I just wanted to let you all know my first impressions of the Z1s. A bit of background, I just traded in the LG G2. Before that I had the Lumia 1020, HTC One, S3, and then before that the iPhone.
Holding the Z1s in my hand feels very nice. It has a weight to it which just feels good. A lot of the phones such as the S3 feel like a toy or like you'd break it just by touching it. The Z1s does not have this issue.
The bezels on the top and bottom are HUGE. It doesn't look so bad once you get used to it but it's still a small issue (won't stop me from liking this phone though).
The screen gets quite bright and even when I'm outside it is visible. HTC One was quite the opposite and taking it outside in direct light was a nightmare. The viewing angles are not as bad as the reviews might make you think. I was expecting the worse but it's not bad at all. (And I still have the included screen protectors on).
This thing is ZIPPY. It just glides from one screen to the next. I know the specs help but I also think the very minimal UI is also a reason. I like it, reminds me a bit of stock google. I will be putting my favorite launcher on it (action launcher) and I don't think the silky performance will be affected.
Battery life right now sucks, but that is because it's downloading my apps/settings/etc. Sucking right now is a given so I can't really comment on it.
The camera is freakin nice. Coming from the Lumia 1020 and it's 40MP sensor I have high expectations for what can be done on a phone. This camera is easily the best camera on an ANDROID device. If google would get it's head out of it's ass and allow developers to adjust the shutter delay then it'd be even better.
The one big thing I hate right now, is the locked bootloader. I'm not sure what the hell Sony/TMobile was thinking. Hopefully it gets cracked soon. I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
I'll come back and update this after a day or two then after a week or two. So far though, (even with the crappy locked bootloader) I'd suggest this phone to everyone.
Rob
You can unlock the BL if you want to.
how is the feel of the smaller screen .. 4.3" ?
Hanozy said:
You can unlock the BL if you want to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not on all Z1's. He mentioned T-Mobile, and if he got it from them he can not unlock the bootloader. At least not without a new crack developed but I don't know if that will happen anytime soon.
Edit: I realized he said Z1S which is definitely T-Mobile and definitely not unlockable.
@robamacaf - great review, thanks
robamacaf said:
I just wanted to let you all know my first impressions of the Z1s. A bit of background, I just traded in the LG G2. Before that I had the Lumia 1020, HTC One, S3, and then before that the iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the Z1s camera compare to the G2? I'm in the same boat as you, thinking about switching to the Z1s from the G2. I'm only concerned about the differences in battery life and camera quality, at least one would have to be better than the G2 for me to make the switch! Looking forward to your impressions. Thanks!
robamacaf said:
The one big thing I hate right now, is the locked bootloader. I'm not sure what the hell Sony/TMobile was thinking. Hopefully it gets cracked soon. I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, the number of Z1 cases (bumpers mainly) that I want can't be used on the Z1S because of that moved headphone jack!
I'm on the fence of getting a Z1S. It doesn't have aluminum sides like the Z1 counterpart. What's your opinion on it?
ashouhdy said:
how is the feel of the smaller screen .. 4.3" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the Z1 compact, not the Z1s
randaddy said:
How does the Z1s camera compare to the G2? I'm in the same boat as you, thinking about switching to the Z1s from the G2. I'm only concerned about the differences in battery life and camera quality, at least one would have to be better than the G2 for me to make the switch! Looking forward to your impressions. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is the reason I switched. I was hoping for good things with the G2 but after I got it I tried taking photos of my kids in the living room at night and had to take 12+ photos to get one that wasn't blurry. It was frustrating. The Z1s has bigger pixels to capture more light and a higher resolution. I'll take some night photos tonight but so far the day time photos are great. If you don't know the Z1s does the same thing as the Lumia 1020 when it comes to photos. It takes a 20MP photo and then oversamples it down to the 8MP photo to keep the size down but also provide good details of the higher photos. This also allows the lossless zooming.
I'll give updated impressions but so far I really like it. We'll see how low light shots go tonight
PcFish said:
Also, the number of Z1 cases (bumpers mainly) that I want can't be used on the Z1S because of that moved headphone jack!
I'm on the fence of getting a Z1S. It doesn't have aluminum sides like the Z1 counterpart. What's your opinion on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it looks and feels premium. After doing some research they made it plastic to get better signal. It still looks metal so I don't mind it.
One thing I don't like is the placement of the USB port. I don't mind the flap, it takes 1 second to get off plus I knew the flaps were part of the waterproof phone. So I don't have an issue with it. I just don't like the USB port in the top left corner. It feels....wrong. Makes it hard to use the phone when it's plugged in and charging. I'll get used to it, but right now it's a bit of an annoyance.
robamacaf said:
I think it looks and feels premium. After doing some research they made it plastic to get better signal. It still looks metal so I don't mind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer this one more question and I'm sold on it.
How is the camera in low light compared to the HTC One?
PcFish said:
Answer this one more question and I'm sold on it.
How is the camera in low light compared to the HTC One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will let you know tonight. This was the big thing that I loved with the HTC One and Lumia 1020. The HTC One ROCKED in low light but the low details because of the low MP really hurt the phone. I'd go back to HTC One or HTC One Two in a heart beat if they raised the MP. I switched off of the LG G2 because the low light wasn't impressive at all. I'll post back in about 5-6 hours with pictures. I'll take some outside when the sun is going down, when the sun is gone, indoors and out.
Just wanted to give you a heads up. I traded in my Z1 back to Tmobile. While I can do with bad screen angles and such one thing I can't deal with is a bad battery that is non-removable. When I heard the Z1s had a 3000 battery I figured it'd be great because that is a pretty huge battery. My LG G2 was the same size and could easily go 1-2 days between charges. My Z1s was dropping 8-12% an hour with everything turned off.
I never bothered looking to see if the battery was ok before I bought it because everything said it was 3000mhz. Which is is. But after researching it after the fact I found out the Z1/Z1s has some of the worst battery life out of any major phone released in the last year. That coupled with the fact it has a locked bootloader made me return it. A great camera is only good if the phone has juice.
robamacaf said:
Just wanted to give you a heads up. I traded in my Z1 back to Tmobile. While I can do with bad screen angles and such one thing I can't deal with is a bad battery that is non-removable. When I heard the Z1s had a 3000 battery I figured it'd be great because that is a pretty huge battery. My LG G2 was the same size and could easily go 1-2 days between charges. My Z1s was dropping 8-12% an hour with everything turned off.
I never bothered looking to see if the battery was ok before I bought it because everything said it was 3000mhz. Which is is. But after researching it after the fact I found out the Z1/Z1s has some of the worst battery life out of any major phone released in the last year. That coupled with the fact it has a locked bootloader made me return it. A great camera is only good if the phone has juice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do know that a phone's battery is worst when hyou first get it, because it starts off low and the phone is trying to reinstall all your apps and services, contacts, media, etc? You really only get a truly good read on a battery after all that is complete and the battery has gone through several full charging cycles.
My Z1 drops 1% in 6-10 hours and has one of the best battery life of any phone, especially in standby.
It once didn't even drop 1% after 10 hours, at that point I already thought the screen was frozen because the battery percentage didn't move, but the standby was just so good.
Screen on time is also great, just recently I reached 3 days (73 hours) with 4.5 hours of screen on.
Many threads around here prove the phone's great battery life.
And don't blame the phone or Sony for having an unlockable bootloader. Blame t-mobile as they probably demanded this.
I agree with the non removable battery, I don't like it.
jmwils3 said:
you do know that a phone's battery is worst when hyou first get it, because it starts off low and the phone is trying to reinstall all your apps and services, contacts, media, etc? You really only get a truly good read on a battery after all that is complete and the battery has gone through several full charging cycles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything was already installed/synced/etc. I have had many phones over the months and no phone came close to sucking as bad as this did in the battery department right out of the gate. I can also give you sources if you'd like of reports on battery life where z1 came close to last on every one. In fact, I searched the interwebs for almost 2 hours and not a single battery report actually gave the Z1/z1s anywhere above average. They were all below average if not the worst around compared to modern phones
Definately sounds like something was wrong in your case here. My Z1 easily lasts two days of medium use, with an hour of screen time, a few snapshots with the camera, gmail and exchange sync on and a little RunKeeper.
You should have used a wake lock detector to see what was eating your power. My guess is that google plus or Dropbox was running haywire. Has happened to me a few times on new handsets.
