbelievably good!
The battery life is a major improvement, with similar usage I now find myself with 20-30% more battery at the end of the day and no longer dread the "15% Remaining" notification.
Although my N1 is an AMOLED model, nothing prepared me for the SAMOLED+ which is just unbelievable. The blacks, colours and clarity are on another level and I know I will really struggle going back to LCD after seeing this.
The speed of the device is just insane. Coming from the N1 to DHD, there wasn't any major improvements in speed as such, just the bigger screen. You'd think that it wouldn't be very noticeable coming from a 1.3Ghz OC DHD to SGS2 but side by side, the SGS2 just chews through everything almost 2x as fast. The browser, as many have shown is buttery smooth and makes for an awesome browsing experience.
The camera is much better and the 1080p recording looks stunning on my 42" 1080p TV with the increased bitrate mod. The main improvement is in low light conditions where the DHD would always give grainy distorted images and videos. I can actually leave my digicam at home now and use the phone for most of my quick picture taking.
Build quality is awesome. People always say that it feels cheap and plastic, but if you are like me and use a case, it "feels" the same just so much lighter. I can now read longer in bed and watch videos without feeling my arm aching! My DHD used to creak slightly when pressing on the touchscreen (the SIM cover) and I have no problems like this and don't forsee any the way the phone is built.
Sound quality through headphones is not as good as the DHD which is a shame. I've had to fiddle with DSPManager and PowerAmp to make it sound good. The stock player sounds horrible and the included 5.1 mode is garbage. I can cope now with my adjustments but really I was disappointed with this. The speaker is much better though and is much clearer than the DHD, so voices are easier to hear on podcasts and radio.
TouchWiz is rubbish. They may have improved it but I HATE the iPhone wannabe look and although I tried my best to use it, I had LP back up and running after an hour or two. I prefer stock Android anyway but can use Sense if I had to. I cannot use TouchWiz.
Phonecall quality is OK. Sounded slightly better on DHD, but people can hear me clearer on the GS2. They sometimes think I have hung up because the line is so clear from background noise.
Overall I can't recommend the phone enough to any DHD users who are not reliant on SENSE UI and want to upgrade to Dual Core.
Regards.

Thanks for the insights d00d, but you really can't compare two phones one with a single core processor and the other a dual core processor in terms of functionality, speed, lag/response. I tried the SGS2 myself on a Vmobile stand in a mall and I'd prefer the matte finish of the DHD over the somehow iphone 3G-ish gloss curved plastic finish for it's case. I'm just waiting for a GSM 3D phone and my brand of choice would be HTC.

plskillme said:
Thanks for the insights d00d, but you really can't compare two phones one with a single core processor and the other a dual core processor in terms of functionality, speed, lag/response. I tried the SGS2 myself on a Vmobile stand in a mall and I'd prefer the matte finish of the DHD over the somehow iphone 3G-ish gloss curved plastic finish for it's case. I'm just waiting for a GSM 3D phone and my brand of choice would be HTC.
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Click to collapse
I'm not trying to compare them head to head. This is more of an experiential viewpoint having used both phones and hopefully will help those considering the SGS2 as an upgrade from the DHD.
Regards.

Dude,I made the move just yesterday,and it feels like you've been in my head these two days.I can't stand the abscense of Sense.I'm so used to it that it feels so strange without it,it's like using another OS.All the other stuff though...What can I say?The phone's like a dream come true.
On a side note,Thursday night my DHD works like a charm as always.Fast,smooth and stable.Friday morning,after the call that informed me my GS2 was here,the DHD started behaving strangely.It lags like hell,it's slow and gives random reboots.Perhaps my DHD wasn't the best for overclocking as it couldn't handle 2GHz,but it felt jealous!How advanced is that?

How's the battery life? This is a big issue for me.

Thanks buddy for the comparison. From your insights I won't be upgrading then; due to the sound effects. I very much love the dolby effects, which I would miss in the S2........
Denny
sent from my Beloved Desire HD with ARHD using xda app

How about the white color on the SGS 2? It seems to me that white on Sgs 2 is blueish!
Personally I don't like Super, mega, extra, amoled because of the unnatural colors.

Meatboy42 said:
How's the battery life? This is a big issue for me.
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Click to collapse
Battery life is great! While calibrating (first few cycles) it was draining quite fast when in use, but now I am calibrated I find it great. Obviously coming from the DHD, anything would seem better, but I still have a N1 and it outperforms that. The biggest differences I notice are when playing music it hardly moves, I still lose similar to standby drain (-1%-2% per hour) which is mind boggling. That said, super intensive use with lots of white backgrounds (think web browsing on 3G) can drain the battery quickly but yesterday I absolutely hammered the phone with YouTube, Music, Calls, Browsing etc and even after 17hours I was still in double figures (albeit at 10%). DHD would have been dead after 13-14 with similar usage.
vicedens2002 said:
Thanks buddy for the comparison. From your insights I won't be upgrading then; due to the sound effects. I very much love the dolby effects, which I would miss in the S2........
Denny
sent from my Beloved Desire HD with ARHD using xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh, coming from the DHD it was the first thing I noticed. There is a big thread in the SGS2 section started by supercurio, the developer of the Voodoo sound mod on the original SGS, where he analysed the hardware and came to the conclusion that the DAC performed poorly. I was reading this before I got the handset and was wondering could it be that bad? It isn't terrible but it's not great either. After combining PowerAmp and DSP Manager it now sounds much better and because my ears have adjusted i'm quite happy. I would say if DHD was 9/10 the SGS2 is a 7.5/10 for music. If SQ is SUPER important, I mean you one of these people with a full flac music collection and £100 headphones, then I don't think this phone is for you (Sensation is supposed to be good for SQ). The stock player sounds HORRENDOUS.
stylus1828 said:
How about the white color on the SGS 2? It seems to me that white on Sgs 2 is blueish!
Personally I don't like Super, mega, extra, amoled because of the unnatural colors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whites are good, but I guess they are blueish whites. You only really notice this from an angle when the tint becomes apparent. Otherwise the whites are simply brilliant and eye burning bright! The colours can be unnatural at times, but that in a way is the appeal of the SAMOLED+. I understand on a PC monitor when you may be doing graphic and digital image work that having natural colours is important, but on a phone I really appreciate the pop and brilliance of the display. Don't take Youtube videos as a gauge of how the screen looks because to the naked eye, it simply looks AMAZING! As soon as I turned the phone on it was a jaw dropping moment. Unfortunately there is slight banding on some gradients but this is minor and doesn't take anything away from this awesome screen.
Regards.

