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I'm not really too sure what engadget is trying to get across. The only thing I saw was the microscopic shot comparison as having any validity. But even then, if you need to 10x magnify a screen to see the difference, is it really worth it?
Then, they go and show pictures of the Super AMOLED display, which people are going to be seeing on an LCD!
So I took it upon myself to write up an article on my group blog, *visually* showing what the difference truly is.
Disclaimer: I own/operate the blog to the article link I am about to post.
http://www.brainlazy.com/article/smartphone/iphone-4-vs-samsung-galaxy-s
Let me know what you guys think. I'm currently getting all of the features into a Galaxy S review.
Nice analogies man hahaha. Good read
The Galaxy S camera isn't "Back-side illuminated" - you should correct your comparison table.
You really need to get your eyes checked if you need to be closer than 30 cm to see the pixels of the pentile screen. The only thing better about the Super Amoled screen is the blacklevels - that's it(besides size that is). The colors are off, the whites are pretty dim, the shadow detail is usually colored(due to the pixel structure) and you can clearly see color-banding which you cannot on the IPS display of the iPhone.
The Galaxy S is a better phone imho, but when it comes to the display the iPhone 4 has the SGS beaten.
EDIT: The SGS has a a Li-Ion battery not Li-Pol.
Anyone speak Italian?! If so look at this: youtube.com/watch?v=NMsl7ceJuK4
Hey guys, thanks for the input. Does anyone have a link to the camera sensor? I had asked a Samsung Representative if they used a back-side illuminated cmos sensor and they replied in the affirmative.
Also, on this page: http://galaxys.samsungmobile.com/specification/spec.html?ver=low
They list the battery type at 1500 mAh li-pol.
I do agree the interpolated nature of the display has color banding issues, however, pixel density is a bit over rated. If you are critical of the SGS display at 30cm, I wonder how you've managed to cope with every computer monitor available today at 60cm. Even a 20" screen at 1080p is 111PPI, FAR lower than the SGS even with accounting for PenTile Matrix.
And if you can only list black levels as superior to LCD, maybe you need to play more fast paced video games. Response rate is critical. Between black levels and response rate, these are attributes that LCD will never be able to attain.
About color accuracy, I guess it's a toss up. Muddy blacks or color banding. Providing the amount of gradiation isn't intense, it's (almost) a non-issue. Shadowing (like you said) in media is a worry. But for most applications, you generally don't see long sprawling gradients.
And, I suppose pixel density is also subjective. I'd prefer to have true black and an immediate response rate. Also, while I can see the tiny little dots of pixels on my SGS at 30cm, they blend it very nice. Much nicer than my desktop monitor.
superb article. hilarious and [email protected]
Agreed, I had a blast reading the article.
It's a perfect to explain the difference to the technically challenged people that thinks Iphone4 is the holly grail.
now, the next best way to show technically challenged people is by having another one of these cool comparison but using an Iphone4 instead.
HTC Desire vs. Galaxy S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpP5QljEqow
assuming some one manages to run Quake 2 on an Iphone4 LOL
btw in the chart near the end, you listed the gyro as Captivate model only, but its on all us models as far as I'm aware
Yea, I have to update the info since the NYC event. Also Samsung used lower numbers for response rate and contrast ratio, so I have to change my dollars/cents thing.
They lowered it exactly by half on each. So instead of 100,000:1 CR, they said 50,000:1. And instead of Response rate at 1 micro second they said 10 microseconds. Which is an order of magnitude different, but still very very nice.
Basically the the money will be chopped in half. Either way, I double checked with a Samsung rep and when I fix those things up, the chart will be accurate.
Images missing.
Thanks. Great article.
Can't see the images though.
thephawx said:
I'm not really too sure what engadget is trying to get across. The only thing I saw was the microscopic shot comparison as having any validity. But even then, if you need to 10x magnify a screen to see the difference, is it really worth it?
Then, they go and show pictures of the Super AMOLED display, which people are going to be seeing on an LCD!
So I took it upon myself to write up an article on my group blog, *visually* showing what the difference truly is.
Disclaimer: I own/operate the blog to the article link I am about to post.
http://www.brainlazy.com/article/smartphone/iphone-4-vs-samsung-galaxy-s
Let me know what you guys think. I'm currently getting all of the features into a Galaxy S review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea the images are missing for me too! When i click where they should be, i get a 404 not found error.
Samsung is a genious...
Many dumbasses would say "The Galaxy S" doesnt have Flash is a BAD THING..
But to me.. its a GOOD THING ... iPhone 4 uses Single LED flash... This type of flash doesnt even have enough power to make a difference in your picture quality.. its more like a BULL**** feature to trick noobs to buy it.
You need at least a Dual LED/Xenon Flash...
Toss3 said:
The only thing better about the Super Amoled screen is the blacklevels - that's it(besides size that is). The colors are off, the whites are pretty dim, the shadow detail is usually colored(due to the pixel structure) and you can clearly see color-banding which you cannot on the IPS display of the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your kidding right? I've compared my phone to my mates iPhone 4 and the SGS is clearly superior. It has far better color and webpages are easily readable without zooming in whereas on the iPhone, it's a different story.
Obviously, we compared the two phones at full brightness. He has also returned his new iPhone and continues to use his 3g instead which aesthetically, looks better than the iPhone 4.
Billus said:
Your kidding right? I've compared my phone to my mates iPhone 4 and the SGS is clearly superior. It has far better color and webpages are easily readable without zooming in whereas on the iPhone, it's a different story.
Obviously, we compared the two phones at full brightness. He has also returned his new iPhone and continues to use his 3g instead which aesthetically, looks better than the iPhone 4.
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Click to collapse
How come he returned his iphone4 is he going to get a Samsung S?
Billus said:
Your kidding right? I've compared my phone to my mates iPhone 4 and the SGS is clearly superior. It has far better color and webpages are easily readable without zooming in whereas on the iPhone, it's a different story.
Obviously, we compared the two phones at full brightness. He has also returned his new iPhone and continues to use his 3g instead which aesthetically, looks better than the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take the Galaxy S hands down any day of the week, particularly the screen and OS. However,
Obviously, we compared the two phones at full brightness.
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Click to collapse
I just flat out disagree with this testing procedure. It's borderline retarded IMHO.
[*]Firstly, especially with the webpages with reading (the thing you brought up half a line prior, though albeit in a different paragraph) reading demands low brightness.
[*]Secondly, read the posts here, everyone is turning the brightness to "0%", low, and even download an app that brings that "0%" down to true 0% rather than the 8% that it actually uses. People are doing this because it's easier on the eyes, saves battery and a multitude of other reasons.
[*]Thirdly, this screen is plenty bright without full brightness. Even in direct sunlight you don't need this at full brightness, the screen is that good (again, love it)
Really, in summary, the way you should test both devices is the real-world usage scenario. Anything else and all you are doing is showing off it's potential, not it's practical use. Again, I think I've posted here or another thread or both how much I was against the Engadget test, particularly because they lead with the macro lens shots. To me, that was sensationalist, they were trying to either get "oohs and ahhs" or make Apple look as good as possible. Either way, that's journalism at its worst and not even something I want to read in a blog I visit. However, to do something like turn brightness up all the way is just a tiny bit better...unless this is actually how you or your friend would use the device regularly. Again, I believe that each device can even, have an independent setting, one at 0% and one at 100% if that's how the user would typically use the device. To get back to my Engadget point, that's why it's important to give as many views and settings as possible. Compare them all, find out where one's strengths lie because you have such a wide audience. However, I'm not sure how many people use a macro lens to view their device on a daily basis, so leading with that is just retarded. Do I think it's completely irrelevant? Maybe not as perhaps there are some people who wouldn't get the detail needed because they have near super-human perfect vision where they can detect all these things that are too minor to even be called subtleties.
I have to say that in terms for average daily use, there isn't any real practical difference between the two phones at face value. I have a SGS, my wife has the iPhone 4 btw. But that being said, after spending any length of time with the iPhone 4, you will notice a difference once you go back to the SGS. If may not be initially obvious, but your eyes will be able to discern the difference.
If you're using the phone to read mucho text, I'm sorry, there is no way the SGS can trump the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 retina display is a beautiful one and I guarantee that if you use both for decent amount of time with an unbiased mind, you WILL notice the difference in terms of text definition and clarity.
However, when it comes to motion and movies, the SGS takes a dump all over the iphone. The iPhone, whilst still great to watch movies on, can't compare to the far superior contrast, colours, and vibrancy of the SGS AMOLED screen. When you have motion on screen and you're not squinting at text, the high pixel density, to me, almost doesn't even factor into the equation anymore.
So there's my two cents. I wouldn't trade my SGS for her iPhone 4 at all, however, I would probably sing a different tune if I did a lot of e-reading or web browsing on my phone. After using the iPhone to browse text for even a few minutes, I hated going back and doing the same on my SGS. Anyway, to say one display is practically (not technically) superior to the other only depends on the purpose of which you'll be using it for. Both are great and I don't see why people have to argue the point that one has to be better than the other.
hmm... i like reading my webpages at full brighness
i hate dim LCD or any kind of screens
Ptechnix said:
I have to say that in terms for average daily use, there isn't any real practical difference between the two phones at face value. I have a SGS, my wife has the iPhone 4 btw. But that being said, after spending any length of time with the iPhone 4, you will notice a difference once you go back to the SGS. If may not be initially obvious, but your eyes will be able to discern the difference.
If you're using the phone to read mucho text, I'm sorry, there is no way the SGS can trump the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 retina display is a beautiful one and I guarantee that if you use both for decent amount of time with an unbiased mind, you WILL notice the difference in terms of text definition and clarity.
However, when it comes to motion and movies, the SGS takes a dump all over the iphone. The iPhone, whilst still great to watch movies on, can't compare to the far superior contrast, colours, and vibrancy of the SGS AMOLED screen. When you have motion on screen and you're not squinting at text, the high pixel density, to me, almost doesn't even factor into the equation anymore.
So there's my two cents. I wouldn't trade my SGS for her iPhone 4 at all, however, I would probably sing a different tune if I did a lot of e-reading or web browsing on my phone. After using the iPhone to browse text for even a few minutes, I hated going back and doing the same on my SGS. Anyway, to say one display is practically (not technically) superior to the other only depends on the purpose of which you'll be using it for. Both are great and I don't see why people have to argue the point that one has to be better than the other.
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Click to collapse
Agree completely. My uses is what got me into the device. However, a guy come on here saying he was going to use this like an e-reader (novels) first and foremost, webpage viewer in the house on wifi quite a bit, with the tiniest bit of PMP qualities. He was asking something specifically about what apps to get IIRC, I told him to buy a Kindle, iPad or iPhone 4 (I think I rated the iPhone 4 above the iPad because of the portability that he desired, but can't quite remember). If I wasn't into A/V (plus an Android fan) I might not have this device.
AllGamer said:
hmm... i like reading my webpages at full brighness
i hate dim LCD or any kind of screens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cool, to each their own. I can see webpages being a bit more brightness required than e-ink, but as I said just in my opinion, this device is just flat out bright. But I think it's both of our opposite tastes here that made Samsung put in an independent (I think that's how it works rather than in aggregate with, though perhaps there is some mix...don't really care as I leave both all the way down) brightness control into the web browser. So you won't have to adjust your brightness up when going to the web and if I happened to be walking around on a sunny day I wouldn't have to adjust it downwards.
