Xperia S Review Thread - Sony Xperia P, U, Sola, Go

Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons

Well I've had mine for only a few days now so I don't think I can rate the battery for now.
Battery Life - ?
Speed - 4
Performance - 4
Build Quality 4
Overall 4.5
PROS -
Great camera in daylight conditions
Stunning design (mine is white)
Display Sharpness and the vibrant colors
Effortless performance
Beautiful UI
Good Audio Quality for a smartphone
Fast Capture is helpful
Build Quality is commendable since its all plastic
Matte Finish on the body and the anti stain coating
Front Camera is awesome
Clear and loud call quality
GPS performance is good
CONS
Some lag here and there at times
Android 4.0 still 2 or 3 weeks away
Camera is almost useless in low light conditions
Touch sensitive buttons can get quite irritating sometimes
Though SQ is good, volume could be higher
Screen could have done with more contrast. Blacks are Greyish

Battery Life 4
Speed 5
Performance 4
Build quality 5
Overall 4
Pro:
-fast and accurate gps
-Stock firmware (73) is quite "okay"
-Good cam quality overall (except the noise)
-HDMI out with TV Program software works good
-Phone is a lightweight compared to others
-Screen protector by factory
Contra:
-Non-removable battery
-screen contrast could be much better
-sony data cable / microusb cable is "cornered" at phone's end. That is idiotic.
-Autobrightness doesn't work - for me ( stock 73)
Gesendet von meinem LT26i mit Tapatalk 2

Battery Life -5 (.73 fixes the issues, and it could only get better)
Speed - 5 (I still have sometimes a hiccup or two, but that can be android itself of the junk I install, so I will keep it at 5 )
Performance- 5 (same reason as above)
Build quality- 4 (build could aways be better, its a sturdy device but not as durable as it could be I think)
Overall - 4.7
Pros:
Beautiful Design, I find it a really unique device
Screen is fantastic
Blazing fast. I love the speed combined with the Sony UI, I used to use launcher pro, but I can't bring myself to replace the default launcher.
Cons:
The screen problems in some devices, I feel they could have taken more care with assembly.
The port flaps, I am still not sure if this is a real con, as they are really sturdy (unlike the X10 cover, which broke off in the end) and they just need to be worn in I guess :/.
Gingerbread, though that also I wouldn't really consider a con, as the update is coming, and I am in no rush really (coming from the X10 I'm used to waiting, heh)
I know this is more to taste, but I find the default NFC app could be better, and I wish (I'm assuming they did this to mostly prevent piracy) the extra apps (PS store, music/movie unlimited) had support worldwide, as it was one of the boasted selling features.
I love this phone, and definitely recommend it. It is in my opinion one to look out for, especially when it gets ICS. I am more than happy to have this for the next two years (got it on contract). I know Sony gets criticism for not using the top of the line tech, but in terms of design, I think they are ahead of the market, and I am curious how next years device will look.

Battery Life - 4
Speed - 4
Performance - 4
Build quality - 3
Overall 3.5
Pros
High resolution, sharp display
Stylish ui
Sound quality
Camera
Design
GPS locks really fast
Wireless signal of wifi and 3g network
Charges fast
Performance overall is good
Cons
Quality control, many early models have yellow stains on screen
Casing has a lot of seams and edges. Makes it feel cheap, hope it is just sloppy work on earlier models.
Warranty service. To fix the yellow tint and casing I'll probably lose it for a month
Call volume is a bit low
Screen viewing angels are poor
Colour temprature of the screen is a bit off, too cold.
Placement of usb/hdmi port

