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Due to extreme boredom at work I've decided to take a shot at a review. So here it is my official review of the Motorola Droid Razr.
After reading many bad reviews and going against my own initial choice of the HTC Rezound I decided to take a leap and pick up the Droid Razr. To say this phone is sharp is an understatement ( see what I did there? Sharp. Razr... Ok i'm done I swear) The phone is amazingly thin and very light weight. Some may find the phones width a little odd to hold but its something you get used to over time. One thing I found is that for a phone this thin the over all build quality is a step above the competition. The back is a soft touch piece of kevlar with a nice black and grey pattern. The screens glass is cut to look edged which adds a bit elegance to the shape. The screen is a very impressive quarter hd super amoled advanced screen made by Samsung. Colors are vibrant, contrast is amazing with blacks being jet black and not washed out like lcd screens. I find super amoled to be second to none on a mobile phone. Another note on the screen is that it is made of Gorilla glass. (check out peoples YouTube videos for scratch tests) lastly on the build of the phone is the splash resistant nano coating protecting the insides.... i'm not testing that lol. Motorola really went all out on the rebirth of the Razr. As for the software, I was worried about using a phone with Motoblur due to the fact that it used to slow down whatever phone it was on. Blur has been stripped down to a very subtle user interface that is very fast and manages to keep a considerable amount of eye candy. Like when you transition from screen to screen the widgets and icons gleam. Driving Android gingerbread version 2.3.5 (It will be getting 4.0 ice cream sandwich in early 2012) is a very fast 1.2ghz dual core processor and a full gigabyte of ram. As for storage you get 8 gigabytes of internal storage and a little under 3 gigabytes of application storage. The Razr includes a 16 gigabyte micro sd card for additional storage. Moving on to the camera, this is the other area reviewers knocked the phone. Yes in really low light it fails to take quality pictures. This is however a cell phone. Not a dslr camera. I found in adequate lighting the pictures were sharp and colors were accurate. The camera is also capable of recording full 1080p high definition. The front facing camera is a very nice 2 megapixel camera that can record or video chat in full 720p hd. I will be posting sample images to demonstrate. Another feature that seems to be coming standard on a lot of Motorola devices is a micro hdmi output which I frequently use for streaming Netflix on my hdtv. Last but not least is call quality and data connectivity. After all this is a phone first and foremost. Reception is probably the best I've ever gotten on a smart phone. I have yet to get no service or even dip to below 2 bars. This includes going inside places like Walmart. Calls come through loud and clear with almost no distortion and the speaker phone is loud and clear. As for data I get very good speeds on 3g and often don't bother using wifi which speaks a lot for the phone. To wrap up my review I have never been a fan of motorola and often had numerous issues with many models, however I can't deny they have some of the most solid phones build wise and they have redeemed themselves with the Droid Razr. If your holding onto a phone upgrade you won't regret getting the Razr. Only phone that I think will outshine it is the Galaxy Nexus. With the Rezound by HTC coming in a close second.
See the camera samples below.
Thanks for reading and look for my review of the Galaxy Nexus as soon as it gets a solid release date
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
Great review! Just made the wait for mine that much longer
Thanks i'm really enjoying the razr. I bet with ICS the phone will be a beast. I'm going to try the nexus in a Verizon store and see if I really want to exchange my razr for it.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
I read that the battery cannot be removed. Would it be an issue? Because I'd like to buy a phone which I could use for some years and I'm afraid that the battery could eventually be a problem. I'm thinking about the SgsII and the Razr (I don't know if the nexus will be available in Chile) Maybe you could help me to decide (hope you're not a fanboy, and please no offense) Thanks for the review.
The__Ripper said:
I read that the battery cannot be removed. Would it be an issue? Because I'd like to buy a phone which I could use for some years and I'm afraid that the battery could eventually be a problem. I'm thinking about the SgsII and the Razr (I don't know if the nexus will be available in Chile) Maybe you could help me to decide (hope you're not a fanboy, and please no offense) Thanks for the review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S2's screen is terrible, low resolution, color bugs,... but S2 has a wide support community and seems smoother than Razr
Anyway, I like Razr's design, launcher UI and icons
actually I have to correct you on the S2 is bad. In fact I have both phones along with thinking about the Nexus.
The SG2 LTE I find is a great phone worked flawless from the day I bought it mostly keep it on haven't turned it off in like maybe 3 days and hasn't rebooted or powered off by itself. The screen they say is crap compared to the Razr, I have compared both I find the Razr Screen has more jaggies than the SG2. In fact the Screens are both made by Samsung and both are AMOLED. Motorola boasts that their screen is SuperAdvanceAmoled. To clairfy this AdvanceAmoled was abandoned by Samsung in favour or RGB stripe Amoled on the SG2. The Razr screen is comprised of RGBG pixels meaning there is an extra green pixel to make up an element. With this arrangement Motorola claims to have a higher resolution screen but fail to tell you that the actual pixel density isn't as high because of the use of 2 subpixels to display one element. This is my understanding you have to read on this based on Samsungs report of the Pentile display matrix. RGB stripe on the SG2 has a much cripser and more focused display than the pentile displays. So even at low resolution at 800x480 with a 4.5 inch display you would hardly notice the pixels unless you like using a magnifying glass to look at your display. The Nexus uses a Pentile display but a much newer version than what is used on the Razr. This display uses the Pentile matrix but with a much higher density and pixel count so you wouldn't see much pixelization but again how close to you actually look at your display. The truth is having a higher pixel density on a screen that is under 5 inches isn't going to matter much. Until you get to the 7 inch size then you'll start to notice the pixels I mean really how small do you want the text to be on a web page on a 4.5 inch screen or for that matter 4.3? I could barely make out text on the screen unless I actually magnify it a bit but then again I don't use one to view web pages. No bad display here and very happy with this phone SG2, seriously debating Nexus. After reading all the comments here about the Nexus I think I'll stay with the SG2 until they update it to ICS or until somethinb better comes out.
Don't get me wrong I like the Razr it has tons of great features software wise and hardware. The build quality is excellent based on the many devices I have had in the past. There is the drawback of non removable battery, but the slim design does make up for that. The camera is great and the autofocus smooth along with the video. One little issue I had was it was slow to switch from 2G to 3G or 4G when available. I find when I'm on 4G with 1 bar and it has to switch to 2G it actually shuts the network off and then connects back.