-KJ
robamacaf said:
Everything was already installed/synced/etc. I have had many phones over the months and no phone came close to sucking as bad as this did in the battery department right out of the gate. I can also give you sources if you'd like of reports on battery life where z1 came close to last on every one. In fact, I searched the interwebs for almost 2 hours and not a single battery report actually gave the Z1/z1s anywhere above average. They were all below average if not the worst around compared to modern phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that IS quite odd, because every single review I read on the Z1s gave high marks for the battery, saying it lasted at least a day of moderate use, though each person's mileage will vary depending on usage. I too picked up a z1s today, and while my battery hasnt been phenomenal yet, its been better than my HTC One was, and should only improve over the next few days and weeks. Did you tinker at all with Sony's built in power saving settings?
robamacaf said:
I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
I'll come back and update this after a day or two then after a week or two. So far though, (even with the crappy locked bootloader) I'd suggest this phone to everyone.
Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would advise to check this thread before you start heavy ROM flashing. Would be sad if your Z1 enjoyment finishes in couple days.
jmwils3 said:
that IS quite odd, because every single review I read on the Z1s gave high marks for the battery, saying it lasted at least a day of moderate use, though each person's mileage will vary depending on usage. I too picked up a z1s today, and while my battery hasnt been phenomenal yet, its been better than my HTC One was, and should only improve over the next few days and weeks. Did you tinker at all with Sony's built in power saving settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, and while I appreciate it having Stamina mode, etc. Other phones do not offer that and still get better life. On the Note III and LG G2 (both have 3000-3200 batteries) I don't have to make it turn stuff off for the battery to last. I appreciate what Sony was going for but it just didn't work for me. Maybe with the Z2 they are supposed to be announcing soon they will have fixed things like the battery draw/viewing angles, etc.
I think the Z1 line could be a beast. But Sony needs to make some tweaks to make it better in the long run.
Related
So many negative threads about how the screen sucks, the camera sucks etc etc. Would be nice to hear from the people who actually like the Z1. Write down your experience with the phone. It doesn't have to be all rosy but hopefully it will give a little bit more nuance.
Sure.
Last Saturday I got my Z1, I've had a Gnex for a long time and my first impressions are very good. The device is amazingly fast, everything works as it should, multitasking is very good, all performance related things are nothing to complain about.
The screen 'dead-on' is also nice the viewing angles people are talking about is something I don't really see as a problem. I just held the phone in an angle and when the colours start to wash out it's an angle I would never use my phone at. Other than that the camera does have noise issues, although it's not too bad IMHO. (do bear in mind I come from the Gnex so pretty much every new device is a big upgrade) I don't think the noise issues aren't too bad though, as Sony can easily fix the noise issues with a software update. Speaking of updates, the Z1 already had 3 updates. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to you, but to me it sounds like it's well supported by Sony.
Battery... I feel mixed about it. It's better than my Gnex, but again, pretty much every device is. I did expect a lot more from a 3000 mAh battery though. I had about 23 hours of standby and roughly 4 hours of screen on time. That is with 3G on all the time, wifi on most of the time and applications like Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook running in the background. It's a weird thing though, the xperia ZR gets 11:30 (11 hours and 30 minutes) of browsing in the GSMarena test. While the Z1 gets about half of that. I have the feeling Sony has to do some software optimization, since they can pull it off. (note: the ZR battery is 2300 mAh) How long this will take, and if Sony will even do it, I have no idea. If the problem is related to Qualcomm it may take a long time though since they're not very keen on doing things in a different way. (look at the Nexus 7 2013 and binaries)
Overall I personally think the Xperia Z1 is an amazing device. It's super fast, the build quality is amazing and it feels really good.(get a case though!) There are things to improve on such as battery life and it depends on whether you trust Sony to fix these issues or not.
Positve
Got mine yesterday.
S/W: problems yet
Performance: Extremely quick 9/10
Screen Quality: 8/10 but too early to say if I'm just being jaded by all the moaning.
Camera seems pretty good to me, what a blessing a proper camera button makes.
Shame I can't upload samples of photos / videos etc. I will find a way if request. Anyone wanna buy a Galaxy 3? ho ho..
Oh one thing I don't like, is having to uncover the charger port to charge it up (i know its re waterproofing).
My options are :-
Cut the cover flap off or buy a magnetic charger unit £30.00 !!!!! (I probably will.)
So far pretty dam good phone.
Paul
I've had my XZ1 since Saturday 21st sept, and so far I love it, the camera is good but has issues like the grain and noise which prevent it from being a great one.
Love the sharpness and colours of the screen and it's resolution makes browsing the Web or forums so easy.
I've gotten used to the waterproof tabs after having my Xtz before I got the z1 but at least if you don't like having to keep opening the flap you can use a magnetic charger cable or dock.
That's all I can think of at lol
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium HD app
screen is best... best contrast and color you can get... no yellow tint or extra blue. no issue at all..
screen performance not so good from an angle... but who use it like that... 98% i use head on... 2 % ready to sacrifice. for head on awesomeness..
battery is a ****. (Wifi and bluetooth on, may be due to this)
Auto mode of camera is a ****..
play around with ISO in manual mode to get best shot for each scenario...
sound from speaker is not so good... even headphone sound (wired) is not good...
performance... nothing can beat it... samsung s4 struggles before this beast..
i am still on 518 firmware and no software issue so far.. using wireless headphones...
jos_031 said:
screen is best... best contrast and color you can get... no yellow tint or extra blue. no issue at all..
screen performance not so good from an angle... but who use it like that... 98% i use head on... 2 % ready to sacrifice. for head on awesomeness..
battery is a ****. (Wifi and bluetooth on, may be due to this)
Auto mode of camera is a ****..
play around with ISO in manual mode to get best shot for each scenario...
sound from speaker is not so good... even headphone sound (wired) is not good...
performance... nothing can beat it... samsung s4 struggles before this beast..
i am still on 518 firmware and no software issue so far.. using wireless headphones...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it's this above plus
Weird touch screen issues where it goes a bit bonkers when doing the pattern unlock.
Wow a positive thread about the Z1, do my eyes deceive me?
Seriously it's nice to see positive in all the threads of doom and gloom.
Nice
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
My showers have become a lot less of a chore and more of a pleasure;
https://vine.co/v/hvY5MVFTLXd?fb_action_ids=10151847100714799
Just add 2 hooks with a little bit of sugru
So I got mine yesterday.
Hardware: I can't tell you how gorgeous this phone is if you haven't seen it yet, the blend of pure vanilla white with the aluminium frame is a spot on direct hit in my eyes. Under the hood HW is even better. The S800 chip seriously flies and it's been a long time but Android is now becoming just as fluid as iOS and WP and it's great to see that.
Software: I am a big fan of the Sony UI simply because it's easy and it looks pretty vanilla, I haven't installed a Homescreen in 2 years now ever since I got a Xperia S and I am not changing that now. There is some minor SW bugs where some dialouges just doesn't show up but I can still press them(if I know their real position)
Camera: The camera is a serious SW mess because I know and I see that Sony has a good camera HW-wise BUT their SW and esspecially Auto mode is seriously one complete mess. Other than the major problems with the noise the camera app is fluid and it's quite promosing to have some nice options like AR and the Livestream mode.
Sound: THe loudspeaker is decent and nothing you would cheer about but it's better than my old XS of course. The headphone jack for me is perfect and I hear absolutely no difference when playing the same song on my XS or my Z1
Screen: THe screen for me is supersharp, I can only see a little difference in sharpness between my XS and Z1 but that is expected but still it's a nice feature. The colours are almost accurate(I had to increase my blue level by +3 to +4), viewing angles aren't the best but they are clearly better than my XS besides head on is the way to go in my world.
Battery: Battery is a mixed bag; Standby is EXCELLENT hours can go and the phone is still on the same percentage. However and this is a big one the battery during Web browsing or other minor things is seriously underperforming. Clearly this is also something wrong with the SW because other Sony phones does not have the same problem.
I hope this gives a good view on the phone, clearly Sony needs to fix the battery and the Camera and for some swap out faulty screens. Other than that my money was well put!
I got my XZ1 on monday and I love it so far! Yeah the viewing angles aren't the best but who is gonna use their phone from those angles? The camera is good, yes it needs some improvements but it isn't unusable.
The waterproof tabs take some getting used to after coming from a Nexus 4 but my battery lasts me about a day and a half almost 2; so I don't have to undo the tab to often.
I like the speaker, it isn't as loud as the one on the Note 2 I had but it is WAY better than the Nexus 4. I really like the notification LED also, its in a really discrete location and its pretty visible; and paired with light manager it is really useful for me.
