Engadget: Ultra Z Review - Sony Xperia Z Ultra

Engadget: Ultra Z Review - Sony Xperia Z Ultra

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/19/sony-xperia-z-ultra-review/#continued

first good review ive seen, but i think they shouldve kept their own opinions on the size to a minimum

Punkid said:
first good review ive seen, but i think they shouldve kept their own opinions on the size to a minimum
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That's kind of hard, don't you think? It's not like Sony is trying to hide its size. It's a huge phablet, and most people won't handle it (pun intended). There are however people, like us, who love big phones/phablets, and i mostly ignore the parts where they complain about its size since i'm perfectly aware of its size, and i don't need to hear it again and again.
I've watched/read most of the Ultra reviews to date and everyone is saying that the Ultra is a fantastic piece of technology, but it's a little too big - for them. Great review by Engadget btw.
I'm now waiting for The Verge's review, which will go like this "OMG! HUGE! HUGE PHONE, LULZ! I choose to ignore a lot of details! Look how huge it is! Ignore the rest! Again, look how huge it is!" - you read it here first, XDA.

LordManhattan said:
That's kind of hard, don't you think? It's not like Sony is trying to hide its size. It's a huge phablet, and most people won't handle it (pun intended). There are however people, like us, who love big phones/phablets, and i mostly ignore the parts where they complain about its size since i'm perfectly aware of its size, and i don't need to hear it again and again.
I've watched/read most of the Ultra reviews to date and everyone is saying that the Ultra is a fantastic piece of technology, but it's a little too big - for them. Great review by Engadget btw.
I'm now waiting for The Verge's review, which will go like this "OMG! HUGE! HUGE PHONE, LULZ! I choose to ignore a lot of details! Look how huge it is! Ignore the rest! Again, look how huge it is!" - you read it here first, XDA.
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hahah true true...one thing i didnt like is how engadget turned its slim profile against it too :S ... i mean come on, the iphone is slim and flat, no ones complaining about that .
Anyway, as i said, first good review where the writer seemed to be actually informed. I've seen people even messing up the specs of the ZU

Their battery run down test isn't too bad, 2nd to the note 2, although by almost an hour. (going by memory)

FYI The AnTuT score is 29k ~ but we have seen the latest firmware give a score of 33k
other than that ist's afair review
Everyone wants the latest phone, with the latest spec, not part-latest spec,(e.g. latest CPU & firmware, existing stock chipset & connectvitiy) and Sony for the first time in many many years has gone leading edge in every facet i can think of (Display Resolution, Display Size, Wifi, NFC, Water-resistance, CPU speed, etc) but most users want a smaller size and most users can't afford the price
Enter the Xperia Z1...or Enter the Dragon

corrado85 said:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/19/sony-xperia-z-ultra-review/#continued
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Its worth listening to their audio podcast as they talk about the device for about 20min.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/17/engadget-mobile-podcast-187/

Related

Have you ever desired a phone as much as the SGS2?

I myself can say: I never have.
This phone does seem to have less to none downsides, I heard reviewers complaining about the backcover of the phone, a missing camera button and the Samsung hubs being messy (mainly the social hub which I'm looking forward to, as I like it being all-in-one).
On the other half the advantages:
1. Huge 4,3'' Screen
2. Super AMOLED Plus (less energy consumption, more subpixels (= sharper), better colors)
3. 1,2 GHz Dual Core processor (less battery consumption, more power, great overall performance, ability to record and play 1080p videos and 720p flash content in the browser.
4. Android 2.3.3; great stability and a zillion apps. Nothing more to say.
5. The phone's design. I personally like it.
6. It's a super leightweight, you won't even notice holding it in your hand.
7. Huge internal storage (16/32gb and the support of up to 32gb SDHC
8. Touch Wiz 4.0
9. AllShare
10. 8MP Cam and 1080p recording
11. NFC (not available in every region)
12. On device encryption (imporant for business people)
13. Other technologies for business people (Cisco stuff, VPN and similar things)
14. Multimedia monster (plays almost every file you can imagine)
15 - 45634562475. All the things I didn't mention
I'm getting this phone the moment it's available in my country, no matter what, this is my personal phone of the year, I check all relevant pages daily to get all the news about this phone, kinda addicted I guess but it's very hard to resist this beautiful phone !
Anybody feeling the same ?

same goes for me, every delay is such pain in the ass.
i cant remember when i had the urge to own something so bad like this beast.

will you buy this phone? yeah, **** yeah?
very constructive poll right there
amongst your halfassed feattures list:15 - 45634562475. All the things I didn't mention
WTF? are you like 12 years old?

I felt this way while waiting for my motorcycle to be delivered...
Now Waiting for this phone is crazy... I hate the rumor mill of delays, it kills you then you get some joe schmoe saying, it was unconfirmed and it all dies down.
This phone looks really good specs wise and reviews have done it justice.

Well, I was eager ALMOST as much before my HTC HD2 was delivered ...........
Since the HD2 disappointed me somewhat I deeply hope the S2 will make it up ..............

The other phone which I anticipated so much was infact the HD2. That supermonster of a phone, after two years, is still a monster. The only phone that can dual-boot Android and WP7.

virussnake said:
will you buy this phone? yeah, **** yeah?
very constructive poll right there
amongst your halfassed feattures list:15 - 45634562475. All the things I didn't mention
WTF? are you like 12 years old?
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Hater, much?
The poll is obviously for fun aswell as the "15 - 45634562475."-stuff. Though I expect people who visit this subforum to be interested in the SGS2. Why not hype the phone abit that we're all waiting for? You can still present your opinion about the phone in this thread as I don't care if negative or positive but if you're just whining about others liking the phone then this is certainly the wrong area for you to be at.
Btw your critizising and whining makes YOU look like a 12 year old. Then again I'd like to know what you encounter to my "halfassed list". Bring it hater, bring it !
And yes, I love every aspect of this phone. If you're going from Samsung I8910HD to SGS2 this is a huge overall improvement, and there are people out there who switch from phones less good than my OHD, you should be able to imagine that those people really look forward to this phone.

Master05 said:
there are people out there who switch from phones less good than my OHD, you should be able to imagine that those people really look forward to this phone.
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I'm upgrading from a Sanyo SCP-8400 to the SGS2. You won't believe just how much I'm looking forward to this phone!!!
To answer the original question - there has never been a phone I've wanted more than this one. I was about to get an SGS when this was announced. There was plenty of debate before I picked that ahead of it's peers. Not so this time. There are no close seconds, no runner-ups, no debating among features to see which I want. Anything else would be a compromise.

No, I've never been this eager to get a phone. I haven't really anticipated the release of a phone as much as have videogame stuff. I hope that we'll see a released date soon, and then I can mark it on my calendar
I'm going to be upgrading from an HTC Magic.