I'm sure most are correctable through software but there isn't enough to make the phone not worthy of consideration.
Now that MWC showed HTC,LG...next phones for spring/summer 2012, we can say that the Xperia S is the best phone out there...why?
-Screen is not monstruous like the 4.7'' of the One X,and it has 720p resolution while One S is still qHD
-12mp! all other android phones are limited to 8mp.
-Dual core cpu 1.5, yes it's not the quad of One X but again who need 4.7''?
So in clear xperia S beats the One S in screen resolution and camera hands down.
It beats the One X in screen ppi and of course dimensions!
SGS3? well like the One X it will be huge with 4.7 or 4.8'' screen and anyway it won't be out before June!
Though WE NEED DEVS so CM9 and MIUI can make the Xperia S perfect
vegetaleb said:
Now that MWC showed HTC,LG...next phones for spring/summer 2012, we can say that the Xperia S is the best phone out there...why?
-Screen is not monstruous like the 4.7'' of the One X,and it has 720p resolution while One S is still qHD
-12mp! all other android phones are limited to 8mp.
-Dual core cpu 1.5, yes it's not the quad of One X but again who need 4.7''?
-One X has a fixed battery, any freezing and you will feel very bad!
-One X has microSIM slot like iphone 4, so you have to cut it or change it
So in clear xperia S beats the One S in screen resolution and camera hands down.
It beats the One X in screen ppi,microsim,fixed battery and of course dimensions!
SGS3? well like the One X it will be huge with 4.7 or 4.8'' screen and anyway it won't be out before June!
Though WE NEED DEVS so CM9 and MIUI can make the Xperia S perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are lots of things to love about the Xperia S (I've got one on pre-order) but you should know that the Xperia S also has a fixed battery and a micro SIM.
vegetaleb said:
Now that MWC showed HTC,LG...next phones for spring/summer 2012, we can say that the Xperia S is the best phone out there...why?
-Screen is not monstruous like the 4.7'' of the One X,and it has 720p resolution while One S is still qHD
-12mp! all other android phones are limited to 8mp.
-Dual core cpu 1.5, yes it's not the quad of One X but again who need 4.7''?
-One X has a fixed battery, any freezing and you will feel very bad!
-One X has microSIM slot like iphone 4, so you have to cut it or change it
So in clear xperia S beats the One S in screen resolution and camera hands down.
It beats the One X in screen ppi,microsim,fixed battery and of course dimensions!
SGS3? well like the One X it will be huge with 4.7 or 4.8'' screen and anyway it won't be out before June!
Though WE NEED DEVS so CM9 and MIUI can make the Xperia S perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As yardglass pointed out the Xperia S has a non-removable battery and micro sim. Also the Xperia S does not beat the HTC in screen resolution as they are both 720p also it is lighter and thinner though a bit longer and wider. And no before you say im a HTC fanboy i've got the Xperia on pre-order already, just wanted to clarify some things with you
Sorry for battery and microsim.
I was talking about pixels density, between 720p 4.3'' and 720p 4.7''
The Xperia S beats the iphone4 but the One X is beaten by the iphone4,so in terms of optimal graphics:
Xperia S > Iphone4/s > One X/Galaxy Nexus > Sensation/ One S > SGS2
vegetaleb said:
Sorry for battery and microsim.
I was talking about pixels density, between 720p 4.3'' and 720p 4.7''
The Xperia S beats the iphone4 but the One X is beaten by the iphone4,so in terms of optimal graphics:
Xperia S > Iphone4/s > One X/Galaxy Nexus > Sensation/ One S > SGS2
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Click to collapse
I believe it has the highest pixel density, yes. I really have no need for more than a dual core phone either. I don't even believe that the OS handles more than that at the moment, and I can't think of any app that would need that processor?
Xperia P :?
I'm bout to test it I have a confusion with both of them :O
I changed my order over from a Galaxy Nexus to the Xperia S. Nexus is sitting staring at me on my worktop, but it's going back tomorrow in a pre-paid bag.
The camera, faster processor and looks were enough to snap me up. However I do see that Xperia/Sony android development looks nowhere near as active as HTC/Samsung/ect.
Audioboxer said:
I changed my order over from a Galaxy Nexus to the Xperia S. Nexus is sitting staring at me on my worktop, but it's going back tomorrow in a pre-paid bag.
The camera, faster processor and looks were enough to snap me up. However I do see that Xperia/Sony android development looks nowhere near as active as HTC/Samsung/ect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it makes you feel any better, there's been a couple devs come out and say they're getting this phone (I believe DoomLord is one of them).
Audioboxer said:
I changed my order over from a Galaxy Nexus to the Xperia S. Nexus is sitting staring at me on my worktop, but it's going back tomorrow in a pre-paid bag.
The camera, faster processor and looks were enough to snap me up. However I do see that Xperia/Sony android development looks nowhere near as active as HTC/Samsung/ect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, you're on XDA too
Good choice. I think that with the Xperia S we'll be seeing a very high amount of developers. It's a very powerful device at a relatively low price, it has excellent cameras and an awesome display.
The biggest problem with the Xperia Arc and the rest of the 2011 family is that it wasn't a very powerful handset at release, it lacked RAM, internal memory and a faster processor. And the unlock tool from the Arc came a few months after the release.
The Xperia S however will be unlockable right away, we'll have a great set of resources to base ourselves on, and it has really good specs. And it's generating tons and tons of buzz around the internet.
I really did like the 2011 line of SE Xperias.
But I'm a bit apprehensive about the 2012 series because of the few qualms, as I see:
Non-removable battery
Non-expandable storage
Micro-SIM
Last-generation hardware specifications
The support for the phones being from Sony henceforth (whose track record for having a strict lock down policy on their devices is quite well known).
I'll wait and see what Samsung has up their sleeve with the S2 successor and if that's disaapointing, I'll go for the Xperia S (or Ion, if they do plan for an international release).
Sony Mobile, is not Sony. Sony Mobile still is the same set of people it always was, nothing will change. They're very committed to delivering all updates quite fast, you really shouldn't worry about that.
Micro-SIM: It'll be the standard for 2012.
Non-expandable storage: Isn't 32GB already a huge amount? I've always been fine with 8GB on my phone and 16GB on my standalone Walkman.
