Database Users

What do you think of the screen?

I've got a Desire and had it since launch but today I bought a Desire HD. I like the phone and I like the bigger screen but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed going from AMOLED to LCD.... the colours... the viewing angles.... even considering sending the phone back and staying with the Desire although the phone seems much faster, I can't help but look at the screen and feel disappointed....
What do you guys think?
Cheers
Scott

here is one good example desire vs desire hd screan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcEoKim7sCg

scott9824 said:
I've got a Desire and had it since launch but today I bought a Desire HD. I like the phone and I like the bigger screen but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed going from AMOLED to LCD.... the colours... the viewing angles.... even considering sending the phone back and staying with the Desire although the phone seems much faster, I can't help but look at the screen and feel disappointed....
What do you guys think?
Cheers
Scott
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't really understand what's the point in having 180 degrees viewing angle on a phone. Like I would like to look at the USB port when using my phone . All the time you are using it, you are looking directly at it. And the colors are pretty much a matter of opinion - I've seen the Galaxy S screen and it seems over saturated to me. Daylight visibility is very good also. The one thing that is a real advantage of AMOLED over LCD screens is the black. Other than that there is no real reason for HTC to put themselves in the same PR nightmare as they did with Samsung's inability/unwillingness to provide them with enough screens for the Desire. Yesterday I put an invisible shield on my wife's iPhone 4 and looking at the acclaimed Retina Display the first thought that went through my head was "OMG, it's so small" . I wouldn't give up the DHD anytime soon and definately not because of its screen.

I'm perfectly happy with the screen, it is amazing. I don't care about viewing angles, it is not like I look at it from a 45 degree angle.. It's always pretty much 90 degrees.

As with others here I'm perfectly happy with the screen. Also as pointed out the only real plus of an AMOLED based display is the black level which, honestly, isn't that big of a deal for me. Viewing angles is something that always puzzles me. Do people often try to use their phone from obtuse angles? The only time I can think of when I've done this is a quick glance at the screen but since only the power button wakes it up I don't think that will be an issue.

I think you're over-obsessing over something that in real use is a non-issue. I'd really like all these people who complain about viewing angles to give some valid reasons why they think it's such a problem.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Im have no complaints what so ever with the screen. A week into the relationship with my DHD and we are still very much in the honeymoon phase.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

I was the same... going from a Desire to the HD I was so disappointed with the 'washed out' appearance of the screen (I don't care so much about viewing angles)
But you know what... after a few days I really didn't notice it and I still have the Desire (awaiting eBay selling) and when I look at it I think the screen is too saturated!!
I miss the black levels a bit but on the whole I am more than happy with the screen colours now.
They are after all on a par with my laptop and netbook screens and I never complain about them!