I was really excited about the atrix and xoom but this phone is just great
I've never wanted something so badly as this phone
Its just f&$kng awesome

Every time I feel like settling for another phone I repeat to myself "Good comes to those who wait" and hopefully a good outcome will come for all of us soon.
Especially you UK guys

k1000716 said:
I'm upgrading from a Sanyo SCP-8400 to the SGS2. You won't believe just how much I'm looking forward to this phone!!!
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WTF! I am upgrading from a HTC Touch Pro which really sucks with its resistive touch sreen compared to the one from SGSII!
btt: I check this forum and the google news search every day! There never was a phone which I so hardly wanted to OWN!
BUT, I'll wait for the first REAL Reviews from different Websites and from passionate objective users!
And btw I would prefer to pay only 500€ max.

HTC_Spree said:
And btw I would prefer to pay only 500€ max.
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I expect the price to go down to 500€ until release, some shops certainly will go down but then again I prefer wellknown sellers like Amazon who offer good service in case of warranty and return, i wonder if they would go down to something like 499,- aswell if another shop does (in the last 30 days or so the price went from 599,- to 548,50 which is the right direction but hopefully not all).
Oh and to the Sanyo SCP-8400 - Guy:
It will be a whole new world for you

Master05 said:
I expect the price to go down to 500€ until release, some shops certainly will go down but then again I prefer wellknown sellers like Amazon who offer good service in case of warranty and return, i wonder if they would go down to something like 499,- aswell if another shop does (in the last 30 days or so the price went from 599,- to 548,50 which is the right direction but hopefully not all).
Oh and to the Sanyo SCP-8400 - Guy:
It will be a whole new world for you
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Yes, i want this phone......really....really....bad!!!
But i wanted my N97 also that bad.....oh oh oh the mistake and pain i sufferd from that phone :/
Price has dropped here in NL, now it's 515,- Euro
https://www.telecomtelecom.nl/producten/details/SI9100B

I want this baby sooo bad
It was the same with Nokia N900 and HTC TyTn2 ...

I think I wanted my n97 more... sad that it turned out to be such a dud!
Now, I'm just looking forward to a new experience!

Custom ROMs/kernels will take care of the no camera button issue soon enough.

i have to agree with this thread, never wanted any device so badly

tietherope said:
Custom ROMs/kernels will take care of the no camera button issue soon enough.
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How will a ROM create a hardware camera button?

I was eager as much before mysamsung omnia hd was delivered ........... and it proved a real beast. an unbelievable phone, with not even a single drawback, expecting the same from s2

RAZR Reviews

A place to stick reviews now they're starting to trickle in?
Here's Engadget... surprisingly positive, though a few queries about some of their details (No Pentile? Some UI Stuttering still?) and some notable omissions.. no talk about the partitioned memory, speaker/call quality either..
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/
Here's SlashGear too.. Interestingly, they loved the display.. guess opinions on this one will run and run.. Positive, but not blown away. Again, no mention of the finer details that I guess we'll have
to discover for ourselves. Both reviews have concerns about battery life too - whether in real life, it fares any better or worse than the Galaxy S2/Rezound/Sensation/GNexus we'll just have to see i suppose
http://www.slashgear.com/motorola-razr-review-07193439/
Here's CNet... They liked it a lot, and in complete contradiction to Engadget and slashgear, didn't experience the same battery or display/animation lag issues (apart from a blip when changing screens).. so what gives?
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-droid-razr-verizon/4505-6454_7-35033947.html
Here's TechCrunch... More contradictions. They liked the camera stills AND video capture this time...
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review-so-close-yet-so-far/
Here's TheVerge... More issues with the display. The reviewer has major issues with the Pentile implementation. Yep this is definitely going to be a horses for courses type deal
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/7/2543626/motorola-droid-razr-review
Here's BGR... Another review.. more contradictions.. In opposition to TheVerge's review, BGR reckons the Motorola software is almost identical to that on the Bionic (So no excessive animations etc., then or what?). Although BGR seemed to love it overall. And guess what, they didn't have issues with the battery..
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/
Here's Gizmodo...
http://gizmodo.com/5856947/motorola-droid-razr-lightning-review-faster-thinner-prettierlike-a-supermodel-in-a-rocket
(Sidenote.. Hmm.. I'm thinking that the review concerns around battery life could be mostly to do with the LTE radio that our US cousins have access to.. but given the wildly different experiences the reviewers are having, who knows.. still may get better battery life in good ole' backwards 3G United Kingdom.. )

http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-razr-review
Android Central. Not enough details.
And I guess that you and me, GSM users, will have to wait for the review of the world version of that phone.
Bezel ><

Yeah, I just edited my first post to comment that it could be the LTE radio doing most of the damage in terms of battery life. We're not getting LTE for a while longer in the UK yet, so may be less of an issue
What's also interesting, is that the reviewers all seem to have had varying amounts of time with the device (from a day, upwards).. which does lead me to question the veracity of some of the claims..

some photos are great (with a lil' girl), some aren't.. well..

A
jms_uk said:
Yeah, I just edited my first post to comment that it could be the LTE radio doing most of the damage in terms of battery life. We're not getting LTE for a while longer in the UK yet, so may be less of an issue
What's also interesting, is that the reviewers all seem to have had varying amounts of time with the device (from a day, upwards).. which does lead me to question the veracity of some of the claims..
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I do agree. The real reviews will be here, and elsewhere on forums, but those drafts are not what I'm expecting. We need various run tests about battery life, a word on the bootloader, screen comparisons with the top-end devices from Sammy and HTC, in depth reviews of the video player...
I'm not satisfied :/
I'm looking forward to read the GSM Arena thoughts.

to see a real life of battery you need 3-4 days or more...so it is too early yet

Eventually, good job from Phone Arena:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Motorola-DROID-RAZR-Review_id2884

So far then, from this first crop of reviews the following have left me scratching my head
Screen. Is it any good or not? I know its personal taste but how well/badly does it stack up to the current competition?
Batterylife. What's going on here? Some say several days on standby with light usage.. most agree a daily charge is required putting it on par with other smartphones.. some think it'll need more regular charging than that!
Camera. Is it any good or not - again, compared to the competition it looks like it'll do a serviceable job at the very least
Speakerphone. Some say its good and clear, others say its weak and lousy..
Software. Another personal taste one, but its pretty clear that any kind of "overlay" can have an impact on the device's performance. Yet again we have some taking issues with the overlay and others saying it doesn't intrude
What I can tell if nothing else, that there doesn't seem to be any kind of concensus on any of the key factors that people may want to look for when comparing this phone to its direct competition and that makes it a tough call..

my very brief review (color focused)
I have not seen anyone take a good look at the quality of the color reproduction of the RAZR's display. I went in to the verizon store which has them on display now and compared the same image on the RAZR and on my AMOLED Droid Incredible(DInc).
The RAZR beat the DInc hands down. When comparing a picture of a person with a white background on both phones, the RAZR had more accurate color reproduction and a whiter white-level. Compression artifacts in the image were also more noticeable on the RAZR although they could be seen on the DInc. I think this means the RAZR has a much better, albeit less forgiving, display. I also compared the Bionic sitting next to the RAZR and it was extremely blue compared to the other two phones.