Thanks for the replay! Why didn't you get the HTC Sensation because the bootloader will be unlocked?!

stylus1828 said:
Thanks for the replay! Why didn't you get the HTC Sensation because the bootloader will be unlocked?!
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Click to collapse
That's pretty relative pal.They can unlock the bootloader,but don't think they'll make our lives THAT much easy.Nand-locks and stuff like that will almost surely be there.I hope not though!Not that I'll buy the Sensation,but I will probably be buying HTC again in the future(old habits die hard,don't they? ) and their policies probably won't change.
I have to admit though,messing with the Galaxy S 2 is easy as pie.Once you get the hang of it it's much easier than any HTC I've owned.

As a long time DHD owner and a previous SGS owner, I bought the SGS2 few days ago. Some quick thoughts:
1. I'm quite critical to build quality and I couldn't stand original SGS display bezel and back cover getting loose. Ok, why even consider SGS2 then? Well, I kind of fell in love for Case-Mate Tough case, and I'm happy with it after using it for a day.
Some quick notes about SGS2 build quality in general, display bezel seems very solid and since back cover only covers the back area of the phone (unlike SGS where the back cover went all the way to sides of the phone), and this is a good thing. It seems to be very tightly attached to the body and it has more snaps that attach than original SGS.
Back cover can be pressed a bit down and it makes a little click under camera module. But these are not an issue for me as I got the case on mine.
2. The main reason I bought it, SAMOLED+ display. Okay, first boot and I immediately noticed white is not very good white. It's blueish. I've already used to that, but that's just something that immediately jumped on me after looking at white with DHD LCD display.
Otherwise, viewing angle is awesome, but that doesn't matter much to me as I tend to look at my phone in the front.
Overall of course all the colors are very good looking and sharp. All in all I maybe expected a bit more, but I'm definitely happy with it. But I feel that moving back to DHD LCD display would not be such a big deal that I thought if I had to do that.
3. The physical home-button makes quite loud click when pressed, I'm not a big fan of it.
4. Now here's why I'm having serious second thoughts about having this device: ROM support. My main grudge of course is that there is no CM7 for SGS2 yet. I have to say that I REALLY REALLY, I mean REAAALLY miss CM7. *sigh* It's until now that I'm using Samsung's customized Android, I realize how much I miss massive number of features available in CyanogenMod.
Another thing is that as far as I can see, there is no official CWM support for SGS2, and currently users use a customized version by Chainfire. It's ok though, as long as it works.
All in all my general feelings about the phone itself is good, I like many things over DHD such as improved taking camera photos speed, camera picture quality seems a bit better and ADW screen transitions and 4D drawer runs smoother than on my DHD. But the more I use SGS2, the more I miss my DHD running CM7....
I know, my complaints are mainly related to CM7 not being available on SGS2 so it's pretty subjective view. I also know atinm and Teamhacksung is working on CM7 on SGS2, but I have no idea when it'll be ready. CyanogenMod is just that awesome.

Doesn't CM7 have massive battery issues on the DHD though?

Meatboy42 said:
Doesn't CM7 have massive battery issues on the DHD though?
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Click to collapse
It used to have,something to do with the DSP chip not sleeping correctly I think.It has been solved a looooong time now.

Positive experience of Z1

So many negative threads about how the screen sucks, the camera sucks etc etc. Would be nice to hear from the people who actually like the Z1. Write down your experience with the phone. It doesn't have to be all rosy but hopefully it will give a little bit more nuance.

Sure.
Last Saturday I got my Z1, I've had a Gnex for a long time and my first impressions are very good. The device is amazingly fast, everything works as it should, multitasking is very good, all performance related things are nothing to complain about.
The screen 'dead-on' is also nice the viewing angles people are talking about is something I don't really see as a problem. I just held the phone in an angle and when the colours start to wash out it's an angle I would never use my phone at. Other than that the camera does have noise issues, although it's not too bad IMHO. (do bear in mind I come from the Gnex so pretty much every new device is a big upgrade) I don't think the noise issues aren't too bad though, as Sony can easily fix the noise issues with a software update. Speaking of updates, the Z1 already had 3 updates. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to you, but to me it sounds like it's well supported by Sony.
Battery... I feel mixed about it. It's better than my Gnex, but again, pretty much every device is. I did expect a lot more from a 3000 mAh battery though. I had about 23 hours of standby and roughly 4 hours of screen on time. That is with 3G on all the time, wifi on most of the time and applications like Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook running in the background. It's a weird thing though, the xperia ZR gets 11:30 (11 hours and 30 minutes) of browsing in the GSMarena test. While the Z1 gets about half of that. I have the feeling Sony has to do some software optimization, since they can pull it off. (note: the ZR battery is 2300 mAh) How long this will take, and if Sony will even do it, I have no idea. If the problem is related to Qualcomm it may take a long time though since they're not very keen on doing things in a different way. (look at the Nexus 7 2013 and binaries)
Overall I personally think the Xperia Z1 is an amazing device. It's super fast, the build quality is amazing and it feels really good.(get a case though!) There are things to improve on such as battery life and it depends on whether you trust Sony to fix these issues or not.

Positve
Got mine yesterday.
S/W: problems yet
Performance: Extremely quick 9/10
Screen Quality: 8/10 but too early to say if I'm just being jaded by all the moaning.
Camera seems pretty good to me, what a blessing a proper camera button makes.
Shame I can't upload samples of photos / videos etc. I will find a way if request. Anyone wanna buy a Galaxy 3? ho ho..
Oh one thing I don't like, is having to uncover the charger port to charge it up (i know its re waterproofing).
My options are :-
Cut the cover flap off or buy a magnetic charger unit £30.00 !!!!! (I probably will.)
So far pretty dam good phone.
Paul

I've had my XZ1 since Saturday 21st sept, and so far I love it, the camera is good but has issues like the grain and noise which prevent it from being a great one.
Love the sharpness and colours of the screen and it's resolution makes browsing the Web or forums so easy.
I've gotten used to the waterproof tabs after having my Xtz before I got the z1 but at least if you don't like having to keep opening the flap you can use a magnetic charger cable or dock.
That's all I can think of at lol
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium HD app

screen is best... best contrast and color you can get... no yellow tint or extra blue. no issue at all..
screen performance not so good from an angle... but who use it like that... 98% i use head on... 2 % ready to sacrifice. for head on awesomeness..
battery is a ****. (Wifi and bluetooth on, may be due to this)
Auto mode of camera is a ****..
play around with ISO in manual mode to get best shot for each scenario...
sound from speaker is not so good... even headphone sound (wired) is not good...
performance... nothing can beat it... samsung s4 struggles before this beast..
i am still on 518 firmware and no software issue so far.. using wireless headphones...

jos_031 said:
screen is best... best contrast and color you can get... no yellow tint or extra blue. no issue at all..
screen performance not so good from an angle... but who use it like that... 98% i use head on... 2 % ready to sacrifice. for head on awesomeness..
battery is a ****. (Wifi and bluetooth on, may be due to this)
Auto mode of camera is a ****..
play around with ISO in manual mode to get best shot for each scenario...
sound from speaker is not so good... even headphone sound (wired) is not good...
performance... nothing can beat it... samsung s4 struggles before this beast..
i am still on 518 firmware and no software issue so far.. using wireless headphones...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it's this above plus
Weird touch screen issues where it goes a bit bonkers when doing the pattern unlock.