This is part of a full review I will be posting on here once I have had a bit more time with the phone, any feedback would be appreciated. I'd like to answer any questions people have in the final review.
The screen.... the screen.... Seeing as the size of it dominates the entirety of the phone, this was always going to be an issue for many people! Before the phone was released I was actively following the LCD vs S-LCD debate and owning a Nexus One, had been treated to the 'contrastific' wonder that is AMOLED.
I'll be honest and say I felt panicked when confronted with the fact this maybe a regular TFT and not an S-LCD screen. Not an AMOLED or a SAMOLED in this day and age how dare they??! Considering Samsungs reluctance to part with the SAMOLED and the much reported worldwide shortage of AMOLED screens this was of no surprise and highly understandable.
Now I actually have the phone in my hand, I curse my stupidity in regards to getting caught up in 'the forum debate' and losing track on reality. As technophiles we all feel a twinge of excitement when quoting the relevant technology our handsets contain to our friends and fellow forum dwellers. I'm not discounting the real world benefits of such technology, but sometimes we tend to trust more in the branding terms than the actual real world performance.
After owning an AMOLED Nexus I cannot deny that the contrast levels are unbeatable (Samsung Galaxy S aside). Watching movies on the screen was a joy, especially in dark scenes when the black levels came through in all their glory. Personally, I liked the colour saturation (or over-saturation) which gave the display an eye grabbing brilliance which even next to the iPhone 4's lauded Retina Display (nice branding for what is simply a high res IPS LCD) it managed to hold it's head high.
When switching on the Desire HD after coming from a Nexus, the feeling compares to taking off your shades after a long day in the sun. The colours are not quite the same, the brightness has shifted and you find yourself blinking rapidly as your eyes slowly adjust to what is a different experience. Now to say this is a sub par experience is completely unfounded. Yes some people will instantly wonder whether their phone is functioning correctly, or take a swift trip down to the Opticians questioning their vision. They will finally end up cursing the lack of AMOLED on Xda-Developers, stating washed out colours and poor viewing angles (those who look at there phone sideways all day).
All I can say in response is that while coming from an AMOLED to the Desire HD is like taking off your shades, there are always those who keep their shades on all day long, even in the dark .
As my eyes adjusted to the screen I started to understand what the term 'over-saturated' actually meant! I wanted to apologise to my Iris, Cornea and Retina all at one time. The colours aren't washed out, it's just my eyes were over washed with a false spectrum for so long. The main benefits for this are seen when browsing the web and looking at images, they look REAL. I actually feel as if i'm seeing something in front of me and not looking at a phone screen. The only sadness I feel is when watching videos, it just doesn't look as VIVID, not to say it doesn't look good, but I guess those juicy blacks will definitely be missed.
Another thing is slowly dawning on me, PenTile displays are horrendous. I was duly concerned that having the same resolution on a 35% larger screen would mean the subsequent pixellation would have me screaming for Cupertino's Retina Display to come and save me (sickening thought). Strangely enough it actually feels as though the resoultion is higher. I remembered reading about the Nexus One screen here and feeling it was unfair attack (BTW anyone on here that doesn't read ArsTechnica, bookmark it now). The premise was that the subpixel arrangement on AMOLED screens (Even the SGS has this) meant the effective resolution was less than the 480x800 claimed and more like 392x653, something I now accept to be correct. Comparing the screens side by side it becomes all the more apparent that the resolution cannot be the same, as some images appear sharper on the larger screen which doesn't make logical sense. It is safe to say that for once I agree with Apple and their decision to keep away from AMOLED when many fanboys were demanding it after the 3GS.
Finally, the superior colour depth of the screen has slowly come to the fore. I've read conflicting reports of Nexus creen having 16m vs 65k colours and of being 16bit (Link). I can refer back to one of my earlier statements about technical branding vs reality. Whatever the specs of the Nexus One/Desire screen it falls flat on colour depth compared to the Desire HD. Backgrounds which previously suffered from banding are now brilliant and even the XDA app startup splash, which had serious banding issues on the Nexus now displays colours which weren't even visible before.
Overall, once over the adjustment period, the DHD screen trumps that of the Nexus or Desire and is simply stunning. The size alone renders many of the arguments pointless. I hold my Nexus now and have the same feeling as when I first held the X10 Mini, I feel as though my phone could eat it for breakfast the cute little thing it is. Don't fear the negative comments on here, see it for yourself and if you don't like it, you don't like it.
I certainly do.
Regards.
Some final thoughts....
Did somebody say fully multitouch??
TFT LCD vs S-LCD?? Just in case this is a TFT
HD2 (TFT LCD) Review Endgadget - In terms of colour and contrast, the HD2's screen is a champion. Images and video looked saturated but not drenched, and blacks seemed superbly deep to us.
HD2 (TFT LCD) Review Gizmodo - The 4.3-inch glass display is pure bliss
Comparison Image, Sorry for the poor quality!

very nice analysis of the screens lynx! Im looking forward to your full review! btw i really love the setup you have on your phone in that pic. Stock android looking with HTC's nice clock widget..

Thanks, it's Launcher Pro set up like the stock launcher with the original Fancy Widget. Add the 'Faux Sense' widgets and animations then you're good to go. Regarding the comparison picture, it may seem like the Nexus has more colour but it is simply the unnatural colours that make it seem that way. The DHD image is so real you feel you could pick up a pebble!

tkolev said:
I can't really understand what's the point in having 180 degrees viewing angle on a phone. Like I would like to look at the USB port when using my phone . All the time you are using it, you are looking directly at it.
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I totally agree.
All these comparisons about viewing angles, Touch response when doing swipes in slow-motion is so damn silly.
Way in the world would you like to be able to look at it from an extreme angles anyway?
Use the phone! I say it again: USE the phone!
If you like it keep it, otherwise sell it.
I get the impression that many people here are buying a phone just to impress their neighbour with the best spec-sheet. And then they get "sad like children loosing their favourite toy" when they can't. So damn silly!