Thanks man.. now that's the kinda info we need

yeah battery is definitely a big deal for people in the US using 4G & on unlimited data.
4G kills battery big time on all the 4G phones here. even on my old thunderbolt, i had to get the 4500mAh battery and still blew through that thing the same day.
then again, i'd also constantly be streaming music, browsing the web or downloading something. i'd say i probably average around 20 - 30GB /month.

motorola says the battery life will be 12hrs talk time, which is astounding.. on 3g of course, since im from australia, this is a dream come true..

Any stuttering or UI hiccups is purely software. The hardware is more than enough to run any app today and is quite future proof. Quadcore phones coming out soon too el oh el.

zetsumeikuro said:
Any stuttering or UI hiccups is purely software. The hardware is more than enough to run any app today and is quite future proof. Quadcore phones coming out soon too el oh el.
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considering that gingerbread is not optimized for dual-core phones, I can see the jerkin'... although once ice cream sandwhich is available(wether official or dev produced rom) that *should* go away... however, since ICS is brand new, it may take a few updates before they work all the bugs out of that to.
regardless, good show!

voxigenboy said:
considering that gingerbread is not optimized for dual-core phones, I can see the jerkin'... although once ice cream sandwhich is available(wether official or dev produced rom) that *should* go away... however, since ICS is brand new, it may take a few updates before they work all the bugs out of that to.
regardless, good show!
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The jerking is due to motorolas fail UI that is installed ontop of Android. If only moto stuck with pure AOSP like the original DROID. Ahh... those were the days *_*. Great hardware build (gg moto) with pure AOSP.

Any sign of any Uk or worldwide reviews? Would be good to know what the battery life is like without LTE..

zetsumeikuro said:
The jerking is due to motorolas fail UI that is installed ontop of Android. If only moto stuck with pure AOSP like the original DROID. Ahh... those were the days *_*. Great hardware build (gg moto) with pure AOSP.
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I'm sure the reviews are saying that it doesn't actually have MotoBLUR? Just themed like so.

Check out the Verge review...what the hell is the fourth-last and third-last pic all about? I am sorry, but I don't quite know what is this Pentile argument all about? Is it good or bad?

circleofomega said:
Check out the Verge review...what the hell is the fourth-last and third-last pic all about? I am sorry, but I don't quite know what is this Pentile argument all about? Is it good or bad?
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basically, the image/text quality on the screen is a bit wonky(sub par) due to the 'pentile'-pixel arrangement. it may not bother a lot of people, but if you have good vision and an eye for noticing impurities, the screen is going to bug you.
this is actually a similar reason as to why I do not want the Galaxy Nexus... a 4.65" screen with the same pixel count as the iphone's 3.5" display.

voxigenboy said:
basically, the image/text quality on the screen is a bit wonky(sub par) due to the 'pentile'-pixel arrangement. it may not bother a lot of people, but if you have good vision and an eye for noticing impurities, the screen is going to bug you.
this is actually a similar reason as to why I do not want the Galaxy Nexus... a 4.65" screen with the same pixel count as the iphone's 3.5" display.
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Hi and thanx voxigenboy, Just didn't get what you meant by "4.65" screen with the same pixel count as the iphone's 3.5" display"
So does the iPhone have a pentile display...u can laugh about this, its ok, I dont know what it is and am still get to know...

PocketNow Review - Taylor Martin is a joke.

Any of you read the review? That guy has no clue what he is talking about and comes across as a hater.
For him to say the display was mediocre and outclassed by other phones like the S4 and One, i do not know what to say.
Granted this is his opinion but i have been owning tech and phones for years now and i think i know a good display when i see one, either that or he got a dud for review.
You can see from my YouTube channel i own all the latest phones etc and i think the Z Ultra has the best display i have seen on a phone so when a big tech site says otherwise.... am i blind or what am i missing? Makes no sense.
But yeah, i think the review they put up was crap to put it lightly.
Thoughts?

ScottishSwan said:
Any of you read the review? That guy has no clue what he is talking about and comes across as a hater.
For him to say the display was mediocre and outclassed by other phones like the S4 and One, i do not know what to say.
Granted this is his opinion but i have been owning tech and phones for years now and i think i know a good display when i see one, either that or he got a dud for review.
You can see from my YouTube channel i own all the latest phones etc and i think the Z Ultra has the best display i have seen on a phone so when a big tech site says otherwise.... am i blind or what am i missing? Makes no sense.
But yeah, i think the review they put up was crap to put it lightly.
Thoughts?
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Have a quick look at this post makes for an interesting read and I am with holding judgement until I see it in person but from the video's the display looks pretty good to me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44630248&postcount=191

daleski75 said:
Have a quick look at this post makes for an interesting read and I am with holding judgement until I see it in person but from the video's the display looks pretty good to me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44630248&postcount=191
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Yeah she is a little OCD for my liking.
I like to view things from a general perspective of the average person. Not someone who like to analyze every pixel under a microscope.

ScottishSwan said:
Yeah she is a little OCD for my liking.
I like to view things from a general perspective of the average person. Not someone who like to analyze every pixel under a microscope.
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All that matters is who ever buys the phone is happy with the screen and if not return it and get another phone and it looks miles better than the screen on the Z which looks frankly awful when I compared it to my HTC One.

daleski75 said:
All that matters is who ever buys the phone is happy with the screen and if not return it and get another phone and it looks miles better than the screen on the Z which looks frankly awful when I compared it to my HTC One.
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Exactly. I do not understand why we have to over analyze everything these days.
Almost all high end flagship devices i think 98% of the world would be happy with, it is all personal preference.
For instance, the screen on the original Z sucked but, i liked it more than my S4 and HTC One simply because of the button placement on the device. I enjoyed every time i picked the phone up the buttons where right under my thumb, loved that.
So again, what i like someone else may hate.

Just posted this in another thread.
Review at PhoneArena which I thought was very fair and comprehensive.
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Sony-Xperia-Z-Ultra-Review_id3388
And their Video review.
this quote sums it up nicely for me "If you aren't worried about pocketability or one-handed operation, you won't be disappointed by the rest" :good:

baileyjr said:
Just posted this in another thread.
Review at PhoneArena which I thought was very fair and comprehensive.
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Sony-Xperia-Z-Ultra-Review_id3388
And their Video review.
this quote sums it up nicely for me "If you aren't worried about pocketability or one-handed operation, you won't be disappointed by the rest" :good:
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Just watched it and yes indeed, that review was professionally done.
I am just not a fan of reviews in general and slapping a score out of 10 on the end of it. Each review is 1 persons opinion and there opinion should not dictate the overall perception of a device.
However, not everyone is in the position of trying each phone they are interested in before buying so a lot rely on reviews and scores etc, it is just frustrating when a certain place under rates 1 device but vastly over rates another.
Thanks for the post though.