Non-removable battery can't be a problem either if there is a hard reset key combo. It's not been a problem for the iPhone or Nokia Lumia 800/N9 either.
I like this phone, but no LTE for AT&T bands and the CPU are a bit of a let down.
The 720P IPS 4.3in screen seems very nice and I would likey trade my oled+ 480p screen for the screen it has.
P.S I hope all buying like there new phone.
Ambroos said:
Sony Mobile, is not Sony. Sony Mobile still is the same set of people it always was, nothing will change. They're very committed to delivering all updates quite fast, you really shouldn't worry about that.
Micro-SIM: It'll be the standard for 2012.
Non-expandable storage: Isn't 32GB already a huge amount? I've always been fine with 8GB on my phone and 16GB on my standalone Walkman.
Non-removable battery can't be a problem either if there is a hard reset key combo. It's not been a problem for the iPhone or Nokia Lumia 800/N9 either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a relief to hear that Sony isn't helming the mobile development division. I was afraid that there might be lock-downs and restrictions enforced (akin to locked bootloaders, hence, inability to flash custom ROMs) seeing as what they do to their PSP and PS3 product ranges. But I suspect Sony might somehow wiggle in their proprietary standards like they always love to (ATRAC3Plus, MemoryStick, PSVita Memory Card, etcetera).
Furthermore, I sure do hope Micro-SIMs become the standard as I do a travel a lot and I'd hate to cut my SIM cards to size.
And about the non-expandable storage, it isn't about the storage space per se, but it is more related to how I can swap an SD card with the data I need rather than copying it to the phone via a PC (thus making PC a requirement). However, if the storage space happens to be full I'd have to delete some data, and picking what to delete might be a tough choice, especially with no PC nearby to make a backup. I think this might become more evident when everyone tries recording videos for extended time in 1080p on their Xperia S which takes up more space.
I believe non-removable batteries are alright in the short run, but in the long run, there might be the necessity for the use of higher capacity batteries or backup travel batteries. Plus, if the battery decided to fizzle out, I couldn't possibly swap out the battery to fit in a new one without handing it in for service, which I believe is the iPhone user's bane.
Cheers, mate.
Only thing that irks me is non-removable battery, but hey, it's a worry not something I actually need. Never had an issue with my iPhone 3 battery, never replaced my HTC Desire battery (only ever pulled it for rebooting).
The ability to fast charge the battery to 80% in 30 mins may or may not have something to do with this, unlikely, but even if not it's a nice feature.
only thing that irks me is the usb/hdmi on opposite sides with those crappy plastic covers. if only the S was a bit more like the P we would have powered docks and car mounts... that was my biggest let down... seeing the P design makes me wish they thought the S through a bit more.
I am quietly waiting for reviews!!
Screen quality (viewing angles,colors,sunlight...), speaker volume, quality feeling...
Large battery - check
720p screen - check
Stylish and elegant design - check
made by Sony - check
Yep this is the best Android phone for Spring 2012 imo.
The best review / comparisons I've found are on PhoneArena. I'm being offered the Experia S as an upgrade for my existing contract, but unsure whether to wait for the One X or the Galaxy S3.
But again, as they're all essentially governed by the chipset/software, so does it boil down to which one you like the look of and what goodies they have on board?
Never easy, is it?
Non-removable battery
Non-removable battery is very bad. If the phone stucks, how to shut down?
Should we wait a long time till to battery reach 0%?
StellMonkey said:
Non-removable battery is very bad. If the phone stucks, how to shut down?
Should we wait a long time till to battery reach 0%?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10-second press (or a combo, not sure anymore) will force-reboot the phone, it's hardcoded.
I know, there are a lot of threads about that and I read them! They are all outdated, they were written when razr had GB and nexus was on ICS.
What about now? RAZR has ICS and Nexus has JB.
I may have the opportunity to sell my RAZR (it has scratches, I hate my dog -.-" ) for 300€ and buy a new Nexus for the same price.
Do you think this is a good idea?
I'd say yes. The nexus screen looks much crisper and better, especially white text and things like that. Also for me the big selling point of the razr was the 8mp camera, but I find the Nexus takes better pics, mostly because I find the razr to have dull colors in the pics
Thanks! Someone else?
Depends on what matters to you…
The razr is a great phone, best radio, best sound quality, bright display, nearly indestructible and completely reliable. Sports a nice set of helpful extra functionality. Display is lower resolution and pentile, thus not as crisp as the nexus, still consider it much better (see below).
The nexus has the latest android version, and is open to custom roms. The display is higher resolution, but very dim, awful at low brightness (smudgy), and colours are completely off (yellow tint and gamma is a mess). The latter can be corrected to some degree with custom kernels. No SD card and only mtp. Battery life is short, but can be remedied by swapping batteries. Build quality is ok, but nowhere compared to the razr.
To put it simple, for me the razr is a great tool, the nexus a fun toy.
Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk 2
Actually just received a Galaxy Nexus myself yesterday, and thus far, I pretty much agree with both of the above posts. Build quality-wise, the RAZR feels more solid, obviously much slimmer in the hand, and is lighter than the Nexus without feeling cheap. However I am surprised by the Nexus' build quality, it's not anywhere near as plasticky feeling as some previous Samsung phone's I've felt...there's no hollow creakiness to it when you hold it and it feels hefty. The only disappointment comes when you pry off the battery cover...it's one incredibly cheap cover.
The RAZR has considerably better sound quality, the speaker is much louder...in fact I believe the RAZR has one of the loudest loudspeakers period out of any phone out there. The Nexus on the other hand is much, much quieter...I'd say too quiet for the most part. I use speakerphone mode a lot for calls so this matters to me and is almost a deal breaker on the Nexus.
The Nexus does have a sharper screen, but I find the RAZR's screen gives more of that eye popping and color saturated AMOLED look, which you either love or hate. I find both screens are horrible at rendering white, and both look very yellowish if you use Auto-brightness. I thought the Nexus' 720 display sharpness would be night and day different to my eyes, but it's really not in day to day usage. More and more though I'm starting to realize I don't much care for AMOLED screens and would probably want a regular LCD for my next phone, the whites bother me quite a bit and I do get bothered by the heavy blue or green tint they pick up as you view the screen at off angles.
I haven't taken pics yet with the Nexus, but just from what I saw in the camera app, the camera seems to be much better at auto-focusing. I find the RAZR's focusing to be difficult to work with, and the picture quality is not that great.