TriC_101 said:
Samsung is a genious...
Many dumbasses would say "The Galaxy S" doesnt have Flash is a BAD THING..
But to me.. its a GOOD THING ... iPhone 4 uses Single LED flash... This type of flash doesnt even have enough power to make a difference in your picture quality.. its more like a BULL**** feature to trick noobs to buy it.
You need at least a Dual LED/Xenon Flash...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not true..i have an iphone 4 and a Galaxy S. the flash helped the iphone cam a LOT......not a gimmic...no its not the best flash..but its better than none for sure
Summary: Honeycomb UI great but buggy
Xoom hardware and build quality feel excellent but the screen isn't what it should be (iPad is better)
Xoom vs iPad vs Gtab ... FIGHT! (The Gtab lost... big time)
--------------------------
So I left work early with a couple of co-workers to scout out the Xoom. We are all work in technology so we have a pretty good idea of what we want, but we all have different perspectives.
I am the lead Internet Infrastructure Enterprise Engineer for Continental/United Airlines and I own the Viewsonic Gtab, running VEGAn 1.0.0 beta 5.1.1 and the original Droid 1 running Ultimate Droid 3.0.1 (Gingerbread).
Nick, the iPad/iPhone 4 owner with us is a lead Systems Enterprise Engineer who's focus is Enterprise Active Directory with oversight of the Systems Engineering approval process.
Cory was third member of our scouting party and is a Systems Project Engineer whose focus is on consolidation of physical server chassis into Virtual Servers. He currently owns a Droid X, switching to Android from the iPhone 3GS. He and I were looking to potentially purchase the Xoom.
-------------------------------
Our collective impressions:
Positives:
-The Honeycomb interface is more efficient than the iPads adaption of the iPhone UI.
-Xoom hardware felt very solid and reassuring to hold, much better feeling in the hands than a Gtab. It made my Gtab feel plastic-y and bulky.
-You could certainly tell there was a Tegra 2 behind the scenes at work.
-A few of the built in, tablet optimized apps, were refreshing to see on an Android device.
Negatives:
-Screen quality lacked something to be desired, specifically for an $800 device. While it was usable, the nearly year old iPad still had a superior display.
-There is still some work to be done on the software side. The built in browser did not do well at all with large images in websites. ESPN home page was very jumpy and really choked up when zooming in on images, Where as the iPad and my Gtab running Dolphin were relatively smooth.
-The Market is currently lacking many tablet optimized applications, as we all know too well.
-We couldn't determine the sound quality because of an apparent bug. Either the device as 100% volume and very distorted or the sound was off. Changing the volume up or down made no change until you had gone all the way down and the sound turned off.
-----------------------------------
From an enterprise support perspective, Honeycomb still has a ways to go before we could deploy Android tablets as a supported enterprise class device. Much for the same reasons that we do not deploy iPads. I hope that they address enterprise class authentication with user control so we can look at deploying these as enterprise devices. A small side note, Continental has both iOS and Android applications for customers to use but we also have in house iPad applications for ticket agents to use in assisting customers. The application is supported on the enterprise but the iPads themselves are treated like a dumb terminal and are not an endpoint on our network.
From a user/consumer perspective, the device certainly has potential but I feel that the price tag combined with the lack of application support and general software polish make this a niche product for uber geeks at best.
Cory did not end up walking out of Best Buy with the Xoom after all. Instead he decided to keep waiting patiently for a tablet that is more refined with a higher quality screen at that price point or to see what software updates may bring in conjunction with a price drop.
I personally will be hanging on to my Gtab for the time being, patiently waiting for a Honeycomb ROM (I'll certainly be donating to the devs who bring it to us)! I would like to see what the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 and the LG tablet bring and/or a sub $500 Xoom option before making the switch.
Edit: Steve Jobs had already informed Nick that he will be purchasing an iPad2... and Nick does the bidding of Steve for he is an iSheep under his watch and care.
This screen quality thing is becoming quite irritating =\
I might wait for the GTab10.1 as well.. to see if that fixes this. Or see the Xoom for myself.
I think its pretty obvious at this point that neither the Xoom or Honeycomb were ready for primetime, but that it was rushed to market to sell a bunch before the iPad 2 was announced and launched.
The screen looks fine to me after turning off auto-brightness since it was too dark. I don't have an iPad to compare but I do not see a problem with it except for the 6 inches of smudge from my fingers. Man this thing is a fingerprint magnet. I hope Invisible Shield will help with that. It helped my phone at least. But the quality is good enough for me.
keitht said:
The screen looks fine to me after turning off auto-brightness since it was too dark. I don't have an iPad to compare but I do not see a problem with it except for the 6 inches of smudge from my fingers. Man this thing is a fingerprint magnet. I hope Invisible Shield will help with that. It helped my phone at least. But the quality is good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that by itself the screen looks ok. But for $800 we expected a little more. I really expected it to at least meet the iPad if not slightly outperform it.
Motorola has never been big on the screen specs, they have always been pretty content to stick to standard LCDs. The Samsung and LG may very well have better screen quality and could cost less.
I can hold out with my Viewsonic Gtab a while longer to see how this shakes out, especially it gets a Honeycomb ROM in the near future.
I would like to humbly point out that being a systems engineer doesn't necessarily qualify you as an expert of consumer level UI. I know many IT pros who would rather stare at a linux terminal than a beautifully designed interface.
I have a Xoom infront of me, and have used it for the better part of six hours, and would have to disagree with a few of your points. Playing with a device in a store with it tethered down and under horrible retail halogen lighting is not a good representation of any device.
keitht said:
The screen looks fine to me after turning off auto-brightness since it was too dark. I don't have an iPad to compare but I do not see a problem with it except for the 6 inches of smudge from my fingers. Man this thing is a fingerprint magnet. I hope Invisible Shield will help with that. It helped my phone at least. But the quality is good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x2. Two issues with the Xoom I demoed at Best Buy was that auto-brightness was turned on, and the lighting was terrible (enhanced glare).
I tested the thing for at least 10 minutes and at least several minutes was just the screen, since I'm a GTAB owner and have a hatred for the screen angles. I turned off auto-brightness, cranked up the brightness all the way, ignored the bad glare from the lights and looked at some wallpapers online. Then, I went over to the iPad and did the same, checking the angles. I could not see a noticeable difference.
Eclair~ said:
This screen quality thing is becoming quite irritating =\
I might wait for the GTab10.1 as well.. to see if that fixes this. Or see the Xoom for myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish the screen was better, but it works. The brightness is a bit on the low side when in well lite areas. It's maximum brights is about equal to ~40% on my Epic 4G. I'm probably over critical because I'm used to a SAMOLD display.
Screen brightness makes a world of difference on any screen. For a few days after I got my Droid, I kept thinking the screen didn't hold a candle to my year old iPod touch. Then I discovered the brightness setting and it was like having a new phone.
Also, I did a screen density hack that spread everything out, and that helped a ton, too. I'm sure after the devs get a crack at things, the XOOM will be a beast.
Paradox5582 said:
I would like to humbly point out that being a systems engineer doesn't necessarily qualify you as an expert of consumer level UI. I know many IT pros who would rather stare at a linux terminal than a beautifully designed interface.
I have a Xoom infront of me, and have used it for the better part of six hours, and would have to disagree with a few of your points. Playing with a device in a store with it tethered down and under horrible retail halogen lighting is not a good representation of any device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point taken. I didn't mean to profess that any of us were consumer device experts. We are just avid technology geeks.
However, Nick and I are enterprise level architects and as such we have been evaluating many enterprise level products. I own the architectural guidance for infrastructure security, so I look at and devices with an eye to enterprise supportability, scalability and security and I have been evaluating devices such as the Cisco Cius, the HP Slate and the Avaya Flare with a view to enterprise deployment models.
I cannot comment on my thoughts of the Cius or Flare due to NDA. I can tell you that the Slate is in interesting device but it doesn't directly compete with true consumer tablets either. Windows tablets are really in a different category, more akin to an ultra mobile netbook.
As far as your UI vs terminal statement, we are a 100% Cisco shop and I spend my day happily staring at Cisco IOS (the real IOS) and ASA CLI. Our comments on the UI are merely our observations as end users and consumers ourselves.
The last point I will make is that screen quality is highly subjective and everyone tends to have their personal preference. For instance I am much less picky than Cory or Nick when it comes to screen quality but we all agreed that the iPad screen quality was better, in the lighting conditions we had.
arrtoodeetoo said:
Screen brightness makes a world of difference on any screen. For a few days after I got my Droid, I kept thinking the screen didn't hold a candle to my year old iPod touch. Then I discovered the brightness setting and it was like having a new phone.
Also, I did a screen density hack that spread everything out, and that helped a ton, too. I'm sure after the devs get a crack at things, the XOOM will be a beast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, and I certainly hope that with some tweaking the screen quality can be improved. We did turn on and off auto brightness and adjust the brightness at different intervals to see the effect. With full brightness it looked nice, but it had a somewhat blue hue at full brightness.
Trust me I wanted very badly to be able to say that the Xoom had a better screen that the iPad, nothing would have made me happier but I just can't. They were comparable but as far as color, brightness and black/white contrast, the iPad had the Xoom beat. I still prefer 16:9 to 4:3 either way.
roebeet said:
x2. Two issues with the Xoom I demoed at Best Buy was that auto-brightness was turned on, and the lighting was terrible (enhanced glare).
I tested the thing for at least 10 minutes and at least several minutes was just the screen, since I'm a GTAB owner and have a hatred for the screen angles. I turned off auto-brightness, cranked up the brightness all the way, ignored the bad glare from the lights and looked at some wallpapers online. Then, I went over to the iPad and did the same, checking the angles. I could not see a noticeable difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We had the iPad, Gtab and Xoom touching side by side and we played with all three for about 30 minutes. We pulled up probably a dozen websites and compared side by side, change brightnesses and angles to reduce glare or increase glare. Like I said it was close, but when the iPad is right beside it, I saw a difference in just about every way.
My poor Gtab just kept looking crappier and crappier as we evaluated all three. Build quality no longer feels good, feels like a chubby plastic tablet. Screen bothers me now. The only saving grace is that VEGAn1.0.0 Beta 5.1.1 is just about as optimized as Honeycomb. With the help of Dolphin I was able to best the Xoom in several subjective web browsing tests.
The other sad thing is I had more tablet optimized apps than the Xoom comes with stock with the Norton and Galaxy app ports plus the few tablet apps out on the market. The Xoom apps were much more polished but there were still relatively few of them.
Thank you OP. Thoughtful and helpful. I will pass purchasing this hardware mostly due to price-point. I can afford the expense but the speaker location, display clarity, and brightness do not justify price. The OS is an impressive beginning to what will hopefully mature into a robust platform for productivity and business applications. Let's see what Sammy brings. Moto/VZW/Google fumbled IMO. I disagree with their pricing to compete with the superior iPad; when a strategy to undercut Apple pricing would have put this more dynamic OS and this quality device in position to gather rapid marketshare that would include android loyalists, android adopters, and the low hanging fruit represented by the potentially millions willing to join the tablet band wagon for a reasonable cost to see if these gadgets do hopefully become more than a sophisticated electronic content readers.