EclipzeRemix said:
Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine for over a month so can safely judge.
Battery life 1
Can't stand the fact the phone depletes so much even on standby.
Speed 4.5
Most things happen near enough instantly
Performance 3
Mainly because I can't stand the UI performance and the poor scrolling especially in web browser. What's this 2010? Come on Sony, you can surely do better. Galaxy S2 is a year older with buttery smooth transitions and scrolling.
Build quality 4.5
Feels solid and premium. Could have done with a bit more chrome to soften things up though. Also very doggy back cover that doesn't seem to fit properly,
Overall 3.25
That's just about right in my opinion. The phone needs better software and optimization. I'm happy with it for now. Don't know if I'll be happy with it for two years however,
Sent from my LT26i using XDA

zodiac100 said:
I've had mine for over a month so can safely judge.
Battery life 1
Can't stand the fact the phone depletes so much even on standby.
Speed 4.5
Most things happen near enough instantly
Performance 3
Mainly because I can't stand the UI performance and the poor scrolling especially in web browser. What's this 2010? Come on Sony, you can surely do better. Galaxy S2 is a year older with buttery smooth transitions and scrolling.
Build quality 4.5
Feels solid and premium. Could have done with a bit more chrome to soften things up though. Also very doggy back cover that doesn't seem to fit properly,
Overall 3.25
That's just about right in my opinion. The phone needs better software and optimization. I'm happy with it for now. Don't know if I'll be happy with it for two years however,
Sent from my LT26i using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Battery life 4,5: good idle battery drain (0,5 - 0,7% per hour)
- Speed 5: everything happens very fast once you customised and tweaked the stock .73 rom
- Performance 4.5: after tweaking it's fast, even no lag when opening contacts app but I know ICS will increase performance even more
- Build quality: 4.5: I really like the design and quality of the phone, it's not heavy and pretty scratch resistant
- Overall: 4.6: Sony gave is a really good phone which is fast and smooth. It doesn't feel like a cheap phone like Samsung phones, and the design is really amazing. And last but not least, it's very nice to develop for this phone
Sent from my LT26i using XDA

Custom ROMs > Stock ROM
Hello All,
I've had my LT26i for a few days now, and you know of course how it is when you get a new piece of IT equipment for an IT guy... Tried this and that, tried different ROMs, now eagerly waiting for CM9 RC1, wona know what it looks like at least and what it's capable of. Failed to install RC0, tried all the possible ways, but can't pass the boot screen. Doing something wrong of course, but...
In any case, the Stock ROM has too much extra IMHO. Apps that i can't remove and will never use annoy me... Knowing that uninstalling will free up some RAM and cut down the number of running processes, knowing that tweaking LEDs, WIFI management will increase the battery life, etc. forced me to star searching for a custom ROM that will suit me the same day I got my phone.
So I would rate the Stock ROM the following:
Battery Life - 3 (really runs out faster then expected)
Speed - 4 (boot up could be faster, opening apps is OK tho)
Performance - 4 (screen sometime freezes for a millisecond when sliding the desktops)
Build quality - 4 (being not able to delete stuff I don't need freaked me out... Why am I a guest in my phone?)
Overall - 4 (would be 3, but it's my new phone, got to like it )
And the ROM that I am using now (KA05 Xperia SSpeed by krabappel2548 on DooMKernel v03a by DooMLoRD):
Battery Life - 5 (Impressed)
Speed - 5 (No complains here at all)
Performance - 5 (Extra functionality such as better camera and volume buttons wake the screen)
Build quality - 4 (no crashes or anything, but can't install apps from my phone, have to do it from the PC)
Overall - 5 (I am much more happy using my SXS now)
There are other Custom ROMs, some focus on the GUI, some on the speed... All of them are definitely worth to be installed.
I really appreciate the work of all the guys working hard to get us better Android Distros.
P.S.: Yes, I did lose my warranty when I rooted my phone. Yes, I did have problems installing prerequisite ROMs and Booters and all. But now I have a much better understanding how my phone functions and I have a better Android Distro. I AM NOT PUSHING ANYONE TO GO CUSTOM, AS IT IS DANGEROUS IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
P.P.S.: If anyone managed to install the CM9 RC0, please post a video on YouTube so that we at least know what it looks like.

Related

[HELP][SK17i] Buying the phone.