Wifi has also been good for me, at least compared to my old N4. The overall speed of the phone is awesome! This thing rips!
Coming from the Nexus 4 this was a SOLID upgrade for me. SD card slot, better camera, Snapdragon 800, better speakers (ear piece also), and its waterproof? I can't really complain on my end!
I think people are just being a little too picky. I mean come on the phone has only been out for almost a week now. What else can you expect? Sony has been releasing updates pretty frequently so hopefully everything will get better soon.
So i will do that short: Sony Xperia Z1 is just good. Not perfect. but good and defently better as my old Xperia S. (Whiches i aso not so bad if i compare to to other cellphone from this timewindow)
Mine is good so far, only got it for 2days will test camera etc some more
One thing I can say about the screen:
I went to local store and compared to ZU screen, both on full brightness and my Z1 screen definitely has better colors and details then Z1. I tried the Sony sample pics and compared those.
Better details is due to 5" vs 6.4" I guess. But colors are really better on Z1, also in video I noticed the same result
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Love the z1
Got the Z1 on pre-order, arrived the 17th.
- First thing i notice, phone is not bulky (in oposition to what reviewers say). Second thing, sony actually provides screen protect (Awsome)
- Phone turns on great and continues to perform great, Loving 4g and the speed and smoothness of the whole system.
- Screen contrast is not superb, lost in comparison to the s4, but during video streaming/playback, it performed amazingly as being hit directly by sunlight it was still very clear.
- Overall The phone is amazing, everyone says constantly i can't stop playing around with it (so true).
The only negative i have is battery life. Due to my constant use it drains very very quickly. But i think i'll be able to fix that.
B1nny said:
Sure.
Last Saturday I got my Z1, I've had a Gnex for a long time and my first impressions are very good. The device is amazingly fast, everything works as it should, multitasking is very good, all performance related things are nothing to complain about.
....
Overall I personally think the Xperia Z1 is an amazing device. It's super fast, the build quality is amazing and it feels really good.(get a case though!) There are things to improve on such as battery life and it depends on whether you trust Sony to fix these issues or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you're from the Netherlands. Could you confirm we are still on 14.1.G.1.518 firmware? It seems everyone who has been able to upgrade to 534 firmware has far better camera results, yet I cannot update to this new firmware, still stuck on the old one. I'd love to update the firmware to get better camera results but I do not want to root this phone. I'm on Vodafone RED 4G btw, dunno if it mathers.. Thanks.
bramgg said:
I see you're from the Netherlands. Could you confirm we are still on 14.1.G.1.518 firmware? It seems everyone who has been able to upgrade to 534 firmware has far better camera results, yet I cannot update to this new firmware, still stuck on the old one. I'd love to update the firmware to get better camera results but I do not want to root this phone. I'm on Vodafone RED 4G btw, dunno if it mathers.. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am. I can confirm I didn't get any updates on my unlocked Z1. I updated to 534 manually via flashtool though. (doesn't void warranty) I have no idea why we don't get the updates pushed to our phones.
thought i'd give my 2 cents here as i have been seeing a lot of negative comments, especially from people who judge way too quickly. Back when the Z came out i followed it madly and already had it on pre-order but i ended up getting a htc one. Ive had this phone for 2 days now and compared to my htc one it is a definite improvement. The only thing im getting used to is the size of the phone, i have small hands so you can imagine its not a 1 handed affair, but you cant fault the build quality, i love the fact that sony puts its own screen and back panel protector on (remember the x10). Call quality is amazing i have to say, loud and clear. performance is amazing, i can see the improvements in the chipset s800 has over s600 (was in my htc one), in real life you wont notice it too much but its defo there, games run amazing no lags and hits a very good fps (wild blood, real racing 3 in particular looks and plays amazingly). I've not really played with the camera much but its better than my htc one, that was the only thing i was disappointed with that phone. Now i have been constantly messing about with the phone so cant really give an accurate example of battery life, but what are you supposed to expect from a phone specc'd like this, yes it has a bigger capacity battery, it also has a big screen and a powerful cpu too, if i get a full days use out of it il be happy.
The Z1 is easily the best phone ever built. Its so nice to hold and use. Definitely my favourite phone to date and I have owned nearly all the previous flagship phones from most companies.
Absolutely blown away by this phone it's just amazing for me.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Xperia Z1 music video
Hi,
I'm totally new to android and the Z1 is my first personal android phone. My expectations where so high coming from many years of All iPhones.
I don't want to start a flame but yes I think android is a little behind (in some aspects) to ios7 BUT this device is actually freaking awesome and looks to me the only one that can beat the iPhone quality.
- High quality. When you touch it you feel that your money are well spent.
- The camera (if we consider is a phone) Is just super good.
- The Sony rom doesn't make me sad as and in a hurry to grab a random 3th party rom
- Display is super good colors looks real and rich. Yes view angles are not awesome but only crazy people use the phone in that way. One thing that NO ONE MENTION is that any phone is close to the iPhone under the sun. Surprise surprise according to phone arena the Z1 is in 2 place. That's for me means A LOT more than insane view angles. The only difect so far is the black. The display show (only in some circumstances) one of the lightest black on the market. You'll may notice it watching a movie (a dark one) in a dark room.
- screen protector: isn't so fragile as many said but yes isn't olephobic
Am I satisfied? A lot!!!!
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
I really wanted this phone to work. Its cheaper than other flagships for starters. Then there is the screen which is really impressive. I just feel continually let down by it though. Its like a bad relationship that you cant let go of and just keep coming back to.
Im not here to rubbish the phone at all... Just feel irritated that you have to root, access secret menus, downgrade to 1080p and rely on a third party launcher to get the buttery goodness im after.
Our friends in the US seem to fare better on the battery front, even after tweaks, mine is erratic and thats being kind. I have to say that battery life does bug me greatly.
It takes some beautiful photos for sure. But the screen colouring does seem to let it down even after tweaking. Its real hot and sunny in London now and outside it doesnt have visibility it should.
I feel like i have been covering up for a cheating partner for the last few weeks hoping for it to all work out.... And am left wanting.....
Cant help but feel LG rushed this a little bit and wonder if a slightly better processor would have helped the battery life.
I have an S5 waiting at home today which im going to test against this. Gonna have a seriously hard choice i feel.......
Good luck on your next choice! s5 is a good phone (just overly bloated) im sure you will enjoy it
bdt1978 said:
I really wanted this phone to work. Its cheaper than other flagships for starters. Then there is the screen which is really impressive. I just feel continually let down by it though. Its like a bad relationship that you cant let go of and just keep coming back to.
Im not here to rubbish the phone at all... Just feel irritated that you have to root, access secret menus, downgrade to 1080p and rely on a third party launcher to get the buttery goodness im after.
Our friends in the US seem to fare better on the battery front, even after tweaks, mine is erratic and thats being kind. I have to say that battery life does bug me greatly.
It takes some beautiful photos for sure. But the screen colouring does seem to let it down even after tweaking. Its real hot and sunny in London now and outside it doesnt have visibility it should.
I feel like i have been covering up for a cheating partner for the last few weeks hoping for it to all work out.... And am left wanting.....
Cant help but feel LG rushed this a little bit and wonder if a slightly better processor would have helped the battery life.
I have an S5 waiting at home today which im going to test against this. Gonna have a seriously hard choice i feel.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I "gave up" on day 13. Pretty much the same experience as you. Can't help feel LG have rushed it to get a foothold early in the 2k market.
Hello batfink. Thats how i would put it. What did you move on to?
bdt1978 said:
Hello batfink. Thats how i would put it. What did you move on to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went from Nexus 5 to G3 to M8 and now settled on Z2 until a decent 2k phone is released. I sold my Nexus 5 for £250 and bought the G3 for £480 then took that back and got the M8 for £530. To be honest I wish i stayed with my Nexus 5 instead of spending the extra money for the G3 then the others.
Ha ha i know the feeling. I think we will be waiting a while yet
Batfink33 said:
Went from Nexus 5 to G3 to M8 and now settled on Z2 until a decent 2k phone is released. I sold my Nexus 5 for £250 and bought the G3 for £480 then took that back and got the M8 for £530. To be honest I wish i stayed with my Nexus 5 instead of spending the extra money for the G3 then the others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't like the m8 either? what was wrong with it
and hows the z2? I wanted the z2 but because tmobile didn't have it i got the g3 instead
mgbotoe said:
Didn't like the m8 either? what was wrong with it
and hows the z2? I wanted the z2 but because tmobile didn't have it i got the g3 instead
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The Z2 is OK. Best of the ones I've tried this year but its not perfect. The M8s camera is terrible so that's why I ditched it.