...sent from NxS
Paradox5582 said:
I would like to humbly point out that being a systems engineer doesn't necessarily qualify you as an expert of consumer level UI. I know many IT pros who would rather stare at a linux terminal than a beautifully designed interface.
I have a Xoom infront of me, and have used it for the better part of six hours, and would have to disagree with a few of your points. Playing with a device in a store with it tethered down and under horrible retail halogen lighting is not a good representation of any device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, screen quality is subjective unless you're doing a proper calibration of both (ie, set them to the same brightness levels) and running the same image tests on both.
Hopefully, Samsung will release a tab with a SAMOLED screen! I have an Evo and my friend the Galaxy S, we put the same wallpaper on both our phones and the SGS blows mine away.
Neo3D said:
I agree, screen quality is subjective unless you're doing a proper calibration of both (ie, set them to the same brightness levels) and running the same image tests on both.
Hopefully, Samsung will release a tab with a SAMOLED screen! I have an Evo and my friend the Galaxy S, we put the same wallpaper on both our phones and the SGS blows mine away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the Anandtech review of the Xoom. They go in depth and discuss the screen with valid measurements and say that its slightly worse than the iPad's screen.
muyoso said:
Read the Anandtech review of the Xoom. They go in depth and discuss the screen with valid measurements and say that its slightly worse than the iPad's screen.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I agree I love Anandtech. They do some great, through reviews. Here's the much debated part about the screen:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4191/motorola-xoom-review-first-honeycomb-tablet-arrives/2
bmangold said:
Point taken. I didn't mean to profess that any of us were consumer device experts. We are just avid technology geeks.
However, Nick and I are enterprise level architects and as such we have been evaluating many enterprise level products. I own the architectural guidance for infrastructure security, so I look at and devices with an eye to enterprise supportability, scalability and security and I have been evaluating devices such as the Cisco Cius, the HP Slate and the Avaya Flare with a view to enterprise deployment models.
I cannot comment on my thoughts of the Cius or Flare due to NDA. I can tell you that the Slate is in interesting device but it doesn't directly compete with true consumer tablets either. Windows tablets are really in a different category, more akin to an ultra mobile netbook.
As far as your UI vs terminal statement, we are a 100% Cisco shop and I spend my day happily staring at Cisco IOS (the real IOS) and ASA CLI. Our comments on the UI are merely our observations as end users and consumers ourselves.
The last point I will make is that screen quality is highly subjective and everyone tends to have their personal preference. For instance I am much less picky than Cory or Nick when it comes to screen quality but we all agreed that the iPad screen quality was better, in the lighting conditions we had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you took the post the way I intended it. I realized that after I posted the friendly tone may not have been obvious.
bmangold said:
Here's the much debated part about the screen
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Click to collapse
Well, the good news is that in every case tested the Xoom's screen fared better than the one on my EVO 4G, and I really like my EVO's screen.
I turned off the auto-brightness and cranked the brightness all the way up last night. It made the screen look much better. On my N1, this drains the battery way too fast, on the Xoom it didn't seem to make a noticeable difference. It obviously makes a quantifiable difference in battery life, but the life is still amazing enough to not be annoying.
I want to start a thread with my own review, but im placing it here cause it's more like a thread-starter than actual review.
Usage of smartphones general, and why is Desire Z still extremely useful phone:
1. Hardware keyboard: there are many YT videos showing speed typing on various devices, like iPhone, and Android tablets/phones, but nothing can compare to the actual keyboard. the main advantage, in my opinion is the fact that for a very short time, one can learn to type like using a PC keyboard - without looking. and that feature makes this phone as an actual mobile station for all sorts of stuff that emulate laptop usage. second advantage is clear screen when typing. that is pretty much the reason why I cant imagine to type on a non-hardware phone anymore.
2. material quality - hard casing, and not just compared to other companies, but also compared to the other HTC devices. This phone is like an homage to early indestructible phones that were not intended to be like that (3310, 6210, 7650) Is it weight, is it experiment from HTC (there are 20+ types of plastic for making plastic stuff like casings) or something else, but this phone is the hardest phone I had, and I had Samung Android, iPhones, SE, you name it.
And on top of that, keyboard hinge wont break. I cant find more than 5 forum posts using google where someone complains of broken Keyboard hinge.
And, on top of top of that - "Vision" are the last in HTC production line to have licenced Cornig Gorilla Glass. Sensation XL and phones after that have HTC's substitute glass. (God knows why)
3. Screen - let's start with SLCD - You will find many reviews stating that it's a bad product, cause of the viewing angles. Viewing angles being the MOST retarded property of a screen, marketing vise. WHO watches a screen from an angle, more than 3 seconds, in their life ? So, when we putt aside that property - you have screen (PVA panel) that produces colors maybe even better than IPS. People get easily tricked by Samsung marketing, when they read stuff like: "SUPER AMOLED 2" - like a trailer for Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. And it is in fact - regular OLED screen with active matrix, and digitizer stuck onto the screen itself. Oh my, what a wonder. It was, for sure, made so when you break the SGS2/Note screen, you pay arm and a leg for replacement. Buying digitizer and screen at the same time. And the worst part is that AMOLED is nowhere near that good, saturation is awful (my personal opinion), and >4.0 inch phones with AMOLED have bad colors (google "Note screen problem", "SGS2 screen problem"
Resolution of screen - How come that people get so hyped by late Steve, whenever "retina" was mentioned .. ? ~250PPI is better than "retina" (326PPI)!!!
My neighbor is a rich bastard, and he has every single product Apple made, so I had a chance to see that "retina" and it hurt my eyes. Reading non-zoomed web pages on Desire Z is barely possible, doing the same on 4s is NOT possible.
it is not the pixelation of a font that is problem, it is the possibility of reading such small font. Any other aspect for that matter, is just a marketing trick.
250PPI is perfect. I dont care what journalists say about the new iPad, I dont see anything near suggested with the "retina" hype.
4. High-end phone properties - CPU
CPU is similar to the last of the x86 Intel CeleronD single core series - insanely overclockable. and like that, VERY usable. SGS2 exynos (ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.2Ghz) on stock clock has a problem of playing "Ice breaker" game (for some reason this game draws FPS lag on many devices) and on 1.5Ghz OC-ed DesireZ it runs smooth. "Fragger" game slows down extremely on SGS2 when 3 bombs are thrown simultaneously, and that doesnt happen on 1.5Ghz DZ. Dont know about other games on other phones, or Benchmarks for that matter, but this is my personal experience with SGS2 VS DZ (my brother has Samsung). Never really believed Benchmark scores since Intel started to temper with official results back in 2008 (Benchmark software in favor of Intel, compared to AMD)
I am aware of single core/dual core differences, but that is why one can flash DZ with G-slim or G-lite and enjoy the speed.
5. High-end properties - features
apart from resolution that is constantly growing on new devices, name 1 thing that DZ doesnt have ? This is NOT a midrange phone for housewives to share instagram photos, this is a serious device
Flaws -
1. it comes with crappy headphones. I myself soldered Koss Sparkplug earbuds to HTC stock headphones so I could enjoy the sound and still have cable-control buttons.
2. It is heavy. I see how many people could have problem with that but for me it's a good thing, cause I tend to lose phones, but with this one, I know where it is (pocket, jacket, etc..) and it "feels right" when holding it.
conclusion - This phone is Awesome. If I would buy a new, more expensive phone, I would like it to be 4.0 exact design like DZ, stronger CPU and slightly greater resolution. nothing more.
My only real problems with the phone is that it's too thick and heavy at times, it has severe death-grip reception issues with both wifi and mobile reception at my house where i have very little reception. Then, the thing that seems to let it down the most is the limited 512mb of RAM that it has, which makes it difficult to run Sense 3.* ROMs and such. Otherwise, i'm very happy with my phone and i agree with the points that you made . This is the best phone i've ever had!
Actually, my keyboard is slowly deteriorating >.<, a bunch of keys have stopped responding upon soft presses and need to be pressed firmly for any feedback.
Still a mid level phone. Everything i need is with DZ.
ttyykkee said:
Still a mid level phone. Everything i need is with DZ.
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Click to collapse
I don't see how it's a mid level phone. Maybe performance wise, but it feels quite premium in almost every other aspect.
Wow, that was a kind of a roundhouse kick against all actual hypes.... i like!
I am totally at ur side. The only things i would like to have improved ist cam and ram, and size of screen. But thats kind of wishing, while taking a look at actual state of the art phones...
...at least a HTC ONE S with a HWK sounds nice to me (without AMOLED )
@crestofawave - I believe that he forgot to put "not" word after the "Still" word cause that way it makes sense.
@Superfr34k - Android users are real, compared to Apple, and even they fall under marketing influence. there are many things that do not make sense today, like when you buy a big LCDTV, you see on samsung producsts feat that says:
2 billion colors
standardized results via experiments gave 100.000 colors (human subjects), and biological calculations gave 10 million in the best case. So, this "2 billion" number stands only for Cylons and Terminators. not humans.
high resolution phones make sense, not because of the "retina" and other stuff, but because of only this feat: Wireless Full HD display mirroring. cause I dont see how one can use 1080p on a 5inch device.
all that stuff is the reason why this phone offers 90% of usage, and thats not for an average user, im talkingh about advanced users and their needs.
well
I think that the let down is the wieght, and cpu, it was 1ghz many people say it would be slightly faster which is good enough for me.
I hope they release another HTC Desire Z 2 like motorola releases droid 1 ,2 ,3 etc
If not I might have to get Galaxy S3 which Im not happy about touchscreen only phones nothing beats a qwerty keyboard
This is correct place to put a review since its general and nothing else. Op mentioned to put it here since not an "actual" review...no place else to do it
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Totally agree with everything in this article, and I know a whole lot of others do as well.
Unfortunately, it seems the cell phone market is swinging away from good phones like the G2/Desire Z. I will be keeping this phone until I see a worthy successor w/ hardware keyboard.
In all honesty, this is the best Android powered phone that I've owned, and that includes having previous phones like the Samsung Galaxy S, LG Optimus T and MyTouch 4G. The only complaint that I ever had with this phone is that I wished that the camera was a little sharper, as the full sized 5 MP pictures always seem to come out a little grainy. Usually decreasing the photo size with photoshop or other software solves that problem.
The camera is just a minor complaint, and I honestly don't expect high quality digital camera type quality from a phone camera. It would just be nice to have... that's all Other than that... it was a great phone when I got it, and it continues to be a great one. It runs all the apps I need it to, and I don't have any random crashes or force closes.
@Igoritza All the same.
I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with you. Especially the points you raise about the screens, Samsung with AMOLED, and Apple with Retina. Merely marketing baloney for their mindless fanatics.
I had no idea our desire z's screen were made of gorilla glass, Mayb I should drop it down the stairs to see how it holds up????
Bottomline there isn't many devices like the HTC Vision
The viewing angle on my screen is amazing. I did get a replacement screen a while ago so maybe mine is a newer revision?
Sent from my Desire Z using xda premium
I love this phones' keyboard - it is made perfectly.
I have used Galaxy S before, and must say, that modified Desire Z is much faster than modified GS.
What I hate in DZ is its PERFORMANCE. Probably it's android systems natural drawback, that with designed UI like sense it's so slow, laggy and buggy.
Our phone runs smoothly only the AOSP GB what is really annoying.
