Database Users

If I don't need a hugely powerful phone, have I made the right choice?

Hi all,
When the N4 was announced I had my GNex up for sale within the hour, sold within two! The more I read about the Nexus 4, the more I am unsure it is actually for me. I do not play games and generally use my phone for browsing the net/forums, google currents, bit of music and social networking (Facebook etc.)
I am now unsure whether I have made the right choice, and whether I should snap-up another Nexus while people are selling them off cheap on the forums ready for the N4 upgrade.
I was hoping for upgrades in the following areas
Build quality... this is one area where I am fairly sure I would be happy! N4 looks great!
Screen quality... again, a fairly significant upgrade to me me as the Gnex screen always looked a little washed out and dull when sat alongside other handsets (One X, S3, S2 etc.)
Battery Life... Was hoping for this but am now unsure. Gnex seemed to heat up quite a lot and was looking forward to getting rid of that. it now seems that the N4 may have the same issues and reports of screen on time in the region of 3 hours do not seem that much of a step up from the Gnex
Processor... Whilst a speed boost would be welcomed, as I only use the phone for some casual browsing and not gaming I am unsure how much difference I will see.
Camera... Again was hoping for a major boost, but seems to be a minor incremental boost at best!
Any thoughts? Anyone else in the same position as me and wondering what to do? Price difference is in the region of £100-120 if I were to purchase like for like accessories etc.
Cheers,
Michael

The fact that it's "Nexus" also means you get a standard, Android experience, along with guaranteed quick updates (up until the point where the OS won't run smoothly on the device I guess; which should take a while). Other vendors for the most part offer updates slowly, and choose to make the general UI... non-standard (which usually has more downsides)

yeah... am only comparing the two nexus devices as that is all I would buy... love the specs of the S3 and can be picked up mint for about the same price as a new Nexus 4, but couldn't live without the updates

Literally everything is improved. You'll love it no matter what.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

One thing I wouldn't worry ahbout is battery life,
once the obvious software problems are fixed battery life is going to be good because:
-The battery at 2100mAh is pretty large
-IPS panels are allot more power efficient then Amoled screens, especially if your main use is web browsing
-The S4pro is the most efficient ARM quad-core and is the only one which allows to clock its cores independently
-There will be custom Kernels that allow undervolting and other features that improve battery life

I'm not a gamer either, but that didn't stopped me from getting this I personally think you won't regret getting it, but if you don't like it, you can always just return it and get something else
Swyped on my Galaxy Nexus running AOKP with Franco Kernel

wurzelsepp3 said:
One thing I wouldn't worry ahbout is battery life,
once the obvious software problems are fixed battery life is going to be good because:
-The battery at 2100mAh is pretty large
-IPS panels are allot more power efficient then Amoled screens, especially if your main use is web browsing
-The S4pro is the most efficient ARM quad-core and is the only one which allows to clock its cores independently
-There will be custom Kernels that allow undervolting and other features that improve battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much of a difference will custom kernels and ROMs make to the battery life? Roughly? 10% or more?
I know my current Galaxy 3 gives me an improvement of almost 30% with custom firmware, but that's because of removing the samsung bloatware.

I try to get the fastest, most powerful phone or computer out there that's at a reasonable price. By reasonable I mean most power per dollar. The people that say they don't need a super fast phone or computer are usually the ones complaining that Web pages open slow or it keeps freezing and slowing down. The better hardware you get, the longer you will be satisfied with the device. And for this price with this hardware/software? You gotta jump on it. You may not need a phone that could run crysis but if you could get it for the same or cheaper price as a lesser spec'd phone, wouldn't you?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

cyberkid2002 said:
I was hoping for upgrades in the following areas
Build quality... this is one area where I am fairly sure I would be happy! N4 looks great! I think we're going to love the build quality. I've said for a couple of years now that if Google could put out a Nexus device that felt like the iPhone 4/4S in the hand, then they'd really be on to something. I believe that's what LG has done here.
Screen quality... again, a fairly significant upgrade to me me as the Gnex screen always looked a little washed out and dull when sat alongside other handsets (One X, S3, S2 etc.) IMO, the screen is going to be great. From everything I've read, the screen is just a slight notch below the One X...so that would make it fantastic. And every review I've read that compared it to the GNex screen says that it's MUCH better and much easier to see outdoors in sunlight. This is a major upgrade.
Battery Life... Was hoping for this but am now unsure. Gnex seemed to heat up quite a lot and was looking forward to getting rid of that. it now seems that the N4 may have the same issues and reports of screen on time in the region of 3 hours do not seem that much of a step up from the Gnex. Again, this is something we'll have to wait and see (as everyone's day-to-day use is different), but I've seen a couple of reviews that say the Nexus 4 gets about the same, or just below, the battery life of the S3. If that's the case, then (for me at least), I'm golden. Yesterday I got 5 hours screen-on time on my S3 (50% brightness, stock rooted ROM, power save turned off, etc.) and I still had 23% battery life left. That's pretty darn good!
Processor... Whilst a speed boost would be welcomed, as I only use the phone for some casual browsing and not gaming I am unsure how much difference I will see. I think you'll see a major boost, even if you don't need it. Apps will open faster and things will just be snappier. I'd much rather have more performance than I need rather than the other way around.
Camera... Again was hoping for a major boost, but seems to be a minor incremental boost at best! This is the one place where I have to really disagree. The camera is VERY important to me (I use it daily in my job) and the shots I've seen seem to show the camera is a MAJOR upgrade over the GNex. While I didn't find the GNex camera to be awful, it certainly couldn't hold a candle to my S3 camera. If this camera is anywhere near as good as the S3, I'm going to be very pleased.
Any thoughts? Anyone else in the same position as me and wondering what to do? Price difference is in the region of £100-120 if I were to purchase like for like accessories etc.
Cheers,
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my replies above. I believe you've made a great decision. :good:

Engadget has had the most negative response to the battery life of anyone, and they still got 3 minutes longer out of the Nexus 4 than the Galaxy Nexus. Assuming they never fix whatever was causing the poor battery life, you'll see the same as what you get on your Galaxy Nexus.

