Database Users

Z2 after two weeks - comments

So, after two weeks of use, I am still loving the phone overall. I do however have some nitpicks that I would like to share here, just for edification.
(1) The automation software that Sony has written is buggy and I mean really buggy. My main issue is that the state changes don't return the phone back to the way it was before the automated state went into effect. For example, NIGHT silences everything, but if I was silent before and I take the phone off the charger in the middle of the night, it turns sounds back on.
(2) Bluetooth - My bluetooth module crashes EVERY time I am in the car and connected. If I'm on a call, it goes in and out at least once. I would say it is the car's bluetooth, but I've never had this happen with other phones.
(3) Wi-Fi - My wifi connection at work has been spotty, but now I sit directly under an access point. The Z2 contines to go in and out of service for no reason. It still may be the connection at work, as it doesn't happen on my home network. But, I find it quite strange.
(4) Docked - The wake-up screen doesn't switch to vertical when the phone is docked. The home screen does.
(5) Phone screen - Not sure who laid the screen out, but it is too easy to engage the phone pad screen, which in turn starts dialing numbers. The sensor doesn't seem to recognize my big face on it, so it doesn't turn off while in a call. DO NOT LIKE.
(6) Autodimming Feature - doesn't really work as advertised. If I'm in a dark room, I don't need the screen to be full on. And yet, it does.
(7) 4K camera recording shut off AND manual camera (20MP) gets an over heating after a few pictures.
now, the good part...
(1) Screen is great for everything, I don't know what people are complaining about. No it isn't flame on strong like a Galaxy S5, but it works and very well, for whatever I need.
(2) Battery life and performance are phenomenal
(3) Simple Android skin.
(4) Camera quality is fantastic. Even in a dark room I got great pictures.

Thanks for info. Looking at bright side, most of your problems should be solved with software update.

I love everything about this phone except one thing :
I have T-Mobile and before this I had Nexus 5 and mostly I had LTE almost ever where but with this phone that percentage is lowered now and rather than having 90% of LTE everywhere I have like 50% LTE everywhere and mostly H+, I don't know why or maybe that's how's this phone or maybe if they release a better radio or firmware if fix the problem, I hope for it.

Thanks for the info/initial impressions. As already mentioned, most of your problems seem to be due to software issues that could well be fixed in the future. However, the overheating issue concerns me a lot. What if it's a design fault and no ROM updates are going to fully solve it... Idk...

vctrdnl said:
Thanks for the info/initial impressions. As already mentioned, most of your problems seem to be due to software issues that could well be fixed in the future. However, the overheating issue concerns me a lot. What if it's a design fault and no ROM updates are going to fully solve it... Idk...
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I have had the phone for more than a week and I have to say I love it. I can confirm a few niggles here and there, but nothing deal breaking and I can see myself living with the phone for the next few years. I agree with many that the real killer issue here is overheating. While initially restricted to 4k recording, it seems that the issue is more widespread than this, and today it happened to me recording 1080p at 60fps as well as 4k recording. Only a few minutes in each time. No each time the phone did not feel particularly hot, so I suspect this is predominenty related to the threshold set for the software to go in safe mode so that could be fixed if that was inadequate calibration.
Saying that, I find it difficult to believe that an issue like this could not have been picked up during testing... Certainly makes it looked like they did fry up a few phones during development for them to be so overly (?) cautious on this...

I have the same problem with the spotty wifi. It can drop and go back to LTE all of a sudden with no apparent reason. And it has the tendency to lose mobile connection while I'm traveling on the train, I don't get this with my S3. Fortunately I'm sure Sony can fix these issues buy upgrading the radio and software updates. It's just a matter of whether they will take notice.
Sent from my non-Apple device via XDA App

You know I think Sony makes bad radio antenna. cause Xperia SP is also having issues of dropping signals right now with it's latest update.
Once I went out for skiing and I was using Xperia Z and my two friends had HTC Evo 3D and GS3, they both got h+ yet I only got edge which kinda sucked.