I think samsung should abandon the SAMOLED tech for now.

Burn-in, image retention, colors degrading with time my god there are so many issues with SAMOLED screens I personally dont feel that super amazing contrast is worth all that.
It seems with the galaxy S and nexus S the problems werent as huge as they have become with the SGS2, galaxy note and galaxy nexus. With an LCD phone if there is a problem it will be manufacturing problem and not something that would develop after several months.
It seems with every new generation of SAMOLED screen the image quality is getting better but the problems are getting worse. LCD's on the other hand are only getting better with no problems.
I think if samsung is unable to improve on the SAMOLED tech then they should just suspend it for now until they can improve it. Samsung makes the beautiful LCD on my nexus S, samsung also provides HTC with the screen of the HTC one X which is widely regarded as the best smartphone screen. Samsung also makes the screen of the ipad 3. Samsung obviously knows how to make an LCD thats better than the competition if they were to make one for their own flagship.
So what is your opinion on the matter?

people buy galaxy series for amoled screen so i dont think samsung ever going to stop making them..and as per anandtech review of htc one x display make is sony...
gs2...

manojcitc said:
people buy galaxy series for amoled screen so i dont think samsung ever going to stop making them..and as per anandtech review of htc one x display make is sony...
gs2...
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Alright, first of all, it's not amoled's problem. it is the pentile technology. it lowers the screen res because it shares sub pixels. However, the galaxy s ii uses AMOLED PLUS, the PLUS means it's like LCD, uses RGB layout, with superb colour contrast along with high res graphics, no pentile ruining the details. so just be patient until AMOLED HD PLUS comes out. It will have: High Res, No pentile, High Contrast. Believe me, it will be 100x better than the One X.

Billchen0014 said:
Alright, first of all, it's not amoled's problem. it is the pentile technology. it lowers the screen res because it shares sub pixels. However, the galaxy s ii uses AMOLED PLUS, the PLUS means it's like LCD, uses RGB layout, with superb colour contrast along with high res graphics, no pentile ruining the details. so just be patient until AMOLED HD PLUS comes out. It will have: High Res, No pentile, High Contrast. Believe me, it will be 100x better than the One X.
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But this doesn't sort out (mainly):
-Unnatural colours which need severe and constant attention as individual OLED lifetimes progress
-Strong possibility of burn in and an effectively similar effect (due to OLED lifetimes as above)
-Generally weak outdoors
I'm not sold on either path for the long term, but there is no denying LCDs in the current day have blown past practically all of their disadvantages. The only benefit i see of OLED technology in the foreseeable future is the ability to produce a "true" black (and lower power consumption as a result). While this is an awesome benefit, there is more far bad than good beyond this.
I'm unsure how far engineering can take OLEDs though. If we're hitting the peak of the bell curve i'd have to agree with the OP. Otherwise, competition and choice is good.

After using a samoled screen I could NEVER go back to the washed out colors of a standard led. I have yet to see any type of burn in on my screen. 90% of it's life will be with screen off anyway so really who cares.
____________________
Just Flash It !!!

Go to att store and look at the HTC one x screen. Come back and report that it screen is washed out....

This tech of display was a junk which has used on benq-Siemens mobile phone five years ago.
However, Samsung bought this from someone who develop this screen and keeping develop until now. The problems still don't fix:thumbdown::thumbdown:

In my eyes, Samoled looks really gorgeous and can't live without it. But that's just my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

albundy2010 said:
Go to att store and look at the HTC one x screen. Come back and report that it screen is washed out....
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No need to go that far, the i9023's SC-LCD is a stunning looking display. My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex (which happily doesn't have strong yellow/green tints stock, which makes me like his more than most OLEDs). Considering that it is close, the only benefit his has is definitely the black contrast (big benefit no doubt). Nothing else is particularly noteworthy above the other.
But i can leave my screen on all day knowing it will be just as pretty as always.

Heck even the nexus S i9023 has such a great LCD in my opinion. The colors are more saturated than an iphone 4 but not so much as SAMOLED which in my opinion is the best balance. It's also so visibly sharper and much better whites. If nexus S had retina pixel density then the SC-LCD could match the one X to be honest.
The advantages of SAMOLED are,
Pure blacks
Fastest response time
A smaller footprint which helps in making phones lighter and thinner
Now to me only the first one is a major advantage. But is it worth all the problems? I really dont think so.