Phone Comparison. Need advice

I am planning to buy a new unlocked phone within 10 days. I have the following options:
Xperia Z2($500)
Xperia Z3 Compact ($600)
Galaxy Alpha ($500)
iPhone 5S ($550)
I had made up my mind for the Xperia Z2. It is the most balanced phone providing adequate power, battery life, decent camera, storage, etc. but recently I came to know about the over heating & self cracking screen issues with the Z2( or the entire Z series including the Z3 & Z3 compact). There are quite a lot of reports of the glass on the phone cracking. Also that the phone overheats a lot. I am worried as whatever I buy, I'll have to stick with it for 2 years. Sony has refused warranty in most cases related to this issue. Same issue plagues the Z3 Compact
I recently had a look at the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. It's a good looking and decent device and offers all that I want. The primary drawback is the battery life of the phone and to some extent the pentile matrix display.
The iPhone 5S is also a good phone though it does have a smaller display. It has the best camera among all the devices I have mentioned.
So I ask you people for your opinion. Which device should I buy?
I am not a heavy user. My daily usage includes a couple of hours of offline music, roughly 1-1.5 hours of web browsing, average messaging, a couple of photos and some pandora in the evening while connected to my bluetooth speaker. I don't play games much on my phone. Maybe an hour of cumulative gaming in 3-4 days.
I am still willing to buy the Z2 if the overheating and cracking issues aren't that widespread. I have nothing against iOS or Android. I use an android phone along with an iPad Air. So no issues there. So please be neutral in your opinions( don't start bashing the iPhone). And please feel free to suggest any other phone that you think is good ( please avoid the HTC One M8 and LG G3)

I personally have the z2 and love it. The main thing boils down to design and ui you will have no issues with battery life based on your usage. Apple and ios is its own thing all together if you prefer ios as a daily driver go for the iPhone as for the Android devices Samsung is plagued by there touchwiz ui where as Sony is pretty much stock android with a few added things for the camera and Walkman app etc. The z2 is a large device there is no denying that however the larger screen if you don't mind the phone being bigger is a big advantage for just about everything. It's easier to type on and makes Web browsing easier. I haven't had any issues with mine in terms of defects. One big advantage with the Android devices is the sd card. Although you may not need it at the moment if you have got the phone for 2 years it's great to be able to expand the storage if needed. I would recommend popping into a phone shop and playing with the phones and see what you like best as everybody is different. Hope this helps you.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

nobby00900 said:
I personally have the z2 and love it. The main thing boils down to design and ui you will have no issues with battery life based on your usage. Apple and ios is its own thing all together if you prefer ios as a daily driver go for the iPhone as for the Android devices Samsung is plagued by there touchwiz ui where as Sony is pretty much stock android with a few added things for the camera and Walkman app etc. The z2 is a large device there is no denying that however the larger screen if you don't mind the phone being bigger is a big advantage for just about everything. It's easier to type on and makes Web browsing easier. I haven't had any issues with mine in terms of defects. One big advantage with the Android devices is the sd card. Although you may not need it at the moment if you have got the phone for 2 years it's great to be able to expand the storage if needed. I would recommend popping into a phone shop and playing with the phones and see what you like best as everybody is different. Hope this helps you.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your opinion. I have been to various stores and tried the devices. My major concern is the cracking, which cannot be tried in the store. Since you have a Z2, maybe you can elaborate your usage a bit. How long have you had the device? Also does the device overheat?
Also, what would be your next preference, after the Z2 (out of the 4)?

Hey, welcome to the Z2 forums.
First and foremost let me say that my phone is from the 14W28 batch, meaning it was produced between 7th July 2014 and the 13th July 2014 (both dates are inclusive). Also I am running a ExistenZ made by @niaboc79 which may have sorted some problems I may have faced if I hadn't have installed it.
The first worry you have with the phone is overheating, with my phone in particular I have not encountered any overheating problems with normal usage. The hottest it usually gets to is 50C or so. When the phone is on charge it does get slightly hotter if and when I use it, although it has never gotten past 60C. I don't think it is fair to compare the heat from usage of this phone to the Xperia M but I would like to point out when I was using the Xperia M normally the phone would hit 60C-65C and when I tried to use the phone on charge it was hitting 70C-75C. And thus I don't think there is much of a 'problem', although the constant heating and cooling down of the rear panel could contribute to it cracking. (Side note; I also did a 4K video record test to see how hot the phone could go/how long I could record for, I managed 10 minutes before I accidentally closed off the recording and the hottest the phone got was 60C and it cooled off quite quickly.)
The second worry you have with the phone is the self-cracking issues. Again, I haven't encountered any problems with the phone cracking. I do keep it in a case to be safe. However, I have knocked it off of my bedside table during the night quite a few times but still no scratches nor cracks on the front (due to my screen protector) and no scratches nor cracks on the rear of the phone either. It is possible that the self cracking phones were put under 'stressful' situations like tight pockets, rapid cooling and heating, often drops/falls or maybe it could just have been a problem with the earlier batches (mine may still be subject to these issues as it is from about 2 months after the release of the phone).
I have now had my phone for 2 weeks and I am happy as Larry with it. I manage to easily get 1 day battery out of the phone (this is only cause I use it a lot at night before I charge it). If you want my opinion on what other phone I would go for after the Z2 it would be the iPhone 5S.