---------- Post added at 06:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
bdt1978 said:
Ha ha i know the feeling. I think we will be waiting a while yet
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Yeah, maybe the Nexus 6 will be good? Who knows. I see Xiaomi released the Mi4 yesterday. Its still using the S801 for a 2k screen which I'm highly dubious of now and I noticed the same frame rate drops as the G3 in the video of it.
It's funny, I came from the S5, which worked for me, but was nothing special. I came from a N3 before, and hated going down to a smaller sized phone.
The G3 fits the bill for me perfectly! I hate overly saturated colors, and the screen has been amazing! The only thing that bothered me was the artificial screen sharpening, but I can live with that.
Battery life has been OK, slightly worse than my S5 (which was amazing)
17 699
Coming from a Samsung S3 and I am amazed at both the screen visibility outdoors and the battery life. I am in California where its rare for me to see any clouds and the sun is burning bright. With the screen at full brightness (auto) I can read the screen perfectly. No issues what so ever and I don't need to shade the screen. Not sure why you are having issues.
The battery life is fantastic too. Does the samsung S5 get better life? Probably. But I am easily getting 2-3 hours on half a charge. My samsung would be dying by then.
When I compared the Samsung S5 and the G3 in a best buy, the G3 was brighter and the screen was much sharper. I don't know why the reviews say its hard to tell, it wasn't at all. Even the samsung rep agreed.
Ill take cali over london any day!! ☺
The battery life has been amazing for me. Also, coming from the note 3 so I had high expectations.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Free mobile app
bdt1978 said:
Ill take cali over london any day!! ☺
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I used to live in Wimbledon, great place. Sad I'm back up north now.
I'm consistently getting over 5 hours screen time and going 24 hours between charges. I've also had no problems with lag or stability. I'm on a US Tmobile LG G3 and I love it like a fat kid loves chocolate cake.
sojodave said:
I'm consistently getting over 5 hours screen time and going 24 hours between charges. I've also had no problems with lag or stability. I'm on a US Tmobile LG G3 and I love it like a fat kid loves chocolate cake.
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For some reason you guys in the us dont have the battery issue we have.... I wonder why
I'm getting decent battery life too. But I've got a Korean version in the UK.
Still not feeling the phone though and also looking at the mi4
Sent from my LG-F400L
bdt1978 said:
I really wanted this phone to work. Its cheaper than other flagships for starters. Then there is the screen which is really impressive. I just feel continually let down by it though. Its like a bad relationship that you cant let go of and just keep coming back to.
Im not here to rubbish the phone at all... Just feel irritated that you have to root, access secret menus, downgrade to 1080p and rely on a third party launcher to get the buttery goodness im after.
Our friends in the US seem to fare better on the battery front, even after tweaks, mine is erratic and thats being kind. I have to say that battery life does bug me greatly.
It takes some beautiful photos for sure. But the screen colouring does seem to let it down even after tweaking. Its real hot and sunny in London now and outside it doesnt have visibility it should.
I feel like i have been covering up for a cheating partner for the last few weeks hoping for it to all work out.... And am left wanting.....
Cant help but feel LG rushed this a little bit and wonder if a slightly better processor would have helped the battery life.
I have an S5 waiting at home today which im going to test against this. Gonna have a seriously hard choice i feel.......
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I have an G3 also in the UK and I would somewhat agree.
However, my first question would be, are you still on v10a?
Cause v10a was/is ****, since I flashed v10e there is definite improvement all around.
Maybe US variants were released with a later version? Maybe that's why they have started with better battery?
And it's definitely too early to judge the phone in my opinion.
Can't wait for CM/AOSP roms and custom kernels... hopefully in the not too distant future.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
BioVolt said:
I have an G3 also in the UK and I would somewhat agree.
However, my first question would be, are you still on v10a?
Cause v10a was/is ****, since I flashed v10e there is definite improvement all around.
Maybe US variants were released with a later version? Maybe that's why they have started with better battery?
And it's definitely too early to judge the phone in my opinion.
Can't wait for CM/AOSP roms and custom kernels... hopefully in the not too distant future.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
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I was on v10 a....
I don't mind modding but when the basics are not right and you have to mod the life out of it just for it to feel right somethings got to give right?
jetsetwilly said:
I'm getting decent battery life too. But I've got a Korean version in the UK.
Still not feeling the phone though and also looking at the mi4
Sent from my LG-F400L
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Hey just out of interest what is not doing it for You? I am the same and I can't put my finger on it. Also how did you get the Korean version? Did the extra ram make a difference
I'm not sure how to feel about the phone. I don't have issues with battery life, got 6h SoT without too much problems. What bothers me is that sometimes the phone has lag, sometimes not - in same situations. Also, today I've noticed a problem probably due to custom buttons bar: Battlenet authenticator menu button, usually puts 3 dots in the soft launch (on M8 at least) is gone on G3...
And that sudden lag... G3 takes literally double the time to go to apps list, to open an app, to shut it down.. 3GB RAM version.
Hi,
I'm considering switching from my HTC ONE M8 to a OnePlus. Has anyone made this switch? If so are you happy with your decision? Do you prefer the OnePlus over the M8 after using it for a while?
Thanks in advance.
My opinion won't be popular here, but I made the opposite switch (OnePlus One to One M8) and I am much happier with the One M8. I don't think it's a good idea to switch from any current flagship to the OnePlus One. At the very best, it's a sidegrade. If you had a One M7 a better argument could be made for trying the OnePlus One.
Yeah, If I'm honest The M8 is the best phone I've ever owned. My previous phone was a G3 and a Nexus 5 before that. I just like a change now and then. Plus the camera is poor on my M8. I realize HTC are said to be announcing another M8 tomorrow with a better camera, but I refuse to buy the new M8 just because HTC have decided to do what they should have done in the first place - Upgrade the camera.
Thank you for your reply.
I've switched to the OnePlus one from the M8. Better camera, stable CM as stock, larger screen, no on screen nav bar.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app
Yeah it's the screen size and camera that are making me seriously consider it.
I think I'm just going to wait for the Nexus 6.
Earlier this summer I had wanted to upgrade to the One from my Nexus 4, but was put off by the whole invite thing. So I bought a Find 7a, but returned it because of the yellow tint problem and got an M8. A month later I get this system invite out of the blue and figured I should jump on it and decide later which one I preferred. So I'm kinda in the same boat. Don't have my hands on the One yet, so the deciding factor may be (again) the yellow tint factor. I love the M8, although the camera sucks, but the price point of the One is hard to ignore.
bruce7373 said:
Earlier this summer I had wanted to upgrade to the One from my Nexus 4, but was put off by the whole invite thing. So I bought a Find 7a, but returned it because of the yellow tint problem and got an M8. A month later I get this system invite out of the blue and figured I should jump on it and decide later which one I preferred. So I'm kinda in the same boat. Don't have my hands on the One yet, so the deciding factor may be (again) the yellow tint factor. I love the M8, although the camera sucks, but the price point of the One is hard to ignore.
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The camera is bad on the M8, it's hard to appreciate just how bad until you've used it isn't it. I'm not sure if I should go for the OnePlus or hold out and see what the Nexus 6 brings. I do really like my M8 it's just the camera that lets it down. Sense is also great.
Nothing can really beat the OPO for the price. I came from the M7, cameras on the latest HTC flagships have not been that great, but this phone has it all pretty much. You get a great camera, large screen, specs as good as the latest flagships, and cyanongenmod. Then, if you're someone who roots their phones, you can pretty much get the very best out of this phone. I'd totally recommend it.
With the yellow tint issue, I heard the ones made after August don't have it anymore? I'm not sure though, if someone can confirm that would be great. Just giving my 2 cents.
PaoloMix09 said:
Nothing can really beat the OPO for the price. I came from the M7, cameras on the latest HTC flagships have not been that great, but this phone has it all pretty much. You get a great camera, large screen, specs as good as the latest flagships, and cyanongenmod. Then, if you're someone who roots their phones, you can pretty much get the very best out of this phone. I'd totally recommend it.
With the yellow tint issue, I heard the ones made after August don't have it anymore? I'm not sure though, if someone can confirm that would be great. Just giving my 2 cents.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. What's the battery life like on the OPO? That yellowing of the screen issue I keep reading about is concerning though, It wouldn't be so bad if you could get the phone replaced quickly, but from what I've read there would be a pretty long wait for a replacement.