Harbb said:
My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex
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Yes exactly when I first used the gnexus I thought it's going to blow away the display on my nexus S but it really didnt. I preferred the colors on nexus S and it was also visibly brighter at full brightness.
The gnexus does destroy it in black level but then the nexus S LCD does the same to the gnexus when you compare whites, they were simply horrible on the gnexus. I am really surprised google went with a white background in the messaging app, it not only looks bad on the gnexus but would kill battery as well.

Harbb said:
No need to go that far, the i9023's SC-LCD is a stunning looking display. My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex (which happily doesn't have strong yellow/green tints stock, which makes me like his more than most OLEDs). Considering that it is close, the only benefit his has is definitely the black contrast (big benefit no doubt). Nothing else is particularly noteworthy above the other.
But i can leave my screen on all day knowing it will be just as pretty as always.
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Here in the states it is rare to see people with a nexus period. Most that you do see are the sprints. Chances of a 9023 are basically nil.
But yeah if you know someone with a phone that has a good LCD check it out. Or just go down to the store and look. Better yet wait till sprint stores in the us put its version on HTC one x on display. Use that side by side with gnex
That last part was to the person that said LCD sucks. Not harbb

I find it really interesting that most of the people commenting in the thread seem to prefer LCD, but the poll dominates for SAMOLED.

Good point albundy, and i know what you were saying I've never actually seen an i9020A/T/4G myself so i can't compare them to the GNex and i can't remember the last time i saw an SGS around here.
As the poll is worded quite nicely, i think i'll actually vote for once. Too many polls are black and white, nicely played Gambler.
edit: Polls are just that, polls. Just as many people said cpuidle saved more battery than deep idle (i think for quite a while it was more in favor of cpuidle). Look at how that turned out

Back when I would edit photos on my nexus. I really wanted the exact right shade for my eyes on the picture.
Well after I edited the photo on my nexus, upload it to Book it was diffdnt
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA

Guys, I had a Nexus S i9023 (LCD), and my dad has a i9020T (samoled), and all i can say is that I wish I had his phone... the colors look MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer on a Samoled man!!!!!!!

Coming from a G2, the colors on the NS look much nicer. My phone has a minor blue line where the status bar is, but you really can't see it unless you concentrate on that area. The only reason I saw it was because of some friggin' super white background on some webpage

even if they look nicer they are still fake.
fake is not cool.
Sent from my LS670 using XDA

Shark_On_Land said:
even if they look nicer they are still fake.
fake is not cool.
Sent from my LS670 using XDA
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Go f*ck your iphone
Ps : sarcasm

Heh. Maybe. I enjoy looking at them. Had I been serious about taking photos, I'd probably get an actual camera.

Screen: Arc vs Optimus 2x/G2x

As stated, this thread is purely about the display screen.
I previously had Optimus 2x before, and after dramas and adventures, purchasing an Xperia Arc/Arc S might be part of my plan soon.
Something from Optimus 2x that totally captivated me is its IPS Nova display. The colors are vibrant, power consumption is great, despite whatever other people say, the contrast is incredible, which even led me into believing that it was a Super AMOLED screen for a short while.
I know the reputation of Sony making decent display screens, but the TFT LCD just simply does not sound that attractive.
For those of you who had seen an Optimus 2x/G2x before, how do you think these two fare against each other in terms of screen display?
tl;dr: Optimus 2x/G2x and Arc/Arc S, whose screen is better?

IMO SONY's screen is better than LG's when you look straight on the phone without tilting it, BUT you're gonna be extremely disappointed with viewing angles on the arc.