Hello,
I'm currently a proud owner of HTC Tattoo (running android 2.3.7) and I'm looking to buy a new phone. There are few phones that I had in mind, but mini pro is currently my favorite. I love the fact that it has a real qwerty keyboard, 1Ghz processor, and the small screen (I like a phone that fits in my pocket).
But, I have few questions:
Do the newer versions have the noise issue ?
Is the touch screen responsive ?
Is battery life good, and is battery overheating ?
Is reception good ?
Is the phone generally fast ? (I'm tired of Tattoo's occasional lags)
So what do you think, should I buy it ?
Kind regards,
Andrew
Some have reported that they still have the electrostatic noise even after updating to 2.3.4 although Sony Ericsson have stated that it's fixed. Of course, as an owner of a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini Pro sk17a, after finally updating, I still get the electrostatic noise.
I've seen much improvement with the touchscreen after updating to 2.3.4. As in its pretty responsive.
In terms of battery life, it's decent, I can get several hours of movie watching on it (like 10 hours) and it still hasn't reached 15%. Charging is really fast, you can probably charge the phone dead to full in an hour. The battery won't overheat unless you're playing games on the beach. I haven't seen the phone go above 42C.
Reception depends on location, carrier, etc, factors like that. I'm getting full bars right now so I guess it's good.
The phone is generally fast, but you will see a difference comparing to your old phone or to a high end phone like the SGS2. I haven't seen much occasional lag. And those were very occasional.
Do you like the 3-inch screen? The thick form factor?
Whether you should buy it or not, it's your choice. It's a pretty good mid- ranged phone.
Feel free to ask more questions.
AndrewB. said:
Do the newer versions have the noise issue ?
Is the touch screen responsive ?
Is battery life good, and is battery overheating ?
Is reception good ?
Is the phone generally fast ? (I'm tired of Tattoo's occasional lags)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Newer" phones have had a hardware fix - according to Sony Ericsson. The jury is out on that one though as there's no confirmation of the build number's that have the fix and there's no real agreement on whether it has "gone" or merely been reduced to a lower level. In fact, there appears to be at least two different noise problems - a rythmic pulsing and a higher-pitched clicking noise - so it's often difficult to know which people are talking about when their posts aren't detailed.
Touch screen - excellent. I've had no problems with it - even with a screen protector attached.
Battery life - difficult question. If used as a phone, it will last for ages. If you use wi-fi and other heavy draws, it will obviously reduce battery life. Even then, it's very difficult to make a fair comparison with any other phone - you'd have to have a genuine like-for-like comparison - even the signal strength and line speed from the network source will impact on how much work the phone has to do. As a purely subjective opinion - it's acceptable. I often leave wi-fi on all day and play games, watch videos and generally "play" with the phone for a full day - I just recharge it at night - and it's never run flat. Regarding heat - I've never noticed it even getting more than vaguely warm.
Reception - an odd one. It does seem well able to pick-up on the weakish signal where I live but it has a strange habit of losing the connection even when there is a string signal. It doesn't do that all the time and it appears to me to be a software rather than a hardware problem as it seems to happen after using certain apps or performing certain functions. Having said that, I've yet to lose a call.
Is it fast - hell yes. A 1GB single-core processor is hardly going to break any records but the phone "feels" great - I've yet to find anything that suffered any obvious issues as a result of the CPU speed. Considering the price - which has recently halved in the UK - it is miles faster and more responsive than anything else I could find. Video playback is smooth and seeking within vids is instantaneous, webpages are rendered very quickly - including graphics and - of course - the phone supports Flash properly so that includes animated graphics. The games I've played have been smooth and I've not noticed any feeling that the phone is holding me or the game back. There is an occasional, very slight, stammer if playing a game which has banner-adverts popping up but I've seen that happen on phones with faster CPUs - and switching off network connections (or rooting and installing an ad blocker) stops that anyway.
Overall - you can't buy £500's worth of performance for £130 - but I reckon this phone delivers twice what it cost. If you need top-of-the-range performance, you have to pay top dollar - but if you are looking at a phone in this price range, I don't think there are currently any serious alternatives.
One thing - the small screen is something you have to take into account - and that is entirely down to what you expect to use the phone for. Bear in mind that although the screen is small in size, the resolution is actually pretty good compared with most phones at this price. It's not ideal if you want to do a lot of reading or browsing - text is lovely and clear but no screen this size can compete with a larger screen where you can see more than a paragraph at a time. For general browsing though - checking the news and reading through forums etc - it's perfectly good.
It's worth mentioning too that the keyboard is great. The keys look tiny but there's plenty of space between them so accurate typing is pretty easy.
There's one big downer for me with this phone and even though it's something you didn't ask about (and may not matter to you), it deserves a mention. The camera - still and video - is awful. The still camera produces lifeless, soft pictures that look like they came from a sub-1M camera from ten years ago. The supposedly "HD" video camera is just about acceptable in the brightest of natural light - otherwise it is soft, grainy and about as "good" as the average 1.3M webcam - only the pixel size of the output film is high - as if it filmed at 1M and then stretched the film in software. This is one of the most common criticisms of this phone and it is hoped that SE can fix these problems as they appear to be down to the software over compressing the photos and vids to reduce file-sizes. A "quality" setting for the camera (often found on higher resolution cameras) would be the obvious solution - and should be easy to add.
And then there's the BIG upper for a lot of people - SE are already working on getting Android 4 - Ice Cream Sandwich - rolled out for this phone. It is hoped that we'll start seeing that within a few weeks. If nothing else, that will protect the resale value of the phone - you should be able to get a good price if you sell the phone in a year's time because it will still be fairly up-to-date - the same doesn't apply to many other phones in this price-range.
Hope that helps
Thank you for helping me decide.
I bought the phone and I love it.
AndrewB. said:
Thank you for helping me decide.
I bought the phone and I love it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
congrats man! =D