Here's the Pocket Now video review
---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------
ScottishSwan said:
Just watched it and yes indeed, that review was professionally done.
I am just not a fan of reviews in general and slapping a score out of 10 on the end of it. Each review is 1 persons opinion and there opinion should not dictate the overall perception of a device.
However, not everyone is in the position of trying each phone they are interested in before buying so a lot rely on reviews and scores etc, it is just frustrating when a certain place under rates 1 device but vastly over rates another.
Thanks for the post though.
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Yep, it's extremely hard, if not impossible to be 100% objective, so things like this will (sadly) happen. I hope Anandtech will review the Ultra. If you haven't read their reviews before then hold your hat; they are awsome. A good example of this is the HTC One review. Read it if you haven't yet. It'll take you a long time to read it all, but it's worth it.

LordManhattan said:
Here's the Pocket Now video review
---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------
Yep, it's extremely hard, if not impossible to be 100% objective, so things like this will (sadly) happen. I hope Anandtech will review the Ultra. If you haven't read their reviews before then hold your hat; they are awsome. A good example of this is the HTC One review. Read it if you haven't yet. It'll take you a long time to read it all, but it's worth it.
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Thanks for that. I owned 3 HTC ones and all of them where duds. All had annoying defects etc. 1 of the most over rated devices of the last 2 years for me.

ScottishSwan said:
Yeah she is a little OCD for my liking.
I like to view things from a general perspective of the average person. Not someone who like to analyze every pixel under a microscope.
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I mean no offense by this but that is definitely not the vibe I got from you when watching your "HTC One Do Not Buy" video...
It is interesting though. We have this pocketnow review and a fellow member that both agree the display is meh. When I see this video though I honestly think the display looks better on the Ultra. Will have to wait for mine to come in to make a final conclusion though.

wrxdrunkie said:
I mean no offense by this but that is definitely not the vibe I got from you when watching your "HTC One Do Not Buy" video...
It is interesting though. We have this pocketnow review and a fellow member that both agree the display is meh. When I see this video though I honestly think the display looks better on the Ultra. Will have to wait for mine to come in to make a final conclusion though.
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All the Ones i had, there flaws where obvious and the quality control in general was just poor. HTC came up with a design that they could not manufacture to a standard they where promoting. Zero Gap? Biggest joke i have heard, gaps everywhere.
I just mean i am not one of these people if i get a dead pixel on my display that i freak out. If there are more than 20 yes but 1 or 2 is not an issue as thats just the nature of most LCDs etc.
But The One in general just left a bad impression, did not feel premium as much as it tried to be.
Trust me on the Ultra display though, its fantastic!

ultra display
I also do not understand how someone can call the ultra`s display as mediocre.
I had a chance to play with the S4 and yes, amoled is amoled with all the contrast and saturation etc.. but its sometimes too much
it hurts my eyes. lol. I guess everyone has their own standards on what a good display is, but I definitely think the Ultra`s display is best for me.
It really was a toss-up between the Ultra and htc one for me, as the htc one display is almost the same level as the Z ultra in my eyes,
but Snapdragon 800 and the bigger display won. And the fact that HTC is going down, who knows when they will cough up and stop updating their flagships?
To Summarize, I am with you in saying Z Ultra has one of the best, if not the best display on the market. But if other people think its mediocre, its their opinion.
ScottishSwan said:
All the Ones i had, there flaws where obvious and the quality control in general was just poor. HTC came up with a design that they could not manufacture to a standard they where promoting. Zero Gap? Biggest joke i have heard, gaps everywhere.
I just mean i am not one of these people if i get a dead pixel on my display that i freak out. If there are more than 20 yes but 1 or 2 is not an issue as thats just the nature of most LCDs etc.
But The One in general just left a bad impression, did not feel premium as much as it tried to be.
Trust me on the Ultra display though, its fantastic!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yes, I also agree that the Z Ultra's display is one of the best on the market right now. It's not mediocre, not by a long shot.
The screen really shines when I play games on it. One of the games that amazed me of its display quality is Samurai II: Vengeance (available around 3 bucks from Play store).
Set the brightness to full, load that game up & I'm instantly pleased with the bright & colorful details. The text is crisp & easy on eyes. The "Okami" style background of the game is an absolute pleasure to watch on Z Ultra's display.

What can you do with password lock on
Hi,
A quick questions if you don't mind...
I have to have password lock enabled for security because of policies.
What functions are available with the password lock still enabled. e.g. Are you able to jot quick notes and take photos without having to unlock by entering the password first ?
Thanks,
Zuber

Zuber said:
Hi,
A quick questions if you don't mind...
I have to have password lock enabled for security because of policies.
What functions are available with the password lock still enabled. e.g. Are you able to jot quick notes and take photos without having to unlock by entering the password first ?
Thanks,
Zuber
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Zuber,
I currently have Calendar & Gmail set up on lock screen, together with Camera Quick Launch.
So far, only Camera Quick Launch (You can take photos) without having to password unlock first.
All other functions will require you to unlock by entering password.
Hope the info above helps.

ERICTHK said:
Hi Zuber,
I currently have Calendar & Gmail set up on lock screen, together with Camera Quick Launch.
So far, only Camera Quick Launch (You can take photos) without having to password unlock first.
All other functions will require you to unlock by entering password.
Hope the info above helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, so I can take photos so part way there I'm surprised there is no quick Note taking option though ? Or is that because you don't have Note app on your shortcuts ?

Zuber said:
Thanks, so I can take photos so part way there I'm surprised there is no quick Note taking option though ? Or is that because you don't have Note app on your shortcuts ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I don't have Note app in my shortcuts

ERICTHK said:
Nope, I don't have Note app in my shortcuts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Has potential. Will have a play once it arrives in the shops...

In relation @amgelofmusics 's excellnet post on colour analsyis of the screen
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44630248&postcount=191
I don't think it helpful/in the rules to suggest a member has a disorder as earlier in this post because they published something they they don't find helpful, (unlike the 4 members, who find it helpful)

Whats so Special about the Xperia z2?....

I've had the xperia z2 phone for about 3 weeks now,and i must say its a pretty descent phone. But i cant help asking myself whats so special about this phone that i paid so much for?. Its indisputable that the z2 is a highly spec'd phone with the gorgeous screen and all,but when talking smartphone,its not all the internal specs that matters,the build quality does matter too,which IMO the z2 doesnt possess. I mean come to think of it,z2 is one of the most complained about smartphones out there,not to mention...
~The spaces found between the metal frame and the glass panel,in-which my phone also have + the back glass got replaced,making it more susceptible to water damage and what not!
~The issue of self cracking,although i understand its of minority,but com'on! Its worrying
~Overheating issues,i know this have been addressed already in several places,a phone like the z2 should be able to withstand some average period of 4k recording without overheating,not just few minutes.
~The inability for the other party to hear during calls...well,even though i was able to find a temporary solution to it by flashing a custom ROM,but do all the z2 owners with same problem have to flash custom rom as well? Also,not to talk of the absurd location of the mic.
~And Oh! Did i mention the camera? Well it has a good amount of MegaPixel but seriously,the camera software suuuuuuuuu*cks!! Most especially the superior auto mode. I find myself using the ProCapture more often now. And the other day,I and a friend of mine with an iPhone 5s snapped same photo,and he mocked me 'cos his images were better than mine.
Lastly,i know That no Smartphone is perfect,buy Sony,You could do better than this!!
Anybody on my side?