I second this. The display quality is very good when looking at it directly but tilt it a bit and the contrast drops to ridiculously low levels. It's like Sony did wonders with a really crappy TN screen. You might also be disappointed with washed out dark tones but it's average for an LCD here I'd say.
If you believe that this phone packs great screen you will be disappointed. It's not bad, but it's not great by any means.

progosu said:
IMO SONY's screen is better than LG's when you look straight on the phone without tilting it, BUT you're gonna be extremely disappointed with viewing angles on the arc.
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Click to collapse
Times after times, I still don't really get why people care that much about viewing angle. It's a mobile device and could hold it however we want. Doesn't sound like a problem for me.
Thanks for the reply anyway.
szymon247 said:
I second this. The display quality is very good when looking at it directly but tilt it a bit and the contrast drops to ridiculously low levels. It's like Sony did wonders with a really crappy TN screen. You might also be disappointed with washed out dark tones but it's average for an LCD here I'd say.
If you believe that this phone packs great screen you will be disappointed. It's not bad, but it's not great by any means.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sad to hear this, but thanks

I took a look at friend's LG Swift Black which is said to pack an IPS screen, better than 2X and I'd say the one on Xperia Arc is slightly better when looking at it directly. If you don't care about viewing angles I'd say it should be okay for you. It shouldn't bother you with anything other than the viewing angles. The colors are nice when looking at it directly.

xperia z mini review and which colour did you prefer

Despite some objectively negative comments, and some outright TROLLING Iam a Proud and very happy owner of the Xperia Z having previously owned
Nexus 4
liked - natural sharp looking screen, the look and feel of the phone, also the the high specs and performance, and last but not least the slick and classy looking vanilla android experience.
dilsliked - rumours of fragiltiy, camera performance, BATTERY LIFE, limited storage with no sd card,
Galaxy Note 2
liked - Large Screen (most of the time,) good Specs and Performance, Camera Performance,
disliked - my love/hate relation with amoled colours and saturation, lets face it ugly looking and plastic (iam sorry Samsung,No iam not!) Last But not least, Touchwizz, so practial! but so Ugly! the last two reasons are the main reasons i sold the samsung for Xperia Z.
Xperia Z
So far- Best of Both Worlds.
Like a quote from the movie Blade! ALL OF THIER STRENGTH'S NONE OF THIER WEAKNESESS
but seriously, good battery somewhere inbetween the nexus 4 and note 2, which is what i was hoping for. Screen is good, while it hasn't got the same effect/leap 800x480 to 720p had, let me state that i like the 1080p xperia screen better than previous nexus 4 and note 2.
I can understand why some people dont want to upgrade to xperia z as thier current phones are still powerful enough, What i Dont get, is how some are saying the xperia z is outdated, when at PRESENT there is nothing more powerfull.
the camera on the z is not as mind blowing as i thought it would be, but it takes some nice looking pics and vids.
Yesterday i was out with my friends and i was taking comparison shots with one of them that has a galaxy s3, and all of my friends prefered the shots fom my xperia z,
by the way they all prefered it as a phone than my friends S3, all of them except one, who said that the s3 screen is more vibrant and alive, and no it wasnt' the owner.
The size of the Xperia Z is just right for me, as big as i'd like it to be, but small enough to use comfortably in one hand when compared to my note 2, and friends and family stopped making fun of me whenever i take it out.
Did i mention it's Beatiful, when you go to pick up your phone, and you marvel at it for a second or 2 before swithing the screen on, means the phone is very very good looking,
Plus i can finally watch porn in the bath!:highfive:
I was set on getting the white one as i prefer the look of white phones overall, when i saw it in the flesh, i realised i like black more, the white one was black on the front which i found odd looking it and it was more remenicsent of older xperias.
i dont know, which colour do you prefer?
Do you agrere or disagree with anything i said?
I like reading objective posts negative or positive. What i dont appreciate are comments like outdated technology, crappy screen etc etc.
People who say that, are either threatend by sony's phone or just jealous of it, which is the definiton of a Troll.

Thanks for a nice review
Can't wait to get my XZ next week
Sly???/
bucho2004 said:
Plus i can finally watch porn in the bath!:highfive:
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bucho2004 said:
Plus i can finally watch porn in the bath!:highfive:
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Click to collapse
THIS. You earn my thanks. Let's see anyone try that with any other phone.
On a more serious note, i'm having a hard time deciding between black and white. I'd like to see them in the flesh but it seems wouldn't be able to do so for a good while - i'll have to blind-order it online. which isn't ideal because i wanted to personally test out the screen in person too.
At first i was sold on the uniform, black monolithic look. But the white.. the striking white glass back looks so pure and clean! royalty. Also there's a rumor going on that the white XZ has a better screen than the black but that's pure BS i feel. Wish i could see both colors for myself.
Also, how's the contrast/color of the screen compared to the nexus 4 - outside of the gallery/videos - in the homescreen/ browser etc.