Wow a positive thread about the Z1, do my eyes deceive me?
Seriously it's nice to see positive in all the threads of doom and gloom.
Nice
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

My showers have become a lot less of a chore and more of a pleasure;
https://vine.co/v/hvY5MVFTLXd?fb_action_ids=10151847100714799
Just add 2 hooks with a little bit of sugru

So I got mine yesterday.
Hardware: I can't tell you how gorgeous this phone is if you haven't seen it yet, the blend of pure vanilla white with the aluminium frame is a spot on direct hit in my eyes. Under the hood HW is even better. The S800 chip seriously flies and it's been a long time but Android is now becoming just as fluid as iOS and WP and it's great to see that.
Software: I am a big fan of the Sony UI simply because it's easy and it looks pretty vanilla, I haven't installed a Homescreen in 2 years now ever since I got a Xperia S and I am not changing that now. There is some minor SW bugs where some dialouges just doesn't show up but I can still press them(if I know their real position)
Camera: The camera is a serious SW mess because I know and I see that Sony has a good camera HW-wise BUT their SW and esspecially Auto mode is seriously one complete mess. Other than the major problems with the noise the camera app is fluid and it's quite promosing to have some nice options like AR and the Livestream mode.
Sound: THe loudspeaker is decent and nothing you would cheer about but it's better than my old XS of course. The headphone jack for me is perfect and I hear absolutely no difference when playing the same song on my XS or my Z1
Screen: THe screen for me is supersharp, I can only see a little difference in sharpness between my XS and Z1 but that is expected but still it's a nice feature. The colours are almost accurate(I had to increase my blue level by +3 to +4), viewing angles aren't the best but they are clearly better than my XS besides head on is the way to go in my world.
Battery: Battery is a mixed bag; Standby is EXCELLENT hours can go and the phone is still on the same percentage. However and this is a big one the battery during Web browsing or other minor things is seriously underperforming. Clearly this is also something wrong with the SW because other Sony phones does not have the same problem.
I hope this gives a good view on the phone, clearly Sony needs to fix the battery and the Camera and for some swap out faulty screens. Other than that my money was well put!

I got my XZ1 on monday and I love it so far! Yeah the viewing angles aren't the best but who is gonna use their phone from those angles? The camera is good, yes it needs some improvements but it isn't unusable.
The waterproof tabs take some getting used to after coming from a Nexus 4 but my battery lasts me about a day and a half almost 2; so I don't have to undo the tab to often.
I like the speaker, it isn't as loud as the one on the Note 2 I had but it is WAY better than the Nexus 4. I really like the notification LED also, its in a really discrete location and its pretty visible; and paired with light manager it is really useful for me.
Wifi has also been good for me, at least compared to my old N4. The overall speed of the phone is awesome! This thing rips!
Coming from the Nexus 4 this was a SOLID upgrade for me. SD card slot, better camera, Snapdragon 800, better speakers (ear piece also), and its waterproof? I can't really complain on my end!
I think people are just being a little too picky. I mean come on the phone has only been out for almost a week now. What else can you expect? Sony has been releasing updates pretty frequently so hopefully everything will get better soon.

So i will do that short: Sony Xperia Z1 is just good. Not perfect. but good and defently better as my old Xperia S. (Whiches i aso not so bad if i compare to to other cellphone from this timewindow)

Mine is good so far, only got it for 2days will test camera etc some more
One thing I can say about the screen:
I went to local store and compared to ZU screen, both on full brightness and my Z1 screen definitely has better colors and details then Z1. I tried the Sony sample pics and compared those.
Better details is due to 5" vs 6.4" I guess. But colors are really better on Z1, also in video I noticed the same result
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

Love the z1
Got the Z1 on pre-order, arrived the 17th.
- First thing i notice, phone is not bulky (in oposition to what reviewers say). Second thing, sony actually provides screen protect (Awsome)
- Phone turns on great and continues to perform great, Loving 4g and the speed and smoothness of the whole system.
- Screen contrast is not superb, lost in comparison to the s4, but during video streaming/playback, it performed amazingly as being hit directly by sunlight it was still very clear.
- Overall The phone is amazing, everyone says constantly i can't stop playing around with it (so true).
The only negative i have is battery life. Due to my constant use it drains very very quickly. But i think i'll be able to fix that.

B1nny said:
Sure.
Last Saturday I got my Z1, I've had a Gnex for a long time and my first impressions are very good. The device is amazingly fast, everything works as it should, multitasking is very good, all performance related things are nothing to complain about.
....
Overall I personally think the Xperia Z1 is an amazing device. It's super fast, the build quality is amazing and it feels really good.(get a case though!) There are things to improve on such as battery life and it depends on whether you trust Sony to fix these issues or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you're from the Netherlands. Could you confirm we are still on 14.1.G.1.518 firmware? It seems everyone who has been able to upgrade to 534 firmware has far better camera results, yet I cannot update to this new firmware, still stuck on the old one. I'd love to update the firmware to get better camera results but I do not want to root this phone. I'm on Vodafone RED 4G btw, dunno if it mathers.. Thanks.

bramgg said:
I see you're from the Netherlands. Could you confirm we are still on 14.1.G.1.518 firmware? It seems everyone who has been able to upgrade to 534 firmware has far better camera results, yet I cannot update to this new firmware, still stuck on the old one. I'd love to update the firmware to get better camera results but I do not want to root this phone. I'm on Vodafone RED 4G btw, dunno if it mathers.. Thanks.
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Click to collapse
I am. I can confirm I didn't get any updates on my unlocked Z1. I updated to 534 manually via flashtool though. (doesn't void warranty) I have no idea why we don't get the updates pushed to our phones.

thought i'd give my 2 cents here as i have been seeing a lot of negative comments, especially from people who judge way too quickly. Back when the Z came out i followed it madly and already had it on pre-order but i ended up getting a htc one. Ive had this phone for 2 days now and compared to my htc one it is a definite improvement. The only thing im getting used to is the size of the phone, i have small hands so you can imagine its not a 1 handed affair, but you cant fault the build quality, i love the fact that sony puts its own screen and back panel protector on (remember the x10). Call quality is amazing i have to say, loud and clear. performance is amazing, i can see the improvements in the chipset s800 has over s600 (was in my htc one), in real life you wont notice it too much but its defo there, games run amazing no lags and hits a very good fps (wild blood, real racing 3 in particular looks and plays amazingly). I've not really played with the camera much but its better than my htc one, that was the only thing i was disappointed with that phone. Now i have been constantly messing about with the phone so cant really give an accurate example of battery life, but what are you supposed to expect from a phone specc'd like this, yes it has a bigger capacity battery, it also has a big screen and a powerful cpu too, if i get a full days use out of it il be happy.