You cant judge an entire Brand off of one defective Unit
I have never had overheating from 4k
I never have overheating from gaming
The camera is perfectly fine, it isnt perfect in low light but not many phones can do as good as Z2
Self cracking glass? I dont understand how this posible, glass nor aluminum does not expand nor shrink enough to cause self cracking
Spaces, what spaces?
Yes on my previous defective unit had all these problems but since that defective device was replaced i have had no issues at all

Abdl said:
I've had the xperia z2 phone for about 3 weeks now,and i must say its a pretty descent phone. But i cant help asking myself whats so special about this phone that i paid so much for?. Its indisputable that the z2 is a highly spec'd phone with the gorgeous screen and all,but when talking smartphone,its not all the internal specs that matters,the build quality does matter too,which IMO the z2 doesnt possess. I mean come to think of it,z2 is one of the most complained about smartphones out there,not to mention...
~The spaces found between the metal frame and the glass panel,in-which my phone also have + the back glass got replaced,making it more susceptible to water damage and what not!
~The issue of self cracking,although i understand its of minority,but com'on! Its worrying
~Overheating issues,i know this have been addressed already in several places,a phone like the z2 should be able to withstand some average period of 4k recording without overheating,not just few minutes.
~The inability for the other party to hear during calls...well,even though i was able to find a temporary solution to it by flashing a custom ROM,but do all the z2 owners with same problem have to flash custom rom as well? Also,not to talk of the absurd location of the mic.
~And Oh! Did i mention the camera? Well it has a good amount of MegaPixel but seriously,the camera software suuuuuuuuu*cks!! Most especially the superior auto mode. I find myself using the ProCapture more often now. And the other day,I and a friend of mine with an iPhone 5s snapped same photo,and he mocked me 'cos his images were better than mine.
Lastly,i know That no Smartphone is perfect,buy Sony,You could do better than this!!
Anybody on my side?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Yes, the spaces are real problem as Sony is already guilty about this from the previous phones. Luckily mine does not have any but that does not change the fact that they exist on many phone
- No idea about that one as I only read 1-2 things about it and never faced it in reality (me, my brother and my sister's husband bought 3 Z2s together and than my sister got an Z3 and none had any problems so far, so no experience on this one)
-Overheating is not an issue about daily usage or even heavy usage. It only matters on video recording because when video recording not only CPU cores and GPU being used at the same time but also camera processor (I don't know how this one is called) is heavily working to "catch" all that detail (simply taking 30, 4MP photos every single second and has to catch the light and decide for each pixel). Other than that I have not witnessed overheating cousing disconfort or slowing to phone down (I tried playing games more than 2 hours).
- Again, I haven't experienced this either. So no comments here.
- Camera software is really good actually, every setting is there but raw format. Only bothering thing is the AI which is supposed to choose the right settings. It behaves too "human-like" and "emotional" thus resulting some unrealistic color reproduction sometimes. So if you have time (Hope it's not a bird that you are trying to catch) and patience, it's best to make manual setting.
Anyway, apart from the subjects you mention, Let's compare what the "rivals" offer;
LG: there is G3. unnecessarily high screen resolution with a result that is not any better than Sony's screen thus also resulting worse battery life and more waste of GPU power. Although I like the design, and the placement of the buttons to the back side, very much; Sony has more premium materials and better camera with better results against the OIS, laser focusing camera of LG's.
Besides, G3 comes with two different amounts of RAM which makes me take the company as "disturbingly arrogant after the succesfull Nexus 4,5 and G2 and quickly forgot the days that they were punished by the customers' wallets because of locked bootloader of Optimus G and other unsuccesfull phones". Still, they choose to make things harder for developers after a very developer friendly G2. I believe there is no match in this land to Sony.
HTC; One (M8). HTC has been trying to bring some changes to the game since long time with their Beats Audio and other audio projects. They also tried to change things in the camera section too. I can't say they are doing bad things but I believe 20.7MP is still has higher capability of catching the light better than dual 4MP, bigger pixel camera. And I also believe (and tested) Sony's sound capabilities are better than HTC's when it comes to headphones (which is what is really important for a true music lover in my opinion. Who can truly enjoy the music from a mobile devices speakers? Want real music, use the jack)
On the chipset performance section, One (M8) is still not a rival to Sony's Z2. Not talking about the battery, it's 2600MAh.
Besides (I don't know if things are different from my One X days) HTC devices come with an extra security to try to prevent you from unlocking bootloader and saving themselves when they need to honor the warranty. After losing my patience over my One X's waiting for an S-OFF solution, I run away from HTC and never looked back (I can't even consider Nexus 9, thinking Nvidia and HTC coming together is like another Saw movie, it scares me). In a world even jailbreaking is legal that is too much for an Android user to accept.
Let's come to Motorola/Google; Nexus 6. It's a great rival, an honorable one. And maybe the only one with the ability of putting a real fight. Still, with that 6" screen it's not everyones cup of cake. Design and the specs are gorgeus, so is the screen. But it's big. I came to Xperia Z2 after a long time Note 2, then Nexus 4 usage and it feels right with 5.2" screen. This one is about preferences though, not the actual spec comparison.
Nexus 6 becomes a real deal with it's AMOLED screen (not calibrated by Samsung thankfully), water ressistance, best CPU&GPU and it's cutting edge software. However, when it comes to one-hand compatibility, MicroSD card expantion chance, camera and soudn quality Sony still has it's advantages.
And finally Samsung; S5 and Note 4. I guess I should take Note 4 into account as it's newer and better. Samsung has fingerprint sensor as different from it's rivals. A nice one to accept.
I understand that Samsung is a hardware making company. So they have to create and sell their hardwares and it's easy to see Quallcomm dominated the market since the Nexus 4 attack. Google did this to unify the market. Since the S4 Pro evey Quallcomm chipset has great similarities on their softwares and drivers, mostly their performance vary. This helps developers to measure their fresh-written apps/games on 1 or 2 devices and easily make sure they will run on many devices out there. It sounds good right? Well, Samsung is always bringing their SoCs to the market and always trying to push the limits (sometimes by cheating on benchmarks). On the raw power side, that could seem as a good thing but on the software side it messes things. As a big part of the market, almost every developer has the feeling to make their game/app compatible with Samsung devices. But they come with different SoCs and Samsung refuses to share their own chipsets' source codes. So they just make everything harder for developers. I guess we all know that a well optimised software is always better than the highest hardware.
One more thing about Samsung, they are first company to open their bootloaders to the public and shared every necessary code on their Galaxy S days. This is how they got so respected and made all that money. So they still have the unlocked bootloader but with some ir-reversable flagging system that flags you if you alter anything as small as a rooting attempt to your system. And then, they claim you out of warranty. Besides, as they refuse to share their source codes for their hardware, most developers have really hard time preparing custom ROMs or early fixes etc. for Samsung phones. So basically, Samsung tells you that "you have a phone which comes with an unlocked bootloader so you can do whatever you want with it.........If you can"
If you are a fan of Samsung's software and policy than it's a good semi-independent eco system in Android world. The S-Pen is also good. However I can not take them anymore after the Note II's hard days, waiting for a simply working AOSP ROM.
I know there are other Android companies but these are best-known ones globally and after that comparison I believe Xperia Z2 started to seem better in your eyes. If still not, I can also remind you;
-Sony is the only company which update kernels too,
-Sony is the only company which provides the AOSP code for their devices (the other compaines rather selling their devices as GPEs but apperiently Google has taken this idea down)
-Xperia Z2 has the best music experience throught the headphones among it's rivals
-One of the best (If not best) cameras out there
-Has that DRM keys problem for the "discoverer" people like us but thanks to our developers there is cure to that.