omersak said:
THIS. You earn my thanks. Let's see anyone try that with any other phone.
On a more serious note, i'm having a hard time deciding between black and white. I'd like to see them in the flesh but it seems wouldn't be able to do so for a good while - i'll have to blind-order it online. which isn't ideal because i wanted to personally test out the screen in person too.
At first i was sold on the uniform, black monolithic look. But the white.. the striking white glass back looks so pure and clean! royalty. Also there's a rumor going on that the white XZ has a better screen than the black but that's pure BS i feel. Wish i could see both colors for myself.
Also, how's the contrast/color of the screen compared to the nexus 4 - outside of the gallery/videos - in the homescreen/ browser etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I remember about the nexus 4 screen, the Xperia z screen looks superior, the 1080p screen. Probably has something to do with it, I 've put a black screen wallpaper, and its black.
the actual Xperia menu are dark grey, which at first I thought it was black and was dissappointed, but in all honesty after knowing the grey is supposed to be grey, I quite like it now, it makes it very very utilitarian, which is what Sony Was going for with the styling of the Xperia z. Dont worry about it the screen. is great.
The only complaint I might have are viewing angles are better on note 2. However for me that is non issue, I bet viewing angles are a compromise due to Sony making it waterproof, which I can live with

Xperia Z1 vs Galaxy S4 vs Xperia S vs iPhone 4s

Hi everyone
I know that there are several topics that reviewed the device but I thought this might be useful when comparing the Z1 vs SGS4, if not please let me know and I will delete it
I just received my Xperia Z1 couple of hours ago (from EE through P4U white one) I have been playing with it and tested most things (apart from the camera)
first I was worried from the review saying the screen is bad or the battery life is poor but the phone I am holding is impressive over all
I compared it against the Xperia S and iPhone 4s and I came to quick conclusion which is if you owned any of the two and liked it you will definitely like the Z1 it is better than the two in every single aspect that you would think of (assuming you don't mind the size).
now the comparison between the Z1 and SGS4
first the phone is heavier, however, I think this is an advantage as the phone feels premium (it doesn't feel heavy to an extent that worries you that it might hurt your hand)
by looking at the devise it feels so big but comparing it with SGS4 (side by side) it is not that big. Keep in mind that this still different from one person to the other, but the size doesn't bother me.
Now with the screen
I was really worried to get poor screen, so I though I would start with it. I put both phones side by side, turned off auto brightness put them at max brightness and the surprise is the Z1 is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter than my SGS4. I then opened google search to compare the white and surprisingly, the Z1 is ALOT whiter you can easily say which is better. then searched in google images for various things and compared the images on both phones and ALWAYS the Z1 is better than the SGS4. Now I am happy.
lets move to the battery
I have played with the phone for 1 full hour, the screen was on, wifi on opened couple of websites used the camera a lettle, downloaded apps used various apps and the battery went down by ~10% which is really impressive. This means the phone would last around 10 hours of continues use (this really depends on what you are doing as different things consume different amount of the battery) but then keep in mind that the device is new and the battery tends to get better with time. now I am even happier.
now these things what worried me the most but I am perfectly happy with the phone and would recommend it to anyone. if anyone has any question please let me know and I will try to answer it for you. I will be out in a while and will be back in few hours and will try to answer questions by then.