Diesel779 said:
Thanks for the reply. What's the battery life like on the OPO? That yellowing of the screen issue I keep reading about is concerning though, It wouldn't be so bad if you could get the phone replaced quickly, but from what I've read there would be a pretty long wait for a replacement.
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2753354
Many people shared their experiences with the battery on the OPO on that thread. Check it out. In my case, yesterday I went from like 11am to 10pm down to 20% on 51% screen consuming. I don't use my brightness on auto so that drains battery a little more probably. I use my phone heavily as well so those results were great and it usually is like that. ROM I use is Vanir with franco kernel.
PaoloMix09 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2753354
Many people shared their experiences with the battery on the OPO on that thread. Check it out. In my case, yesterday I went from like 11am to 10pm down to 20% on 51% screen consuming. I don't use my brightness on auto so that drains battery a little more probably. I use my phone heavily as well so those results were great and it usually is like that. ROM I use is Vanir with franco kernel.
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Thanks again. I'll check out that thread now.
Diesel779 said:
Thanks again. I'll check out that thread now.
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Just for reference, on my first full day with the phone I got 5 hours screen on time over 24 hours on 4G/LTE, screen brightness 70%
WIFI I got 7 hours 11 minutes over 1 day 10 hours with auto brightness.
For comparison, my M7 got 3 hours SOT on LTE and 4 hours on WIFI
I have both and for build quality, hands down the M8 but there's something missing in it and I can't pinpoint it (no its not the camera).
The 1+ doesn't really get me excited by using it. Maybe cause I'm not really a fan of Cynogen. It doesn't scream premium or even command a second look!
I miss my Nexus 5 to be honest!
Simple yet elegant and faster on stock KitKat than the M8 is on GPE or Sense and more exciting to use than the 1+....
HTC One M8
i had m8 and switch to the oneplus one. things i like about oneplus one ,great camera with 4k video recording,great battery life about 1 more hr screen time than m8 ,speakers are loud and sound great,not like the m8 but sound pretty good, that 5.5 inch display is great,feel on hand ,cm11s with themes that you can make it look like m8 if u want.
now the great things about the m8 are Speakers , camera shutter speed is pretty fast to take pics ,many roms ,screen .
I was thinking about either the M8,Nexus X, or OnePlus One. I had an M7 at the time and I loved the phone, I had it running at 2.1Ghz, was getting great battery life and loved the build quality. This all lead me to heavily look into the M8 but I saw that the camera wasn't really upgraded if at all. Looking at the trend of Nexus devices pretty much none of the devices have had great battery life, and had average cameras.
What lead me to the OnePlus was the availability of getting it now vs the headache launch of the Nexus X, good enough screen (wanted bigger than my M7), good camera, great battery life, and the abundance of AOSP ROM's with some solid developers backing this phone up. So far I've had it less than a week and the screen size feels fantastic. I will probably never use a phone < 5.5 inches again. I can also use any app I want and not worry too much about battery life because of how good the battery life is. I'm using Mahdi/Franco atm and it feels great. While the speed is not a HUGE upgrade from my m7, it's able to multitask much better and handle a load of processes without flinching, while with the M7 you could feel the weight of processes running in the background. I also have no yellow banding, and no real touch screen issues that I've heard some people complain about.
i did this. switched from One M8 to OPO last week. i love both devices, but i like the screen size on the OPO better
that said, anyone interested in an M8? i have one up on swappa
M8 better device. I have both
they are both awesome, it depends on personal choice, and price XD
The one concern I have with the OPO is if I ever needed a replacement they just don't seem to have any ready so it would possibly be a long wait.
What do you all think? Stilling holding on to the G2 and running strong? With all these shiny new toys released her recently it's got me wanting to upgrade, yet I'm pretty much in the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I've repaired my G2 now a few times and still come out on top. Who else has had really great success with these phones and still loves rocking the G2 even though it's over two years old now?
Definetly holding on.
Wont let go of back buttons and a phone that fits so well for one handed use. Perfect body ratio and screen dimensions for my needs and of course a battery life that to this day can compete with the latest flagships.
The G5? I'm alright. In my eyes, not worthy to pay all that extra $ when nothing much has changed since 2013.
zizuka said:
The G5? I'm alright. In my eyes, not worthy to pay all that extra $ when nothing much has changed since 2013.
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i agree, although i like the camera hardware on g5 which is way ahead G2 (but still not much ahead of g4)
i also agree on the part about the back buttons... i don't get why they abandoned this? it's more ergonomic with the back buttons...
and the bezel to screen ratio goes down again (g2 still has the highest screen to bezel ratio of any g-series devices)
would rather buy LG Xcam than g5...
the force is still strong in g2... does everything i need very well even today...
beankid said:
What do you all think? Stilling holding on to the G2 and running strong? With all these shiny new toys released her recently it's got me wanting to upgrade, yet I'm pretty much in the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I've repaired my G2 now a few times and still come out on top. Who else has had really great success with these phones and still loves rocking the G2 even though it's over two years old now?
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The LG G2's SoC is still a better performer than pretty much all budget and mid-range smartphones of 2015. You got a decent 1080p screen, battery life, and it does not get hot like the G3. The G2 does have significant flaws. The GPS has weak reception, and I personally don't like the camera much because it often takes ages to auto-focus, if it can at all. There is likely no official marshmallow update, although there are a few well established AOSP ROMs like CM13. I applied the cardboard fix to the GPS problem (dunno if it works), installed the stripped down D800 lollipop ROM, boosted the sound, and passed the phone to my dad who only really cares about having big screen and loud sound.
Now that the galaxy s7 is out, I'll be looking for an s6 in a few months when prices go down. As much as I like the g2, the horrible gps and mediocre camera ruin it for me - those two things don't seem that important until you really need them. Plus, it's 2016, time to get a phone with a fingerprint scanner.
The only real upgrade for G2 is a SD820 based phone. Sadly, the majority of announced ones are too gimmicky. X performance and Le max pro seem promising but I bet on new nexuses and Motorola. So, that's one more year of g2 rocking.
Still waiting for Vivo XPlay 5 to be released. I also hope, that some other "Chinese" bands will release something new. I'm not really up to changing my LG G2 with decent hardware, support and battery into some crappy LG G5 with that crappy battery and "fancy" modules. Also bye bye back buttons. Perhaps ASUS will release something new with back buttons again, but based on some newer Intel chipset or S820 with battery at least 4000 mAh.
If nothing will be as good as LG G2 was back then, I'm not even thinking about any changes.
I will definitely buy a G5 this summer, but my g2 will stay strong in my gf's hands.
beankid said:
What do you all think? Stilling holding on to the G2 and running strong? With all these shiny new toys released her recently it's got me wanting to upgrade, yet I'm pretty much in the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I've repaired my G2 now a few times and still come out on top. Who else has had really great success with these phones and still loves rocking the G2 even though it's over two years old now?
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Me, G2 still beat many mid-range phones. Plus, flasholic like me couldn't stand buy a phone then found out that I cant even root it.
I do agree that there hasn't really been anything that has exploded the scene for android phones. I think there is more competition in the race to the bottom with decently priced "mid-range" phones. Pretty excited about the finger print sensor but contactless payments and the added security are really the only reason's I'd argue to upgrade. You know "knock-on-wood" that my phone still stays strong as it's been a great device. Having awesome Devs to upgrade to CM13 and get all the extra software features is awesome!
I am . Not going on another phone ,not now ,I don't really need a fingerprint scanner (to be honest how many ppls are using it ?) ,camera is still doing a great job (don't have any problems with autofocus at all ,maybe in low light condition ) ,battery is still awesome even after 1 year and half of use (still last 1 day with medium use) ,and looking great (just trying to get new cases)
Me too! Not been impressed with the G5 so far. Will still read the reviews and try it out but taller than the G4 with a smaller screen and smaller battery... no thanks. If only they made the G2 again but with the G5 build materials and latest SoC then it would've been perfect for me.
Tried the S7 today but wasn't all that impressed for some reason. Dislike shiny glass back and prefer customisable on-screen buttons.
Hopes resting on the Huawei P9 that is supposed to be 5.2". Hopefully slightly smaller than the P8 with a larger battery.
I'm tying to justify replacing my 2 years old G2 but it appears to be a tough job..
ROM: SRKG2-300
Launcher: Nova Prime. The phone is very smooth.
Battery: About 45 hours with 3-4 SOT which is more than enough for me.