Well, Ive had the phone for a week today
I haven't had the same issues as the OP,
the automation software I do have issues with as in night mode it does not turn off notifications and the picture viewer starts, but the way I have got round this is to go to flight mode at night
No problems whatsoever with Bluetooth connections in my S-0max, Freelander or Jag XF, all working perfectly
no problems with wifi, but I did have to uncheck the "Avoid Poor Connections" in advanced wifi setting
no issues with phone pad random dialling or catching it
agree with camera quality, screen quality and noise cancelling headphones are great (but are awful in my ipad, terrible quality on that)
would agree the sound levels are too low, needs an update to increase volume choices

Warkman said:
Well, Ive had the phone for a week today
I haven't had the same issues as the OP,
the automation software I do have issues with as in night mode it does not turn off notifications and the picture viewer starts, but the way I have got round this is to go to flight mode at night
No problems whatsoever with Bluetooth connections in my S-0max, Freelander or Jag XF, all working perfectly
no problems with wifi, but I did have to uncheck the "Avoid Poor Connections" in advanced wifi setting
no issues with phone pad random dialling or catching it
agree with camera quality, screen quality and noise cancelling headphones are great (but are awful in my ipad, terrible quality on that)
would agree the sound levels are too low, needs an update to increase volume choices
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Click to collapse
Glad I get to pick mine up today. I will say that when I had the z1 that it had low signal issues where it would cycle between LTE, HSPA and no signal in areas where other att phones stay locked on one or two bars of LTE. I'm hopeful this one will be a bit better, but we'll see.

Had my Z2 since Tuesday, It's going back!! Only for a replacement though as I love it.
Reason for going back, the gap is present on the top right on the phone.
other problems I have is the camera. Amazing results but I keep getting overheating message and shutdowns, and the keyboard is a nightmare, keep missing the space bar, but this is no big issue.
The good things, well just about everything else. The speakers are amazing, the screen is absolutely gorgeous, and it is not dim, I spend most of the day with it on auto with slider at the lowest setting. The mrs says it's ugly and looks old, I do not agree with this, it's gorgeous, and looks sleek and elegant.
Would I recommend, hell yeah!!
One further note, when you place it on the stand at night and go sleep, don't leave the bloody vibrate on, man, I sh*t myself and so did the Mrs, followed by me getting a bit of verbal!!!
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app

jayc1980 said:
Had my Z2 since Tuesday, It's going back!! Only for a replacement though as I love it.
Reason for going back, the gap is present on the top right on the phone.
other problems I have is the camera. Amazing results but I keep getting overheating message and shutdowns, and the keyboard is a nightmare, keep missing the space bar, but this is no big issue.
The good things, well just about everything else. The speakers are amazing, the screen is absolutely gorgeous, and it is not dim, I spend most of the day with it on auto with slider at the lowest setting. The mrs says it's ugly and looks old, I do not agree with this, it's gorgeous, and looks sleek and elegant.
Would I recommend, hell yeah!!
One further note, when you place it on the stand at night and go sleep, don't leave the bloody vibrate on, man, I sh*t myself and so did the Mrs, followed by me getting a bit of verbal!!!
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Iam thinking of buying this phone asap
Sent From S4 I9500 Crash Rom Final 4.4.2

paras said:
Iam thinking of buying this phone asap
Sent From S4 I9500 Crash Rom Final 4.4.2
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i would too, but the overheating issues are a turn off. hoping the second batch of Z2s would not have such problems

SexyIceCream said:
i would too, but the overheating issues are a turn off. hoping the second batch of Z2s would not have such problems
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But then z3 would be announced
Sent From S4 I9500 Crash Rom Final 4.4.2

paras said:
But then z3 would be announced
Sent From S4 I9500 Crash Rom Final 4.4.2
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Click to collapse
lol..perhaps a s5 would be the better choice then...but i am really tired of the design language being used by them come on, sony! lets hope the overheating can be solved through a software update