HTC Amaze Review Thread

Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons
EclipzeRemix said:
Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is a 4 best phone battery life I've ever had
Speed 5 its fantastic quickly runs through home screens and game
Performance 5 works fantastically no problems at all
Build quality 3 bc of the stupid light bleed and overall 5 I'm extremely happy with it from a user standpoint even though its very difficult to dev for
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium
Battery life a 4
Speed and Performence a 5
Build quality a 4
I love this phone, but its HTC' s fault I don't enjoy it even more
The back cover is very durable, screen is nice
Would love some more roms but in due time it will come
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2
Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life - 3, its pretty bad compared to most phones. People who text 50 times a day and watch some video who think they are heavy users are not. Try 500 a day like me and having alot of screen on, I usually get about 12 hours on an average day, and about 8 on a heavy day. Not horrible but thats not even streaming radio or watching vidoes, so I couldnt even imagine.
Speed -4, cant complain here. The one s is faster for speed but for everyday needs, this is enough. Not a 5 though.
Performance- 5- Never had any problems with the phone itself. Usually if something screws up its always app related.
Build quality - 5, nothing can touch the build quality of this phone. The slight bleed was annoying when I first got it, now I dont even care or notice it. I turn them off half the time anyway
Overall - 4 out of 5. If the battery life was better and the phone slightly lighter, this would be a 5 out of 5 phone.
I give it a 5 out of 5 on everything! This is the best phone I've ever owned. (Then again I was with virgin mobile before so this; s my first high end device)
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2
5 of 5 for everything except build. The light leak doesn't bother me but after taking battery cover on and off it feels sort of cheap down by the latch.
on the plus side my data connection is 30Mbps while my g2 could only pull 8 at best.
All and all I'm satisfied with the amaze
Edit: with case on the cheap feeling goes away
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA
EclipzeRemix said:
Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery-4-Better than a couple other Androids I had in a Galaxy one, Nexus One and mytouch4G. Not anywhere close to my blackberries though, granted those phones don't do half what these phones do....so far.
Speed-4-I am in some bad signal areas, even when 4G picks up it is slow, more a T-Mobile thing though. However when in good 4G, I can get up to mid 20's mbps. I average 16. Moving from screen to screen is fluid and never misses a beat. Smoothest /fastest phone I have owned.
Performance-4- Works as advertised, which is Amazing! I do have random reboot from time to time. Almost have to reset every fee days, but it is quick.
Build Quality -5-Phone is built like a tank! Love the build and IMO is the nicest looking phone out....to date! Yes, even over the One S....or SG3.
Overall-4/5- If not for bad signal areas and or the weak Bluetooth and random reboots/freezing up I would give it 5/5. Still the best phone thus far I have used.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2
EclipzeRemix said:
Rate the phone 1-5 on-
Battery Life
Speed
Performence
Build quality
Overall
And tell pros and cons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery Life - used to be 3 when I used all stock. now I'd give it 4 after using custom ROM and removed all the stupid bloatware.
Speed - 5. absolutely my fastest phone so far
Performance - 5. simply awesome and love the camera <3
Build Quality - 3. two reasons... -1 for the light bleed and -1 for the strange shape on the side where the screen is not covered at all by the back cover where at least sensation did cover the side a little bit (when my phone fall, it hit the screen directly and crack my screen (it just have to fall on the day when I took off my casing for whatever reason)...
Although I hate the fact that the screen got a small crack, that is the primary reason why I root my phone and got a custom ROM (I figured that with the crack I won't be able to claim warranty, so might as well play with it), and, oh boy, how I love the improvement on the battery and performance
Overall - 4. Average the scores out and you got 4