Jelly Bean is indeed more fluid and smooth, but you'll still run into the occasional stutter here and there. More annoyingly is I'm already running into apps that won't work right on it. So expect to go through your usual headache period of apps not working, until developers catch up to updating their apps for Jelly Bean.
On the development front, there's a tremendous difference, the Nexus is indeed a developer's phone and it shows in its developer forum. I'm amazed at just how comprehensive the Nexus toolkit is that lets you bust open the phone effortlessly compared to any other phone...totally an all in one stop for rooting, bootloader unlocking, custom recovery, etc. The amount of available ROMs is also insane and make's the RAZR's totally a laughable joke in this regard.
In the end I'd agree with the sentiment that the RAZR makes a better day to day phone, while the Nexus makes for a better side toy to mess around with and install new stuff on.
Hey guys. Sorry for the hijack. This is really interesting as I am thinking of a gnex myself. Or a sgs3 if i can afford it.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium
I've reconsidered! I'll keep my razr. It's a great phone after all and jelly bean is not enough to justify the change. Thanks to all of you!
I'm trying to decide if price is playing a huge factor between these two phones. I will also do another post in the Verizon Note 2 forum and see if adding a sd card slot and removable battery to the DNA would get people to change their minds.
I much prefer HTC over Samsung. IMHO, everything from the radios to build quality is better. Having said that, if I hadn't liked what HTC came out with this fall, I would have bought a GS3.
For me it comes down to storage, the Droid DNA only has a 16gb model and no Micro SD, it writes the device off no matter how good it is.
If it had a Micro SD slot at least then both devices are pretty much equal and it all comes down to which one you like the look of and if an extra 0.5 inch matters to you in a screen. Tbh nothing makes the GN2 stutter so I don't care about specs at this point, though the Droid DNA is more powerful on paper. Cameras are about the same, speakers are the same, mics are the same. I personally prefer TouchWiz, Samsung add so many good features standard Android doesn't have and I feel like everyone is playing catch up to Samsung. I mean the Pen has great features like being able to pull it out mid call and write a phone number down, which is a feature I've always wanted, it makes it so seamless. I love the Picture in Picture TouchWiz has and I love the multiple Windows you can have open in the GN2.
You ain't gonna complain with either device tbh...
GN2 has a removable battery, 0.5 inch extra screen size, pen, large storage + Micro SD
Droid DNA has the latest specs but only 16GB and no Micro SD
Really when it comes to screen quality, you wont complain with either, I don't buy into the PPI hype, you don't notice any difference above 250PPI when held from a normal distance.
I would go for note 2 because of the battery... DNA lasts for just 5 hrs
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda premium
I would still get the DNA: Not a fan of SAmoled screens, Note II would be too large, love HTCs phones and Sense.
yajur1995 said:
I would go for note 2 because of the battery... DNA lasts for just 5 hrs
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not completely true. It depends on usage.
Playing 5 hours straight or 1080p video will definitely kill the battery. But then again that's 5 hours of 1080p video, can't complain there.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
I vote Note 2.
The S-pen on the Note 2 is incredibly useful compared to the Note 1.
The Note 2 has true multi-window multitasking, you can watch a video, open up the browser and surf the web while looking at photos in the gallery. All on the same screen. It's actually quite awesome the first time you use it.
Note 2 has flash support in the browser.
The battery life on he Note 2 is hailed as probably the best in the business, lasts about twice as long as the DNA on a single charge.
removable battery is a plus on the Note 2 also.
expandable storage is another great feature of the Note 2. Slap in a 64GB card and you got 80GB of combined storage.
The screen on the Note 2 is quite beautiful, it is non-pentile so it is extra sharp and clear. Honestly I don't think you will be able to tell much difference between the two screens when using it day to day. Like someone said, it's hard to tell after 250ppi.
The Note 2's resolution should be much more compatible with more apps and games in the playstore. The 1080p on the DNA already has issues running many apps and games according to a few reviewers.
The DNA has a bettery cpu/gpu combo but it's pushing a lot more pixels, so I think that any performance advantage is cancelled out.
So it seems like the Note 2 is the much better device.
Everything is awesome about DNA except the battery. I'm a hardcore user i play lots of games. I don't understand HTC.. they didn't learn anything from One X. On the other hand Note 2 is very good but i don't like the Exynos cpu and 267 ppi pixel density is too low. So folks please help me what to choose. I'm driving myself insane.
This is the way I see it. Both phones doing extremely well on benchmarks so I wont comment about speed.
Note II Pros:
- Spen
- Multiwindow
- Battery life + removable
- MicroSD
- Bigger screen
- Available on all carriers
Note II Cons:
- too big, not comfy to hold
- looks ridiculous when held up for phone calls
- slippery plastic build quality
- amoled screen
- cell radio
DNA Pros:
- build quality
- excellent size, same width as SGS3 so its easy to hold
- 1080p screen + SLCD3
- wide angle front camera (pics with wife + video chat, very useful to me)
- best camera software
- waterproof rating is good (i've dropped 2 phones in the water)
DNA Cons:
- no microsd
- 16gb internal storage
- sense + verizon bloat (can both be fixed by roms and disabling)
- Verizon exclusive, works on some other GSM but no HSPA+ afaik
- battery not removable
For me personally I choose DNA. I've decided that the 16gb will do just fine for me since my current phone only has 8gb and is barely full. The rest of the Cons don't bother me at all as everything software side can be customized or fixed through roms. The battery is more than sufficient, especially if its better than SGS3 battery which most reviews seem to be saying.
The Note II is a great phone but the build quality, size, slippery feel and cell radio are things that cannot be changed. I sure as hell would not add a case to make it even bigger. I also would feel like an idiot holding that thing up to my face. Just my opinion though, I'm sure its a great phone for the right person, Lebron James.
Well its difficult to compare a phone and a phablet. Since DNA is almost the same size as S3 it would be like comparing S3 with Note 2.
That said. I dont know but everyone misses out on the Beats functionality in DNA. I have tried One X in ATT with beats headphones and my Nexus with beats head phones and for me the difference was huge.
DNA all the way for me. I've always been a fan of HTC, mainly because of their higher build quality and better radios. In this case, the screen is also better than the Note II, and for me that's among the most important pieces of the puzzle, since that's what you look at and poke with your fingers.