Let me start by saying You guys got me abit wrong. I didn't write all that based solely on my personal experience with the phone. Trust me,I've done some good research and found out that vast majority of the issues encountered with by the xz2 users revolve around all these problems. I understand my phone could be one of the defective units sold,so you saying that the thousands of users who complain about the same set of problems in different forums all bought the defective units? I dont think that would make any sense.
tOrNadO™ said:
4. About 4k recording, last time i tested 4k i was able to hit 67 mins with custom thermal settings and was using DoomKernel on 314 fw. Device was on 67 degrees max. Still nothing happened. All devices that support 4k heats n this feature can be only used for a temporary time, provided Sony gave max time of usage of 4k.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if i dont wanna customize the thermal settings or play around with kernels? Does that mean i cant get same results as yours?? Besides,I(and im sure many people) wont buy a phone like this just to start tempering with stuff!!
tOrNadO™ said:
5. Call problems? Again, since u might hv had a defective unit, the speaker might be faulty or u might have done something wrong with some mods installation or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think the call problems i faced have anything to do with the mic,as ive stated,i solved the problem by simply flashing a custom rom(eXistenZ) into it. But Hey! Not everyone would want to root their phones or flash a custom rom just to fix the basic function of a phone!!
tOrNadO™ said:
6. About the Camera, PLS LEARN TO USE MANUAL SETTINGS. All phones in Auto mode SUCKS BIG TIME. Even the phones with best camera's. Manual Settings gives u the best results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're definitely wrong about this! Not every's phone Auto Mode sucks. Coz iPhone's Auto Mode doesnt suck as much as it does on xz2,(not comparing iOS with Android by any chance)and trust me,it produces some descent shots for the on-the-go photographer like me who wouldn't want/have to temper with manual settings,perhaps i dont know much about it
One thing most of you fail to realize is that an ideal smartphone should aim at satisfying both the average users and the Know-How guys like me and you
And Oh! Does Anybody know how i can reduce the intensity of incoming call vibration on this phone?? Its more like an earthquake

It's a little annoying you created this thread and expect people to agree points substantiated with poor arguments? So what's go great of the S5? Exploding batteries, laggy UI?! M8, the "awesome" camera???
Everyone phone has its flaws, but sadly, the those mentioned for the Z2 are mostly invalid. Overheating won't happen unless you use 4k. Dropped my phone numerous times and not a single scratch on my the glass panel. My unit screen is aligned accurately. I don't know what you're trying to get out of this thread? Or you're a keyboard warrior paid by Samsung?
And how old are you? Your post is riddled with smileys and stuff. If you find this discussion funny, please do not start this thread, you're wasting everyone's time. And your best friend mocked you because he presumed the iPhone takes better photos than the Z2 (not true)?? Such maturity.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

Abdl said:
Let me start by saying You guys got me abit wrong. I didn't write all that based solely on my personal experience with the phone. Trust me,I've done some good research and found out that vast majority of the issues encountered with by the xz2 users revolve around all these problems. I understand my phone could be one of the defective units sold,so you saying that the thousands of users who complain about the same set of problems in different forums all bought the defective units? I dont think that would make any sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is Sony started to manufacture phones themselves since Z2 and before that they had a client tied up manufacturing the units. Since they started their own, they had a setback, a lot of defective Z2 units and Sony did agree to replace the defective ones with a proper unit and they did(One of our RC's got his Z2 replaced like 4 times). So when u get a proper unit, u won't be seeing any of these issues. All Z2's having batch nos til 14w21 are defective in one or the other way. Some are major defective and some are minor. Batches after 14w25 are clean as a whistle, aka no defects even if u search with a magnifying glass.
What if i dont wanna customize the thermal settings or play around with kernels? Does that mean i cant get same results as yours?? Besides,I(and im sure many people) wont buy a phone like this just to start tempering with stuff!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on a non-rooted phone right now. Still 4k ran for half hour without problems. Although u don't seem to accept the fact that 4k is still kinda in the initial phase of the mobile market. Smartphones require more improvements which will come in the near future.
I dont think the call problems i faced have anything to do with the mic,as ive stated,i solved the problem by simply flashing a custom rom(eXistenZ) into it. But Hey! Not everyone would want to root their phones or flash a custom rom just to fix the basic function of a phone!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call problem hasn't been a problem on any Z2 i have seen so far. 8 of my friends have bought a Z2 ever since they saw mine. None of them complained any of the issues u faced. Plus Call clarity is better than other phones that i have compared.
You're definitely wrong about this! Not every's phone Auto Mode sucks. Coz iPhone's Auto Mode doesnt suck as much as it does on xz2,(not comparing iOS with Android by any chance)and trust me,it produces some descent shots for the on-the-go photographer like me who wouldn't want/have to temper with manual settings,perhaps i dont know much about it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android doesn't support RAW exif until Android 5.0. With Lollipop, Image processing changes drastically. But for the better of the performance. Although i disagree with u on this. I even linked u to the pictures thread, did u see it? Did u see atleast 10 pages? I was impressed by the Z2's Camera capability even with 4.4.4(KitKat). On any phone, Auto Mode isn't recommended. Manual Settings are a MUST. If u say otherwise, then the whole photography concept is WRONG. (Which isn't). Even average users use Manual Settings pal, no one uses Auto mode anymore unlike very few.
One thing most of you fail to realize is that an ideal smartphone should aim at satisfying both the average users and the Know-How guys like me and you
And Oh! Does Anybody know how i can reduce the intensity of incoming call vibration on this phone?? Its more like an earthquake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, you're able to notice issues nobody else have. Vibration intensity? Its more than normal. Its like 10% of what my Nokia 3310 caused. Now that's what u call an Earthquake, Z2 is fine. If u feel otherwise, you should consider selling it and go for other brands. That's my suggestion. But i'm pretty sure you're gonna come back to Xperia section itself. You should do more research and find facts unlike some sites only provide false stats n reviews.