The Z1 is easily the best phone ever built. Its so nice to hold and use. Definitely my favourite phone to date and I have owned nearly all the previous flagship phones from most companies.

Absolutely blown away by this phone it's just amazing for me.
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Xperia Z1 music video

Hi,
I'm totally new to android and the Z1 is my first personal android phone. My expectations where so high coming from many years of All iPhones.
I don't want to start a flame but yes I think android is a little behind (in some aspects) to ios7 BUT this device is actually freaking awesome and looks to me the only one that can beat the iPhone quality.
- High quality. When you touch it you feel that your money are well spent.
- The camera (if we consider is a phone) Is just super good.
- The Sony rom doesn't make me sad as and in a hurry to grab a random 3th party rom
- Display is super good colors looks real and rich. Yes view angles are not awesome but only crazy people use the phone in that way. One thing that NO ONE MENTION is that any phone is close to the iPhone under the sun. Surprise surprise according to phone arena the Z1 is in 2 place. That's for me means A LOT more than insane view angles. The only difect so far is the black. The display show (only in some circumstances) one of the lightest black on the market. You'll may notice it watching a movie (a dark one) in a dark room.
- screen protector: isn't so fragile as many said but yes isn't olephobic
Am I satisfied? A lot!!!!
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

I have to say this is the best phone I've ever owned.

Obviously relative to the time I loved my 3210 and 3310 but you cannot say they're better phones than what we have today. I thought I wasn't going to buy this because of the screen protector thing, however I needed a new phone because I sold my Windows Phone as that OS is just plain bad. I ended up going for this phone in the end because I hate big phones and it finally felt like Android got its iPhone... a normal sized flagship. I've avoided the mini versions in the past as they're always the poor peoples phone, for some reason OEMs see smaller phones as this? However this phone really makes no compromises.
I love the size, love the speed, love the fact Sony don't do a Touchwiz, the construction is so solid and nice, the camera is great, the screen is great etc. It is such an amazing phone to fit in this size, which next to my iPhone 5c it is barely any bigger. What has amazed me though is I'm getting 4 days on a single charge, I'm not a heavy user, I used to get 2 days on my HTC One, but my Windows Phone only lasted a day and this one is thrashing them all. I'm currently on 70% at 1 day 19 hours, those battery saver things built in really work.
I have to wonder if wanting higher and higher resolution screens is worthwhile, I don't miss the 1080p screen of my HTC One, I didn't miss it with my Windows Phone which was 720p, I don't miss it with this one either. I use my iPhone (which I own because IOS has the best games) and that is even lower res and I just don't care it looks good enough. I don't miss not having 460ppi or whatever the HTC One was, I cannot see a pixel on the screen of this phone or my iPhone, I don't look at my phone with a magnifying glass.
My only gripe is I wish they used the bottom bit for capacitative touch buttons.
Really great phone I'd recommend it to any one, maybe people can pick faults with it, I dunno I can pick faults with every phone I've ever used, at some point you just have to accept there is no perfect phone. The HTC One went on about the front stereo speakers, only they weren't great quality, weren't loud after the updates that toned them down because they would crackle at high volumes, the camera sucked, it was impossible to repair. The 1020, the camera was over rated, it would take 4 seconds between shots, have lots of noise, the battery would barely last a day, Windows Phone sucked. I could go on and on but I think so far the Z1 Compact is the best all rounder I've owned and definitely the best normal sized phoned that you can actually fit in your pocket comfortably.

I have to agree, love this phone so far. Before buying the phone, I was a little apprehensive due to various complaints on this forum about touchscreen, slow to wake, etc. But after 9 days without a reboot, I have yet to experience any bugs. Performance is lightning fast, Sony 4.3 ROM is very stable, and the size is almost perfect (would prefer even smaller, but I don't expect anything smaller with similar performance anytime soon).
Venekor said:
My only gripe is I wish they used the bottom bit for capacitative touch buttons..
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Click to collapse
^^^^ THIS! There is plenty of room on the bottom bezel for the buttons, and that would get more usable screen area back. But that's a minor complaint for an otherwise superb phone.

I've not got bugs on 4.3, I just don't get why people want to be on the latest version all the time, I've been on Kitkat with my HTC One and never noticed a difference...
I like the apps that keep the on screen buttons but make them opaque and get rid of the black bar, it means you don't really notice them and you feel like you're getting the whole screen. I still don't get why there is a big unused Bezel there, maybe that didn't have the space and it is a tight fit in there?
The other thing I don't get is you can easily remove the back cover and it is a bit like a Galaxy phone in there, the internals are covered by plastic, you can get the battery out quite easily and it is easy to repair. They should have just made it into a battery cover instead of giving them impression the battery cannot be replaced.
Still it is nice that you can open it up so easily.

I agree...best phone I ve ever used

Sure is best!. I have 4.4.2 rom now and it rox
Send from my Z1C using tapatalk

First of all sorry on my english
Bezel on the end of phone is probably place where you holding hands when you play games or watching movies

a title?
sorry for my poor English
I like its size and the appearance and no shrinkage to Z1.
Im worry that few people choose this phone here（they often appreciate big ones）and it appears few roms. My last phone was Moto me525 defy, it could use dozens of roms.
Finally I would complain that the forum here is not so friendly as in my country.
11 numbers! are needed, I was used none or 6 numbers when you submit frequently.

Love the dimensions and specs of this phone as well.
But I am still not a fan of Android coming from Nokia's Meego Harmattan.
If the Sailfish OS port ever comes (bug free), this would be my perfect phone.

I completely agree. I came from a Find 5, which is nice in its own right, and this phone is just ridiculously good. I left it stock for about 5 minutes before rooting and unlocking, and have not looked back. I have had no issues thus far with KK (the slightly modded version from munjeni), and the performance / battery and build quality is superb. I haven't messed with BT or camera much yet, but getting a few little things like the softkeys out of the way is about all I needed to make this my perfect phone.
:good:

Venekor said:
I've not got bugs on 4.3, I just don't get why people want to be on the latest version all the time, I've been on Kitkat with my HTC One and never noticed a difference...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google does not leave an update/work for nothing uh... If you do not see the differences, is that your usage is too basic to see (e.g., UI improvements...).
Btw, I always used Xperia smartphones and this is the best phone I've ever owned too!

couldn't agree anymore with you! this is my favorite phone too, and i just love it! all other "mini" smartphones either need a large batteri or have little internal memory or something else. this phone is a beast and have it all!