Guys you might want to see this: http://www.starkinsider.com/2012/11/oh-no-htc-droid-dna-battery-lasts-only-425-hours-in-test.html
Vadrieldur said:
Guys you might want to see this: http://www.starkinsider.com/2012/11/oh-no-htc-droid-dna-battery-lasts-only-425-hours-in-test.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is nothing new, he was going off the info from The Verge's review. Doing that same test the SGS3 got around 20min LESS than the DNA.
pottersam said:
This is the way I see it. Both phones doing extremely well on benchmarks so I wont comment about speed.
Note II Pros:
- Spen
- Multiwindow
- Battery life + removable
- MicroSD
- Bigger screen
- Available on all carriers
Note II Cons:
- too big, not comfy to hold
- looks ridiculous when held up for phone calls
- slippery plastic build quality
- amoled screen
- cell radio
DNA Pros:
- build quality
- excellent size, same width as SGS3 so its easy to hold
- 1080p screen + SLCD3
- wide angle front camera (pics with wife + video chat, very useful to me)
- best camera software
- waterproof rating is good (i've dropped 2 phones in the water)
DNA Cons:
- no microsd
- 16gb internal storage
- sense + verizon bloat (can both be fixed by roms and disabling)
- Verizon exclusive, works on some other GSM but no HSPA+ afaik
- battery not removable
For me personally I choose DNA. I've decided that the 16gb will do just fine for me since my current phone only has 8gb and is barely full. The rest of the Cons don't bother me at all as everything software side can be customized or fixed through roms. The battery is more than sufficient, especially if its better than SGS3 battery which most reviews seem to be saying.
The Note II is a great phone but the build quality, size, slippery feel and cell radio are things that cannot be changed. I sure as hell would not add a case to make it even bigger. I also would feel like an idiot holding that thing up to my face. Just my opinion though, I'm sure its a great phone for the right person, Lebron James.
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Click to collapse
I have to agree with you HTC's phones all have amazing build quality and that is a major factor for me when buying a phone, unfortunately I hate sense. The S-pen and multiwindow is what does it for me, as for screens I can't really say until I can test both of them, I honestly can't tell the difference between a retina display and my Droid Incredible's Amoled screen (unless I hold it within an uncomfortable range of my eyes).
pottersam said:
That is nothing new, he was going off the info from The Verge's review. Doing that same test the SGS3 got around 20min LESS than the DNA.
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That's a relief.. I'm sticking with DNA then.
pottersam said:
This is the way I see it. Both phones doing extremely well on benchmarks so I wont comment about speed.
Note II Pros:
- Spen
- Multiwindow
- Battery life + removable
- MicroSD
- Bigger screen
- Available on all carriers
Note II Cons:
- too big, not comfy to hold
- looks ridiculous when held up for phone calls
- slippery plastic build quality
- amoled screen
- cell radio
DNA Pros:
- build quality
- excellent size, same width as SGS3 so its easy to hold
- 1080p screen + SLCD3
- wide angle front camera (pics with wife + video chat, very useful to me)
- best camera software
- waterproof rating is good (i've dropped 2 phones in the water)
DNA Cons:
- no microsd
- 16gb internal storage
- sense + verizon bloat (can both be fixed by roms and disabling)
- Verizon exclusive, works on some other GSM but no HSPA+ afaik
- battery not removable
For me personally I choose DNA. I've decided that the 16gb will do just fine for me since my current phone only has 8gb and is barely full. The rest of the Cons don't bother me at all as everything software side can be customized or fixed through roms. The battery is more than sufficient, especially if its better than SGS3 battery which most reviews seem to be saying.
The Note II is a great phone but the build quality, size, slippery feel and cell radio are things that cannot be changed. I sure as hell would not add a case to make it even bigger. I also would feel like an idiot holding that thing up to my face. Just my opinion though, I'm sure its a great phone for the right person, Lebron James.
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Click to collapse
Just how many of you who really used note 2? Many of the cons you listed are not valid.
Note II Cons:[/B]
- too big, not comfy to hold : now this is subjective call. But I rarely see note 2 user who complaint about the phone being too big after using it for a couple if days. Testing the phone on the store won't do it justice, unless you really hate big phone.
- looks ridiculous when held up for phone calls : since I used note 1 last year, there is only a few people who told me how big my phone is. Of course it will be different on each neighbourhood. But big phones are common nowadays. You won't be looked ridiculous when you use note 2 for phone calls. Using 7 inches tablet however is a different story
- slippery plastic build quality : I very much agree on this. But for me personally, I'd take removable battery and micro sd over superior build quality any day of the week
- amoled screen : past amoled screens have burn ins and black crush. not with note 2. Check the poll results in note 2 thread.
- cell radio : no comment on this. I don't have this problem
That said, I never used DNA yet. So I might change my mind when i get my hands in it.
Judging from the reviews, it looks to me that DNA is One X with superior speeds.
I got a Note 2 because Samsung's software advancements. Plus I sold my tablet, the multi tasking caught my eye. I hwen't used a Samsung phone since the first Epic. Touchwiz is smooth for once compared to sense.
I upgraded from a HTC One S, even-though Sense is elegant it does not have as many productive settings to make your life easier like the S 3 or Note 2 I Find myself doing less steps to complete simple task than I did with my One S. Like making a phone call. Zooming in and out with motion. Sure I look like a fool moving my phone around in the air but it is simple.
The AMOLED burn-in issue is what worries me the most about this phone.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Note 2 is a great phone and I have nothing against it, had it been 5 inches and same dimensions as dna I would hands down get it. It is just simply too big for my hands I have held one and I wanted to put it down right away.
Now people talking about htc sense, sense has come a long was from being a system hog, it is no longer the same sense it used to be and much more efficient.
Although HTC has absolutely failed when it comes to multitasking, I mean can we please have some features similar to samsung or even LG, seems like HTC has settled in on sense and focused more on hardware design totally forgot about innovation on software side. I hope they are working on improving their multitasking.
It seems like HTC is learning a lesson when it comes to updating sense. They used to never update the sense version on the older phones and you used to have to get new htc phones to get improvements of sense interface, but it seems that they have learned a lesson and all the one series are being updated to sense 4+, its about time they learned from samsung that you cant just update the OS version and leave the new sense version out because that really doesn't count towards a great user experience.
azhurvadal said:
Just how many of you who really used note 2? Many of the cons you listed are not valid.