What are Non-Sony users saying about the Z5C ?

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

Is the z5C still worth buying?

The z5c came out almost 1 year ago, do you guys think the z5c is still worth buying?
What do you guys think? If no, what would you consider buying, considering the z5c as first option?
***edit: it's my 1000th post on xda yay! ***
i think yes, small phone, great performance, great camera, didn't have any problems in 5 months except camera lens, but devilcase lens protector fixed that, i would buy again
Poslano sa mog E5823 koristeći Tapatalk
I bought it 2 months ago. Totally happy with it. No problems up to now.
I wanted a small phone with good performance, and this one was the only one that fitted these criteria.
My 2nd option was iPhone SE... since I came from an iPhone 4S, I was a bit tired of iOS. Personally I think Android Marshmallow is in a really good shape when compared to iOS, in my opinion it is even better.
Buy.
bought one yesterday. Its the best small phone i could find for the $380 i spent. iPhone SE is about the only other 1 i would have considered.
If you dont require a sd slot there are better options.
I picked one up for USD370 (including shipping) for my wife. She had a Z3C before and loved it, but the screen stopped responding. For that price it is an amazing phone.
The latest firmware almost fixed all stuffs, the phone is pretty usable and finally safe to buy and recommended now. The only thing disapointed me is the photo/video quality still not as good as my older Z1c at high ISO(the sensor indeed got 25MP not only 23MP which is over crowed on a small 1/2.3" size) but no doubt Z5c focus speed and camera speed way faster and screen much much clear.
I think yes if you want to buy a small flagship phone. It's just great in everything, almost. I bought it on February and I love this phone.
+
fast
Responsive touchscreen
No lag in almost every game and apps even in high graphics
The camera is awesome (front and rear). but sadly it's can't run the camera over 25 min in 4k. The autofocus actually fast this will be great when you record a video. You can make a bokeh, hdr, or a long exposure pictures. And it's camera is also good in low light.
I like the keyboard, you can swipe like swift keyboard and the auto correct is very usefull
The battery life good also, I got 6-8 hours in normal use (social media, music and browsing) and 4-5 hours when I play fifa 16
-
The phone getting hot very fast when you use the camera, and play online game like fifa 16.
For me it recently sure was. As a former iPhone 5 user I wanted to switch to Android on a small (< 5" screen) high-end device. Early 2015 I choose a Z3C based on these criteria. Very nice in almost any way, though camera -especially rooted- was kind of crappy.
I recently upgraded to the Z5C based on the same search criteria. It seems that most manufacturers tend to put more low-end hardware in smaller devices, here Sony has done a nice job. I considered the Samsung Galaxy A3, though the Z5C came out best for me.
I look forward to the day that a more complete and stable version of Cyanogenmod will be released for the Z3C This is likely to make my Z35 experience optimal.
I had a z3c, love the small size and massive capabilities. I replaced it with the z5c about 8 months ago. There is no other device on the market I would rather have. Even tried a galaxy S6 for a bit... Hated every moment of having that one.
My only beef with its I cannot have any special software that comes from having a vendor branded device. (No VOIP on AT&T)
Bought one month before. Best decision according to me. But not the best for those who doesnt want small size or fm radio.
How do you guys have "great performance" from your Z5 Compact? Mine runs worse than my older HTC One M8 in games. The Z5 Compact gets hot after 2 minutes of high graphics gaming, however, if you know how to root, install a new kernel etc. you might get good performance. I'd say underclock the CPU and let it get a bit hotter before automatically downclocking. That's at least what I'm trying now. The camera is good, however not the best. Batterylife is better than most phones, speakers are meh, and overall the phone is stable. Used it for 3 months or so and since I got it 100 dollars cheaper than the iPhone SE I think it's good enough. Just hope I can push the performance to at least as good as my One M8 :/
InterestedHacker said:
How do you guys have "great performance" from your Z5 Compact? Mine runs worse than my older HTC One M8 in games. The Z5 Compact gets hot after 2 minutes of high graphics gaming, however, if you know how to root, install a new kernel etc. you might get good performance. I'd say underclock the CPU and let it get a bit hotter before automatically downclocking. That's at least what I'm trying now. The camera is good, however not the best. Batterylife is better than most phones, speakers are meh, and overall the phone is stable. Used it for 3 months or so and since I got it 100 dollars cheaper than the iPhone SE I think it's good enough. Just hope I can push the performance to at least as good as my One M8 :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the guys that claim good stories are unrooted so you know they don't actually use their phones. I've had great results in power consumption and heat with androplus v34, but it comes at the price of performance.
My 2 are rooted (one with dry restrored) and running xposed,and xpower rom. Both seem to be faster and smoother than my sons' - much bulkier - m8 and iPhone 6. Can't find anything close to the quality of this phone at this convenient size.
I actually wouldn't recommend it at all since Sony stopped updating the software already. I am still on 1 April security patches. I find that unforgivable. And I'm going to switch to S7 once T-Mobile gets its sheet together –*they raised the price by 100 euro a week before I could extend my contract.
+
Small
microSD
water/dustproof
I like the screen very much
-
2 GB RAM which means apps unload faster than you can say "but I just opened two tabs in Chrome"
gets hot even without gaming (I reinstalled the software just in case but it didn't help)
no software updates
camera is not what I expected
I would actually recommend Z3C over Z5C. It's same size, cheaper, works faster (!), doesn't get hot and the Concept software is awesome.
Going to research rooting now, maybe it will manage memory a bit better.
S6 looks like on the same boat stuck with 1 April security patches. 720P required less memory intensive. Z3c is very easy to get touch screen problem after one year and the camera quality even worse than Z1c. I don't satisfied with Z5c but the price is dropping so I think still worth for new owner.
raytheblacksmith said:
I actually wouldn't recommend it at all since Sony stopped updating the software already. I am still on 1 April security patches. I find that unforgivable. And I'm going to switch to S7 once T-Mobile gets its sheet together –*they raised the price by 100 euro a week before I could extend my contract.
+
Small
microSD
water/dustproof
I like the screen very much
-
2 GB RAM which means apps unload faster than you can say "but I just opened two tabs in Chrome"
gets hot even without gaming (I reinstalled the software just in case but it didn't help)
no software updates
camera is not what I expected
I would actually recommend Z3C over Z5C. It's same size, cheaper, works faster (!), doesn't get hot and the Concept software is awesome.
Going to research rooting now, maybe it will manage memory a bit better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you on the latest software? Because i owned the z3c and now the z5c and besides the battery life i love this phone way more. Camera is far better and the software runs pretty smooth also even with a sheet load of apps in the ram is still fast.
Actually, the other important thing bugged me is the slow AC wifi speed but since the compact model got only single wifi antenna(Z5 got dual wifi antenna), it is impossible to top out wifi if you got a damn fast Internet connection and router like me.
When you build a NAS or share files via router, the Z5c can't playback ultra quality videos(like the video shoot from a DSLR at 100M+ 4K) though the connection detected at 433Mbps but in reality, I got only 70~120Mbps around. The speed is faster than 802.11b/g/n and good for general Internet purpose but only reached the very entry quality of AC speed.
Plus the rom I'm running Xpower 3.0(.224) bugged to browser vidoes shared out via win10 smb. I can view any photo but can't playback all videos, tested to roll back 5.1.1 and no problem. Not sure if .253 fixed the issue, been waiting for Xpower 4.0(.253) to release.
Yeah I am on the latest software. I had great hopes for it. But for instance today the phone heated up, stayed hot, lost 70% battery in three hours and then finally shut down with the red light blinking. Ummmmmmmm.
raytheblacksmith said:
Yeah I am on the latest software. I had great hopes for it. But for instance today the phone heated up, stayed hot, lost 70% battery in three hours and then finally shut down with the red light blinking. Ummmmmmmm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real hard to solve without root. If you root it, you can flash the Increase thermal-performance mod plus lower down the max cpu clock for the price of slower speed. In my experiences, they are quite a helping hand but sure can't fix all, might be 50% better experiences though.
If the X Compact with sd820 is real coming up, probably it can fix the heat issue(even so, sd820 is also hot). But I doubt I will switch to Xc bcoz Z5c already spend me much money, or only until the price dropping a lot next year.