I agree 100% that this is the best phone I have to date. For a compact phone, the specs alone was a winner and has proven to be in it's performance. It's by no means a mini when it comes to resources. Superb processing and battery power and proprietary Sony battery usage software which I don't even have to use, lol.
I appreciate that Sony doesn't have to be out there marketing wise like Samsung and elegantly meet and surpass their performance. Water proof, dust proof, no biggie full LTE support no limitations except maybe finger print reader (like they even use it). I have owned Samsung s2 to s4, even their minis. Ironically I loved the s2
I am soo happy I have jumped ship and look forward to continued Sony development.

sllik said:
Love the dimensions and specs of this phone as well.
But I am still not a fan of Android coming from Nokia's Meego Harmattan.
If the Sailfish OS port ever comes (bug free), this would be my perfect phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes sailfish os on the z1c would it make perfect.

A Month with the Mix

Currently using it with Nova launcher and stock everything else.
The good:
- The awesome monitor to body ratio is still as amazing as it was the first time I see it, especially when game such as Alto's Adventure allows full screen immersion mode.
- Extremely high build quality, not only does the ceramic feel awesome and polished (feels like glass but smoother), the weight that it adds makes the whole phone feel extremely premium.
- Speaker is surprisingly good, and internal amp drives my full sized Audeze EL8 without any issue.
- Quick charge is as useful as expected
- Extremely quick finger print reading
- Some surprisingly good features, for example the notification bar when dragged down includes weather immediately. Also a great feature to have the battery show as a bar on top rather than an icon.
- Very useful alarm clock apps, sure it's not Sleep. But it has the option to only do alarm in all work days. Meaning it automatic turn off for red day public holiday.
The bad:
- Going into full immersion mode can be troublesome for keyboard. You have to hold your phone lower to get used to the keyboard location.
- Not able to change the default search bar in the notification bar, seriously this would have been so awesome if the default is google.
- Listening call still feels weird at times.
- Google play occasionally crash.
Camera:
Below is the album that I have uploaded from daily shots and from a trip. Without edit and with native app.
http://imgur.com/a/R7cIo
One word: Unreliable.
Good:
Very fast focus and exposure adjustment.
Good selection of modes and with internal filter if you are into this sort of things
Fun to use for selfie, there's a scoring system and guessing age/gender which often leads to laughter (but it is surprisingly accurate)
imo very good HDR mode, with only slightly overexposing the high light.
Bad:
occasionally it set pretty poor exposure values (too high shutter and lead to high ISO etc)
Poor sharpness. Could be the over aggressive noise cancelling.
Some lag after pressing shutter
Poor flair control
Colour is a hit or miss, occasionally very bad colour control (you can see it from the airplane flight shot, the sky is no where that blue)
Final words:
How long has it been that you see a phone with something special? Every phone is only slightly better spec, or different size, there's nothing groundbreaking. Smartphone market almost feel boring in the past 2 to 3 years.
Then come this phone, brave enough not only to include a bezeless monitor, but also put in a high end spec with a ceramic build.
if you are looking for something special, right now in the world, there is only this one phone with all these features, at a price tag that is not outrageous.

lyI agree with most of what you're saying. Major exception, for me, is the fingerprint reader: Works fine for an hour or so, then simple stops reading after that. Diagnosis (* # * # 64663 # * # *) reports it's fine. Have restored system, flashed developer ROM (didn't like it) then returned to China stable, with same results. I have not unlocked the BL, and with nougat on the horizon, it appears, for the first time in many years, I won't have a rooted phone boo-hoo).
I updated to China stable 8.0.12.0 just last night. Supposedly camera improvements (among others), so we'll see on that front.
Love the phone, the size is impressive (big/small) and the overall concept.

I'm loving the phone so far. Although it does have one big 'issue' which is the screen flashing red as I lock the phone, but it only seems to happen when the screen has white pixels.
Examples: http://imgur.com/a/jclHi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3C8j1o4-SE
Anybody else able to replicate this problem?
Apart from that problem though, everything is fantastic. Phone is incredibly fast (I have the 4GB model), it held GTA San Andreas, Torque Burnout, CarX Drift AND GTA Vice City all in memory! Seriously impressive stuff. Phone is very snappy, and very large, but it is very easy to get used to, I held and iPhone 4 the other day and I swear it could have fit into my Mix twice!
Camera is okay with the default app, I have since downloaded Snap Camera which makes the pictures much better and has lots more options. However, I'm not really very 'into' taking pictures with my phone, so my advice is probably lost anyway.

Had it close to five weeks now.
I forgot to point this out when I got it, but the finish on this thing is nothing short of predominant! (Nods to Michael Scott fans). But seriously, just wow.
I have been pretty fortunate with all my prior devices. The one fault I can think of, is that my Z1 has a singel bright pixel. Admittedly, my old TyTn did die after being exposed to the harshness of laying on my desk for a month when I brought a burner to the far east. A slap in the face when service said it had water damage (yaahh, from the high humidity we always experience up north ) which they supposedly had pictures of (they didn't). Wanted me to pay for shipping and service fees to return my dud. Needless to say, I swallowed the guys behind the counter whole, and walked outta there not paying a cent, paperweight in hand.
Sure, there have been some tiny misalignments on some devices. Where screen has not been 100% flush with the front, or other parts minutely sticking out. Albeit, these flaws have been too insignificant to warrant a return. Meaning, you would almost need a magnifying glass to spot them.
I say this to convey that I meticulously go over my devices to check for flaws.
The MiX is the first I can honestly say is totally FLAWLESS! Can't stop caressing this jewel. Toss away your stress balls and just hold onto your MiX.
On the software side, 2 minutes of removing crap = happy camper. Speed and stutter free experience only matched by my m8 on custom kernel and lightweight MM rom. Not had a lot of FC's and continuous toasts of stuff failing and whatnot. A+ again.
The camera is not beating current flagships. I don't snap pics at every waking moment, so I find the stock app to perform very satisfactory in all lighting conditions when in manual. I have yet to see a phone cam work optimal in auto anyway. Iso almost always end up too high, on tripods as well. In video recording, I don't have a ton of material yet to compare this and that in different resolutions, but yeah I have seen better. OIS would have been nice I guess. Will be more exciting to get some footage out and about in a few months, when I have scenery that includes more contrasting colours than just black white and grey.
Battery life is awesome. But I think others with a better device history should comment on that besides me.
Only thing I have to counter all this lovin' with, is the ultrasound proximity sensor. This may only be on mine, but often when the screen turns off, after maybe five or ten seconds it has a tendency to come back on. I have to move it away at least 10-15cm away from my head and wait a second or two before putting it against my ear again. After that it stays off. Odd! That can be a bit frustrating actually. Whether it be the sensor or the software making fudge, I don't know (happened on more than one ROM).
Last I'm gonna say for now is that:
Even though my Sharp gave me even more of "no edge on top" feeling, this slabalicious wonder makes me want to bite down on it just to get another tactile (toothtile?) sensation.
Merry X-mas y'all!