Note II Cons:[/B]
- too big, not comfy to hold : now this is subjective call. But I rarely see note 2 user who complaint about the phone being too big after using it for a couple if days. Testing the phone on the store won't do it justice, unless you really hate big phone.
- looks ridiculous when held up for phone calls : since I used note 1 last year, there is only a few people who told me how big my phone is. Of course it will be different on each neighbourhood. But big phones are common nowadays. You won't be looked ridiculous when you use note 2 for phone calls. Using 7 inches tablet however is a different story
- slippery plastic build quality : I very much agree on this. But for me personally, I'd take removable battery and micro sd over superior build quality any day of the week
- amoled screen : past amoled screens have burn ins and black crush. not with note 2. Check the poll results in note 2 thread.
- cell radio : no comment on this. I don't have this problem
That said, I never used DNA yet. So I might change my mind when i get my hands in it.
Judging from the reviews, it looks to me that DNA is One X with superior speeds.
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Click to collapse
Yep, like I said in my post, It's all my personal opinion. I could get used to using a Note II for calls just like I can get used to using a Nexus 7 for calls, but it doesn't necessarily mean I want to. In my experience with using a Note II I could feel my hand straining a bit while I griped it, while the S3, One X and GNex felt nice. I would say I have average size hands, 6ft tall and can 1-hand grip a basketball.
I don't mean to sound offensive, but a phone nearly the size of a tablet does look a little interesting during calls. Here's a few examples:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
But again, just my opinion, maybe its because I'm in california where most people have iphones.
And regarding the amoled screen, as a photographer my main beef with it is color accuracy. If I didn't care as much about using the phone as a mobile portfolio, it wouldnt matter as much. I'm sure the colors could be tweaked, but afaik SLCD3 > Amoled
They're 2 completely different devices.
I don't know why people insist on comparing the DNA to the Note. The DNA is the phone, its not even 5mm taller than the S3. Compare it to that. Compare it to the Optimus G, the Nexus 4, etc.
Just cause it hit some magical 5in screen size its now a direct competitor to the Note? If the DNA were 4.9in would these threads even exist? When Samsung starts with their 5in phones will people be comparing the S4 to the Note? I'm guessing not, since by then it'll be common place.
The DNA is a phone, not a 'phablet', there is no direct competition to the Note at this moment, besides that LG thing.. Which isn't much competition.
I read a lot of reviews and opinions here about the Z5C that are from people that were or still are using a Sony device. The Z5C is usually compared in terms of the Z3C or even the Z1C. Those comparisons are good if you own those devices, but I have no prior contact with Sony. My current device is a Moto G (1st Gen).
So I'd like to know what people who had no prior contact, or at least not in the past years, with Sony say about the phone. How does it feel and how much "crap" is on a Sony phone compared to a Nexus or Motorola phone? How good/bad are the Sony-Apps ? What "oddities" do Sony phones have?
Thanks for your opinions.
I came from a Moto G (2nd Gen) to the Z5C which is my first Sony phone. So a similar path to what you are considering. It comes with way more "crap" on in than the Motorola did. Where my Moto G (2nd Gen) might have had 5 Motorola utilities, the Z5C has maybe 30. Many of them are app/tools that seemingly connect you into the Sony Sphere. PlayStation stuff, Dinosaur images pop up in the camera you can stamp on your photos and super cheesy Japanese schoolgirl emoticons for your text input.
If you like the clean native Google apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Photos messaging and so on you will find yourself having to disable the Sony versions.
One oddity my Z3C has is that is is fussy about which micro USB cable will charge it. So if like me you have a collection of micro USB cables and chargers from previous phone they may not all work. I guess this may be due to tighter tolerances required water proofing the charge port. Not a biggy but worth knowing.
I find the Xperia Keyboard gesture input (aka Swype input) to be a PITA. Miss rate is too high and deleting errors is tedious. Shame becuase it works very well on other phones.
Small size is great. Can easily slip it in a front trouser pocket.
BUT I have yet to feel "vibrate on for calls" when it is my pocket. When someone does call when Z5C in pocket when I am doing somehting noisey like mowing a lawn, I dont feel the vinration alert, it seemingly wakes the phone and thereafter movement leads to random screen presses. So when I eventually retrieve it form my pocket an hour later the screen is still on and it is in some weird screen such as the camera or emerg dialer. Perhpas I am missing something here though. Oh and definitely don't buy it for the camera if you are expecting a point and shoot with a high % of great shots.
That's my thoughts.
Coming from a nexus 5, I love this phone! Never charge it from the mains only from my car every day(1 hour commute each way) and it keeps going strong! Pretty quick and feels good.
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
Coming from Samsung S3
This Z5 is very bad...unstable sw, no optimization, really slow...bleah! I think i will never buy again a sony device. Oh...customer care is bad too.
Camera is slow and poor quality, GPS is very inaccurate, BT disconnet and reconnect every 15 secs (i think the problem is trhow but i can't disable it...)
So...i'm not a satisfied user..
Thank you all for your replies.
logger said:
I came from a Moto G (2nd Gen) to the Z5C which is my first Sony phone. So a similar path to what you are considering. It comes with way more "crap" on in than the Motorola did. Where my Moto G (2nd Gen) might have had 5 Motorola utilities, the Z5C has maybe 30. Many of them are app/tools that seemingly connect you into the Sony Sphere. PlayStation stuff, Dinosaur images pop up in the camera you can stamp on your photos and super cheesy Japanese schoolgirl emoticons for your text input.
If you like the clean native Google apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Photos messaging and so on you will find yourself having to disable the Sony versions.
One oddity my Z3C has is that is is fussy about which micro USB cable will charge it. So if like me you have a collection of micro USB cables and chargers from previous phone they may not all work. I guess this may be due to tighter tolerances required water proofing the charge port. Not a biggy but worth knowing.
I find the Xperia Keyboard gesture input (aka Swype input) to be a PITA. Miss rate is too high and deleting errors is tedious. Shame becuase it works very well on other phones.
Small size is great. Can easily slip it in a front trouser pocket.