Camera quality - moved from other brands thoughts ??

I have to admit I am blown away with the mate 10 pro , I can not get over how accurate and brilliant the AI is
I did think the note 8 was good but the 10 pro is bloody amazing
Has anyone else moved from phones which are deemed as the best what are your thoughts ??
Sent from my BLA-L09 using XDA Premium HD app
Sent from my BLA-L09 using XDA Premium HD app
I moved from an LG G4 that I updated to stock Nougat 7.0 (was never officially released outside Korea; it was a HUGE improvement over Android 6, especially in camera performance and battery lifetime). And I must say ... the Mate 10 Pro is better in most ways, but disappointing in one very important aspect.
Pro:
- way faster in every respect (although with the Nougat ROM the G4 was reasonable fast)
- AMAZING battery life (2 days of regular use for me, never afraid of leaving the house with 30% battery)
- blazingly fast fingerprint reader
- much, much brighter screen (great even in sunlight)
- way better voice quality and reception as a phone
Con:
- VERY bad camera algorithm (It is one-sided. Everything not made of straight lines and flat surfaces looks VERY unnatural and loses MANY details) both for still images and video
- surprisingly bulky in the pocket compared to the curved and tapered design of the G4
The camera is the biggest disappointment, because this is pretty much the most important feature for me on a new phone. The camera reviews somehow were very off this time and I plan to change phones way earlier than the 2-3 years I usually have as a cycle. (Here's hoping for the next LG or a real top of the line Nokia. Loved, loved, LOVED my Lumia 1020 and 1050 for their cameras).
My biggest gripe is, that the hardware is not bat at all. I can get out quite a lot from the DNG files. Dynamic range is great and the metering is rather accurate. BUT still the level of detail is lower than the older G4 could provide. I am very sure, that a G4 with a stronger ISP and more modern autofocus-tech would blow the Mate 10 out of the water in most respects with the images it could produce - and I mean both the out of camera jpegs and DNGs. The G4 images had an amazing level of detail and were very natural and appealing.
And don't get me started on the POOR video quality (washed out, low detail, zoom that goes in steps, mediocre audio, ...), that cannot even begin to hold a candle against the G4. It looks and feels like a lower midrange phone camera! It is embarrassing.
One saving grace for the Mate 10 camera story is the black and white mode. Even in lower light scenes it is amazing. Truly. GREAT level of detail and great processing. Why on earth could they not go closer to the b/w processing with the colored pictures? It strikes a GREAT balance of noise reduction and sharpening. And the atmosphere of those b/w images is something of its own. One shot I took on my commute on the train looks like it belongs into an artsy article about the trials of life in a top of the line magazine. And it was just a random shot with no setup (I was still testing out the camera). Really, try the b/w mode for atmospheric pictures.
But all in all, the camera performance is my least favorite in a long time. I rank all my recent predecessor phones (G4, Lumia 1050, Lumia 1020) higher for their time with the G4 (on stock Android 7) even being better overall compared directly to the Mate 10.
In all other aspects the Mate 10 kills it and is amazing. Too bad the camera is this important for me. Lets hope for a BIG camera software update soon ...
I haven't tried the video yet I'll have a play around - I have done some black and white pics and yeh your right it's wow one gripe with the note 8 was there wasn't a black and white mode
From what I've seen the camera copes well in the dark but I am going to explore it more this weekend and get out and do some architecture and will see if I can see what you mean