I've had mine since the 17th of April and I haven't experienced most of the problems the OP listed. I've had the 4k over heating force closing camera app but that was only on the first day because I was already using the camera for ages before testing 4k. Since then it's never happened again. Never happened with 1080p video at any point even 60fps.
No problems with lte or wifi. Don't use bluetooth much so can't comment there. Automodes work OK for me. Well it's just the night mode I used so no extensive testing done there.
Z2 rocks, put it this way, I've spent a lot of time criticising most of the Sony Ericsson and Sony devices I've owned but the z2 ain't gonna join that list.
The display is class leading, whites may not be the whitest but they're white enough. The colour reproduction is spot on despite the vibrancy unlike you know who. Performance is boss too. Only notice frame drops in games when the phone gets very hot after prolonged periods.
Sound quality is great too and I for one don't have any problems with notifications. I hear them from the living room when I'm outside. I also like the fact that it automatically adjusts the sound volume depending on what you're doing. It's loudest during gaming. I think that's good because I can just leave the phone on full volume and it automatically takes care of everything. No need to keep adjusting the volume. Another thing I discovered is that you can zoom in on any video you record with the device, not just 4k. Obviously not as much detail is preserved but it's great nonetheless.
The camera for me is the real star of the show. Not really a superior auto man because historically that produced the worst results possible especially with the Z. Not this time though. Manual for me is still king but superior auto has been greatly improved and you can be happy using it. It actually does a better job at white balance under artificial lighting. Something I hope is addressed in manual mode with software updates.
As for photo quality, it's fantastic at 8mp. Sure you can't zoom in as much as with 20.7mp but the quality is much better in ever respect. Detail preservation, colour reproduction, dynamic range etc. Fantastic job done here by Sony. They've certainly joined Nokia in the premier league of smartphone cams. If the lumia 1020 is an incredible 5mp camera, think of the z2 as an incredible 8mp camera.
Took me a while to get used to the size of the phone though but I'm over that now. Z starting to look an feel small now lol!
All in all, it's not only by far and away the best effort from Sony, it's the best smartphone ever built. It's monolithic rectangular design might not be everyone's cup of tea especial those who like to grip their phones but I love it and hope Sony never changes it. To give you some perspective, I absolutely hated the xperia arc design. That's just me I know. The m8 might feel more premium but I think it's butt ugly with those juvenile speaker grills. I actually prefer the s5's look if not feel.
There's more to talk about especially the noise cancelling genius. Works like a charm and does exactly what it claims to do.
It's also pretty solid and rugged. I've dropped mine a few times and it's shown no damage at all. I'm glad Sony went back to the original z design and put a plastic edge around the aluminum frame. My mates z1 is already showing signs of age but the z still looks fab. I think z2 will stand the test of time much like the z did.
For the bad, the phone is way too slippery hence why I've dropped it a lot. It even slides off surfaces on its own lol.
The camera also tries to force the bokeh effect on you. If you have anything that remotely looks dominant and central to the scene, the camera tends to blur out a bit objects in the background. IPhone 5s does this too but is sort of annoying especially when the z2 has a dedicated shooting mode for this. Admittedly one that's not the most accurate. Well even m8 with its secondary depth sensor is inaccurate so let's not take the high ground here.
To avoid rambling on, this is one phone I'll gladly recommend to anyone who isn't worried about size. For those of you that are, just wait for the z2 compact.
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app

zodiac100 said:
I've had mine since the 17th of April and I haven't experienced most of the problems the OP listed. I've had the 4k over heating force closing camera app but that was only on the first day because I was already using the camera for ages before testing 4k. Since then it's never happened again. Never happened with 1080p video at any point even 60fps.
No problems with lte or wifi. Don't use bluetooth much so can't comment there. Automodes work OK for me. Well it's just the night mode I used so no extensive testing done there.
Z2 rocks, put it this way, I've spent a lot of time criticising most of the Sony Ericsson and Sony devices I've owned but the z2 ain't gonna join that list.
The display is class leading, whites may not be the whitest but they're white enough. The colour reproduction is spot on despite the vibrancy unlike you know who. Performance is boss too. Only notice frame drops in games when the phone gets very hot after prolonged periods.
Sound quality is great too and I for one don't have any problems with notifications. I hear them from the living room when I'm outside. I also like the fact that it automatically adjusts the sound volume depending on what you're doing. It's loudest during gaming. I think that's good because I can just leave the phone on full volume and it automatically takes care of everything. No need to keep adjusting the volume. Another thing I discovered is that you can zoom in on any video you record with the device, not just 4k. Obviously not as much detail is preserved but it's great nonetheless.
The camera for me is the real star of the show. Not really a superior auto man because historically that produced the worst results possible especially with the Z. Not this time though. Manual for me is still king but superior auto has been greatly improved and you can be happy using it. It actually does a better job at white balance under artificial lighting. Something I hope is addressed in manual mode with software updates.
As for photo quality, it's fantastic at 8mp. Sure you can't zoom in as much as with 20.7mp but the quality is much better in ever respect. Detail preservation, colour reproduction, dynamic range etc. Fantastic job done here by Sony. They've certainly joined Nokia in the premier league of smartphone cams. If the lumia 1020 is an incredible 5mp camera, think of the z2 as an incredible 8mp camera.
Took me a while to get used to the size of the phone though but I'm over that now. Z starting to look an feel small now lol!
All in all, it's not only by far and away the best effort from Sony, it's the best smartphone ever built. It's monolithic rectangular design might not be everyone's cup of tea especial those who like to grip their phones but I love it and hope Sony never changes it. To give you some perspective, I absolutely hated the xperia arc design. That's just me I know. The m8 might feel more premium but I think it's butt ugly with those juvenile speaker grills. I actually prefer the s5's look if not feel.
There's more to talk about especially the noise cancelling genius. Works like a charm and does exactly what it claims to do.
It's also pretty solid and rugged. I've dropped mine a few times and it's shown no damage at all. I'm glad Sony went back to the original z design and put a plastic edge around the aluminum frame. My mates z1 is already showing signs of age but the z still looks fab. I think z2 will stand the test of time much like the z did.
For the bad, the phone is way too slippery hence why I've dropped it a lot. It even slides off surfaces on its own lol.
The camera also tries to force the bokeh effect on you. If you have anything that remotely looks dominant and central to the scene, the camera tends to blur out a bit objects in the background. IPhone 5s does this too but is sort of annoying especially when the z2 has a dedicated shooting mode for this. Admittedly one that's not the most accurate. Well even m8 with its secondary depth sensor is inaccurate so let's not take the high ground here.
To avoid rambling on, this is one phone I'll gladly recommend to anyone who isn't worried about size. For those of you that are, just wait for the z2 compact.
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app
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thanks for your input! but btw, when you mean you haven't faced the overheating for 4k, was it at least 5 minutes? i fully intend to use the z2 for an upcoming concert, so at least 5 mins of 4k would be awesome(for cropping/zooming in) :good:

SexyIceCream said:
thanks for your input! but btw, when you mean you haven't faced the overheating for 4k, was it at least 5 minutes? i fully intend to use the z2 for an upcoming concert, so at least 5 mins of 4k would be awesome(for cropping/zooming in) :good:
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Click to collapse
Before replying, I started another 4k video to see what happened. It recorded for 5mins 22 seconds and then forced closed. Mind you I've been using the phone all morning so was already a bit hot. I think it all depends on the temperature of the phone. If cool, you can probably record for longer. You can though zoom into any video you record. I would suggest using 1080 at 60fps at the concert or just make sure your device is cool before recording in 4k.
I think it's a threshold Sony set for it. If that's correct then removing or increasing this threshold may result in people pushing it too far and damaging their devices.
If it's not a threshold then who knows, there maybe a fix released at some point. Don't forget, the z2 really hasn't got going yet. Sony is still struggling to make it widely available so we may have to wait a few months for any fixes.
I'll wait for the device to cool down completely and retry. I'll come back to you then.
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app

zodiac100 said:
Before replying, I started another 4k video to see what happened. It recorded for 5mins 22 seconds and then forced closed. Mind you I've been using the phone all morning so was already a bit hot. I think it all depends on the temperature of the phone. If cool, you can probably record for longer. You can though zoom into any video you record. I would suggest using 1080 at 60fps at the concert or just make sure your device is cool before recording in 4k.
I think it's a threshold Sony set for it. If that's correct then removing or increasing this threshold may result in people pushing it too far and damaging their devices.
If it's not a threshold then who knows, there maybe a fix released at some point. Don't forget, the z2 really hasn't got going yet. Sony is still struggling to make it widely available so we may have to wait a few months for any fixes.
I'll wait for the device to cool down completely and retry. I'll come back to you then.
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app
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thanks loads! haha if it would really take months, the Z3 would be out already(as said by another member above) i still think their 6 months refresh rate is a tad too fast but oh well