I'n using Sensewich rom and it makes Desire Z feel like a brand new phone, even CM7 doesn't come close to this. I'm sure that once those changes make their way to other ICS roms and bugs are ironed out most of us will be satisfied with DZ for another year or so.
It's soooo smooth, *drool*
@shadal, I'd have to disagree with you. While our phone is obviously not iPhone smooth, it is a considerably fast device with a bit of overclocking (about 1.0-1.2GHz), on anything but Sense 3.x, maybe MIUI as well. Other than that, just about every other ROM I've flashed has been very fast in general.
Sense really isn't that bad...well, 3.x wasn't the best HTC could offer but 4.0 is VERY promising, tried it and it was so incredibly!!! smooth.
So yeah, AOSP has and will have an edge in performance but it seems like HTC is closing the distance...
i love my dz as well, but thinking about buying a nexus because of the larger screen/amoled. want to read ebooks on the phone. but for the dailystuff, whatsapp/email/calls it´s more than enough. bought a mugenakku and i´m very happy with that combination. the only thing i don´t like is the lcd, it really drains more than amoled. but i think i´m gonna wait with a new phone, but i´m pretty sure a phone with quadcore isn´t needed, i think quadcore is only needed for games, but i rarely play games on my phone.
I have a G2 just to be clear.
I just flash the latest Ice Cream JIBwich 2.0 which is based on the Andromadus Beta 1. They added the newly released GPU drivers from Qualcomm and this thing is fast and smooth now. Gives it new life, way faster than it ever was with GB.
Pretty damn happy with these ICS ROMs.
@tarroyo - please dont drop it down the stairs Gorilla has frontal indestructability (doesnt get pierced by bullets or arrows) but it does not endure side pressure. it will crack
@Shure2 - maybe it's IPS and not SLCD. HTC made a special order to Sony for supplies of SLCD's for making new 3.8 phones, but their initial supplier of 3.8 screens was Hanstar - IPS manufacturer that supplies ASUS and Apple. It is Hanstar company fault that HTC had to find alternative because they blackmailed them. So, yeah, your replacement could very well be from initial batches.
@miscz - I tried Sensewich but I need teh cam the cam itself is not that good, but changig ISO from AUTO to 100 improves "everyday photo shoot", and people's faces quality, or should I say - grainy photos are less grainy and better looking. whoever didnt know about this, should try (less ISO means how much camera is sensitive to light, but it also means shorter shutter speed)
it would be nice if someone knew of an App that lets you alter aperture and shutter, thus improving custom settings and making better pictures with DZ cam.
I've been having great experiences with Andromadus. I regret not having rooted my phone in the first year of owning it, seeing as a simple overclock and new rom has made it so much faster.
The thing I'll miss the most when I switch to a new phone is the lack of a physical keyboard... none of the new flagship phones have physical keyboards, and I'm not convinced that I could type anywhere near as quickly on an on screen keyboard if it's not on a tablet.
@Igoritza: I don't think there will be any thing we can really do to our cameras to catch up to all the latest and greatest phones now =[ No matter how I try, pictures from the iPhone 4S or Galaxy Note are far better. I guess we can come close in extremely well lit environments, but even in conditions which are slightly sub-optimal, our cameras tend to perform worse than theirs.
Yes, if you can find a used one to a reasonable price, and no if youre renewing your contract or buying a brand new one.
Reason is that even though its great phone, the samsung s4 and htc one is right around the corner and they both come with full hd displays with nearly everything better in software terms, look at the rewies.
I bought mine used for around 350 pounds it had been used for 11 days. Reason, i didnt wait for the s4 (i dont like metal (htc one)) is that i didnt wanted to renew my contract, and i had a iphone 5 (just to small of a screen) which i sold and bought the Xperia Z.
Now the Xperia Z is a great phone, its a beautiful looking phone, it has a great full hd display, the launcher is nearly stock witch i prefer etc.
The "not so great" about the phone is the software side. The camera isnt the best, but its not bad!. There arent many feauteres in the settings app, its allmost stock, so for the people who like minimality its allright, but for people like me who likes a lot of features the software dissapoints. Even though a lot of the software (samsung series) is gimmicks its nice to have them. My big issue with this phone is the battery, im a heavy user and it isnt meant for heavy users. Even in stamina mode and brightness in auto mode i have to charge the phone at least 2 times a day. And the charge time is crazy, if you are using your phone while charging it just stands still. Bluetooth is dissapointing, it connect to my cars bluetooth but when trying to make a phone call it disconnects every time. On the lockscreen theres time, music and camera icons, if u have a missed call or a message it does not show, for me thats dissapointing, the software just needs big improvements.
Now this phone is big, so if you have small hands try it out in a store before you buy. I have small hands but i like to use two hands so its fine for me, but still it could have been nice if it were a bit smaller, like the zl. The rectangular shape isnt as comfortable to hold as a others. This phone definetely needs to be tried before bought.
To round up:
Good part. Its beautifull looking, great hardware, great full hd screen, good camera, little to no lag, good launcher, notifcation lights, waterproof,
Bad part. battery life, bluetooth, software, not comfortable to hold (small hands),
I would buy one because I like Sony's UI, but the dated hardware specifications, poor viewing experience and sound quality is what's keeping me from doing that.
When you recontract (in my country), the HTC One is $528 vs the Xperia Z at $388, with the NFC speakers thrown in for free. Looking at the SGS4, it's going to be >$500 if the prices of the SGS3 were anything to go by (SGS4 drops on 27th April here). Kind of an easy choice
mahay_love said:
I would buy one because I like Sony's UI, but the dated hardware specifications, poor viewing experience and sound quality is what's keeping me from doing that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you've had the opportunity to use one for a few minutes and don't like the screen or the speaker and find the phone
sluggish/slow/underpowered for the tasks you would use it for?
Nameless One said:
So you've had the opportunity to use one for a few minutes and don't like the screen or the speaker and find the phone
sluggish/slow/underpowered for the tasks you would use it for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say far more than a few minutes but yes, I did find the apps to be a little unresponsive/lag-ish at times. The sound quality wasn't good but the screen was enjoyable, at least I thought so until I tried watching a video with a friend, it turned out it wasn't.
mahay_love said:
I'd say far more than a few minutes but yes, I did find the apps to be a little unresponsive/lag-ish at times. The sound quality wasn't good but the screen was enjoyable, at least I thought so until I tried watching a video with a friend, it turned out it wasn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to watch a movie with your friend you can go to the Cinema
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
gm007 said:
If you want to watch a movie with your friend you can go to the Cinema
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a small video clip though
mahay_love said:
I'd say far more than a few minutes but yes, I did find the apps to be a little unresponsive/lag-ish at times. The sound quality wasn't good but the screen was enjoyable, at least I thought so until I tried watching a video with a friend, it turned out it wasn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, I get the impression that many of the people saying they were going to buy but changed their mind are going purely on what others have said including the many trolls as if anything negative said with confidence is automatically true
and true for all examples of the device (in this case the XZ) being referred to (or they are trolls themselves). There is far too much general negativity (as distinct from negative opinions).
Nameless One said:
Fair enough, I get the impression that many of the people saying they were going to buy but changed their mind are going purely on what others have said including the many trolls as if anything negative said with confidence is automatically true
and true for all examples of the device (in this case the XZ) being referred to (or they are trolls themselves). There is far too much general negativity (as distinct from negative opinions).
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Click to collapse
Maybe on the internet but I've seen no such negativity from the people who own it, and when I displayed it to my relatives they had a clearly good impression of the device. I think I'm just too particular about my devices.
@op you say the camera isn't the Best but not bad? Yet you praise the screen...... The camera is one of the best out right now lol as for the screen, full HD yeah but the viewing angles are terrible, colors desaturate at the slightest tilt of the screen, anyways....I had my XZ for about a month now and while im happy with it for now I would gladly swap for something else, its gonna be hard to find someone who actually wants an XZ to swap with tho .
Sent from my GT-P3110 using xda premium
With respect to the OP there is simply no answer to the question. Choice is there and all the debate in the world will not alter that.
Trying to compare the top three mobiles at present is fruitless. They all have weaknesses and strengths. It will come down to personal choice and thank heavens for that choice.
I have the blessing to have purchased what mobile I like to that end I am not biased in favour of one brand nor the other. I buy what pleases me and NOT what reviews write. 'Experts' only confuse the situations. The difference between the XZ, HTC One and the SGS4 will come down to style and aesthetics, as far as daily use goes we have reached a ceiling now where the speeds etc can make zero noticeable difference in user interaction between person and device. UI's differ as does materials used in construction. I went with the Sony on this occasion as my SGS3 is a spectacular mobile, for the cost the materials used (for me) are unacceptable, it just feels cheap and the SGS4 looks exactly like its predecessor even though Samsung are using different forms of plastic it still looks cheap.
The HTC One, I fear, living in a very hot climate, that the HTC One will allow body perspiration into the phone via those large frontal speakers ? The phone looks a million dollars but again I fear the aluminium back and front plates will scratch and even dent as they did with my HTC Legend. The other point in choosing to try the Sony was signal strength.
You see I live in the middle of no where so signal strength is a vital part of my mobile ownership. Nokia, in the past, have been top notch in this area where HTC have proved abysmal and I have owned about 5 different HTC's. The Samsung Note was not too bad but the Galaxy S3 that I still have is not as strong as the Sony XZ.
I have found HTC and Nokia build quality to be very good, Samsung are, well they are plastic and look plastic!?
I am thankful for the choices. There is no best and to debate on such things is like trying to debate who the best singer is, the best song, the best brand of stereo speakers or HI-Fi separates. It is a personal choice.
What's the best fruit would be an equally pointless debate.
Best phone so far I find
The fact it's so close to stock android compared to everything else I find a real bonus as well
Feels like a nexus but with the Sony bonus features rather then a forced view of what they think android should be like e.g Samsung
Great camera
Good battery life I find
Best astetic design
Sent from my Xperia Z
swifteh said:
@op you say the camera isn't the Best but not bad? Yet you praise the screen...... The camera is one of the best out right now lol as for the screen, full HD yeah but the viewing angles are terrible, colors desaturate at the slightest tilt of the screen, anyways....I had my XZ for about a month now and while im happy with it for now I would gladly swap for something else, its gonna be hard to find someone who actually wants an XZ to swap with tho .
Sent from my GT-P3110 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the camera on both the s3 & iphone 5 are better. and those are the phones ive owned. yes the screen is beautiful and bright. i dont care about viewing angles, if you had readen the reviews you would have known that the viewing angles are not so good. well if you paid full price then yeah you should have waited.
After spending two weeks with the iPhone 5, I am unable to agree that it has a better camera than the Xperia Z. I have got better pictures with the latter when manual settings.
I would also say that the selection between Xperia Z, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 (after seeing the ad in Times Square, the name is S 4 instead of S IV) is a matter of software preferences to a high degree. In my case, the Xperia Z won because of the following:
1. IP57 and the relaxation that the smartphone can be used even if the weather is less than perfect.
2. No TouchWiz or Sense and a very clean Android experience that is more of a "refined Nexus" than a traditional manufacturer modified one. The problem with Samsung is that they change a lot of things in their devices and that results in very heavy bloated ROMs. I also think that Sony has made a better job with their apps like dialer, contacts, messaging, Album and Walkman.