Having just gone though a similar decision process, I feel I am qualified to answer.
Obviously, since I am reading this forum, I went with the Z2
I also do not like the idea of a glass back. It almost made me avoid this phone. I just don't see the advantage - Thicker, heavier, slippery, and it doubles the chance of cracking.
Note that in my research, I did not see that there is any greater chance of the screen cracking on the Z2 than other similar phones, just that there is the addition of the back cracking, which doubles the statistics.
On the plus side, the Z2 was basically the only phone out there (at all) that "Checked all the boxes"
Must - haves:
4.4.x
All bands 3G and 4G
stereo speakers
NFC - Can use Google Wallet
Other "Icing on the cake"
Looks good.
1080p screen
Good Cameras
Waterproof
Other phones I was considering:
Oppo Find 7
One Plus
Xaiomi Mi3
Huawei P7
HTC One M8
I should mention that the Vertu Signature Touch (Pure Jet Calf, preferably) was the only other phone that really met all my specifications (3G/4G bands, 1080P, NFC, 4.4. stereo speakers), but even after doing a really good job of looking under the cushions of the sofa, I wasn't quite in a position to buy a $10,000 phone.

First of all, congrats for buying a new phone, having a new phone is always exciting to me.
I own a Xperia Z2, and previously owned an iPhone 5s and a galaxy S5. So as you, I don't have any concern about iOS and android.
So, let me begin with Xperia Z2. The Z2 is one of the best phones I'd ever owned, as the battery life is great, I think photos are better with this than with the iPhone 5s, it looks great, the stock UI is easy and stylish, Sony developed great tweaks such as ClearAudio or Stamina Mode and there are lots of development for this. Personally, I had problems with proximity sensor, but it was solved after I flashed a custom rom, and I'm happy after that. No overheating problems or cracking.
I consider Z3 Mini, the expensive version of Z2, as the specs are almost the same but in a smaller case, so If you want to stay with Sony, I would go for the Z2.
The iPhone 5s is such a great device, I consider this also one of the best phones I'd ever owned (Under the Z2). Camera is great, battery life is average, iOS is well balanced and stylish, tons of accessories specially designed for iPhone, and well... is an iPhone.
The Galaxy Alpha looks gorgeous and high-end, almost as an iPhone, the specs are average for the price. I think you are paying more for design than for specs. It's pretty though. In my own opinion, I don't like TouchWiz, so I will put this in the last option.
I would buy it in this way:
- Xperia Z2
- iPhone 5s
- Xperia Z3 Mini
- Galaxy Alpha
If you accept recommendations and if you want a high-end device at low prices, look for the OnePlus One. The negative aspect of this, is that you need an invitation to buy one (I have one, if you want).
Let us know which was your decision.

What about LG G3?
Sent from my D6502 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The overheating problem with 4k video has greatly improved with software updates. Not so much an issue now. The build quality issues are never general. Luck of the draw I suppose!
The z2's got the best overall specifications on your list of devices. It's a great phone with no weaknesses side from the auto mode of the camera. Learn to use manual controls and you'll soon lose the impression that the 5S has a better camera.
Considering that is the cheapest on your list, I'd say it's a no brainier. Best phone, cheapest price! What more could you ask for. You have Sony's insane 6 month cycle policy to thank for being able to buy the z2 at such a price.
Trust me, in no way are any of the other devices on your list worth more than the z2.
That's One thing to bear in mind though when purchasing Sony devices. They don't hold their value for very long because of the rate at which Sony releases flagship phones so don't expect good resale prices should you decide to sell it on one day.
So if the rapid devaluation in value isn't an issue for you, the z2 is the one and only real choice you have. Unless, that is, you want to settle for less and pay more for the privilege lol
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

As far as i can tell, ive owned two z2s... The self cracking is an earlier build issue.
My 2nd one has had no issues.
Also after some fighting with sony and getting the better business bureau involved sony fixed the first one at no cost.

Self cracking is an issue for a small, but vocal, minority so can be ignored. overheating similarly isn't an issue for most users in normal usage, sure Z2 gets warm but what superphone doesn't only real issue is if you want to record long videos in 4k,which if you bear in mind most phones are limited to 4 minutes is a problem whatever device you get. Z3 compact will likely be more prone to overheating, much the same hardware in a smaller package.
As for iPhone 6,if it fits your criteria and you can live with its closed environment go with it, an android device probably isn't for you anyway.

ghostofcain said:
Self cracking is an issue for a small, but vocal, minority so can be ignored. overheating similarly isn't an issue for most users in normal usage, sure Z2 gets warm but what superphone doesn't only real issue is if you want to record long videos in 4k,which if you bear in mind most phones are limited to 4 minutes is a problem whatever device you get. Z3 compact will likely be more prone to overheating, much the same hardware in a smaller package.
As for iPhone 6,if it fits your criteria and you can live with its closed environment go with it, an android device probably isn't for you anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What makes you think android devices are not for me?