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---------- Post added at 11:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 AM ----------
SexyIceCream said:
thanks loads! haha if it would really take months, the Z3 would be out already(as said by another member above) i still think their 6 months refresh rate is a tad too fast but oh well
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I think the 6 month cycle is disgusting. Nobody benefits from this. Not consumers and not Sony. With all the delays I doubt we'll see z3 until next year. I think z2 compact and possibly z2 ultra are more likely later this year. Sony would just have absolutely no justification for pushing the z3 in September. Even if they do, it'll just be another rough sketch phone like the z1 was. One which I'll surely be skipping and would advise others to do so as well. 6 months is way too short a time to develop a phone. You'll end up with another unrefined rough sketch. Let's be honest, the z1 looks now like an early prototype of the z2. If it was a proper construct, they would have called it the z2. The z1 was the original z. The z1 was a child of pure greed on Sony's part. I'm sure most z1 users will be wishing they'd skipped that device. Doing think there were that many z users who wished they'd waited for the z1 though. We've seen what Sony has to offer for 2014 and you'll realistically have to wait at least a year to any meaningful improvements. Case in point, z2 and z1 have similar camera specs but z2 produces infinitely better results. Why? The z1's camera was just the hardware without the refinements needed. Like I said, it was a rough sketch of what Sony had to come. In my opinion h2 flagships from Sony are nothing but dishonest devices. Sony's basically selling early prototypes to consumers.
Sent from my D6503 using xda app-developers app

Are you guys on the 2.55 or 2.69 firmware? Maybe the 2.69 has some changes to help with the overheating.

Z2 Worst smart phone?

Out of all the smart phones I have owned since 2009, my experience with the Z2 has probably been the worst. On paper, the phone looks good. Nice big screen, good battery life, nice camera and water and dust proof to boot. In my mind, it beat all of the competitors at the time. The big problem I have found is the terrible software.
Sony seems to be clueless. Each new build introduced new bugs and didn't squash the old ones. Since Lollipop I have had issues with the screen not locking properly. The phone was constantly unlocking itself in my pocket and pocket dialling my contacts. I had to disable tap to unlock and this stopped that but still the phone wont always lock properly. I will have read a text say, close the application and lock the phone. The screen goes dark but a press of the button and it's unlocked again. No swipe of the screen. When you lock it, it should be locked. Typing out texts, sometimes it will freeze for a moment, then catch up with what I typed. I'm not fast at typing or anything. In fact I'm pretty rubbish lol.
The camera isn't great by any means. My old S3 was just as good and took better low light images. I don't think I will ever get a Sony again. It's a shame as my k700i was a great old phone.
Is it just me or does anyone else have issues with the Z2's dodgy software?

I am satisfied except camera performance.

@5nakedoc , i think it's just you...
I never had the phone unlock by itself, never had a pocket call and never disabled tap to unlock either...
Go to settings --> security --> automatically lock --> choose immediately and it should solve the problem of phone not locking right away when you press power button.
Lags? if you have lags the problem is on your side for sure, i have 55gb of stuff on my phone and i run my cpu at 1.5ghz max most of the time, no lags here.
I never used sony keyboard maybe it has bugs, i use swype in all my android phones, zero lag typing on my z2.
About camera...yeah auto mode sucks, manual mode is better, but camera fv-5 is what does the trick for me. Just try other camera apps...

I would hate to know what you think about the rest of the phone as you said the camera is one of your favourite features :/
5nakedoc said:
Build quality
Waterproofing
Noise Cancelling
Large friendly screen
Free Speaker!!!
Magnetic charging dock
Quality Sony case
Two stage camera button
Camera
AR app
Background Blur app
The banana dispenser
OK I lied about the last one.
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Click to collapse
Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

I don't think an awful lot of it. The software bugs are annoying. That post was just after I got it and before the worst of the bugs began to plague me. Plus the expensive case I bought from Sony direct, failed on two corners and is completely useless now. (Not dropped ever) I think I mentioned that the problems really only started when they updated to Lollipop.
I was unable to locate the setting mentioned above, perhaps you are not running the most recent software but it wasn't where you described or anywhere else that I looked within settings.
Lags may be down to the sheer number of texts I have from that contact. I suspect they number in the thousands. I might try a factory reset when I have an evening spare and see if this helps. I do feel a little sentimental about those texts though but they are backed up to google.

Nope i have not seen any single problm except battery

to me the performance is still a issues even in lollipop update , dont know whether it was android fault or not , i need to restart each 2 days since i can see framedrop which is pretty annoying . Kinda agree , the update also lower the loudness of the speaker , camerawise their superior auto is pretty bad hmm. and my screen sometimes become crazy i dont know before this i dont have this problem i have own z2 since june 2014 , and the problems appear like 2-3 months ago until now.

5nakedoc said:
The phone was constantly unlocking itself in my pocket and pocket dialling my contacts. I had to disable tap to unlock and this stopped that but still the phone wont always lock properly.
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How about you turn the phone screen away from your body when you place it in your pocket?