ahomad said:
Hi everyone
I know that there are several topics that reviewed the device but I thought this might be useful when comparing the Z1 vs SGS4, if not please let me know and I will delete it
I just received my Xperia Z1 couple of hours ago (from EE through P4U white one) I have been playing with it and tested most things (apart from the camera)
first I was worried from the review saying the screen is bad or the battery life is poor but the phone I am holding is impressive over all
I compared it against the Xperia S and iPhone 4s and I came to quick conclusion which is if you owned any of the two and liked it you will definitely like the Z1 it is better than the two in every single aspect that you would think of (assuming you don't mind the size).
now the comparison between the Z1 and SGS4
first the phone is heavier, however, I think this is an advantage as the phone feels premium (it doesn't feel heavy to an extent that worries you that it might hurt your hand)
by looking at the devise it feels so big but comparing it with SGS4 (side by side) it is not that big. Keep in mind that this still different from one person to the other, but the size doesn't bother me.
Now with the screen
I was really worried to get poor screen, so I though I would start with it. I put both phones side by side, turned off auto brightness put them at max brightness and the surprise is the Z1 is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter than my SGS4. I then opened google search to compare the white and surprisingly, the Z1 is ALOT whiter you can easily say which is better. then searched in google images for various things and compared the images on both phones and ALWAYS the Z1 is better than the SGS4. Now I am happy.
lets move to the battery
I have played with the phone for 1 full hour, the screen was on, wifi on opened couple of websites used the camera a lettle, downloaded apps used various apps and the battery went down by ~10% which is really impressive. This means the phone would last around 10 hours of continues use (this really depends on what you are doing as different things consume different amount of the battery) but then keep in mind that the device is new and the battery tends to get better with time. now I am even happier.
now these things what worried me the most but I am perfectly happy with the phone and would recommend it to anyone. if anyone has any question please let me know and I will try to answer it for you. I will be out in a while and will be back in few hours and will try to answer questions by then.
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open a black image... turn of the lights and see it in dark... how deep black is the black... and does normal viewing angle effect the blackness.. i do not want to know unpractical viewing angle...

Thanks for info,
for camera shootout between my Z1 and 5S, http://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/...xperia-z1-share-you-view-on-the-better-phone/ also daily blog review of Z1 ongoing, so check out earlier posts.

jos_031 said:
open a black image... turn of the lights and see it in dark... how deep black is the black... and does normal viewing angle effect the blackness.. i do not want to know unpractical viewing angle...
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when lights off, you would see black as grey this is back lit screen where all pixels lights even black ones unlike SGS4 AMOLED where each pixel is lit on its own.
but then you won't watch a completely black screen. when you look at screen with different colors (images, videos ...etc) you won't notice the grayish black and when lights are on, the black is deep to a level similar to the SGS4 (you won't notice any difference)
viewing angle is very good ( the colors fade a bit when you look at almost flat device). In other words it stays perfect all the way until it is almost flat where the colors fade a bit which wouldn't be very noticeable and no one would even look at a device from that angle. normal angle where few people looking at the phone won't cause any issue and the image will be crystal clear.

gavinfabl said:
Thanks for info,
for camera shootout between my Z1 and 5S, http://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/...xperia-z1-share-you-view-on-the-better-phone/ also daily blog review of Z1 ongoing, so check out earlier posts.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the source. I wounder why people doing camera comparison do not include reference image (from pro cameras) because the first two images in this source, the color is slightly different between the Z1 and 5s and we can't really tell which shows the real color. Apart from that the Z1 looks brighter, sharper and with more noise while the 5s is more blurry and seems to have pink tint that I had in my previous Xperia S. So the Z1 images are not prefect but hopefully an update can improve it. Still need to test mine when I get back.

ahomad said:
Thanks for the source. I wounder why people doing camera comparison do not include reference image (from pro cameras) because the first two images in this source, the color is slightly different between the Z1 and 5s and we can't really tell which shows the real color. Apart from that the Z1 looks brighter, sharper and with more noise while the 5s is more blurry and seems to have pink tint that I had in my previous Xperia S. So the Z1 images are not prefect but hopefully an update can improve it. Still need to test mine when I get back.
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They are my photos and from my blog
So what you are saying is to take the same shots with all the phones and use a DSLR for comparison? I will say the 5S overall has more natural colours, the Z1 does sometimes blur on edges, but otherwise its a tricky one. Also Z1 will get updates from Sony to fix a number of its bugs and tweak the camera which is exciting really.

gavinfabl said:
They are my photos and from my blog
So what you are saying is to take the same shots with all the phones and use a DSLR for comparison? I will say the 5S overall has more natural colours, the Z1 does sometimes blur on edges, but otherwise its a tricky one. Also Z1 will get updates from Sony to fix a number of its bugs and tweak the camera which is exciting really.
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yup that what I meant, but you were there thats fair enough. I think sony are trying to make there images brighter in order to get better picture in low light situation, so you get brighter images but then this sometimes affect the colors. Anyway, I tested my Z1 camera (didn't compare it to SGS4), the images are good but as everyone said before, the Z1 can do alot better. Comparing the hardware between the Z1 SGS4 and iPhone 5s, the Z1 is ALOT better (bigger sensor and G-lens) however, sony were always weak in the software department but we hope (as everyone said before) that future updates make the camera performs alot better than this.