Camera: I'm using Xdabbeb's driver so I have 120FPS slow motion and also 4K recording. I also purchased Xcam LG Settings which is awesome too.
So..basically the main reason I want to upgrade is to have manual controls in the camera (specifically long exposure).
With that in mind, I don't really like the G5.. I don't like the design, the smaller battery, the big size (for the screen) and the HUGE BEZELS.
I kinda liked the V10 but the 808 SOC seems stupid when the 820 is about 50% more efficient.
I did look at the Mi5 which looks awesome but I'm waiting to see the camera review of this phone..
All in all, the G2 is holding strong! Too strong..
One of the best phone ever made
Simply the best ..... No lag...photo quality is superb...display and battery are out of this world....what's not to like !!!
How are you able to get 3-4 hours of SOT!? That's crazy, I've never gotten more than 1.5 hours on mine. I know everyone is different in the use and what they keep on but that's very high!
Anyone else still getting really high battery numbers?
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk
beankid said:
How are you able to get 3-4 hours of SOT!? That's crazy, I've never gotten more than 1.5 hours on mine. I know everyone is different in the use and what they keep on but that's very high!
Anyone else still getting really high battery numbers?
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk
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You bought your G2 second hand? If so, go change the damn battery.
Mine is 1.5 years old and I still get 6 hours sot, sometimes more sometimes less depending on usage. Sometimes it reaches 9 hours if I just read ebooks offline (with low brightness).
But I dont know what is on D800 maybe it's carrier stuff that is causing the battery to suck to terribly.
I'd say about 90% of each charge cycle, I get about 5 hours 30 mins sot if I let it die completely. G2 is no joke.
No mine is not second hand. I've already changed the battery out with one from etradesupply. The original one hit the dirt this past summer and it's not on the original stock rom either so no carrier bloat. Crazy that you guys are getting that amount of SOT! Might make my case for a new phone even sooner then.... hahah Not sure I'd want to go through the hassle of finding a new battery supplier. Finding good screen replacements for this device was a PIA alone.
zizuka said:
You bought your G2 second hand? If so, go change the damn battery.
Mine is 1.5 years old and I still get 6 hours sot, sometimes more sometimes less depending on usage. Sometimes it reaches 9 hours if I just read ebooks offline (with low brightness).
But I dont know what is on D800 maybe it's carrier stuff that is causing the battery to suck to terribly.
I'd say about 90% of each charge cycle, I get about 5 hours 30 mins sot if I let it die completely. G2 is no joke.
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^ this
mine is 2 years old and i'm getting 4:30 hours sot when i play nfs no limits for an hour... without playing - easy 5 hrs+ sot...
Well....looks like mine might be closer out the door than I thought. I didn't think the battery I bought from Etradesupply was bad since it went from 20mintues SOT to over an 1.5hrs SOT. Looks like I was wrong...
I have come back to the G2 from the land of 5.5" phablets phones!
Got to say its good to be back to a sensible sized device, with a perfectly good set of specs even against everything that has followed it! I went for the G3 when it launched, and simply never felt at home with it compared to the 16Gb D802 that I passed to a family member. I've now picked up a 32Gb D802 in red, in perfect condition for just £100. Rooted, flashed CloudyG2 3.3 .. absolutely the best phone I've ever had, not just from a 'preference' perspective, but compared to most devices that are on the market it is not in any way a bad device to own. In particular I am constantly disappointed by screen to device size ratios, very few ever get close the G2's 75.9% which I see as its greatest asset, add to that a great camera, battery life, and the great button layout and I cannot see my self moving out of this gem for quite some time.
I've been reading up about the Z5C because it's the only small yet powerful android phone currently on the market. Of course I always check XDA for root/rom/support experiences, and here I mostly see negative experiences. So many people are saying this is their last Xperia or that if the new Android M doesn't fix it's issues then they're going to switch to different phone, etc. This disheartens me greatly because I see no other viable option for a new sub-5 inch phone. I currently have a 1st gen Moto X - XT1053 Dev Edition. I love the phone and everything about it, but it's getting to be a bit slow with 2013 hardware running 2016 apps, and I think I will need an upgrade by 2017. I would buy another Motorola, but Lenovo has decided that Motorola should only make shovel sized phones (which goes against everything in Motorola's original vision.)
So where does that leave us who don't like gargantuan phones but still want a quality device? Do I wait and see if fixes come for the Z5C memory leak, stuttering, and its other issues? A few people report that their phone doesn't have these issues, do I gamble and hope I get a good one like that? Is there some other small form Andriod smartphone out there that I should consider? Or do I give up and get a 5+ inch device? It seems the Samsung G6 or G7 would be the next smallest option.
I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and comments on this.
DrvLikHell said:
I've been reading up about the Z5C because it's the only small yet powerful android phone currently on the market. Of course I always check XDA for root/rom/support experiences, and here I mostly see negative experiences. So many people are saying this is their last Xperia or that if the new Android M doesn't fix it's issues then they're going to switch to different phone, etc. This disheartens me greatly because I see no other viable option for a new sub-5 inch phone. I currently have a 1st gen Moto X - XT1053 Dev Edition. I love the phone and everything about it, but it's getting to be a bit slow with 2013 hardware running 2016 apps, and I think I will need an upgrade by 2017. I would buy another Motorola, but Lenovo has decided that Motorola should only make shovel sized phones (which goes against everything in Motorola's original vision.)
So where does that leave us who don't like gargantuan phones but still want a quality device? Do I wait and see if fixes come for the Z5C memory leak, stuttering, and its other issues? A few people report that their phone doesn't have these issues, do I gamble and hope I get a good one like that? Is there some other small form Andriod smartphone out there that I should consider? Or do I give up and get a 5+ inch device? It seems the Samsung G6 or G7 would be the next smallest option.
I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and comments on this.
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You ever consider the Z3 Compact? Or you picky on year and specs?
uchechris said:
You ever consider the Z3 Compact? Or you picky on year and specs?
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Click to collapse
I'm picky on specs... Though I did consider it today and I watched several Z3C vs Z5C videos. I like it except that it's only one year newer/faster than my current phone, and it's only available in 16GB. My Moto X, being the Dev Edition, is a 32GB and it's usually full. the Z3C has an SD card slot, but not everything can go on an SD. If I was going to go with a Snapdragon 801 phone from 2014 I'd probably choose the Moto X 2nd gen and give a little on size to retain the seriously awesome Moto Display capability.
DrvLikHell said:
I'm picky on specs... Though I did consider it today and I watched several Z3C vs Z5C videos. I like it except that it's only one year newer/faster than my current phone, and it's only available in 16GB. My Moto X, being the Dev Edition, is a 32GB and it's usually full. the Z3C has an SD card slot, but not everything can go on an SD. If I was going to go with a Snapdragon 801 phone from 2014 I'd probably choose the Moto X 2nd gen and give a little on size to retain the seriously awesome Moto Display capability.
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Well theres really isn't anything bad about the Z5 compact.....tho ppl complain about it being overheat and camera being not good, if those things is not an issue to you, then yea the z5 compact is a great phone, i say go for it, been having updates since it just had a update last two days ago
I know where you're coming from. My LG G2 has been getting really slow so I've been wanting a new phone,, but I really don't want a phablet. So I got the z5 compact (international model). It's ok. It isn't everything I hoped. The idle battery life sucks (it loses 1% per hour where as my g2 would only lose 1% every 8 hours. That makes it pretty much a 1 day phone, not 2 for most people I would imagine. And the fingerprint scanner seems to be a piece of garbage. It doesn't work 70% of the time. Other than that the phone is good. It's fast, the screen can get very bright. Obviously waterproof. So yeah, not the battery life king that the z3 compact used to be, and the fingerprint scanner might as well not exist. I bought a nexus 6p - I know I know, it's a phablet and I said I didn't want one - just to test ( I will most likely return it before the 15 day return policy) but I can't tell you how nice it is to have a fingerprint scanner that works 100% of the time and is accessible with both hands. I'm hoping the update that is just now rolling out fixes the fingerprint scanner if possible. So those are my thoughts.
uchechris said:
Well theres really isn't anything bad about the Z5 compact.....tho ppl complain about it being overheat and camera being not good, if those things is not an issue to you, then yea the z5 compact is a great phone, i say go for it, been having updates since it just had a update last two days ago
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Heat isn't an issue because I don't do anything intensive for long periods of time, like gaming. The camera I don't know about. My Moto X camera is ok, my Galaxy S3 camera was good, but that's all I've got to compare to. So maybe if I never had a better one I won't notice.
ksc6000 said:
I know where you're coming from. My LG G2 has been getting really slow so I've been wanting a new phone,, but I really don't want a phablet. So I got the z5 compact (international model). It's ok. It isn't everything I hoped. The idle battery life sucks (it loses 1% per hour where as my g2 would only lose 1% every 8 hours. That makes it pretty much a 1 day phone, not 2 for most people I would imagine. And the fingerprint scanner seems to be a piece of garbage. It doesn't work 70% of the time. Other than that the phone is good. It's fast, the screen can get very bright. Obviously waterproof. So yeah, not the battery life king that the z3 compact used to be, and the fingerprint scanner might as well not exist. I bought a nexus 6p - I know I know, it's a phablet and I said I didn't want one - just to test ( I will most likely return it before the 15 day return policy) but I can't tell you how nice it is to have a fingerprint scanner that works 100% of the time and is accessible with both hands. I'm hoping the update that is just now rolling out fixes the fingerprint scanner if possible. So those are my thoughts.