Android version
muhammadnajmi96 said:
to me the performance is still a issues even in lollipop update , dont know whether it was android fault or not , i need to restart each 2 days since i can see framedrop which is pretty annoying . Kinda agree , the update also lower the loudness of the speaker , camerawise their superior auto is pretty bad hmm. and my screen sometimes become crazy i dont know before this i dont have this problem i have own z2 since june 2014 , and the problems appear like 2-3 months ago until now.
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Hi Najmi,I'm currently running version 5.1.1,i dont have encountered any issues with this version,I'd like to ask at what android version did you start to have these problems?Thank you

Maybe you should try asking for solutions to each of your problems. I don't like Lollipop either. Its been crap on all but nexus phones. Have you the S5? It became a bugs galore with Lollipop. Every non-nexus smartphone had the awake problem and extended power consumption.
I would advise you to go back to KK. Its bug-free.
About the camera, I tried indoor image comparison between both phones in auto-mode (I just got both phones and didnt get the time to properly compare the cameras) and the Z2 was clearly better indoors without lighting. Macros and close shots were also better on Z2. Later on I learnt about the Night Scene Mode in Manual mode. No phone could match Z2 at the time. There was a lot of noise but the pictures had more details than what was visible through the naked eyes. Nowadays phones with manual mode can shoot the same type of photos. But comparing the phones that came with Z2 it was the best.
Oh and I used to get 8 hours SoT in KK in 2 days without any root or such thing.

5nakedoc, I regret being in complete disagreement with you. For me, the Z2 has been one of my most appreciated phones. I bought it with Android 4.1.2 and have been updated since then until 4.4.4. I have not kept updating it more because I have a very useful app to my health insurance does not work with Lollipop.
Certainly, I recognize that the lock-release of Lollipop do not like as much as Kit Kat, but with a Xposed framework and modules in kit kat, I have a super performance, without any problem to lock-unlock, even removing the button emergency call and also the one of the camera.
The Stamina mode gives me an excellent performance during the day, coming to the end of the day with an average of 50-70% of battery, using whatsapp usually.
Also the wifi mode based on location works well, etc.
The camera fully satisfy me, and with an optical zoom could be the summum
What else can I want from a phone?
Perhaps you must keep in Kit kat and forget Lollipop experiences. I think there's most stable with old android versions.

5nakedoc said:
The camera isn't great by any means. My old S3 was just as good and took better low light images.
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You dont know to use camera for sure.Look at my pictures from Z2 on my flickr account and you will see how camera is really good.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

The Sony Xperia™ Z2 is one awesome device. If it has cons, it would be the speakers, I guess. But that's all. I've been using it since June 2014 and NEVER got those same problems with you.
Get your phone checked instead of coming here and blabbing about how bad it is.

androidforlyfe said:
Hi Najmi,I'm currently running version 5.1.1,i dont have encountered any issues with this version,I'd like to ask at what android version did you start to have these problems?Thank you
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Since Lollipop of course. Latest one also. Fresh install including formatting both internal and external storage. You should compared kitkat and lollipop. That's why I revert back to Kitkat which give me better battery life and louder speaker.