BUT I have yet to feel "vibrate on for calls" when it is my pocket. When someone does call when Z5C in pocket when I am doing somehting noisey like mowing a lawn, I dont feel the vinration alert, it seemingly wakes the phone and thereafter movement leads to random screen presses. So when I eventually retrieve it form my pocket an hour later the screen is still on and it is in some weird screen such as the camera or emerg dialer. Perhpas I am missing something here though. Oh and definitely don't buy it for the camera if you are expecting a point and shoot with a high % of great shots.
That's my thoughts.
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I actually never use the original cables since I have set up a "charging station". Which cables does the Z5C not accept? Is there a pattern?
And I'm not buying this for the camera, I have a DSLR for that
Tuonorosso said:
Coming from Samsung S3
This Z5 is very bad...unstable sw, no optimization, really slow...bleah! I think i will never buy again a sony device. Oh...customer care is bad too.
Camera is slow and poor quality, GPS is very inaccurate, BT disconnet and reconnect every 15 secs (i think the problem is trhow but i can't disable it...)
So...i'm not a satisfied user..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the newest firmware ? AFAIK a few things should have been fixed with the latest update. What experience do you have with the customer care ?
ricostuart said:
Coming from a nexus 5, I love this phone! Never charge it from the mains only from my car every day(1 hour commute each way) and it keeps going strong! Pretty quick and feels good.
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
How was the Z5C in terms of "snappiness" compared to the Nexus ?
nazgoul said:
Do you have the newest firmware ? AFAIK a few things should have been fixed with the latest update. What experience do you have with the customer care ?
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Click to collapse
Yes, last fw: 32.0.A.6.152
Customer care have reset the phone 4 times. Each trial did not resolve the problem. In the end they told me to bring it to service but they had no idea of the repair time and they not given me any temporary phone.
My phone has only one month and i need it for work...i can't stay weeks without it. For a 600$ phone i think this is unacceptable.
At this time i have the same initial problems...
I hope in Marshmallow ...
Coming from Moto G first Gen (falcon)
Coming from Moto G 1st Gen. This is my first Sony Phone.
I am loving the Z5C.
Few things to note that that will give you an idea between the two phones
1. The flash on the moto g is noticeably brighter and warmer. Idc about cameras, but I find I use the flashlight a lot
2. The chip on the Z5C does feel much faster. Not sure how to describe it other than the UI on the Z5C being more "fluid"
3. The chip on the Z5C does get noticeably warm (but not hot) on the back under certain loads. E.g. running long sessions of RDP or installing lots of apps in quick succession or recording 4K video. Under normal use like browsing the web or watching youtube it does not get warm.
4. The camera is way better than the Moto G
5. The hardware feels really solid. It feels dense. I like it
6. The battery life is significantly better. At my usage, the Moto G will die at about 8pm or 9pm (taking off the charge at 7am). I have yet to kill the Z5C in a single day in my normal use
(my normal use usually has a few hours of music, and at least 4 hours of screen time)
7. The stereo speakers are much nicer, but the stereo effect is small, and they aren't not as loud as the moto g's single speaker
8. The max brightness of the Z5C's screen is about the same as the one on the Moto G. The min brightness is on the Z5C is lower though.
9 The physical dimensions of the Z5C is smaller in width and height. The Z5C does feel thicker because of its more boxy shape though
In terms of bloatware, there is quite a bit. I have a lot of apps disabled from settings or hidden (I use Apex)
There are some features that sony added that are nice though.
1. Built in screen recording
2. "Small Apps" - a bit like floating widgets
3. Nice audio optimizations that make my music experience nicer
4. Being able to customize the quick settings in the notification center
5. Battery percentage in the status bar (this is important to me )
6. The screen colours can be calibrated to your liking
Other things to consider
- The fingerprint sensor is pretty bad, but that could be just my fingers.
- The phone is really slippery compared to the Moto G. A case is highly recommended.
- Stamina mode - I havent tested if this has a positive effect on battery life, but i'm letting the placebo effect take place
- The microsd slot is nice for future proofing, although given that I had a 8GB moto g, and the Z5C comes with 32GB, Im not going to need a microsd in the near future.
- Water proofing
- Of the 32GB, about 10GB is taken up by the android system, and thus we cannot use for our own stuff
- I found the volume button placement on the Z5C wierd until I got used to it in less than a week. Unless you actively need access to it all the time, its not annoying
- I find that everything on screen is too large for my liking, so I have my DPI set to 280, the same as what I had on my Moto G
In response to some of the things said above:
- Bluetooth works fine for me. It has never lost connection to my Microsoft Band when I needed them to be connected
- I've used my Z5C with 3 different usb cables, none of them have a problem.
- Camera does launch slow if Photo Analyser Service is not disabled. The camera launches quite fast now (but admittedly not as fast as say an iPhone 6s)
- The GPS locks quicker than the Moto G, and has yet to be inaccurate for me.
I am really looking forward to Marshmallow
I hope that answers your questions. Sorry for long response lol
I have both nexus 6p and z5 compact. Previously had nexus 6.
I went for the z5c as it had wifi calling, and is a pretty small but powerful phone.
Notables, z5c is under-clocked, could be because heat dissipation on small device yielded unsatisfactory result, could be another one of those battery optimisation things.
It also seems to be on a conservative or power save profile, making it slow to start, but if you launch a game it gets into gear.
It was stuttering even with the OTAs of which i had received two, just a few days ago, even with factory resets it did not go away.
I used the sony PC companion to do a full firmware flash, not an incremental OTA and it became pretty smooth and slick to use again with all 0.5 speed animations and about 20 apps installed. I also disabled all of the original media apps and extra Sony stuff and use my own, poweramp and mxplayer is all i really need.
Pretty good experience to use now. Too bad about it using some sort of powersave profile even with stamina disabled. Good thing i have an nexus 6p to play with too.
you5urf said:
I used the sony PC companion to do a full firmware flash, not an incremental OTA and it became pretty smooth and slick to use again with all 0.5 speed animations and about 20 apps installed. I also disabled all of the original media apps and extra Sony stuff and use my own, poweramp and mxplayer is all i really need.
Pretty good experience to use now. Too bad about it using some sort of powersave profile even with stamina disabled. Good thing i have an nexus 6p to play with too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know how to disable throw?
Coming from the N5:
Disadvantages:
- Much less free RAM (N5X also has this issue, I think it's related to Android 64 bits).
- Much lower photo quality
Advantages:
- 200% or much more battery life.