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I also tried out a phablet, the Asus Zenfone 2. Really awesome phone, but awesomely huge as well. 64GB, 4GB ram, 4 Intel Atom cores, dual sim, SD slot, fully unlockable. I figured if I was going to go big, why not get crazy with specs too. While it performed great and had every option available, it was just too big. I felt like I was pulling out a ham sandwich to make a phone call. I could barely reach the power button one-handed, never mind navigate it one-handed. But my friend was enamored with it, so I sold it to him, and I'm on the hunt again.
The battery life could be an issue. Usually I end up with around 30% left on my Moto, but sometimes I'll have to use it a lot more than normal and hit single digits by the end of the day. I've never had it die on me though. I've heard mixed reviews about the fingerprint scanner ranging from "ok", to "crap." But I don't have one now, so I won't miss it if I don't use it, right? What I'll miss is the Moto Display where it semi-wakes when you pick it up or take it out of your pocket or get a notification. No other phones wake/unlock feature can hold a candle to that.
The thing that concerns me most is the RAM leak that people talk about and the stuttering. A lot of people complain that they have to restart their phone from once a day to once every 3-4 days to restore it's speed. Otherwise it starts to choke even with just one app open. Something about app caching or precaching or whatever, I can't remember. That would be a HUGE problem for me. I want a phone that's as fast today as it was a week ago when I turned it on. Even Windows doesn't have that problem anymore. And stuttering when swiping and/or moving from app to app. That would feel gheto, like I've got a $29 phone from Walmart. If I'm going to pay several hundred bucks for a phone, it needs to move like a several hundred dollar phone. My Moto is still smooth, even when it's loading or navigating a heavy app. It's just a little pokey about it sometimes.
I really appreciate your input guys. It helps substantially because no one I know AFK knows squat about phones.
DrvLikHell said:
Heat isn't an issue because I don't do anything intensive for long periods of time, like gaming. The camera I don't know about. My Moto X camera is ok, my Galaxy S3 camera was good, but that's all I've got to compare to. So maybe if I never had a better one I won't notice.
I also tried out a phablet, the Asus Zenfone 2. Really awesome phone, but awesomely huge as well. 64GB, 4GB ram, 4 Intel Atom cores, dual sim, SD slot, fully unlockable. I figured if I was going to go big, why not get crazy with specs too. While it performed great and had every option available, it was just too big. I felt like I was pulling out a ham sandwich to make a phone call. I could barely reach the power button one-handed, never mind navigate it one-handed. But my friend was enamored with it, so I sold it to him, and I'm on the hunt again.
The battery life could be an issue. Usually I end up with around 30% left on my Moto, but sometimes I'll have to use it a lot more than normal and hit single digits by the end of the day. I've never had it die on me though. I've heard mixed reviews about the fingerprint scanner ranging from "ok", to "crap." But I don't have one now, so I won't miss it if I don't use it, right? What I'll miss is the Moto Display where it semi-wakes when you pick it up or take it out of your pocket or get a notification. No other phones wake/unlock feature can hold a candle to that.
The thing that concerns me most is the RAM leak that people talk about and the stuttering. A lot of people complain that they have to restart their phone from once a day to once every 3-4 days to restore it's speed. Otherwise it starts to choke even with just one app open. Something about app caching or precaching or whatever, I can't remember. That would be a HUGE problem for me. I want a phone that's as fast today as it was a week ago when I turned it on. Even Windows doesn't have that problem anymore. And stuttering when swiping and/or moving from app to app. That would feel gheto, like I've got a $29 phone from Walmart. If I'm going to pay several hundred bucks for a phone, it needs to move like a several hundred dollar phone. My Moto is still smooth, even when it's loading or navigating a heavy app. It's just a little pokey about it sometimes.
I really appreciate your input guys. It helps substantially because no one I know AFK knows squat about phones.
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You just need to realize that no phone is perfect....all phones has its pros and cons, kinda wish there was more small phones but nowadays its always big phones big phones big phones which is very annoying, but hey welcome to history of technology, it keeps improving every year
Most people come to these forums to fix problems or discuss issues so there won't be a lot of positive threads. But then again there's not much nice to say about the z5c lol if you can live with side charging go with the z3c. The xperia line has a lot of users that are too scared to root so the development is really slim. The z3c is at a more of a mature state than the z5c so it's your best bet.
I guess I just don't understand where did this problem of the phone being slow comes from. Because if there's anything positive that I can say about the Z5 compact that is that it is super fast and I am currently using a Nexus 6p which arguably is the fastest Android experience you can get and the Z5 compact doesn't feel any slower to me. I guess the camera is probably slower because I have noticed it take a half second longer to open than I would expect it and the photos take about a second to 2 seconds to fully load but really other than that the phone is blazing fast in my opinion.
civicsr2cool said:
Most people come to these forums to fix problems or discuss issues so there won't be a lot of positive threads. But then again there's not much nice to say about the z5c lol if you can live with side charging go with the z3c. The xperia line has a lot of users that are too scared to root so the development is really slim. The z3c is at a more of a mature state than the z5c so it's your best bet.
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I don't mind the side charge, but with only 16GB, it's a step down from what I have now in terms of storage. It's also 2 years old and I'm looking for something a little newer. If you go to other forums, there are a larger percentage of people talking about how they love their phone in spite of some issue they created or something they're trying to achieve or fix. I've seen users on the Moto X forum state that they'll give up their phone when someone pries it from their cold dead hands. Others have wept when their phone was irreparably damaged. I've seen the same thing said about the LG G2. You are quite correct about older phones being in a more mature state though. The S6/S7 don't have a Cyanogen build available yet, and neither does the Z5C. But the Z3C does.
ksc6000 said:
I guess I just don't understand where did this problem of the phone being slow comes from. Because if there's anything positive that I can say about the Z5 compact that is that it is super fast and I am currently using a Nexus 6p which arguably is the fastest Android experience you can get and the Z5 compact doesn't feel any slower to me. I guess the camera is probably slower because I have noticed it take a half second longer to open than I would expect it and the photos take about a second to 2 seconds to fully load but really other than that the phone is blazing fast in my opinion.
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It's not that the Z5C is slow all together, the complaints I've been reading are that it slows down after a few days of use due to an issue with the RAM not clearing properly. Everyone says a restart fixes/clears the issue till it builds up again. Sorta like Windows 98. If you don't restart your Z5C for a week, does it still feel just as fast as your Nexus?
DrvLikHell said:
It's not that the Z5C is slow all together, the complaints I've been reading are that it slows down after a few days of use due to an issue with the RAM not clearing properly. Everyone says a restart fixes/clears the issue till it builds up again. Sorta like Windows 98. If you don't restart your Z5C for a week, does it still feel just as fast as your Nexus?
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I can't say that mine doesn't slow down somewhat after a week or so, but I've never had it happen to the point it is unusable. I've gone weeks without a restart with no real problems. I've noticed that it does slow down some, but nothing that I can't live with. And even with a slowdown, are you so in need of being connected 24/7 that you can't take the a minute periodically to reboot?
I've read some varying reports that the 6.0.1 update improves the memory management, and at least helps this issue. However, I haven't had a chance to use flashtool to update yet, so I can't say for sure.
The Z5 Compact (mine at least) does have a bit of the 810 overheating problem. The only time it impacted anything for me, I had been setting in a hot car and then tried to use the camera. I got the 'overheating... camera will close' message. I had that happen to me a few times on the Z3 compact the didn't have the Snapdragon 810 SOC.