The new HTC Sense isn't too attractive to me either even if I have the opinion that HTC usually make more elegant apps (Gallery, contacts, dialer etc) than Samsung.
3. Because of 2, running clean ROMs are of interest to me in the case of Samsung and HTC. Unfortunately, neither Galaxy S 4 or HTC One are too developer friendly (locked bootloaders, a lack of sources etc) which is paired with a severe fragmentation (in the case of the S 4) where different markets has different CPUs etc. Sony has made a better job with standardizing Xperia Z C6602 and C6603 since both of them can use the same ROMs and kernels. It is also worth to mention that the CM10.1 development has been very rapid for the Xperia Z and everything like camera etc is working.
4. The performance of the Xperia Z is very high, it is the first time I don't feel that overclocking is necessary. The device is very smooth and fast on the stock frequency. It is better to undervolt in order to get better battery life and less heat (it made a big difference in my case).
The performance differences between the Snapdragon S4 Pro and the 600 can be reduced by overclocking. The light ROMs for the Xperia Z is facilitating smoothness, my experience is that Samsung and HTC needs heavy debloating in order to begin to perform at their best.
The most interesting product besides the Xperia Z when it comes to the CPU is the S 4 i9500 with Exynos 5 Octa. It is a great benefit that it is always quad core in both modes (performance and power saver A15/A7). Unfortunately, the Snapdragon 600-versions are what Samsung pushes hard since the production of the Exynos 5 Octa hasn't been ramped up yet.
The drawback with the Exynos is the unwillingness of Samsung to release proper sources, a problem that has affected CM and PA on their devices. Otherwise, it is a really interesting CPU.
The step between Snapdragon S4 Pro and 600 is too small in my opinion, the step to the 800 is much more interesting.
5. The screen of the Xperia Z is very good in my opinion with good color reproduction after calibration. The viewing angle "problem" doesn't disturb me the slightest since I usually don't use the device in off angles - and the screen is still legible in those cases. The "problem" is overrated IMHO.
I also prefer the colors compared to the extreme "color explosion" Samsung offers on their AMOLED screens (which can be changed by make the proper settings). I think the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One offers decent screens but I don't see that the difference between them and the Xperia Z is much of a concern. All three are good.
6. The audio quality of the Xperia Z when decent headphones are used is very good and that is with the PureXAudio mod flashed. I don't experience any kind of "inferior sound" compared to the Galaxy Note II. For further enhancements of the sound, Power AMP can be used.
HTC focuses too much on Beats Audio instead of good DACs etc which is a drawback. Personally, I would not buy anything with Beats (Crap Audio in my opinion). When it comes to the Galaxy S 4, I think the Snapdragon 600 versions are using the integrated DAC while the Exynos version should use the Wolfson one. I therefore expect the i9500 to offer higher audio quality than i9505 et al.
I would claim the Wolfson Samsung Galaxy S 4 i9500 will be the best sounding with Xperia Z as the second while HTC with their Beats Audio will lag behind. Samsung usually manage to offer very good sound from their Wolfson equipped products.
7. The integrated battery on the Xperia Z is a drawback but can partly be explained by the water tightness. The HTC One has a completely disastrous battery placement, sandwiched between the mainboard and the screen. The 1 out of 10 in repairability that iFixit gave it would put me off completely.
The Galaxy S 4 is the winner since it offers both the user replaceable battery and a memory card slot. The Xperia Z comes in second and the HTC One suffers from a very big question mark about the internal layout.
Conclusion:
In my opinion, the Xperia Z is the most "well rounded" device available today. The Galaxy S 4 i9500 with Exynos 5 Octa offers some benefits but suffers from very restricted availability. Many of the features Samsung puts in are more of "gimmicks" than useful things. HTC focuses also on a bit of bling bling with Beats Audio and Blinkfeed.
The Xperia Z on the other hand offers a clean experience that is easy to customize and gives a more "productive" feeling rather than "bling bling". On the other hand, everything comes down to what type of Android experience that is preferred. For those that are comfortable with TouchWiz and Sense, Samsung and HTC is good choices.
On the other hand, for those that prefer a cleaner experience but think the Nexus 4 is too limited (storage, screen etc) - the Xperia Z is a very good choice - especially now when CM10.1 is out and seem to work well in the latest build. It is possible to step straight onto "pure Android" right now, without the question marks that surrounds the other options.
Personally, I think the Xperia Z is the best option right now and can only see the Galaxy S 4 with Exynos Octa as the closest competitor - then there is interesting products from Huawei that can be worth a look. HTC One is uninteresting to me, especially because of the hopeless internal layout with the sandwiched battery that makes repairs extremely complicated.
What I don't like with the Galaxy S 4 is the insane fragmentation Samsung introduced. They use two different CPUs but it doesn't end there: then we have a couple of carrier versions with alterations that make ROMs incompatible. I can see atleast FIVE different S600 versions: i9505 for Europe and then different models for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.
The Xperia Z C6602 and C6603 is the optimum in standardization in comparison.
HTC One seem to be more standardized too even if there are different carrier branded versions. According to available info, the AT&T version can use the EU ROMs without any alterations necessary and that is a big plus.
I think that the "worst" device of the three is the HTC One and that is purely because of the internal layout and the sandwiched battery. It is tough luck to have a problem with it. Even if it is integrated, it should be placed above the mainboard and not between it and the screen.
Galaxy S 4 is certainly a nice device in different aspects but TouchWiz and the severe fragmentation with different versions is something to keep in mind since it affects ROM development.
Xperia Z is a device that offers a very well rounded or balanced experience that is close to stock Android but with Sony refinements (that adds some value rather than just being bloat). I also think it gives an appearance of sophisticated elegance while the HTC One is a bit "bling bling" and the S 4 is a bit too much of an S III in style.
My last word is this: it is also worth to check out competitors like Huawei with their Ascend series. I think the rumored Ascend Mate II with 1080p screen will be an interesting alternative to a Note III for example.
There is also rumors about a Sony Xperia Cybershot later this year. I guess it will be powered by the Snapdragon 800.
I am very happy with the Xperia Z and don't miss Samsung the slightest.
Ryland Johnson said:
I fear the aluminium back and front plates will scratch and even dent as they did with my HTC Legend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well maybe scratching is not as bad, looking at this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWqPpYVE08
coios84 said:
the camera on both the s3 & iphone 5 are better. and those are the phones ive owned. yes the screen is beautiful and bright. i dont care about viewing angles, if you had readen the reviews you would have known that the viewing angles are not so good. well if you paid full price then yeah you should have waited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you seriously trying to say that an 8mp camera is better than a 13 mp camera? i read lots of reviews and watched countless youtube reviews by top reviewers, yes i paid full price but im not fully flaming the phone, viewing angles dont bother me too much either, just pointing out one of the screens shortcomings.... im just hacked off at 50/50 gamble that you get a locked bootloader, which is why we buy android devices in the first place, to unlock, mod and set free, but i really needed a phone at the time so hey ho.
Quite agree with some but not all.
Battery I find it better, at least it was far better than my previous phone - Samsung Galaxy S III, and it also charging fast, at least it was faster than my previous Samsung Galaxy S III.
I don't find this phone that bad only deserved for 2nd hand value.
I do miss some useful function by Samsung especially on those sensor part, but.. it was not a must as it ain't really important.
Stability wise, I can only said this is my 1st Android that is stable out from the box. My experience with Samsung Galaxy S II - G version was the most terrible one, it hang often until I sold it after 2 months usage, actually before I sold the SII-G ROM already quit stable but it still hang maybe once a week. Then I get S III, the performance was smooth before you install anything, it drag down after install full of apps, I am not so satisfied with S III performance, I mean the international edition which only 1GB RAM, it will anytime restart the launcher once you touch the Google Chrome. Even the most simple task - opening Phone also need to wait, this is truly nightmare as older S II - G also don't have this issue, it open instant.
Then my sister buy Note II, and this is the 1st time Samsung did it pretty solid and stable. I am sure since this, they no doubt any issue on S4. But I still don't choose S4 due to bored on it similarity design.
HTC One - this is my choice before I pick Xperia Z as I had seen HTC Butterfly screen before, and it extremely impress me. But for design wise, I still pick Sony as I find it did the best in outer and inner (software part) design. Then, after seeing a lot reviews of HTC One camera, the Ultrapixel camera was quite let down, it too easier over expose in day light outdoor shoot due to it big aperture f/2.0, such aperture if not handle well is a nightmare. HTC One body is similar and even slightly bigger than S III, in such body, it was easier squeeze in 5" screen rather than current 4.7". Beside this, Xperia Z waterproof and solid build with capable of SD card was a plus.
Now talk on screen wise, I actually not please with Samsung over saturate AMOLED screen, it was just too vivid to be natural & preset color of Natural is not working, as it became too dull. Don't talk on S4, I know it came with Adobe RGB Professional profile, maybe this help, I can't justified now as I need to see in person. Xperia Z screen wise was nature but never lost it vividness and nice to look at, the only lose here is the viewing angle but it not really impact actual use.
Sound quality on Xperia Z stock not really impress me due to it too low volume loud speaker and not clear, also all the preset was too flat to listening, Clear Audio+ not flat but too high pitch. All this issue solved after with PureXAudio mod, it was really good and not worst than my S III after the mod.
Performance wise, no doubt S4 win here as it bundle with latest highest CPU and highest speed as well. But is this really matter, I doubt about it, now every flagship phone is fast enough, not really need getting the highest speed, in-fact future phone shall more look on RAM (probably is time equip with 3GB or 4GB) and battery. RAM always play important part in any IT electrical device. More RAM will eventually make everything much smoother and better.
Until now, the only thing I want Sony make it better was reduce the camera over post processing & jpeg compression, I know the output could be better if Sony reduce down the post processing especially the noise filtering, it was like a paint of wax sometimes the output.
It's a great device. At the end of the day is a flagship so it won't disappoint you but it all comes to personal preference sony xz, HTC one or Samsung s4 they are all awesome devices. Compare them and pick the one that ticks all the boxes for you.
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
I've got my Z on ebay, sitting in front of me waiting to sell right now. I wanted so much to love the Z and still do love the Water resistance and ruggedness, as well as the size of the screen. Simply put though, the Z falls down on too many points.
Z points;
Camera : Very good, although no better than S3 or iphone 4 or 5 for that matter.
Music: Too quiet, although sound quality is great. The low volume overall, especially through the headphone socket, even with audio mods, is inexcusable from Sony.
Screen: Sony have basically just slapped a small computer monitor screen on it, as the viewing angles remind me of PC lcd screens.
Viewing angle is the big no no here, it is almost useless viewing texts with phone on desk, and watching a movie or looking at content with a friend on the screen is very disapointing.
Performance: The Z is slightly too laggy, although it is very fast.
I love the size of the Z screen and the software is very nice, especially the album app, which is hands down the best album app i've ever used.
Sony fell just short of the mark with this. Given the choice again, I would not of bought it. The HTC One i've replaced it with beats it in every respect barring screen size and water resistance.
biffsmash said:
I've got my Z on ebay, sitting in front of me waiting to sell right now. I wanted so much to love the Z and still do love the Water resistance and ruggedness, as well as the size of the screen. Simply put though, the Z falls down on too many points.
Z points;
Camera : Very good, although no better than S3 or iphone 4 or 5 for that matter.