i have the exact opposite opinion as the original poster.
the only things i don't like is how heavy it is. no idea how this is a plus or that its heavy makes one think it is better built. you drop this phone on its corner and the screen is going to crack.
i'm also not a fan of the square bar design, if i pick up my nexus 6 which is the same size basically it feels so so much better in my hand.
that being said, i wouldn't trade this phone for ANYTHING else on the market. these are only very samll minor complaings, as well as i very much want an AOSP rom instead of MIUI. i bought this phone for the huge 6.4 inch screen and the screen is unreal. the battery life and speed are also like no phone i've ever had. this thing flies.

I've had the Mix for just about a month now, purchased from an eBay reseller based here in the US. The Mix came factory sealed with CN Stable 8.0.10.0 installed.
I took a few days on the CN ROM to decide that I didn't want that, and then followed @underlines' excellent guide to install TWRP, root with Su and install the EU ROM. I had applied to bootloader unlock when I ordered the phone.
I love this device. I don't think I've been this excited about a smartphone ever, and I have owned lots of them. My only gripe is the camera, which is fine but not as good as the iPhone 7+ or the Google Pixel or the SG 7 Edge. Though Snap Camera app in manual mode provides very good results and better than the stock camera app.
Otherwise my thoughts are as the other posters in this thread, amazing screen, excellent build quality, battery lasts a very long time and did I mention the screen? I think most importantly this feels like the future. Is it perfect? No. Does it include every LTE band? Apparently not. Is it the perfect size for most hands to hold? No. But everyone who sees it asks "what phone is this?". And that includes Samsung, Apple, HTC and Motorola users.
I would recommend installing TWRP and rooting, MIUI is optimized for the Chinese market and many of those optimizations don't make sense in other markets or negatively impact usability.
Cheers
J
Sent from my MIX using XDA Labs

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

i must say im a little annoyed the back of the phone vibrates when using speakers (music/audio), but overall happy with my purchase!

i am pretty happy with the phone. i definitely feel like i got what i paid for. performance is great. size is perfect. build feels strong. screen is plenty sharp. battery life is great. i like the design a lot more than i thought i would. i've found that i actually prefer the fiberglass to metal. all around a very functional device, even for a power user like myself.
camera is good enough. i am coming from an s8, so i know where this camera is lacking. it is not as bad as the nay-sayers are nay-saying. it's easy to get lost in the fine details coming from something like an s8, but ultimately if you care that much about photography you should be carrying a camera. the distortion mentioned elsewhere is there, but only under certain circumstance. the distortion will only be an issue if you need pictures of brick walls or checkerboards to be accurate. it is not apparent with everyday people/pet/place pictures. selfie camera is good. the wide angle on it makes selfies much easier than ever before.
i expected the speakers to be louder, based on some reviews and specs i saw, but they are definitely loud enough. the stereo sound is very clear, meaning i don't have to crank it up to hear as much. s8 was a hair louder, but sound quality was terrible on s8 (like, 'shame on you' terrible, sammy).
android O is fantastic. i call it a step in the right direction. power management seems to have taken a large step forward.
i wish the theming platform was more extensive. most of the themes only provide a wallpaper. i would like to darken the menus (like settings) to save my eyes. i have no idea why android is still defaulting to bright, bright white after all these years. bad for the eyes, and the battery.
all-around love is at a 9/10.

I give it 4 stars.. I still have the Z5C in my mind, except for that disgraceful SD810. To me, the XZ1C doesn't feel or look as good as the Z5C did. It looks bigger and heavier than I expected. The buttons are not as clicky as I wish they were. Other than that, I love it. There's nothing that comes even close to it today.

Best smartphone for me.
Fits my small hands.
Fast, not much bloatware. It feels as responsive as the first pixel phone. I'm impressed.
I'm really glad that SONY brought back the flagship phone in a compact body.
I've previously owned a Z3c, and I loved it. I then went on to a Samsung phone (GS7), and now I'm glad to be back using a SONY compact phone.
I really appreciate that SONY made key improvements over the Z3c. No more plastic flap to access the usb port, louder speakers, and better camera.
It's close to being the perfect phone, to me.

Pros
+good size
+Very good battery life
+Nice figerprint placement
+Nice screen
+Good speaker
+Nice design sim slot and sd card slot( no need paper clip)
+ Ip65/68
+ Very durable( dropped mine 2m accidently and survived)
+Love the dedicated camera button but very hard to not shake the camera when pressed
+Nicely placed nfc symbol
+Phone stays cool
+3.5mm jack
Cons:
-3.5mm jack is not loud enough
-speakeris good for music but not human voice
-microphone didn't work well in loud area
-Cant slow down vibration
-Fingerprint not always recognized
-Small electicity when charging near top
-nofm radio
-noir blaster
-noremoveable battery
-nodual sim
-notall preinstalled software can be disabled
-updateis not for everyone
-worsesignal than other flagship
-nogalileo support g8441 sg
-left and right of the screen is less sensitive(potrait mode)

After having this phone for a while I think I'm ready to do a summary.
Pros:
+Great performance, especially in 3D intensive games thanks to 720p
+Pixel density is good enough that it doesn't bother me. About the same as iPhones and the colors are very nice for a LCD panel
+Stereo speakers are balanced enough, sound pretty good. Not as loud as some other phones but loud enough for me.
+Fingerprint scanner is fast! (See cons)
+Strongest build of any phone I've owned. This thing feels indestructible even without a case.
+Looks are very subjective but I think this phone looks awesome
+Battery lasts forever, I get about 8h sot with heavy use
+Just the right size, every inch of the screen is in thumbs reach
Cons:
-Camera just doesn't cut it for a flagship. 960fps recording is next to useless, you can only record a few seconds of slow mo at a time, and the timing is very hit and miss (Seems to be a random delay sometimes). Low light performance is terrible. Now RAW support. In usual Sony fashion the camera is the worst part of the hardware.
-3D scanner is just pointless bloat.
-Fingerprint scanner is too fast. It's almost impossible to just check your lockscreen
-Sony's firmware getting dumbed down. We need double tap to wake on this phone. There was zero reason to drop this feature. The fact that core Oreo features like fingerprint gestures are missing on the first phone to launch with it kind of sucks.
-Sony's support is garbage and they talk to you like you're an idiot.
-Crippled bootloader. Sony haven't been kind with DRM this time. There isn't even a warning on their website about what this can do to your camera. I think that is unnecessarily cruel on their part.