I just found out about this phone and I am in a similar situation as the OP.
I am looking for a used/new phone for less than $500 dollars, has an above average camera, good battery life, and no lag issues.
Currently, I am using HTC one m7. A few problems with it is that a camera is super slow and crappy at low light situations. The camera takes like 1-2 seconds to focus on the subjects in dark environments. Next, the phone lags and hiccups quite a bit. I've tried a few custom roms but the performance is still not flawless.
In the past, I have owned an iPhone 5 and it was great except I got tired of the OS, that's why I went back to android. iPhone took best pictures in my opinion. The camera was fast. The phone did not have any hiccups. One big thing I noticed going from iPhone to HTC was that songs don't skip as fast as on the iPhone. It takes a split second more for songs to skip in an HTC music player. It kinda took time to get used to it again. I would consider getting the iPhone 6, but it is too expensive.
I am also considering oneplus one, m8, and maybe moto x or nexus 5. But overall, I think z2 is the best all-round performer.

Ananay Singh said:
What makes you think android devices are not for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With iPhone everything is designed to just work, if it doesn't tough ****. Android, still IMHO, lacks the polish but there are almost always work around to any major issues.
In my experience the people willing to work around androids foibles find the locked down world of iOS too constrained, and those who put up with those constraints find the fiddling with android to get it set up to their liking too much. But that's just my take on it.

I was kinda skeptical too after reading about all those Issues but still bought the Z2 1 month ago and I couldn't be happier.
No heating issues, no call issues, no cracking glass (so far)
Everything works flawlessly ?
Sent from my Xperia Z2

Ananay Singh said:
I had made up my mind for the Xperia Z2. It is the most balanced phone providing adequate power, battery life, decent camera, storage, etc. but recently I came to know about the over heating & self cracking screen issues with the Z2( or the entire Z series including the Z3 & Z3 compact). There are quite a lot of reports of the glass on the phone cracking. Also that the phone overheats a lot. I am worried as whatever I buy, I'll have to stick with it for 2 years. Sony has refused warranty in most cases related to this issue. Same issue plagues the Z3 Compact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Self-cracking is not a thing. If it was, you'd be seeing the forum flooded with complaints, not just a handful of people moaning.
Those claiming self-cracking most likely damaged it themselves through abuse, possibly knowingly, or possibly not.

Where are the positive experiences?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.

Slow gaming compared to Samsung Galaxy S6

To be honest I'm a little underwhelmed with the gaming speed of the XZ.
I only play one game, its a game in KIK called Galatronvs which is a basic Shootemup.
And to be honest , it is REALLY LAGGY on the XZ compared to the S6......The S6 stays smooth , doesn't judder, doesn't pause, doesn't jump.
All these things happen on the XZ as the game gets busier and there are more bullets and ships on the screen..ultimately i die because its becomes a slide show.
After reading all the articles about the Snapdragon 820 and the Adreno 530 I feel more than a little bit down that my two year old S6 with an Inhouse Mali-T760MP8 outperforms it.
Don't get me wrong, in day to day use it's a dream to use..I don't know what it is about Samsung that their hardware is so good but it translates so badly on software that using the phone feels like work rather than fun, even Swiftkey runs like crap on the Samsung.
I haven't tried any other phones yet, but my friend has just gotten a Google Pixel XL and he's going to let me install Kik and have a 30 minute game next week.
If it lags as well, I'd have to say either the Adreno 530 isn't all that good, or the game is terribly optimised.
Either way , at the moment I'm underwhelmed by my Platinum flagship phone gaming experience.

batfink1 said:
To be honest I'm a little underwhelmed with the gaming speed of the XZ.
I only play one game, its a game in KIK called Galatronvs which is a basic Shootemup.
And to be honest , it is REALLY LAGGY on the XZ compared to the S6......The S6 stays smooth , doesn't judder, doesn't pause, doesn't jump.
All these things happen on the XZ as the game gets busier and there are more bullets and ships on the screen..ultimately i die because its becomes a slide show.
After reading all the articles about the Snapdragon 820 and the Adreno 530 I feel more than a little bit down that my two year old S6 with an Inhouse Mali-T760MP8 outperforms it.
Don't get me wrong, in day to day use it's a dream to use..I don't know what it is about Samsung that their hardware is so good but it translates so badly on software that using the phone feels like work rather than fun, even Swiftkey runs like crap on the Samsung.
I haven't tried any other phones yet, but my friend has just gotten a Google Pixel XL and he's going to let me install Kik and have a 30 minute game next week.
If it lags as well, I'd have to say either the Adreno 530 isn't all that good, or the game is terribly optimised.
Either way , at the moment I'm underwhelmed by my Platinum flagship phone gaming experience.
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Your problem is very strange. I have xperia xz and i don't have laggy game xperience. The games goes smooth really. What games did you try? Or you play with stamina active?