Music: Too quiet, although sound quality is great. The low volume overall, especially through the headphone socket, even with audio mods, is inexcusable from Sony.
Screen: Sony have basically just slapped a small computer monitor screen on it, as the viewing angles remind me of PC lcd screens.
Viewing angle is the big no no here, it is almost useless viewing texts with phone on desk, and watching a movie or looking at content with a friend on the screen is very disapointing.
Performance: The Z is slightly too laggy, although it is very fast.
I love the size of the Z screen and the software is very nice, especially the album app, which is hands down the best album app i've ever used.
Sony fell just short of the mark with this. Given the choice again, I would not of bought it. The HTC One i've replaced it with beats it in every respect barring screen size and water resistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Music: seriously check with the doctor, volume is high enough.
Perfirmance: laggy but very fast?? What app/game lags for you. Quad core 2gb ram and lags you are trolling here for sure.
Screen: that's totally bs, viewing angles are perfectly fine, right now I'm typing from my desk, I've seen videos in bed with my partner no problems at all.
Getting a bit tired of those HTC fan boys reviews.
What I suggest you to do is go to a shop try all of them and pick the one you like more. Because at the end of the day it's you who have to like it.
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
I'm a satisfied owner of the Xperia Z for the last 2 months. Its an excellent device! IMO its the best Android smartphone at the moment that has managed to incorporate a good balance between design, performance and software in an excellent package. I won't go into the details about the Z as I'm sure owners of the device already know it well.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new Samsung S4 (LTE version). My wife was due for a free upgrade but she didn't want it (as she loves her Note 2 too much!) so I jumped at the chance! After getting home last night I put the S4 on charge and managed to get half of my setup done. Anyway, I'm going to be comparing real life use on both devices for around 2 weeks before deciding which device works better for me and that would be the one I will keep (right now my choice is still the Z :victory.
Here are my initial thoughts after a little feel and play with the S4:
Design & Feel:
Essentially, this is an S3 upgrade, period! I know hardcore fans of Samsung will disagree. Sorry, but its much like the iPhone 4 to iPhone 5 story, its NOT a revolution but an evolution. Samsung touts a premium finish, again sorry but these words do not apply to the S4. Its still plastic but this time round the finish on the plastic, like a high gloss piano finish, is much better than all of the other Samsung devices I've seen. The metallic like rim is plastic with a brushed metal finish. One would not mistake it for metal, it definitely looks plastic. On the 4 corners of the metallic rim are lines which makes it look as if it was 4 pieces joined together but actually I am assuming its due to injection moulding process used to make the part. This is present on the Z also but Sony has done a much better job as its much cleaner and barely noticeable. The addition of the checkered pattern does gives the appearance quite a nice look, though not exactly a premium one. The front of the S4 looks OK, its basically a Samsung look, nothing special but acceptable for me with the exception of the ugly earpiece grill which has never appealed to me. The back is where I have always felt Samsung has failed and need to improve in the design department. The camera design is big, ugly and always protrude, meaning it will be more susceptible to damage and scratches. A slightly recessed and smaller camera design would have made it safer for the camera and improved the looks. A good looking case would be a solution but I prefer to use my devices butt naked.
In the hand, the S4 feels slippery, very slippery, like a fish that will jump out of your hand if you don't hold it tight enough. Definitely needs a case or something on the back to reduce the risk of dropping it. It does however, have quite a nice form factor and feels more comfortable to hold than the Z, I think the curves do a bit of justice here. The placement of the volume and power buttons on the S4 needs improvement, having them on opposite sides just allows for frequent accidental pressing of the unintended button, the guy that designed/approved it should be shot! The volume and power button placement on the Z is just perfect.
Theres nothing really premium about the design and feel of the S4 when compared to the Z. In the hand, the Z gives the feeling of a high quality and solidly built product. The S4 despite the improved plastic finishes, feels a little more comfortable to hold in the hand but does not justify a price tag of $800 in terms of design and finish. Theres no squeaking from the plastic at the moment but hey, I've had it less than a day and time will tell.
Screen
Right now I can't provide my detailed thoughts on the screen as I have not had enough screen time yet. At first sight the screen looks sharp but colours are quite over saturated and less natural compared to my Z. One aspect I can confirm is that the viewing angles of the S4's screen is pretty good.
Update May 2:
Both screens are of different technologies and has its pros and cons. After comparing them both through typical web browsing, reading text, emails, use of same apps and viewing photos:
1. I like the natural colours of the Z more. The S4, no matter what display mode you set it in, the colours are still a little over saturated. The reflections are less on the Z and brightness is higher, thus making it more comfortable to use outdoor. That said, the screen on the S4 is still gorgeous, if not comparing them side by side, you'll get comfortable and used to the colours quite quickly.
2. Both screens display superb sharpness and clarity. You'll have to look hard to notice the difference and I find that the Z has the edge when it comes to sharpness and clarity. Thats obvious given the LCD technology advantage over AMOLED in this respect. However, the screen on the S4 is certainly no loser.
3. I mentioned viewing angles earlier and theres nothing to debate about this one. The S4 is a clear winner. I know that there are Z owners who say things like "who uses their phone and look at the screen from an angle, stupid!" or "I always look at the screen face on, so it doesn't matter anyway". I raise a practical example: in the office my phone is on my desk most of the time, when I check messages I do it with the phone on the desk and a good viewing angle is welcomed here. The fact is, the Z is Sony's flagship: a premium product with a premium price, which IMO should have came with better viewing angles. However, IMO we got a slightly sub-par display.
In terms of personal preference, I'd choose the display on the Z because I prefer the more natural colours. If I had to make an objective judgment, I'd have to give the S4 display the heads-up. In addition to that, you'll get a little more real screen estate because the S4 doesn't use soft buttons.
Update May 3:
As request by member 'thelittleidiot', I did a movie test on both screens. I downloaded and used the latest Superman trailer 3 (HD mov format) because it had a mixture of dark and bright scenes and close-up on characters so as to be able to compare how skin tones rendered. I used MX Player Pro on both phones to make the test as fair as possible and had both screens at maximum brightness with auto adapt off, Bravia engine was on. Before starting the comparison, I watched the trailer on my Macbook just to familiarise with the colours and details. Here's what I found:
S4 in movie mode: Movie mode is supposed to be closest to natural colours but this was not what I saw. Colours were pale as if a little washed out. Seriously I wouldn't chose this option for watching movies.
S4 in professional photo mode: Colours were better and closer to the Z but still not natural when comparing both side by side. The viewing experience is still better on the Z.
S4 in standard mode: Colours are now looking over saturated. Its still the Z that give a better viewing experience.
I didn't test dynamic mode or adaptive mode because these modes would have been even more saturated. The S4 screen is very contrasty and blacks are very good but this is not necessarily a good thing for movies IMO. In dark scenes I could not see all the details on Russell Crowe's face whereas on the Z it was not a problem. On all of the modes on the S4, the blues had a tint of green, whites often not enough and skin colours were either not accurate or way off.
My opinions above are obviously due to the fact that I prefer more natural looking colours, though this may not apply to everyone. Nevertheless, the S4's screen has started to grow on me. I have an almost identical setup on both phones to help with my comparison: the same wallpaper, widgets, app icons on home screen etc. When I have them both side by side, I can't help but notice that the S4's vibrancy and colours just seems as if they want to jump out at you, like theres so much life in the screen. On the Z, despite that colours are more natural and whites are whiter, it just doesn't give me that feeling. I had Galaxy Note 2 before and didn't feel that way but I suppose its because the S4's is a FHD screen.
Performance and Software
OK, so the S4 is a step ahead of the Z with JB 4.2.2 out of the box. Its heavily Touchwiz with UI improvements. It feels smooth so far with no lags or micro lags whatsoever. I ran Antutu benchmark and it scored over 23K compared to 20K that my Z got.
Update May 2:
I don't run intensive apps or do heavy gaming, so my findings are from general use and also based on software out of the box.
I've never been particularly fond of the Touchwiz interface but don't hate it either. The S4's Touchwiz is the latest and comes with some UI improvements and changes. It works well and feels fluid. Though theres been a couple of times when I exit an app to the home screen and theres been a bit of a micro lag or stutter. Not sure what caused it but overall the S4 is very smooth. Samsung's added a host of features and software to the S4, air view, air gestures, smart gestures, S Health etc. They all work most of the time but will add loading on the power consumption. I prefer a little more interaction so I keep most of these features off. To be honest, most of these are a gimmick thing rather than being a real productive feature. The new settings menu is now categorised into 4 tabs which is a nice idea but could have been better if sliding to switch tabs was possible (like the how its possible switch to tabs by sliding left or right in the Z's phone app). The notification panel of toggles are extremely convenient for turning on or off a list of features/functions and can be pulled down by sliding 2 fingers from the top of the screen. I get the feeling that Samsung is trying hard to add/create value to its flagship model with additions of software and features, which is a good thing, but not all of it will appeal to everyone and a lot of it we probably wouldn't use 90% of the time anyway.
The S4 has newer hardware, hence a higher benchmark score over the Z. In standard daily usage though, theres really no noticeable difference. Both phones are very capable of handling almost any task thrown at it and feels very fluid. BTW both get pretty hot on the backside when the CPU is pushed. Overall, performance wise, both phones will satisfy the majority of users day in day out. In respect of the software side, its more of a subjective thing. I like the Z's clean, crisp and minimalist skin. I love its Walkman app (top sound reproduction and 2nd to none!) and Album app & widgets. I also like and use the small apps feature quite often. With the S4, multi window is great and I like being able to continuously scroll through desktops or the app & widget drawers. Microsoft Exchange Active sync works and integrates better on the S4 than it does on the Z. Its hard to a make a decision on the software comparison. However, the good thing is that Android is highly customisable so we can always tune it to work our way. I'd like to have a mixture of both the Z & S4 if I can!
Update May 3:
A small but important update on the software side. Some apps and games that I have been using on the Z which on the screen was not scaled properly (part of the interface goes outside of the screen are) is perfect on the S4. On top of that, certain widgets that not working/displaying properly on the Z works perfectly on the S4. I have to give Samsung a +1 for that.
Update May 2:
Battery Performance
Now that I've completely setup my S4 and managed to fully discharged the battery once, I will get the first battery performance results tonight. Will update then.
Update May 3:
The battery on my S4 won't be fully conditioned until after a few more full charges and discharges. Anyway attached results of the first battery performance after one discharge and then full charge. Now, I have read that other owners of the Z and S4 get amazing battery performance and on screen time of 5 - 6 hours. Honestly, it sounds a bit abnormal for me. I have never got that kind of battery performance on my Z, around 3 hours of screen time is probably the max I get. Are those who get 4+ hours simply turning off the majority of functions? Reduce screen brightness to 25%? Stop every process they can in the background? If thats the case, then we're really not getting most out of our smartphones during normal daily usage. I understand that its important to get the most of out the battery, especially if you are not near a charge port during the day but for me, its most essential to utilise the device for its abilities. Smartphones are really state of the art things nowadays which are simultaneously multifunctional and should be used that way.
Here are the parameters affecting the battery performance of my S4:
- wifi, gps, all sync features on, exchange active sync set on push so constant connection to the server.
- was on wifi network about 70% of the time, the rest was on LTE for data.
- screen brightness adaptive and set at 0.
- vibration, sound and haptic feedback on.