I agree with almost everything above but about the fingerprint. If I want to check notifications but without unlocking it, u just use another finger. Very simple man...
The thing that really annoys me is that Sony still didn't fix the Smart Lock blank bug. But I'm having doubts at this point: this is probably a Google problem, since One Plus users also had this bug for months but then a Google update solved the problem...

This phone is unique. All newer phones is biger and biger and never stop to grow. Biger screens with biger consumation. Biger battery. And total uncofortable for dynamic usage. Only Sony make phone for dynamic people. Bravo!

Good small phone with some big firmware issues
A bit of history:
Nexus 4: Loved this phone and was very sad when it jumped out of my pocked and shattered on the garage floor
Galaxy S5 (Exynos): I hated this phone with a burning passion. It is huge. Touchwiz is absolutely awful. There are some good ROMs out there, but you get weird issues, (like the one ROM where the camera would crop images to a square in portrait mode), and random crashes. The final straw was when I turned off the phone at a movie (completely off, not just screen-off), and discovered that the battery had dropped from 40% to 11%, over two hours, while off. It then crashed on the homescreen, and did it's best impression of a hot-plate. That being said, it is a seriously well built, solid, indestructible phone, physically.
I immediately ordered this phone, and have had it for two weeks. I am in the US, which seems to have received the September firmware update in the third week of January. I put the latest GEL firmware on it over the weekend, which swapped some problems for others.
Xperia XZ1 Compact:
Pros:
size - it's ridiculous this is considered a "compact" phone, but it's a nice size. I read a lot of ebooks on my phone, so was a bit worried I might not like going back to a smaller phone, but I could still go smaller, if such a thing existed. I do admit, though, that the keyboard is slightly cramped in portrait orientation.
build quality - Feels solid, other than the screen - see "Mehs"
industrial design - I like the look. "It's very square," is a common comment, but I like that it's different from every other phone.
stock ROM - it's not perfect, but I feel no need to replace it. It's rather shocking that I haven't even felt the need to root it
headphone jack - missing it would probably not be a dealbreaker, but I would have looked at alternatives a lot more
firmware is close to stock
Cons:
firmware update situation - WTF Sony? (for the record, I am in the US) Since we got the September update in January, does this mean we get the October one in July?
the camera is absolutely awful. Not just bad. It's awful.
Bluetooth - streaming to a speaker works fine. Definitely some issues with control and media information with the headset in the car. GEL firmware seems to have helped a bit, and I'll try tweaking the AVRCP version in the Developer settings, like suggested in one of the posts
wifi - The US firmware has problems with things like walls, doors, windows, people and air, getting between the phone and the WAP. GEL firmware seems to have fixed all of the problems, but this should be in the released firmware.
Smartlock - oh, that's what all of the "SmartLock screen is blank" messages mean. SmartLock works fine with the US firmware. With GEL, not only is the settings screen for it blank, it doesn't work at all - not even if previously set up. That being said, I'll take wifi that stays connected when I breathe out a bit too hard, over not having to put in my pin code when I pick the phone up.
Mehs:
The screen is very mushy. It moves a lot when you press it. I thought it had to be my imagination, at first, but you can see reflected light warp around your finger when you touch the screen, if you put the phone on a stable surface. I got used to it, but it was disconcerting at first.
Bezels are not bad, could be smaller - especially wehn compared with other current phones. I've gotten used to having on-screen button again, but there is plenty of room to have them off-screen in the gap to the bottom speaker.
stock apps - these are never ideal, but they are easy to find and get rid of with ADB. Most are unobtrusive, but Facebook, and that Xperia News thing had to go
fingerprint reader - I don't use it, so I don't care much. I hear it works great if you have non-US firmware
merged storage - The build-in storage is big enough, so I don't miss it much, but it's weird that it's only accessible through adb (I hear - haven't gone looking for it, yet)
non-replaceable battery - technically, this is not good, but I have never wanted to replace the battery on a previous phone, so...
The Xperia firmware is close enough to stock that I don't feel an immediate need to replace it, or even root it. It seems that one of the reasons to stay with official firmware is the DRM-signed drivers. What are these for other than the camera? I supposed going from pixellated, mis-coloured **** for pictures to blurry, mis-coloured **** is technically a degradation, but I already wouldn't want to use the camera for anything other than a necessary snap of a car license plate.
Anyway. I like the phone. I am mostly happy with it and have no intention of retrieving the Galaxy S5 back from my son. The hardware is solid (is the camera problem HW or SW?). User experience of the software is good. My runner-up when purchasing this was the Essential PH-1, and I don't feel like I should have gone for that one instead. At least, yet. I can't recommend the XZ1-Compact 100%, but for somebody who wants a small phone, doesn't need a camera and can live with the firmware issues, it is definitely worth looking at. If you don't live in the US, or the idea of flashing your firmware doesn't freak you out, it seems that Sony releases regular updates. Hopefully in the next month or two, they can release a firmware that can do both SmarkLock and wifi, at the same time.