Totally disagree
5nakedoc said:
Out of all the smart phones I have owned since 2009, my experience with the Z2 has probably been the worst. On paper, the phone looks good. Nice big screen, good battery life, nice camera and water and dust proof to boot. In my mind, it beat all of the competitors at the time. The big problem I have found is the terrible software.
Sony seems to be clueless. Each new build introduced new bugs and didn't squash the old ones. Since Lollipop I have had issues with the screen not locking properly. The phone was constantly unlocking itself in my pocket and pocket dialling my contacts. I had to disable tap to unlock and this stopped that but still the phone wont always lock properly. I will have read a text say, close the application and lock the phone. The screen goes dark but a press of the button and it's unlocked again. No swipe of the screen. When you lock it, it should be locked. Typing out texts, sometimes it will freeze for a moment, then catch up with what I typed. I'm not fast at typing or anything. In fact I'm pretty rubbish lol.
The camera isn't great by any means. My old S3 was just as good and took better low light images. I don't think I will ever get a Sony again. It's a shame as my k700i was a great old phone.
Is it just me or does anyone else have issues with the Z2's dodgy software?
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Click to collapse
The ONLY thing you have proven with your attitude is that old saying ...
"You can't please ALL the people ALL the time."
Aside from being a techie with over 35 years of computer and phone skills, I've been through dozens of smartphones from the original iPhone to my current Sony Z2. I've RARELY kept any of them for more than 6 months. I've jailbroken or rooted every single one of them (except a Sharp which nobody has been able to root).
IMHO, the Sony Z2 is THE BEST smartphone I've ever carried. I'm NOT saying it's perfect. None of them are perfect. However, having carried and compared Apple, HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sharp smartphones, I believe that the Sony Z2 has the BEST screen image quality, color accuracy and camera (excluding the Z5). The photos I've captured with my Z2 are so good, I no longer haul around my expensive Hasselblad equipment when I travel. I've blown up my Sony pics and turned them into life-size pieces of artwork. No other smartphone lets you turn it sideways and keep it charged in a magnetic $4 cradle. Very few smartphones since the original Nexus have the ability to program the notification light with different colors. It even feels like a quality device, not a plastic toy.
Sony has been one of the very few manufacturers that embraces developers like the ones on XDA,
instead of trying to stop us from rooting and customizing our phones.
I'm sorry that you don't have the abilities or desire to resolve your Z2 software dislikes.
I'm currently running Mx ROM V7.70 which has Android 5.1.1 plus lots of Z5 apps
and am not having ANY problems with it. Only complaint are 2 apps he adds which I uninstalled.
I'm so happy with my Z2, I'm even passing up the new Z5 (for now anyway) and may keep my Z2 for a second year.
Glenn
P.S. I also have a Sony Smartwatch 3 and am loving how Google keeps improving Android Wear.
Nexus 7 / Sony Z2 / Teclast X98 Air 3G / iPhone 2S

Yea the z2 is by far my favourite smart phone ever. It may have some minor issues here and there, but all in all, it really is a solid device. I've had it for a year and a half now, and I still don't see any devices that I could justify upgrading to (with the exception of the z3, z4, z5). Every other manufacturer would have some sort of drawback in some way. My z2 does everything I need plus more.

Bull Sh*t. Z2 is one of the best phones. If you compare it with Z3 I think design wise Z3 maybe good but other than that I think Z2 is an amazing device.
Display, Battery Life, Software, everything is perfect. Yes Lollipop actually made the phone to die fast. It's all because of the "Mobile Radio Active bug"
If you talk about Camera it all comes to personal experience. I agree it doesn't do well on Superior Auto mode but it does a great job if you tweak the manual mode and you need to know the stuff you're dealing with.
Then again I think Sony kinda ruined HDR mode but I am okay with it.
I can't use single phone for a good year, I upgrade fast, dude this phone I am using for 2 freaking years now. I am more than happy and I'm actually not pleased with any of the phones which was released this year(maybe because of SD810). @Authi it was released with 4.4.2 not 4.1.2

This phone is awesome are you kidding. My only issue is people are always asking what kind of fancy phone that is. Noone in the US even has any idea that Sony even makes phones even though they like the look of it. This is exactly why Sony is losing money because of no marketing presence.

mrsatan said:
This phone is awesome are you kidding. My only issue is people are always asking what kind of fancy phone that is. Noone in the US even has any idea that Sony even makes phones even though they like the look of it. This is exactly why Sony is losing money because of no marketing presence.
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Exactly. Anyone with an interest in phones that has seen my z2, loves it. Even people I know who don't have an interest, when they see all the pros of it, they still comment asking what kind of phone it is. I've said it from day one. Sony makes an incredible device, it's just that nobody knows about them (in North America at least).