lee480 said:
It's a little annoying you created this thread and expect people to agree points substantiated with poor arguments? So what's go great of the S5? Exploding batteries, laggy UI?! M8, the "awesome" camera???
Everyone phone has its flaws, but sadly, the those mentioned for the Z2 are mostly invalid. Overheating won't happen unless you use 4k. Dropped my phone numerous times and not a single scratch on my the glass panel. My unit screen is aligned accurately. I don't know what you're trying to get out of this thread? Or you're a keyboard warrior paid by Samsung?
And how old are you? Your post is riddled with smileys and stuff. If you find this discussion funny, please do not start this thread, you're wasting everyone's time. And your best friend mocked you because he presumed the iPhone takes better photos than the Z2 (not true)?? Such maturity.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Totally agree with that bro @lee480
Kinda useless if you ask me, why such people open new threads like this, they can read the specs and informations on google but for some it is hard to find and it is also useless to compare different devices like Sony v.s. Samsung or any other brand with eachother, every device have his own abilities, so if some dont like the Xperia Range step then over to another one, so they dont have to bother us with they frustrations, simple as that !
Sony is just the best in my eyes and i use it for years and i see and feel the improvements what they bring to us and i dont have any complainings on that.
Sony rocks !!
Sent From Somewhere On Earth With My Z2 ^^

I switch from nexus 5 to z2 hopin it will be on higher ends of things but it turn out to be worse tha N5. The only pro it has over N5 is the screen size and battery life. The camera on z2 is awful. I can take my N5 out and take pics with perfect clarity and brightness in dark restaurant. With my z2, it takes yellowish pictures and dark front camera. I wish I never brought it and now im stuck with it

spike378 said:
I switch from nexus 5 to z2 hopin it will be on higher ends of things but it turn out to be worse tha N5. The only pro it has over N5 is the screen size and battery life. The camera on z2 is awful. I can take my N5 out and take pics with perfect clarity and brightness in dark restaurant. With my z2, it takes yellowish pictures and dark front camera. I wish I never brought it and now im stuck with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I admit the z2 camera sucks compared to like the s5 or note 4 or even the g3 in some cases, but against the nexus 5? I am beginning to question your eyesight.

No need to force everyone to agree with your perception. U can sell your device and get a new one, buy the iPhone if u like the features of the Apple. Its so annoying if u keep complaining and forcing people to agree with your logic. Get a life, smartphone is not everything.

+1 @yuskhayru said pretty much what i was going to say
Honnestly Xperias Rival Nokia in terms of camera quality
I have only seen 2 brands truly suprize me with quality and i just mentioned them
Im also dead sick of seeing all this repetitive complaining about silly thing.
If you have a defective unit, Have it replaced.
If you dont like your phone, sell it and buy another.

From june 2014 till yesterday when i got my last replacement its 4 UNITS REPLACED for one year, all these faults happend to me , first was the selfcracking backplate , then on the next unit people were unable to hear me , and it backplate opened by itself and wasnt waterproof anymore, so 2days ago got my 4th replacement...its good from one side that you buy phone and after almost year you got still new device,buuuut guys thata not acceptable after all these faults with the 'Z" anf Sony just didnt learn their lessons, same faults on the flagships each new year, dont say to me all these bull****s thats its normal,because its not normal to replace 4 units for 1 year...
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

Soooo can you report a thread on xda for being useless and a waste of the interwebs?
If you want to complain I suggest you should head over to the sony support forum to vent your frustration. This may have the unintended benefit of someone seeing the rant that could help.

I have to agree that sony z series main weakness is camera software. But did you try used other camera app? It might help you anyway, it is better to have a software deficiency rather than lack of hardware feature. From z to z2 im happy it had improved alot problem only is other oem had improved alot also. Anyway hope sony outshines this. Cause there are no drastically added features in smartphone.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

o0 Matt 0o said:
Soooo can you report a thread on xda for being useless and a waste of the interwebs?
If you want to complain I suggest you should head over to the sony support forum to vent your frustration. This may have the unintended benefit of someone seeing the rant that could help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Aparently reporting does nothing.

Envious_Data said:
+1
Aparently reporting does nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it do ^^
A Moderator take a look into it and close it but not sure but i think yes if they read the replies here.
Sent From Somewhere On Earth With My Z2 ^^

Ok guys!
Im sorry if I've caused anybody a headache by creating this thread,i was just trying to rule out some things about my new phone so i thought i could see the opinions of you guys that are using the same phone.
We could be a little bit diplomatic when addressing issues like this,No big deal. It was just a thread!!
Anyways,like i said,Im sorry.

yuskhayru said:
No need to force everyone to agree with your perception. U can sell your device and get a new one, buy the iPhone if u like the features of the Apple. Its so annoying if u keep complaining and forcing people to agree with your logic. Get a life, smartphone is not everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not forcing anybody to agree with my perception. I obviously came from an iPhone so i dont need another.
You're right,smartphone is not everything. Sorry about the annoyance:angel:

PC Mag Review-> Current users, what's your take in comparison to theirs?

PC Mag has a review of the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe here.
Those of you with the phone, what are your thoughts? This one review turns me off the phone.

ewingr said:
PC Mag has a review of the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe here.
Those of you with the phone, what are your thoughts? This one review turns me off the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PC Mag did indeed seem to test the Deluxe 5.7"/6/64 version; as for the "bloat":
1: this is a very subjective topic; most reviews are on the contrary, applauding ASUS for slimming ZenUI down, but I don't have the phone yet so can't say for myself. Some might like it, for others it might be too much. Again - the keyword is "subjective".
2: there are a lot of hands on reviews on youtube - do your research; don't base your opinion on just 1 review.
3: Hoping ASUS will release the bootloader unlock tool, custom roms should come quite fast, thus bloatware will no longer be an issue

I certainly don't intend to make a decision on one review.
Regarding YouTube 'reviews', I have found that most spend so much time just flicking the screen back and fourth and up and down...and don't very often offer much. I will likely take a look, but expect better info here in the forums.

I wonder if the reviewer used a note 7 or not because it does the same regarding warnings of: RAM, app closures, battery life, Samsung + and rebooting after being on for 7 days w/o a reboot.

He did. He rated the note 7 as the best smartphone he had ever used.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk

I did go check out YouTube reviews. After 4 that only talks about what features and specs it has, I decided that yes, YouTube reviews aren't much value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYqIl3UxkY
Nice review if you don't mind the robot voice.