djgigi94 said:
Your problem is very strange. I have xperia xz and i don't have laggy game xperience. The games goes smooth really. What games did you try? Or you play with stamina active?
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I really only play the one game called Galatronvs via the instant messaging app KIK.
my phone is unlocked,rooted and still on MM 39.0.A.3.30 because i want to still use Xposed Framework.
I don't use any stamina settings at all , they are always turned off, nor do i use any power saving apps such as greenify.
I don't even use a kernal control program that will let you route more processes into a single core thus saving battery.
Bluntly put, the phone is running at full speed with no power saving.
I would imagine unless you've moved from a different phone to your XZ and play the same games you wouldn't notice the difference..Also it would very much depend on the kind of game.
Any game thats not already pushing the old phone isn't going to show any difference on the XZ is it.
Galatron is an upwards scrolling shootemup that gets increasingly more difficult, more bullets , more ships ...thats when you notice the difference ..only when it really starts to get busy.
So i dunno, Guess I'll have more of an idea when i try the Pixel XL with the 821 and the Adreno 530...Though technically the 821 isn't supposed to impact gaming, just multitasking , better power usage etc.
I'll be spewin bickies if its much better , I really don't want the Pixel..it's a little too small and the XL is a little too big :laugh: ... And i hate using a phone without Xposed which i can't do with N

batfink1 said:
I really only play the one game called Galatronvs via the instant messaging app KIK.
my phone is unlocked,rooted and still on MM 39.0.A.3.30 because i want to still use Xposed Framework.
I don't use any stamina settings at all , they are always turned off, nor do i use any power saving apps such as greenify.
I don't even use a kernal control program that will let you route more processes into a single core thus saving battery.
Bluntly put, the phone is running at full speed with no power saving.
I would imagine unless you've moved from a different phone to your XZ and play the same games you wouldn't notice the difference..Also it would very much depend on the kind of game.
Any game thats not already pushing the old phone isn't going to show any difference on the XZ is it.
Galatron is an upwards scrolling shootemup that gets increasingly more difficult, more bullets , more ships ...thats when you notice the difference ..only when it really starts to get busy.
So i dunno, Guess I'll have more of an idea when i try the Pixel XL with the 821 and the Adreno 530...Though technically the 821 isn't supposed to impact gaming, just multitasking , better power usage etc.
I'll be spewin bickies if its much better , I really don't want the Pixel..it's a little too small and the XL is a little too big :laugh: ... And i hate using a phone without Xposed which i can't do with N
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I compared the games with mate 9 for example,i think it is more fluid than mate 9. I ONLY use for games android N ,because android N on xz is much better than M in overall (battery and performace in particular). I think your version of firmware is the less optimized and old. What do you use xposed in particular? I have z2 and there i use often xposed. But on xz i stay so good with android n and latest firmware. And i don't care actually for root and xposed. Is fully stock.

I think you might be experiencing the same thing as me. This happens on all of the Xperia devices I've owned (Z2 Tablet, Z3, Z3C, and Z5.). My XZ is on order, and I'll be sure to test this again. Yes, benchmarks have about the same high scores as all the other flagships, but 3D games stutters on Xperia devices. I think most users are not able to notice it. Hardcore FPS PC gamers like myself would notice this easily.
Here's a thread I created on the Z3 forums a while back: https://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/help/stuttering-games-t2949670 . There's a video in there with my Z3 and LG G2 playing Riptide GP 2.
I just learned to live it with since gaming is not my priority on my phone, and because I don't like all the other phones.

Honestly I'm not a hardcore gamer, I only play the one game Galatronvs via the KIK APP, it's basically a BOT game which is a downwardly scrolling shootemup... However you do compete online against other players.
And I've confirmed it's definitely a heat issue.
Sadly Sony were supposed to have solved their heating issues with the release of the snapdragon 20...but they haven't.
I can actively connect the lagginess of the game directly with the heat of the phone, the ambient heat of the room, and that you can feel the phone getting hotter and hotter in direct relation to how laggy it gets.
I've even been in the middle of a laggy game with the phone feeling very hot and deliberately moved in front of an air cooler with the back of the phone directly in the path of the cool air and had the lagging start to recede as the phone cools down.
I was given an opportunity to try a pixel xl on the same game in an air conditioned room and they were similar.
Then I went outside in the summer heat and the pixel stayed smooth, the Sony rapidly heated up and started to lag.
When you exit the game the Sony stays laggy for about 6 to 7 seconds.. I imagine this is as it cools down.
I love Sony phones, I love that they stick with standard HD screens for good battery life.
I love that they stick with the 5.2" screen... I don't have huge hands.
SwiftKey seems to work better on a Sony than on a Samsung definitely that's for sure.
Though to be honest I am always a little let down by Sony's cameras on their own phones.. It's like they make better lenses for everybody else.
The Samsung will focus INSTANTLY on something small and upclose... Like say... A windows 7 sticker (I'm a computer tech)... Whereas I have quite a lot of difficulty getting the Sony to focus up close.
I've just ordered a oneplus 3t which I'll root and put similar xposed framework modules and compare it to the XZ.
I'll update this for anybody that's interested.

let me say something about these issues...i had xperias before and now i own XZ wich i thought that it wouldnt have overheating problems like on the z5 but it still has some wierd isuues...for example:i ran a game and even when it got hot it worked smoothly and i was surprised and i sad well done sony or Qualcom LOL...so i was feeling happy and after 2 or 3 weeks of usage i get random lags even if the phone is just a little bit warm with no intence gaming yet but somehow the phone works good when its hot but lags when its cooler...this is so wierd...i dont know anymore whats going on with there phones but im seriously thinking of not buying xperia phones again...a guy at waranty sad to me that this is not overheating but its just heating and its up to sony and not them OMG.... i was so angry when he replied me in that way,that i was in the mood to hit that guy strait on the nose really.these phones are not cheap and im not letting them making me a fool.but at the end they will get me back becouse im a Sony fan and also love there design language...sick bastards