Battery life isn't awesome, but then again I'm not really a power user. Little gaming, little social media checking, etc... I work in a location with no signal at all for the phone. It spends almost all of the day trying to connect. I generally go out to the car at lunch for a little while, but that is about all the time it is connected during the day. I don't think it has ever actually died on me doing this. If it has, it was maybe once.
When I'm somewhere that has signal all day, I've never had an issue unless I'm using navigation a lot, or something similar.
I've tried a few other phones over the last few years, and even if they have worked well they are just too freaking big. I've stuck with the Xperia compacts because they are the only <5" phone that offers true flagship specs.
Just my two cents. You're mileage may vary. If you get it and hate it, please don't blame me.
Look if you're happy, you're not gonna bother posting about it. That's human nature. There are a lot of happy users like me who don't have anything to complain about. People will only open a thread or comment if they run into a problem. Anyway, this phone has been fantastic for me since 6.0 update. And now after the 6.0.1 update, the camera starts almost instantly. So I can finally say that this was a worthwhile investment from my part.
Sent from my E5803 using XDA-Developers mobile app
i have z5c 3 months now, using MM and don't have any problems, using my phone for photos, navigation and regular calls and so on, last night i was travel with car, navigation was on 3,5 hours ( connected on charger ), phone was hot but didn't FC navigation and did't have any problems, but when i took it in my hands it was hot, checked temp and it was 42 C, so nothing to wory about, battery life depends how you use it, i can make whole day and before bed time i have over 50% left, but if i use wifi while in bed that 50% will be gone in 2 hours, i never tried on this phone but on my work phone( only calls and sms, data turned off) htc 320 battery last over 15 days in standby without problems, back on topic, camera is great for me, clear nice colors and 4k video recording is great, really can't find anything bed in this phone, if you wanna be sure battery would last whole day charge it over night
The z5c with MM is a very fast and capable multitasker.
The only negative is the camera really isn't a comparison to its competitors.
Sony sent the z5c out with an utterly p!ss poor Lollipop firmware. You can trust those review you've read at that point the z5c "was" an utter disgrace and let a complete let down.
However since MM the device is as you'd have expected it to be. It's a performer and a half.
Again it's only the sub par camera quality that negates away from an almost legendary device.
Sent from my E5823 using XDA-Developers mobile app
DrvLikHell said:
I don't mind the side charge, but with only 16GB, it's a step down from what I have now in terms of storage. It's also 2 years old and I'm looking for something a little newer. If you go to other forums, there are a larger percentage of people talking about how they love their phone in spite of some issue they created or something they're trying to achieve or fix. I've seen users on the Moto X forum state that they'll give up their phone when someone pries it from their cold dead hands. Others have wept when their phone was irreparably damaged. I've seen the same thing said about the LG G2. You are quite correct about older phones being in a more mature state though. The S6/S7 don't have a Cyanogen build available yet, and neither does the Z5C. But the Z3C does.
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Ive never come close to running out of 16gb on internal storage on any phone ive ever had and I've got two grand theft auto installed. I put everything on a 200gb sd, I can't stand a phone without SD slots lol
I agree with other forums showing more love, this is the third Sony phone I've tried over the years and the third one that I have very little nice things to say about it. But the z5c forums have only just started to take off since the US release, it was real real dead before that.
DrvLikHell said:
I don't mind the side charge, but with only 16GB, it's a step down from what I have now in terms of storage. It's also 2 years old and I'm looking for something a little newer. If you go to other forums, there are a larger percentage of people talking about how they love their phone in spite of some issue they created or something they're trying to achieve or fix. I've seen users on the Moto X forum state that they'll give up their phone when someone pries it from their cold dead hands. Others have wept when their phone was irreparably damaged. I've seen the same thing said about the LG G2. You are quite correct about older phones being in a more mature state though. The S6/S7 don't have a Cyanogen build available yet, and neither does the Z5C. But the Z3C does.
It's not that the Z5C is slow all together, the complaints I've been reading are that it slows down after a few days of use due to an issue with the RAM not clearing properly. Everyone says a restart fixes/clears the issue till it builds up again. Sorta like Windows 98. If you don't restart your Z5C for a week, does it still feel just as fast as your Nexus?
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Yeah in my opinion the phone is still as fast and I do not have to reboot every week or whatever. I would still say that it remains as fast and doesn't seem to slow down at all in my opinion. My sister also has the Z5 Compact and she also does not notice any slowdowns of any sort and doesn't have to reboot regularly and the only does it if necessary while changing SIM cards or something.
So again my main gripes with this phone are the idle battery life which I can live with even though it's really annoying, but the fingerprint scanner is just not good in my opinion. Especially after using a nice one that works every time and seamlessly and it's just so effortless, it's really hard to use this when it screws up more than half the time it feels like. However my sister's Z5 compact fingerprint scanner seems to be a little bit better, I don't understand why. The difference only is that she has the black model and I have the white one and I know that there was an issue with the screen not responding to touch properly when the phones first came out just for the white model so maybe there's a difference in the hardware of the fingerprint scanner as well.
DrvLikHell said:
I've been reading up about the Z5C because it's the only small yet powerful android phone currently on the market. Of course I always check XDA for root/rom/support experiences, and here I mostly see negative experiences. So many people are saying this is their last Xperia or that if the new Android M doesn't fix it's issues then they're going to switch to different phone, etc. This disheartens me greatly because I see no other viable option for a new sub-5 inch phone. I currently have a 1st gen Moto X - XT1053 Dev Edition. I love the phone and everything about it, but it's getting to be a bit slow with 2013 hardware running 2016 apps, and I think I will need an upgrade by 2017. I would buy another Motorola, but Lenovo has decided that Motorola should only make shovel sized phones (which goes against everything in Motorola's original vision.)
So where does that leave us who don't like gargantuan phones but still want a quality device? Do I wait and see if fixes come for the Z5C memory leak, stuttering, and its other issues? A few people report that their phone doesn't have these issues, do I gamble and hope I get a good one like that? Is there some other small form Andriod smartphone out there that I should consider? Or do I give up and get a 5+ inch device? It seems the Samsung G6 or G7 would be the next smallest option.
I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and comments on this.
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Bear in mind that people who don't have problems have little reason to post on forums.
I went from a XT1058 to a discounted Nexus 5 to a Z5C and have been mostly happy.
The only issues I've had:
- Phone app crashes after a call ends when using Android Auto
- Camera app is a little slow to launch
- No "active display" (i.e. google's equivalent of moto display)
- Absolutely needs a case as it's too slippery to use bare (unlike the Moto X)
- Phone gets really warm after using it with Android Auto
Really after Mm update z5c is blazing fast, no complains what so ever when it comes to performance. Sometimes it gets a bit hot, but nothing to be concerned about. And I don't know why everyone complaints about fingereader, it works 95 proc of time for me. I register same finger three times. I don't really use camera that much, but it opens super fast for me, but even I can tell quality is not great. At least auto mode.
My experience with this device has been mostly a pleasant one. One of the previous poster mentioned that no device is perfect and this one is no different. You will always find something that you feel the manufacturer didn't get right. The gripes I have with this device:
- Slow camera app. (Also, I can't find a burst mode...is there one?)
- Wi-Fi connection when the phone is sleeping (this is sometime-y)
- Some of the Sony apps are useless
The positives:
- Size size size
- Fingerprint scanner is fast (not iPhone fast, but fast)
- Battery life is nice. I've gotten 2 1/2 days (mostly idle time. On screen was about 3hrs)
- Playing hi-res music (subjective...well, I guess all of this is subjective)
- The 820 is a great piece of silicone (it would be extraordinary if not for the occasional heat)
- SD card slot (and the ability to use it to back up your settings)
- The diagnostic tool in the "About Phone" section
- Front facing speakers. Not going to blow your mind, but they're facing you..not away.
I know there are more that I'm missing but the point is that it's been positive. I'm not a big fan of MM, but that is a different story.
Scribe'd on my everlasting Z5C
I dont recomend the z5c at all, i use it for working, and the phone really struggles with facebook pages, youtube, Chrome, facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp all the time receiving notifications and messeges.
The phone overheats to the point that everything lags like a 2008 Android phone.
When i play real Racing 3, i always have couple of Ice cube close to me, for let my phone cools down to avoid lag while playing.
Dont buy it, go for a nexus or Samsung, and sacrifice the size thing, and remember ALWAYS AN ALUMINUM PHONE WILL HAVE LESS HEAT ISSUES THAN A GLASS P PHONE, BECAUSE OF HEAT DISCIPATION.