snwokeep said:
A bit of history:
Nexus 4: Loved this phone and was very sad when it jumped out of my pocked and shattered on the garage floor
Galaxy S5 (Exynos): I hated this phone with a burning passion. It is huge. Touchwiz is absolutely awful. There are some good ROMs out there, but you get weird issues, (like the one ROM where the camera would crop images to a square in portrait mode), and random crashes. The final straw was when I turned off the phone at a movie (completely off, not just screen-off), and discovered that the battery had dropped from 40% to 11%, over two hours, while off. It then crashed on the homescreen, and did it's best impression of a hot-plate. That being said, it is a seriously well built, solid, indestructible phone, physically.
I immediately ordered this phone, and have had it for two weeks. I am in the US, which seems to have received the September firmware update in the third week of January. I put the latest GEL firmware on it over the weekend, which swapped some problems for others.
Xperia XZ1 Compact:
Pros:
size - it's ridiculous this is considered a "compact" phone, but it's a nice size. I read a lot of ebooks on my phone, so was a bit worried I might not like going back to a smaller phone, but I could still go smaller, if such a thing existed. I do admit, though, that the keyboard is slightly cramped in portrait orientation.
build quality - Feels solid, other than the screen - see "Mehs"
industrial design - I like the look. "It's very square," is a common comment, but I like that it's different from every other phone.
stock ROM - it's not perfect, but I feel no need to replace it. It's rather shocking that I haven't even felt the need to root it
headphone jack - missing it would probably not be a dealbreaker, but I would have looked at alternatives a lot more
firmware is close to stock
Cons:
firmware update situation - WTF Sony? (for the record, I am in the US) Since we got the September update in January, does this mean we get the October one in July?
the camera is absolutely awful. Not just bad. It's awful.
Bluetooth - streaming to a speaker works fine. Definitely some issues with control and media information with the headset in the car. GEL firmware seems to have helped a bit, and I'll try tweaking the AVRCP version in the Developer settings, like suggested in one of the posts
wifi - The US firmware has problems with things like walls, doors, windows, people and air, getting between the phone and the WAP. GEL firmware seems to have fixed all of the problems, but this should be in the released firmware.
Smartlock - oh, that's what all of the "SmartLock screen is blank" messages mean. SmartLock works fine with the US firmware. With GEL, not only is the settings screen for it blank, it doesn't work at all - not even if previously set up. That being said, I'll take wifi that stays connected when I breathe out a bit too hard, over not having to put in my pin code when I pick the phone up.
Mehs:
The screen is very mushy. It moves a lot when you press it. I thought it had to be my imagination, at first, but you can see reflected light warp around your finger when you touch the screen, if you put the phone on a stable surface. I got used to it, but it was disconcerting at first.
Bezels are not bad, could be smaller - especially wehn compared with other current phones. I've gotten used to having on-screen button again, but there is plenty of room to have them off-screen in the gap to the bottom speaker.
stock apps - these are never ideal, but they are easy to find and get rid of with ADB. Most are unobtrusive, but Facebook, and that Xperia News thing had to go
fingerprint reader - I don't use it, so I don't care much. I hear it works great if you have non-US firmware
merged storage - The build-in storage is big enough, so I don't miss it much, but it's weird that it's only accessible through adb (I hear - haven't gone looking for it, yet)
non-replaceable battery - technically, this is not good, but I have never wanted to replace the battery on a previous phone, so...
The Xperia firmware is close enough to stock that I don't feel an immediate need to replace it, or even root it. It seems that one of the reasons to stay with official firmware is the DRM-signed drivers. What are these for other than the camera? I supposed going from pixellated, mis-coloured **** for pictures to blurry, mis-coloured **** is technically a degradation, but I already wouldn't want to use the camera for anything other than a necessary snap of a car license plate.
Anyway. I like the phone. I am mostly happy with it and have no intention of retrieving the Galaxy S5 back from my son. The hardware is solid (is the camera problem HW or SW?). User experience of the software is good. My runner-up when purchasing this was the Essential PH-1, and I don't feel like I should have gone for that one instead. At least, yet. I can't recommend the XZ1-Compact 100%, but for somebody who wants a small phone, doesn't need a camera and can live with the firmware issues, it is definitely worth looking at. If you don't live in the US, or the idea of flashing your firmware doesn't freak you out, it seems that Sony releases regular updates. Hopefully in the next month or two, they can release a firmware that can do both SmarkLock and wifi, at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice review.
Camera problem is fixed in the new firmware. That said I've noticed that you have to keep the camera extreamly still to beable to get a good picture. Best with tripod.
I registerted an account on the Sony forum to raise the issue of firmware rollout, thinking that someone from Sony might actually read it. Both of the threads I started were deleted by the moderator as 'unhelpful'.
Smartlock is alegedly fixed in Oreo 8.1.
Thanks

Didgesteve said:
Nice review.
Camera problem is fixed in the new firmware. That said I've noticed that you have to keep the camera extreamly still to beable to get a good picture. Best with tripod.
I registerted an account on the Sony forum to raise the issue of firmware rollout, thinking that someone from Sony might actually read it. Both of the threads I started were deleted by the moderator as 'unhelpful'.
Smartlock is alegedly fixed in Oreo 8.1.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. If this is fixed, I'm glad I didn't try the camera before I switched the firmware to the latest. If I need to carry a tripod, I may as well take the point-n-shoot, instead. I'll try some non-stock camera apps tonight during my son's soccer practice to see if I can get any improvement. Good to hear that SmartLock is coming back in 8.1. Looks like we should get it in the next month or two.

Hi there all, sorry if I post in the wrong section.
I really into this phone because only Sony that offers compact size phone nowaday. I want to go for xz2 compact but the price still high besides I really doesn't like the design of xz2 compact, so this phone is only my option or stay with my mi5 longer with awful GPS. But I want to ask before decide to go for it.
1. Is it worth buy this phone right now? Because I read some WiFi problems with the phone firmware and still no fix til now. I don't really care about gaming, I just need fast, all functional phone with compact size and good GPS performance.
2. Is it true that Sony phone especially this phone will lose the camera quality if we unlock bootloader and install root? Cause I can't live without root. I use root for some adblock and kernel tuning.
Thank you very much everyone. I'll really appreciate any answers.

Ad.1 If you buy it and have constant problems with WiFi - just replace/return it. Most of people doesn't have any problems. I had it on a few FW versions (let's say for 2-3 months) on 5GHz but it's perfectly working now. Some people could have hardware fault in their phones because their problem differ from mine and looks like FW independent.
Ad.2 If you really need root - it's not the best phone for you (and I think all Treble Android 8 phones). There are difficulties after root, you can read about it in root threads. I myself was thinking I need root, too. Because I've always had a rooted phone. But XZ1c and Android 8 are really good stuff so after a few months I've just forgot about a root. The only thing I need to let go was easy ad-blocking, but there are other moethods for this.
I'm really happy with my XZ1c and I don't see any other phone I could buy right now.

Battery life after 2 and half year
XDA_RealLifeReview said:
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Impressive battery life ! 7h 30min of games or movies with some 20 percent battery or second type of using, around 60+ hours standby with some hours of calling, LTE, lot of apps... Never freezed, scuttering or something else.
From christmas 2017 of buying, until this day as primary phone/daily user, i tested battery with command adb shell dumpsys battery, take a look on photo.
Some recommendations ?

I love this xz1c since one year i have it ,good batterylife, great multitasking/photos etc, but for me who is dualshock 4 android player, it's the massive - because of high input lag over bluetooth and no otg support = no controller with otg , but it doesnt change anything of those many qualities that phone has

still my fav phone, bought some new ones but keep coming back to this phone, even to day it is a capable phone.. long live the king

I come back to say that my first xz1 compact still works after 3 years but the screen popped out ahah, insane device!!

asseforlife said:
I come back to say that my first xz1 compact still works after 3 years but the screen popped out ahah, insane device!!
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My Screen is popping out of the frame too. Tried different adhesives but all fails after few days. Did you try anything?

rsk_kelkar said:
Mi pantalla también se sale del marco. Probé diferentes adhesivos pero todos fallan después de unos días. ¿Intentaste algo?
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Click to collapse
ORIGINAL screen adhesive from Ebay: https://www.ebay.es/itm/254942940651