- led on with light flow.
- samsung's smart features/guestures off with exception of smart stay.
- around 25 mins of phone calls and 10 sms
- lots of whatsapp, medium google+, little wechat voice messaging, medium facebook, light browsing on chrome, some youtube, a few emails, some app updates via playstore, some instagram, some news reading, 30 mins or so of gaming.
I'm pretty happy with the results (I consider my usage pattern being medium to heavy) and as the battery gets more conditioned, coupled with further fine tuning of the S4, I'm confident that the battery performance will further improve. For me, its very clear that the S4 battery performance bypasses that of the Z. I use my Z the same way and don't get that kind of battery performance. Note though, the S4 does have the advantage of a larger 2600mah battery and the power efficient AMOLED, so its not like comparing apples to apples here. I have an external battery for my Z and don't mind carrying it when needed, it may not be so convenient when charging the Z but it does the job. As for the S4, I can see myself getting a day's usage on a single charge and if needed a spare battery can be changed easily, a plus point for the S4.
Update May 3:
Call Quality & Signal
In general, when in an area with good signal the call quality on the Z was good. The audio quality is also good. Where I have experienced problems with the Z are:
- When outside or in relatively noisy places its hard to hear the call from the earpiece on the Z. I have to resort to plugging in my hands free to solve the problem.
- In areas where signal is unstable or patchy whether its 3G or 4G, I sometimes find that the Z have difficulties in locking onto the network. It just jumps back and forth between 3G & 4G. This is not good because the phone constantly drains power by trying to lock itself onto a signal and your data connection is also on and off, again draining battery. One time I was outside in a patchy area and data connection was pretty unstable, it ended up that Kaiten Mail was responsible for 50% of the battery consumption because it was trying to sync my mails but couldn't get connected and just forced the phone to boost the radio and try get data connected.
- On a few occasions, where I have made or received a call, I can hear the opposite party but they cannot hear me. Even after hanging up and then redialing it still happens. I have to restart the phone to solve it.
So far the call quality and signal from the S4 have been good and stable, the audio quality of the call is quite a rich experience. Most important of all, the earpiece volume is loud enough that I don't need the hands free in relatively noisy environments. On top of that, the speaker on the S4 is much louder and clearer which is good for me because sometimes I like to hear voice chat messages via the speaker for convenience. I'll need to have used the phone in similar areas as the Z before concluding its signal and call quality. I expect to round this part up in a week.
Camera
Not had time to play and compare the cameras yet. Something for the weekend I think. Stay tuned!
Update May 5
Build Quality
6 days into using the S4 and build quality issues are beginning to show. The first is the slight squeaking of the back cover in certain places. It’s not really bad but enough to be noticeable. The second is the issue of vibration, which I believe may be related to the camera module, as this also happens with the Note 2. When using the phone on a flat surface you’ll hear vibration sounds when tapping the screen. Also, tapping around the camera area on the back of the phone will also emit vibration sounds. Don’t have these problems with the Xperia Z.
Performance & Software
Here are some new findings:
1.Out of the box you get just over 50% of the available storage for use on the S4 whereas on the Z you get closer to 65% of available storage for use. Samsung’s obviously bloated out its S4 a little too much.
2.After boot up the S4 consumed 854MB of RAM, in comparison the Z used less than 600MB. Open a host of apps and soon the S4 will start to show a bit of lag and stutter. Not something to expect considering the faster CPU and RAM the S4 has over the Z.
3.The more I look at Touchwiz the more I think ugly. The appearance of the phone dialer, contacts, notification and toggles, settings menus and pop up settings/menu all look ugly and outdated. The Z beats the S4’s interface design by miles.
4.Tried all of the gimmicky features of the S4 and only found Air View to be the only feature that I could make use of frequently and it works quite well. Its obviously nice to have the other features of S4 and show people what the phone is capable of but I certainly don’t see myself using it 90% of the time.
Call Quality & Signal
So, I’ve managed to use the S4 for calls in most of the areas I have been using the Z and the call quality is good with no dropped call, network signal holds well, though in patchy areas the phone does switch between 3G and 4G constantly. I don’t see this as an issue with the phone but more a network problem as it happens on the Z also. The S4’s voice calls are loud and clear, the Z does have a bit more depth in the call audio department though. Overall, I think both phones hold up pretty well in this area with the only exception that the earpiece volume on the Z is under average thus making it difficult to hear in noisy environments.
Just a note on the wifi. The S4 holds the wifi better than the Z. Where the Z dropped the connection the S4 stays connected.
Music Audio Quality & Headphone Compatibility
The sound quality produced by the Z’s Walkman app is the best. I have not used another app that can produce audiophiles as clean and as original as the Walkman app. Sony must have also used a very good DAC in addition to excellent software. Even music with Poweramp app sounded better on the Z than it did on the S4. The S4’s music app is no match. My only complaint with the Z is that the volume level is a little low but it’s still sufficient for me. Those who like their music loud will not be happy with the highest volume level on the Z.
Now comes the BIG problem with the S4. There are headphone compatibility issues. There is already a thread in the XDA Samsung S4 forum about this, so those who want to know more should give it a read. Basically, there are serious amounts of crackling and distortion with certain headphones when used on the S4 with the volume 50% or above. I was shocked when I plugged my Sony XBA-2VP into the S4. I thought they had failed on me but it turns out the problem was the S4. They work perfectly well on the Z. Now to me, this is a serious problem and one not to be forgiven for. How Samsung failed on this one I don't know. Surprisingly, a lot of the expensive premium headphones have this problem on the S4 and the cheaper (including stock) ones aren’t affected. To me this issue is really a big minus for the S4 and especially to people who crave for excellent audiophiles. On top of that, I don't think we want to splash out more money just buy a good compatible pair of headphones.
Camera
So, I was supposed to do some comparison on the camera over the weekend but sadly the speaker on my Z had some problems and had to go to Sony service center. I did manage to take a couple of shots (attached) for a quick comparison. Here are my thoughts on both cameras:
1.The S4 fires up the camera fast, in a second or so and your good to start snapping away. The Z is slow and takes a few seconds.
2.From EXIF data, I noticed that the S4 has a larger aperture of f2.2 compared to f2.4 for the Z. It’s not a big difference but still means the S4 will capture more light.
3.Burst rates on the S4 are simply breath taking, hold the shutter and you’ll be snapping away at 20 frames per second!
4.Autofocus is fast on both cameras.
5.From the samples, you can see that the photos from the S4 are sharper, more detailed, better exposed and white balance more accurate. The Z simply has too much compression and the photos end up losing detail and sharpness.
I like photography but I’m not a big fan of smartphone photography. To me, cameras on smartphones play a point and shoot role. It needs to fire up quick and get the shot done. Its supposed to be sophisticated (by todays standards) yet is simple to operate and have an easy to use interface. The S4 fits the job very well. I like the S4’s new camera UI, very intuitive and easy to use. The new addition of drama shot and eraser mode on the S4 sounds appealing but in practice it’s quite difficult to get it to work. With drama shot you have to keep a good distance away from the subject so it can be captured throughout the frame to make it work and it wasn’t working for me all the time. In respect to eraser mode, I have had no success with it yet.
Overall, the S4’s camera is a pleasure to use and gives you the feeling of wanting to shoot more pictures. The Z’s camera is not so bad and I’m sure the Z has good camera hardware but Sony needs to improve on the software. Hopefully, this will come soon with the next update.
May 11 – Round Up
Design & Feel
Xperia Z:
-Excellently crafted industrial design: from the details and precision of the power button, to the neatly recessed camera lens and the excellent fit & finish.
-Feels premium in hand. Nicely built and solid yet oozes a very distinctive sleek look.
-IMO the most beautifully designed Android smartphone to date, period! The HTC One is also very nice but I see a bit of following Apple’s suit. The Z shows that Sony really went back to the drawing board and gave us a new and unique product.
-It’s relatively comfortable in the hands but the straight edges may be of discomfort for some when holding it for prolong periods.
-Excellent placement of the power and volume buttons. The speaker is better on the side than on the back but I would have preferred it to be at the bottom to avoid accidentally covering it up when holding the phone.
S4:
-Having closely compared it with my wife’s Note 2, the S4’s design seems more of a downsized Note 2 with a slight facelift. Basically, it’s still that typical Samsung design, look and finish.
-Though I consider it a slight facelift, the changes and finishes does make it Samsung’s best looking phone to date. I kind of liked the diamond-checkered pattern and also found that the buttons are now nicely tapered and beveled. A nice touch.
-The form factor is very comfortable in the hand but feels a lot less solid compared to the Z.
-The home and capacitive button design will increase your usable screen estate by 0.5 inches.
Screen
Xperia Z:
-LCD technology, excellent clarity and details.
-Colors natural and closer to real life. Brava Engine 2 makes viewing photos and videos a pleasure and adds the pop back in the colors.
-Excellent visibility outdoors and in bright sunlight. Less reflective.
-Poor viewing angles and blacks & contrast may not be enough for some.
-I see a bit a of backlight bleeding and this does make the screen appear a little washed out at high brightness levels.
-IMO, kind of feel that Sony used a slightly sub-par display. I checked out the Z tablet yesterday and the screen does not exhibit similar issues.
S4:
-Samsung’s best Super AMOLED yet. Clarity and details par with the LCD. It’s hard to see the difference and I’d say 99% of people wouldn’t notice it.
-Excellent viewing angles and colors pop on this screen, it may be too saturated for some but the S4 provides the option of 4 screen modes to cater for different tastes.
-I’ve noticed that auto brightness allows higher brighter levels compared to manual setting. This is excellent as when in sunlight, the viewing experience was still comfortable.
-I prefer the natural colors of the Z more but the S4 screen has really grown on me. It is simply a superb screen and there is not much I can fault about it.
Performance & OS
-The S4 has the newer tech but in daily use both are just as capable of performing 99% of the tasks you throw at it.
-Power does not necessarily translate into speed. The S4 is well bloated out and consumes a massive 900mb of ram after boot up, whereas the Z is less than 600mb. Open up a few more apps and my S4 lags more than my Z. Your hardware is as good as your software and it’s evident that the software on the S4 is not fully optimized yet.
-Interface wise, the Z is refreshing, clean and minimal with some really nice touches and widgets, there’s also the excellent Walkman and Album (gallery) app that's second to none. If you like stock android, the Z is the closest you’ll get.
-The S4 has a lot of bells and whistles, some work well and others not, and that's all wrapped up in a dated Touchwiz interface. With 4.2.2 comes some nice UI improvements but it could have been better. The dull interface design just does not compliment the wonderful screen.
-Overall, despite a dated interface, Touchwiz does provide a fuller user experience. It’s not just a skin; it’s more of an eco-system which Samsung has put a lot of thought and effort into building.
Battery Performance
-There’s no argument on this one, the S4 has the better battery life. A slightly larger capacity and power efficient screen gives it the edge. Having used the S4 in the same way I have used my Z, the battery lasts well into the evening whereas with the Z it would have died on me by then.
-Another advantage is the option to be able to replace the S4 with a spare battery and this is definitely a convenience as well as a must for power users.
Call quality, Signal & Wi-Fi
-Both phones flared well with call quality and strength of signal.
-The in call audio on the Z has a lot of body but volume level low, whereas the on the S4 it’s crisp, loud and clear.