- overall quality
- vídeo quality
Sent from my E5823
I am coming from the HTC One M7 which can be considered an old phone now I guess.
Good:
-Battery life finally gets me over the day and sometimes into the second.
-Better camera, but by far not great.
-Better display brightness
Bad:
-Sonys Android design looks like a toy. It lacks the beautiful HTC Sense look and features.
-Even with the latest firmware and fresh format its doesnt feel any fast than the old HTC One. Sense had a nicer flow overall.
-In general, switching between apps is not faster, once in the app, the processor surely shows its power. Antutu gave me 31k on HTC One and 62k on Z5C, so technically twice as fast.
-Having the phone in the front pockets of your jeans just looks stupid with the hard edges. The HTC one with its beautiful round design was basically invisible in your pocket.
The HTC One was far from perfect and had its issues, but my heart is still with that phone and I dont beleive I am gonna buy another Sony phone. I wanted a small powerful phone, but its not easy to like this phone I am afraid.
eivissa said:
I am coming from the HTC One M7 which can be considered an old phone now I guess.
Good:
-Battery life finally gets me over the day and sometimes into the second.
-Better camera, but by far not great.
-Better display brightness
Bad:
-Sonys Android design looks like a toy. It lacks the beautiful HTC Sense look and features.
-Even with the latest firmware and fresh format its doesnt feel any fast than the old HTC One. Sense had a nicer flow overall.
-In general, switching between apps is not faster, once in the app, the processor surely shows its power. Antutu gave me 31k on HTC One and 62k on Z5C, so technically twice as fast.
-Having the phone in the front pockets of your jeans just looks stupid with the hard edges. The HTC one with its beautiful round design was basically invisible in your pocket.
The HTC One was far from perfect and had its issues, but my heart is still with that phone and I dont beleive I am gonna buy another Sony phone. I wanted a small powerful phone, but its not easy to like this phone I am afraid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also coming from a HTC ONE M7 and I'm feeling exactly as you. I have had the phone for 5 days now and I'm seriously considering to sell it and keep using my M7 since I'm seeing the same things than you see.
I have great expectations for this phone but now that I have it, I'm a little bit disappointed...I don't know if it's cause I'm so use to my old phone or cause my old phone is sooo good that I don't see anything new or improved on the z5c...maybe expect for the waterproofing things.
I'll give it another week to see If I can fall in love with it...maybe when the custom roms start showing up I'll start to see the advantages of changing.
I've been used some HTC and got a Z1c and S6. Guys plz give sometime to this phone, my S6 also took a couple of months to improve before got satisfy result. I believe Android 6.0 will give a new life to this phone.
I've only experienced Apple's devices so I came over from an iPhone 3G, iPhone 4S and then an iPhone 6S. I absolutely LOVE this sucker. And I must have gotten very lucky because I haven't seen any of the issues that others have.
Pros:
1. Fascinated by the Android OS. There's just so much you can do with it! So much more freeing than Apple's IOS. They both have a few positive and negative quirks, but I'm not really missing IOS that much. I did miss the Safari left/right swipe browser initially, but found out about the Rbrowser app with built in ad-block and the swipe feature, and couldn't be happier.
2. The device is quick. Compared to my iPhone devices haven't experienced nearly as much lag even under load.
3. I love the camera and video. Takes far better pictures and video than any camera I've ever used before, and with the latest update, the menu selection is so easy to use. I think the side button to open the camera app is a genius. I also never experienced the blur issue that a lot of others complained about.
4. The size and look of the device totally compliments me. I find modern phones like the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6S way too big and clunky. This device is exactly the right size. Slightly larger than my old 4S, but still comfortable to hold, and type one handed with. I also absolutely love the sharp right angles on the phone. I dig the thickness of the Compact, and I love the bright punky yellow of the case color I selected.
5. The fingerprint scanner is so fun to use. I had one on the 6S that worked maybe slightly better, but that's only because there was more surface area to press, but still having a fingerprint reader makes me feel like a spy a bit.
6. I haven't had any issues with the heat of the phone. It gets warm, but after a month of use, I've never experienced it getting warmer than the 4S or the 6S even while playing graphic intensive games, using the GPS, or recording video. It never gets warm while browsing websites, or doing day to day smartphone things.
7. The device did have a little bit of bloatware, but then, so did Apple's devices. Removing/disabling the bloat was easy to do.
8. So far no unexpected surprises. The alarm works. the phone rings and vibrates as it ought. The apps all open fine. I get all my expected alerts and then some. Messaging works fine. The screen is bright and easy to read and watch. I love the little FM radio app (though I don't use it too much). Haven't had any issues with the GPS. Everything does what it's supposed to do.
Negatives:
1. Coming from devices with only one bottom speaker, I thought that having two front facing stereo speakers would make this device monster loud....it isn't. In fact, it's slightly quieter than the 6S (though louder than the 4S). That said, I do love the stereo effect, and I think having so many audio controls is awesome. I just wish the device was a bit louder. Hopefully when the device becomes rootable I can find a fix for that.
2. The boot up time on this device is pretty slow. From powered off, the 6S starts up in a matter of a couple seconds. It takes like half a minute or longer for the Z5 to start up. Course, this isn't much of an issue most of the time since the device doesn't usually need to be powered off or restarted.
3. The iPhone 6S 3D touch is pretty amazing, and I can see them doing some cool things with it over time. There was nothing about it that was super amazing while I had it. No apps to really take too much of an advantage of it yet, but I can see that it'll be awesome to have some time down the road.
4. The voicemail was a bit odd to set up. I'm used to Apple's easy voicemail integration that just works out of the box. For this device I had to download and setup a "visual voicemail" system that I'm not used to, and that I found a bit annoying.
My first Android phone was a Sony xperia mini. Was worse than Motorola Milestone (gsm droid) that replaced it. I since moved onto Samsung original Galaxy S and then Galaxy Nexus. Then the original Moto X dev edition which is the same size as this Z5C. I love the form factor. Ever since the Nexus 6 which I have one of those, Moto is obsessed with phone size. The Nexus 6 was named Shamu for a reason. I am hoping the just under 5" phones are not s dying breed because this device is the perfect size for me. I also like the subtle tweaks Sony does with their ROM compared to vanilla stock. Its also a fast device and I like the build quality compared to the Samsung devices I have owned. Those are my thoughts anyway.