Even though I'm a huge nerd, I really did avoid smart phones.. Or even mobile phones for a long long time.. I hated the idea that somebody could contact me no matter where I was.. I didn't get my first smartphone till March 2012.
That was the Samsung Galaxy nexus now more commonly known as the Google nexus.
After that I got an LG G2 and a week later I bought a Sony Z1... And the very first thing I noticed was that even though the LG g2 and the Z1 were based on the same SOC... The Z1 felt vastly superior to use.. It felt faster and more responsive... But i ended up using the LG g2 due to its amazing battery life.
After that I got a Z3 which also had fantastic battery life and I kept that for numerous years till the Z3+ came out.
That was a bad decision.. I was an early adapter.. I wish I'd waited.
So I got an S6 edge.
Worst phone EVER.... The middle of the screen is so unresponsive.. That curve does not make perfect contact with the digitizer or whatever is underneath it.
So I got a S6 flat version... And still a terrible phone experience... Honestly the technology in Samsung phones is amazing... It's like their memory technology is twice as fast as the competition.
It's like comparing a computer with a hard drive to one with an SSD, but they're just let down by poor implementation of software.. It's hard to explain.
I love haptic feedback.. I can't type on a phone without it.
The Z1's haptic feedback was so amazing you could practically hear it across the room if you turned it up.. And if you kept pressing a button fast it's like it would set up a constant vibration..
Same for the Z3+, the Z3 had pretty average feedback as does the XZ I'm writing on now.
However the S6 has the worst feedback I've ever used on a phone.. It's a very high frequency.. It makes typing on the phone unpleasant, it makes using the navigation buttons unpleasant.. The S6 has issues with SwiftKey, yet SwiftKey worked flawlessly on the LG g2, Z1, Z3, Z3+ and the XZ.
So I've not really had that many brands of phones.. That's why I'm giving the Oneplus 3t a go... I've given Sony my loyalty and been burnt twice now.
I'm a big fan of notification lights so I won't go HTC since their too cheap to put a decent light in... And they hide it in the speaker grill.
I wish phone reviewers would review notification lights and feedback... There's more to a phone than how fast it launches a program or what the launcher looks like... There's how it "feels" to use as well.
Just my two cents worth on my thread.

batfink1 said:
Honestly I'm not a hardcore gamer, I only play the one game Galatronvs via the KIK APP, it's basically a BOT game which is a downwardly scrolling shootemup... However you do compete online against other players.
And I've confirmed it's definitely a heat issue.
Sadly Sony were supposed to have solved their heating issues with the release of the snapdragon 20...but they haven't.
I can actively connect the lagginess of the game directly with the heat of the phone, the ambient heat of the room, and that you can feel the phone getting hotter and hotter in direct relation to how laggy it gets.
I've even been in the middle of a laggy game with the phone feeling very hot and deliberately moved in front of an air cooler with the back of the phone directly in the path of the cool air and had the lagging start to recede as the phone cools down.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for that info. I'll be sure to test for heat problems when I receive mines. Now I fear that I may have two problems when it comes to gaming, suttering and heat LOL.
I haven't had any heat problems with my current Z5 though. The only time was when recording in 4K during a heat wave (around 95F).

Meh the play store is still full of *****y games that weren't even optimised for the adreno 530, the phone has no fault, the 530 destroys not only the competition(in the same category), but especially older mobile GPUs, ask the dev to use his fingers to make a proper app, the XZ has no fault.

I play EA sport - UFC game (i think this is a first-classe game for smartphone, close to PS3 games graphic and textures!!!)
i see lag when conect charger and play this game... this is normal for any phone when actived soc thermal controll (I have galaxy S6 before XZ too!)
any phone have good performance in gaming is "iPhone" but i am ok with freedom in android platform
* sorry for my bad english...

i test some apps i don't if it s the case or not but most games are developed by unity3d!
they are fine on other phones! on xperia this is the similar issue between games that slowing down

batfink1 said:
To be honest I'm a little underwhelmed with the gaming speed of the XZ.
I only play one game, its a game in KIK called Galatronvs which is a basic Shootemup.
And to be honest , it is REALLY LAGGY on the XZ compared to the S6......The S6 stays smooth , doesn't judder, doesn't pause, doesn't jump.
All these things happen on the XZ as the game gets busier and there are more bullets and ships on the screen..ultimately i die because its becomes a slide show.
After reading all the articles about the Snapdragon 820 and the Adreno 530 I feel more than a little bit down that my two year old S6 with an Inhouse Mali-T760MP8 outperforms it.
Don't get me wrong, in day to day use it's a dream to use..I don't know what it is about Samsung that their hardware is so good but it translates so badly on software that using the phone feels like work rather than fun, even Swiftkey runs like crap on the Samsung.
I haven't tried any other phones yet, but my friend has just gotten a Google Pixel XL and he's going to let me install Kik and have a 30 minute game next week.
If it lags as well, I'd have to say either the Adreno 530 isn't all that good, or the game is terribly optimised.
Either way , at the moment I'm underwhelmed by my Platinum flagship phone gaming experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sometimes im playing game in my xz but i dont have really issue in heating or laggy (my phone have nougat version)
maybe your issue because you are in MM, lets try to nougat.
or use custome rom.