I have always been a iPhone users until last year with the note 8 it was a hard transition the problem with the iPhone is the cameras aren't that good they look fine until you zoom in
Sent from my BLA-L09 using XDA Premium HD app
ThoroSOE said:
I moved from an LG G4 that I updated to stock Nougat 7.0 (was never officially released outside Korea; it was a HUGE improvement over Android 6, especially in camera performance and battery lifetime). And I must say ... the Mate 10 Pro is better in most ways, but disappointing in one very important aspect.
Pro:
- way faster in every respect (although with the Nougat ROM the G4 was reasonable fast)
- AMAZING battery life (2 days of regular use for me, never afraid of leaving the house with 30% battery)
- blazingly fast fingerprint reader
- much, much brighter screen (great even in sunlight)
- way better voice quality and reception as a phone
Con:
- VERY bad camera algorithm (It is one-sided. Everything not made of straight lines and flat surfaces looks VERY unnatural and loses MANY details) both for still images and video
- surprisingly bulky in the pocket compared to the curved and tapered design of the G4
The camera is the biggest disappointment, because this is pretty much the most important feature for me on a new phone. The camera reviews somehow were very off this time and I plan to change phones way earlier than the 2-3 years I usually have as a cycle. (Here's hoping for the next LG or a real top of the line Nokia. Loved, loved, LOVED my Lumia 1020 and 1050 for their cameras).
My biggest gripe is, that the hardware is not bat at all. I can get out quite a lot from the DNG files. Dynamic range is great and the metering is rather accurate. BUT still the level of detail is lower than the older G4 could provide. I am very sure, that a G4 with a stronger ISP and more modern autofocus-tech would blow the Mate 10 out of the water in most respects with the images it could produce - and I mean both the out of camera jpegs and DNGs. The G4 images had an amazing level of detail and were very natural and appealing.
And don't get me started on the POOR video quality (washed out, low detail, zoom that goes in steps, mediocre audio, ...), that cannot even begin to hold a candle against the G4. It looks and feels like a lower midrange phone camera! It is embarrassing.
One saving grace for the Mate 10 camera story is the black and white mode. Even in lower light scenes it is amazing. Truly. GREAT level of detail and great processing. Why on earth could they not go closer to the b/w processing with the colored pictures? It strikes a GREAT balance of noise reduction and sharpening. And the atmosphere of those b/w images is something of its own. One shot I took on my commute on the train looks like it belongs into an artsy article about the trials of life in a top of the line magazine. And it was just a random shot with no setup (I was still testing out the camera). Really, try the b/w mode for atmospheric pictures.
But all in all, the camera performance is my least favorite in a long time. I rank all my recent predecessor phones (G4, Lumia 1050, Lumia 1020) higher for their time with the G4 (on stock Android 7) even being better overall compared directly to the Mate 10.
In all other aspects the Mate 10 kills it and is amazing. Too bad the camera is this important for me. Lets hope for a BIG camera software update soon ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which firmware you are?
Firmware ist most current: 137
And I really tried much with this camera. I am really into this stuff and went a long way to get it up to better performance. I still am disappointed.
Comparing mate 9 with mate 10 both on Oreo/latest firmware.
Under low light the mate 10 is superior but that's all, under normal conditions the mate 9 provides the same if not better pictures than the mate 10 with its super duper AI which in my opinion misses the ball sometimes completely.

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