-The S4 has an adaptive sound capability which works very well as it tunes the audio to fit the listening capabilities of the left and right ears. Note this function works only in stock apps.
-The Z’s Wi-Fi capabilities are one of its weaknesses. Where I lost connection with the Z, the S4 stayed well connected.
Camera
-Despite the similar hardware, the S4 is a clear winner for me. The camera interface, ease of use and host of features make it hard to beat. It does what a smartphone camera is supposed to do but does it better.
-The Z is not a bad performer overall. All that is required is some tuning in its digital processing to improve clarity and sharpness in the photos.
Other Issues
-If you love listening to music on your phone, the Z and its Walkman provides the best audiophile I have ever heard on a smartphone.
-You won’t have headphone compatibility issues on the Z. There is a widespread problem with the S4, I don’t know if its software or hardware, but the audio clipping is frustrating and a nightmare! I had to resort to downgrading the headphone audiophile to avoid the problem.
Final Thoughts
The S4 and Z are excellent flagship smartphones. In the last 2 weeks, I’ve found the S4 to better the Z in some areas, but that should not put you off the Z. Why is that? Design, plastic, build quality and Touchwiz. If these factors bother you, then the S4 might not be the smartphone for you. The Xperia Z, on the other hand, is anything but cheap and plastic, while the interface is much more clean, simple and understated than Samsung’s Touchwiz.
I love the design of the Xperia Z, IMO it has the best balance in design, performance and software. That said, the Z isn’t perfect, the screen should have been better for a flagship and there are issues that need ironing out which hopefully will be fixed in the next software update not too distant away. The S4 has grown on me more than I expected. The plastic and its design doesn’t bother me anymore, I don’t even notice it. The screen looks more beautiful day by day and my work and productivity needs are handled better on the S4. I have also found that I prefer the home and capacitive touch buttons and enjoy the extra screen estate in the absence of the navigation bar. The software isn’t fully optimized, there is lag and Samsung seriously needs to do some work on it. Surprisingly though, at the start of the thread my choice was the Z but after 2 weeks, it appears the situation has changed and the truth is, the S4 suits my needs more. So, the S4 stays and the Z goes back for a refund. I wish I could have a mixture of both though! I highly recommend both devices, my top picks for 2013.
right now i'm holding both of them surely S4 is a winner
I can't agree with your comment until I have really had the chance to get to a complete usage and a thorough run through on the S4. At the end of day, whichever is the winner is purely a personal preference for me and may not be the case for others. If it wasn't for the free upgrade I would have never gone and bought the S4 because the design factor was the first thing that put me off. Now that I am fortunate enough to have both devices, I thought I'll make a thread to let others know how both compare in daily use. My intention is not to make a public judgement of which device is the winner but rather to express my findings on both devices, how well they work for me in a daily use and give members of the forum some factual experiences on both smartphones. Since you say S4 is a winner, perhaps you could share some of your thoughts with us?
I'm sure S4 is a very phone and will outsell XZ for sure, but I'm just sick of this brand (Yes, Samsung, is you!!), I had been using my SGS2 for a year until the emmc brickbug killed it. The thing get me so furious is Samsung said it's my fault and they would not provide any help unless I pay the maintenance fee, which cost about half of a new unit. How dare are they!?
Thanks for the review, I love it how you are accurate, keep it up dude!
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When I saw s4 I thought it will be exactly like s3 design like what most website said.
But not, it was nice and better than s3.
S4 is a good phone for everything.
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cosinav said:
I can't agree with your comment until I have really had the chance to get to a complete usage and a thorough run through on the S4. At the end of day, whichever is the winner is purely a personal preference for me and may not be the case for others. If it wasn't for the free upgrade I would have never gone and bought the S4 because the design factor was the first thing that put me off. Now that I am fortunate enough to have both devices, I thought I'll make a thread to let others know how both compare in daily use. My intention is not to make a public judgement of which device is the winner but rather to express my findings on both devices, how well they work for me in a daily use and give members of the forum some factual experiences on both smartphones. Since you say S4 is a winner, perhaps you could share some of your thoughts with us?
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I find your 'professional' attitude a breath of fresh air. Congratulations in making an objective set of points rather than a fan boy rant.
I am finding it such a bore to come to the Sony Xperia Z forum to find more posts regarding other brands than the one we own? The more we negatively persist in comparing then rubbishing other brands the more we appear a group of losers. At least your comparison is written fairly with open eyes and not biased.
To date it appears the biggest enemy of the SXZ is its owners by bashing other brands?
Keep up the professional attitude and thanks for sharing your thoughts in a palatable fashion.
Bet wishes..
i very agree this. I'm also sick of Samsung now
Can you please compare battery life of these 2 monsters
Thanks for the post, it's the one I expected to see. I have a Xperia Z and I hesitate to buy a Galaxy S4 to replace it.
For the screen could you test to change the mode natural in mode video. According to the tests, it's the mode to have the best color next to the natural one. And after that, can you tell us, what you think about the screen and compare it to the Xperia Z.
brutal_noise said:
Can you please compare battery life of these 2 monsters
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Yes, this please!
Ryland Johnson said:
I find your 'professional' attitude a breath of fresh air. Congratulations in making an objective set of points rather than a fan boy rant.
I am finding it such a bore to come to the Sony Xperia Z forum to find more posts regarding other brands than the one we own? The more we negatively persist in comparing then rubbishing other brands the more we appear a group of losers. At least your comparison is written fairly with open eyes and not biased.
To date it appears the biggest enemy of the SXZ is its owners by bashing other brands?
Keep up the professional attitude and thanks for sharing your thoughts in a palatable fashion.
Bet wishes..
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Click to collapse
Don't think you've spent time anywhere else then because from what I've seen and heard, the Xperia has been the most bashed brand out there. Don't know what world you're living in if you think the bashing of other brands is worse in the Sony forums. You can't have spent any meaningful time in the Samsung forums or htc ones. Or YouTube or the web. To say that Sony fans are in some way more guilty of such things is strange to me indeed.
Fanboys are everywhere, human beings form needles emotional connections with things.
I too got some hands on time with the s4 today in store and first impressions, the black version looks ok. It doesn't scream plastic at you in the same way that the white one does and if Samsung keep putting out black phones, I could see myself owning one. I didn't mind so much the s2 like I did the s3 and I don't mind the s4 too. The ui was silky smooth. It just made want to seek out the Sony developers and scream "enough with all the transparency and animated widgets". It just causes ui glitches and stutters here and there. It may look nice but it's not, in my view, worth compromising on performance for eye candy.
It terms of daily usage, I seriously doubt that you'll notice much of a difference in performance than you'd get with any other quad core phone. 2011 line up included. In graphics intensive games perhaps but what percentage of users play such games on phones.
Its also worth noting that although, certain content might have a slightly bluish tint about them, the s4 doesn't suffer the same yellow screen problem suffered by a lot of high contrast LCD phones e.g. Htc one, iPhone 5, Xperia s etc.
It seems LCD displays cannot compete with amoled displays for vibrancy and contrast without this yellow tint problem. Perhaps that's why Sony walked away from that battle.
The S4's display is almost as clean and clear as the Zs but has more vibrancy. Too much still for me but others may love it. The bluish whites are the only real criticism.
To avoid mumbling on and to put it simply, the S4 is a phone I'd happily recommend.
Also the size and dimensions of the thing show the advantage of plastic for use in construction.
No on screen buttons but still smaller than the Z and equally as thin. It may not offer a premium feel buy there's still much value in its construction. I was thoroughly impressed with it as phone just as I am with the Sony. My two picks for 2013
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zodiac100 said:
Don't think you've spent time anywhere else then because from what I've seen and heard, the Xperia has been the most bashed brand out there. Don't know what world you're living in if you think the bashing of other brands is worse in the Sony forums. You can't have spent any meaningful time in the Samsung forums or htc ones. Or YouTube or the web. To say that Sony fans are in some way more guilty of such things is strange to me indeed.
Fanboys are everywhere, human beings form needles emotional connections with things.
theSent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app
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I am not a sheep and don't follow the crowd. The SXZ is a rather exceptional device and perhaps I expect those who own them to be exceptional and act accordingly? They say there is no such thing as bad publicity and to that end those who criticise the XZ at every opportunity and I agree they are out there, do us a favour? It should not be an excuse for us to write that other brands are poor.
Regards.
brutal_noise said:
Can you please compare battery life of these 2 monsters
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I got my S4 today. Battery was at 52% when i turned it on. Used it till the Battery was down to 1%. 10 Hours with 3 Hours Screen on time. I call that pretty good for even no first charging cycle and during the first setup process
brutal_noise said:
Can you please compare battery life of these 2 monsters
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Click to collapse
I will be providing the first battery performance results tonight!
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thelittleidiot said:
Thanks for the post, it's the one I expected to see. I have a Xperia Z and I hesitate to buy a Galaxy S4 to replace it.
For the screen could you test to change the mode natural in mode video. According to the tests, it's the mode to have the best color next to the natural one. And after that, can you tell us, what you think about the screen and compare it to the Xperia Z.
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Click to collapse
OK, I will do it tonight and update.
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Higgins12 said:
I got my S4 today. Battery was at 52% when i turned it on. Used it till the Battery was down to 1%. 10 Hours with 3 Hours Screen on time. I call that pretty good for even no first charging cycle and during the first setup process
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Right now i'm at 7 hours with 1 hour 30 mins screen time, 58% battery left from full charge.
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This is really making for a good read, I must say, wish we had more reviewers like you.
I've got a I9500, wish I could get hold of the Htc One or Xperia Z and do a comparison, seems to be a lack of comparisons with it.
Anyway, keep up the great work!
Hi OP! Very nice & unbiased comparison of the two imo :good: ! Having played with the GS4, I mostly agree with your comparison/review.
However, I want you to comment upon the call signal/quality & "in call" volume of the two, if possible. Thanks.
I have the Xperia Z since 2 month. I've just bought the Galaxy S4, for several reasons : want to test it, the lack of update of the Xperia Z and the fact that my followers on my blog would like to have my point of view.
I change fastly the screen selection in video because i wanted to compare the best I can my two phones. The screen of the S4 is definitely better than the Xperia Z. The color are more next to the reality, but the more important is that the contrast is really really awesome in comparaison. The screen of the Z seems to be dull. I didn't test outdoor with sunlight (unfortunatly, the weather is rainy theses days where I live). But when I compared my Z with my iPhone 5, i couldn't use the Z on sunlight at the opposite of the iPhone.
With the Galaxy S4 in my hands, I find 3 defaults on the Z. The screen is definitely not good enough for the best smartphone of Sony. And more when we now the quality of the TV Sony, and the result we have when the bravia engine is activated (even if the colors become less natural). The second one is the form factor. The size of both phones are nearly the same. But the corner of the Xperia are not curve like the S4. So when we have both phones on the hand, the Z seems to be harder to use, less confortable. The last point is the camera (i didn't test yet the one of the S4, but i see many comparison). The camera of the Xperia Z is really worse than the one of the S4 even if it's normally the same cameramade by Sony.
The first and the third point could be correct by an update.
There's no bad point on the Galaxy S4 because i just received it, so i didn't find its defaults and consequently the better point on the Z.
It's just my point of view with my first with the S4.
Sorry for my english, I'm french. I just hope you understand what i mean in my sentences