5nakedoc said:
Out of all the smart phones I have owned since 2009, my experience with the Z2 has probably been the worst. On paper, the phone looks good. Nice big screen, good battery life, nice camera and water and dust proof to boot. In my mind, it beat all of the competitors at the time. The big problem I have found is the terrible software.
Sony seems to be clueless. Each new build introduced new bugs and didn't squash the old ones. Since Lollipop I have had issues with the screen not locking properly. The phone was constantly unlocking itself in my pocket and pocket dialling my contacts. I had to disable tap to unlock and this stopped that but still the phone wont always lock properly. I will have read a text say, close the application and lock the phone. The screen goes dark but a press of the button and it's unlocked again. No swipe of the screen. When you lock it, it should be locked. Typing out texts, sometimes it will freeze for a moment, then catch up with what I typed. I'm not fast at typing or anything. In fact I'm pretty rubbish lol.
The camera isn't great by any means. My old S3 was just as good and took better low light images. I don't think I will ever get a Sony again. It's a shame as my k700i was a great old phone.
Is it just me or does anyone else have issues with the Z2's dodgy software?
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Click to collapse
I have owned a Galaxy S3 before my XPERIA Z2 (and before the Galaxy S3 I owned the x10i). The Samsung phone (not a fanboy of Sony here) was my worst phone EVER. It was faster than my XPERIA x10i, yeah, but I can't relate to anything you say. My XPERIA has NEVER unlocked out of nothing, even with tap to unlock (I know this feature can cause automatic unlocks in your pockets for example). My camera is much and much better than the Galaxy S3. Battery life is also much better. My S3 couldn't hold out a full day, my XPERIA can reach up to 2 days. Freezing? Well it never freezed here only by a faulty third party app.
And you're saying the phone is full of new bugs each update? Which bugs? I haven't seen any major bugs, only on that crappy slow Galaxy, which was freezing all the time because of the heavy Touchwiz software that was running. Okay, I'm exaggerating with all the time, but you know how frustrating it is since your XPERIA has been freezing too. But I haven't experienced one of the problems you describe, my girlfriend owns the XPERIA Z2 too, and she hasn't experienced it too.
I think the source of the problems is you and not the phone and the software that is pre-installed on the phone. Don't take this as a personal attack, because it isn't one.
Cheers.

Luvin' my Z5... no, really!

I haven't found the z5 thread for those of us that are happy with their device, so I am starting one! Most forums, for any phone, fill with issues/questions. Those are certainly helpful, but most devices, even if they do it right, won't get much in the way of positive reviews.
Well, I've had my Z5 for about two weeks, and like other Sony's I've owned, I've found it to be a very solid device. Previous three devices;
LG V10
Motorola Pure
Sony Z3
I've unlocked / rooted and am running MM with no issues. Compared to the V10 / Pure, the size of the Z5 is just about perfect. About the only thing I NEED to do to all my devices is change the DPI and drop the soft keys... build.prop and Xposed to the rescue!
Anyway, hopefully some third party dev stuff comes rolling in ( I selfishly like Slim), and thanks to all those that are actively working on development efforts!

It's a pleasure to use this device, and it's a pleasure to use Marshmallow, which is what Lollipop should have been.

I'm stuck with a locked bootloader , but phones great lol

Some additional things I've grown to like;
1) The power / fingerprint security button is great. I've setup most of the fingers on my right hand to unlock, which makes one hand use a breeze.
2) IMHO, the camera takes great pictures. Not sure if there's RAW mode support....
3) Battery is getting better as I use the phone more, though it's still not as good as the V10. I am mostly a business user.
4) Voice quality is good on both ends of conference calls.
5) Bluetooth seems very stable for me... connecting to both my Infiniti and my BT headset for work calls.
6) Charging is relatively quick with the charger from my Moto Pure.
7) I find, as usual, that the Sony Android build is minimal compared to some others (though not as good as the AOSP Moto).

well after I got my phone back from RMA it has been working flawlessly so ye I'm more than happy Sony, then again I like the brand, still got a sony tv from 1988 and it is still working, no problems

two weeks ago I was at this wedding, where I was the only one that could take photos with my phone, all others were laggy cause of the very low light conditions including samsung and iPhones, I just pressed the shutter in superior auto and this phone didnt let me down, one after another 6 or 7 continuous shots all of'em perfectly visible and ppl starts asking me "The hell of a phone which one is it?" proudly Z5

Thanks for this thread, it is refreshing to read more positive stuff about this phone as opposed to the hoards of negativity and hate that is present in these forums.
After I initially had issues with my Sony Xperia Z5 (mainly on lollipop), currently with MM my phone is excellent. The only complaint I have is that I still am plagued by the mobile radio active bug, but I don't think it actually consumes more battery and is instead just an error reading bug that gives misleading battery information when on 3G/4G.
For me, my battery life is great and I can easily go 2 days with a full charge. No Bluetooth issues anymore. Standby time is superb. My device does not overheat at all, even with extended usage browsing web or watching YouTube it just gets warm. And finally the camera is just amazing.
Coming from a Z1 this device is the perfect size and the fact that Sony managed to make it smaller, thinner, lighter and include a larger screen size is commendable. Design wise, for me personally, the Z5 is simply beautiful. I love the feel of the matte glass back and how nice it feels in the hand, it truly is one of the best looking devices currently available.

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.
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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?
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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"
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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
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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.
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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...
---------
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

Overall love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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