I received my XZ (F8331) a few days ago. I don't seem to be experiencing any heat issues when it comes to gaming. Also the stuttering I mentioned for Xperia devices is now almost gone. It's still there, but it's so little that it doesn't bother me anymore.
I've only played 3 games so far:
Skyforce Reloaded
Riptide GP Renegade
Asphalt Extreme
Running the Stability Test app from the Play store, the XZ does throttle down much much sooner than my Z5 (the Z5's heatpipes seems to work really well), but that app puts all CPU cores on full load.
I'm curious about this game Galvatronvs you're playing. I'd like to see if it runs the same on my XZ. Could you point me in the right direction to download this game?

need for speed no limits lag like hell

iSpammer said:
need for speed no limits lag like hell
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Click to collapse
Hello ,
No problem here , i have try now about 30 minutes and no lag
Check my videos:
Recored the screen:
1:
2:

Okey i test with "game benchmark"
And no difference between S6 and XZ in game frame rate...
Asphalt8: get 30fps in both devices.
Zombi Highway 2: get 60fps in both devices.
From that test you find:
1) some games locked in lower frame rate, or bad optimized. (asphalt lock on 30fps, zombi highway lock on 60fps)
2) android use "vsync" lock the hardware for limitted fps. Adreno 530 is more powerful then mali T760 (and T880 too!). but there are some software limitations.
3) limited adreno 530 result: gpu not need all his power for reach to 60fps. In my Xperia XZ gpu never reach to 60% load, because not need more load for recive to 60fps.
4) from number#3: none overheating feel when compared with my galaxy s6! s6 need more gpu load for reach to 60fps and gpu core loading heat up the device.
5) unlock software limitations needs custom kernels, and risk of overheating and hardware damage! You don't need more than 60fps for mobile gaming.
6) bad news: Snapdragon 808 can reach to 60fps easily. You can only see "hardware war" between companies. When older SoC can do perfect the end-user works!

Upgrading from Z5C, some concerns.

Hello,
Someone broke my Z5C and I'm now looking for a new phone.
I liked the form factor of the Z5C, but several things were "mehhh".
First of all, the fingerprint scanner wasn't working under certain conditions. I read here and there that it was mostly fixed and that the XC fingerprint sensor is much more accurate. Can you confirm ?
Secundo, the phone was overheating A LOT. I guess it had to do with the SoC. Is it fixed ? I don't know if it was related, but my phone randomly lagged (and would sometime reboot for no reason).
The amount of RAM was clearly not sufficient as apps would need to be restarted completely during multitasking.
Also, the screen was just "ok" for me. How deep are the blacks on the XC?
How slow is the camera to open? It was really unreliable on the Z5C for me. Can you turn off the "photo enhancement" feature that slows down the whole thing?
Concerning rooting, mods, etc.: I don't care about customizing if the ROM is good. The only thing I want is a root access. Is this something we achieve without losing any functionality on Nougat ?
And last concern... how often do you see people complaining about defective units ?
You've been using this device for several months now... so you should been able to tell me how well it survived!
I really want to love this phone, but tell me if there's anything you don't like about it!
Thank you in advance!

Stick with your Z5C, that's the phone I wish I'd have bought instead of this. In future I'll always opt for older premium over newer mid range.

XperienceD said:
Stick with your Z5C, that's the phone I wish I'd have bought instead of this. In future I'll always opt for older premium over newer mid range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer.
Can you tell me what's wrong with your XC?
Because I don't know if I had a defective unit or not, but overall I wouldn't recommend the Z5C for the reasons I gave in my OP.

I've had my ZC for about 2 months now and it's my favorite phone to date. Got tired of the huge screen phones, my last being the oneplusone.
The fingerprint scanner only works if you flash the uk firmware from what I've seen. I have not gotten around to it yet so I can't say how well it work but from my reading everyone says it works well.
I have had 0 overheating issues. It barely gets warm.
Honestly I love this phone. It's fast, has every feature I wanted and is the form factor I wanted also.
The ONLY thing I really hate about this phone is sony made it out of the slipperiest material on earth, but with a case/skin that goes away.

evoliofly said:
Hello,
Someone broke my Z5C and I'm now looking for a new phone.
I liked the form factor of the Z5C, but several things were "mehhh".
First of all, the fingerprint scanner wasn't working under certain conditions. I read here and there that it was mostly fixed and that the XC fingerprint sensor is much more accurate. Can you confirm ?
Secundo, the phone was overheating A LOT. I guess it had to do with the SoC. Is it fixed ? I don't know if it was related, but my phone randomly lagged (and would sometime reboot for no reason).
The amount of RAM was clearly not sufficient as apps would need to be restarted completely during multitasking.
Also, the screen was just "ok" for me. How deep are the blacks on the XC?
How slow is the camera to open? It was really unreliable on the Z5C for me. Can you turn off the "photo enhancement" feature that slows down the whole thing?
Concerning rooting, mods, etc.: I don't care about customizing if the ROM is good. The only thing I want is a root access. Is this something we achieve without losing any functionality on Nougat ?
And last concern... how often do you see people complaining about defective units ?
You've been using this device for several months now... so you should been able to tell me how well it survived!
I really want to love this phone, but tell me if there's anything you don't like about it!
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't comment on everything but I can answer a couple.
First off the phone doesn't over heat, ever. It may get a little warm at times but that's only if playing a ton of videos. And when I say a ton I mean from 100% battery down to zero. The Z5C chipset has always had heat issues. Granted it's not Sony's fault all phones had heat issues that used the 810. That's why Qualcomm was so quick to move away from the 810 back in the day when it first released. The XC uses a 650 which is basically the same thing as the 810 but it doesn't overheat. That being said it also has an extra gig of ram compared to the Z5C so it's a little snappier too imo. Granted the Z5C and the XC are both very close to one another.
I have never had an issue with the fingerprint sensor on the XC. As stated above you will need to flash the UK firmware to get it to work though. Has something to do with a patent dispute between Sony and whoever in the US at the moment.
Overall you can't go wrong either way. It sounds like you had a lot of issues with your Z5C so switching to the XC is probably worth a shot as it has dropped in price quite a bit since release. I have had mine since late October and haven't had an issue with it so far. Plus I am willing to bet the Z5C is coming to an end as far as Android updates go as to where the XC should at the very least get a bump up to 7.1 at some point if not more.

evoliofly said:
Thank you for your answer.
Can you tell me what's wrong with your XC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The colour first of all, it's blue, not Universe "Black", the icon on the power button is upside down, can't connect wireless to my PC and curved edges that makes applying a screen protector a real PITA.

XperienceD said:
the icon on the power button is upside down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The icon on the z5c is exactly the same, for what it's worth.
We have both xc and z5c. I lean towards the xc because it lasts longer per charge. It also seems to run cooler. It doesn't look as nice as the z5c, but I am not as worried about damaging it

I had a z5c, and switched to XC back in sep 2016, every 'issue' you mention has been fixed on XC. The fingerprint sensor is better, so is the screen. It would be odd otherwise.
The biggest flav of the z5c though is the a57 cores (the performance cluster of z5c) is the first 64bit soc rushed out to complete with apple that had just released their 64bit soc and lets be honest this core is notorious for overheating, my raspberry pi uses 4 of them too and both can not sustain their highest clock without getting insanely hot and throttle back the clock. I realize this only happens if you play games or do a synthetic stress test, use poorly coded apps like Facebook etc, most normal os operation only produces spikes which keeps the throttling down. Imho this is a horrible core compared with the a72. The power efficiency is also as you can imagine way better, I get alot more out of a single charge on this phone than I did with the z5c and it never gets hot, maybe a little handwarm if you play games or keep the screen on for hours like watching several movies. Nowhere near the z5c which was worryingly at times.
That's not to say I did not like the z5c but overall the XC is a great improvement in any aspect just as it is supposed to be.
The colour first of all, it's blue, not Universe "Black"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you ever looked up at night ? Its not completely black either, its like a blackisblue. Furthermore I like it inside its black and outside you can see a different very dark blue color depending from which angle the light hits it. I am pretty sure it is on purpose and why its called universe black. I agree whether you like it or not is another matter.
can't connect wireless to my PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate? Because like this guy I could not find an option in my phone either. This is the official answer from sony:
The feature to transfer files using Media transfer mode via Wi-Fi® has been removed in the Xperia™ Z4 Tablet and the Xperia™ Z5 series. Moreover, the Media transfer mode will not be available in Xperia™ Companion, the new tool that is replacing PC Companion, because Windows® 8.1 has removed the trigger menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But perhaps you mean something else?

Thank you everyone for your answers! You would be very good salesmen!
The Z5C was a bad experience, but I hope that this one will last me as long as my Nexus 4 did!
I bought it from a third-party seller on Amazon and should receive it in 2 weeks.
Also, I wanted to buy the black one at first... but the white one was cheaper, so I went for it (and I may even like it more in the end).

the camera opens in around 1 sec, 0.6 sec according to sony btw. I also dislike the photo enhancement that takes forever to apply and sharpen the image even on zxs. this is because sony decided to not use the performance cluster in the album app (I have no idea what they bumped their heads into) but as you I do not like it anyway as it over sharpens pictures and is way to aggressive. thankfully it can be disabled and pictures sharpen normally up in a instant, if I want to add more pow or adjust the colors etc I use a tool designed for that, usually i find the photo editor to be sufficient.
Good luck. I hope it serves you well. Initially i was sceptic too until I actually used it. (ie not just standing in a store flicking back and forth in the demo mode)

I didnt have time to read other comments but let me share my experience with you
Im a guy who changes phone after phone and a heavy android user but because I like to change phones I mostly buy good midrangers.
anyway this is the only phone that I have used it for more than 6 months( its almost 9) beside xperia sp some years ago.
The design really feels good in hand - but it gets scratches very easily so u might wanna look for a back protector or cover.
The performance is liquid smooth you are not gonna see any lags only if its app related, but I wished it was a better processor anyway.
Screen quality is super awesome you will enjoy looking at it every single time you use it.
Cpu have never went more than 45 C degrees but keep in mind that its a 28nm processor.
battery life is good goes up to 2 days with normal use
app loadings speed is perfect havent seen any better phone in this price range
fingerprint sensor is very good gets your id even with a little touch
speakers are not that good I can say that and Im noticing some wizzing noises sometimes...
in the end I really suggest you to buy it cause its way better than z5c and dont buy it only if you would go for XZ premium!
Just watch out for defective units there seem to be more than normal...
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Edit: I forgot to say the phone is waterproof I tested it myself but no body will answer you if you damage it because its not official...

Thread closed at OP request