I'm just curious about the camera, on paper it should be good but how often have we seen that translate into crap in real life.
And of course dropping $1300 on a device with a BL that can't be unlocked is against my religion lol..need to see if Asus will be willing to allow an unlock.
And all of this sucks as I returned my note 7 and am now using a 2 year old note 4 so I need a new device ASAP.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 2

RMXO said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYqIl3UxkY
Nice review if you don't mind the robot voice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for linking that. It was a pretty good review.

force70 said:
I'm just curious about the camera, on paper it should be good but how often have we seen that translate into crap in real life.
And of course dropping $1300 on a device with a BL that can't be unlocked is against my religion lol..need to see if Asus will be willing to allow an unlock.
And all of this sucks as I returned my note 7 and am now using a 2 year old note 4 so I need a new device ASAP.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it has the same lens and sensor as the Sony Xperia X, and dxomark rated it an 88. That ties it as the highest ranked camera on a smartphone until the pixel is finally on the street, at a whopping 89.
https://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Sony-Xperia-X-Performance-Mobile-review-Impressive-results
https://www.google.com/amp/s/recombu.com/mobile/article/sony-xperia-x-camera-review/amp
Granted, there is a lot more to how well the camera takes pictures than just the hardware. But, given that the hardware has proven to be top of the line, it means this phone should take amazing images.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk

I can't say about the 64gb/4gbversion as I got the 256gb/6gb version but as with the Zenfone 2, you can uninstall most of the Asus apps. It's pretty quick and does everything I want.
Battery lasts a good day, tested it with video watching for about 6 hours and that off an OTG device with about 28% left.
Not really a photographer but the pictures are fine. Very good in bright light but fall down a bit in low light, as with most phones.
Call quality is fine, no problem with others hearing me or me them.
As I say, there may indeed be a difference between models but the one I have is great...
Like it a lot and would recommend.

Now that I have my phone, it is obvious that PC Mag review was very biased. This phone is 4.5/5 stars easy.

As i said the before on another thread, this phone is amazing , i got the 64g/6 version, i was going after the 256 one, but sadly it was sold out when i got there, it's no problem though , the version i have is more then enough and with the SD card included makes it more better. i do love the camera quality on this, including the 1920x1080 at 60 FPS, there is also 4k video as well.
And My Carrier signal is strong as well. Just hope now to get some custom roms into this phone when ASUS releases the sources, looking at the zenhone 2, seems they got a lot of it, so i hope the same here. There is things i can't control on here, like the LED notifications (none of the apps don't work from google play) and for some odd reason when you get a text message or e-mail, nothing lights the screen up, though i do get the sound or vibration from it, i had to get an APP for that and it works nicley with that.

Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.

ewingr said:
Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.
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Click to collapse
Tomsguide review is the closest to explaining the phone in general terms along with it's shortcomings. I don't think it necessarily negative either. I've read and viewed quite a few reviews but my own experience after almost 2 weeks is that its a really good phone with the issues listed in the tomsguide review. For me battery life has been pretty good after bloat removal. Can't wait for root.

ewingr said:
Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.
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All these reviews are old and done before Asus released its Camera updates. For instance, the shutter Is super fast for me and photos look great, but I started out on updated phones. Asus has a another camera update getting ready to get pushed to my Special Edition. It is already available on their site so it should be getting pushed via OTA any day now. Don't judge the camera based on any review done before the US Release date, they are inaccurate. I need to go to the store and do a camera comparison with the other phones.
---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 AM ----------
Quoted from one of those reviews "The Bad:?*Poor camera performance for its price, fingerprint reader could not read one of my fingers for some reason, 1080p not ideal on such a large display, Zen UI needs refinements".
First off, the updates must've fixed a whole lot as I don't understand the poor camera reviews and I am sure other current owners would agree.
Fingerprint reader works perfect for me, so it was probably 'I.D.10-T' on the part of the reviewer.
This is my first experience with ZenUI and it is amazing in every aspect. Just a pleasure to use. I instantly installed a few updates for that too though so maybe that is the difference in our experiences.
Lastly, anyone who says you need more than a 1080p screen on a 5.7" phone is an utter moron falling for gimmicks. I have perfect eyesight and I cannot see a single pixel on this screen, no matter how close I look, and this display looks amazing. Anything with a higher resolution would only serve to drain the battery faster. The only possible benefit of higher resolution on this phone would be for VR. If VR is a non-factor for you, then ignore anyone who says you need a better resolution. Now I haven't tried out VR at all yet as I am just waiting to see whether the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift wins, so I don't actually know if you need more than 1080p. Higher resolution always means greater constraints on performance though so 1080p may even be better for VR on phones right now. Like I said though, I will defer to experienced VR users on that. Outside of VR, I assure you, higher than a 1080 resolution on a 5.7" phone will only serve to drain your battery faster.

Blues-n-Blazin said:
All these reviews are old and done before Asus released its Camera updates. For instance, the shutter Is super fast for me and photos look great, but I started out on updated phones. Asus has a another camera update getting ready to get pushed to my Special Edition. It is already available on their site so it should be getting pushed via OTA any day now. Don't judge the camera based on any review done before the US Release date, they are inaccurate. I need to go to the store and do a camera comparison with the other phones.
---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 AM ----------
Quoted from one of those reviews "The Bad:?*Poor camera performance for its price, fingerprint reader could not read one of my fingers for some reason, 1080p not ideal on such a large display, Zen UI needs refinements".
First off, the updates must've fixed a whole lot as I don't understand the poor camera reviews and I am sure other current owners would agree.
Fingerprint reader works perfect for me, so it was probably 'I.D.10-T' on the part of the reviewer.
This is my first experience with ZenUI and it is amazing in every aspect. Just a pleasure to use. I instantly installed a few updates for that too though so maybe that is the difference in our experiences.
Lastly, anyone who says you need more than a 1080p screen on a 5.7" phone is an utter moron falling for gimmicks. I have perfect eyesight and I cannot see a single pixel on this screen, no matter how close I look, and this display looks amazing. Anything with a higher resolution would only serve to drain the battery faster. The only possible benefit of higher resolution on this phone would be for VR. If VR is a non-factor for you, then ignore anyone who says you need a better resolution. Now I haven't tried out VR at all yet as I am just waiting to see whether the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift wins, so I don't actually know if you need more than 1080p. Higher resolution always means greater constraints on performance though so 1080p may even be better for VR on phones right now. Like I said though, I will defer to experienced VR users on that. Outside of VR, I assure you, higher than a 1080 resolution on a 5.7" phone will only serve to drain your battery faster.
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I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.

Darkdragontc said:
I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.
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That one chipchick review was definitely dumb. Couldn't read one of my fingers? really? laughable... I have seen reviews of another phone (LG V20) where reviewers and users sh*t-talked it's fingerprint reader, realizing only later that they forgot to take the new protective plastic cover off of the button...
Don't get me started about the 1080p screen complainers... The Super AMOLED screen is one this year's best. What's worse about these reviewers is that phone makers listened to them when they complained last year about preferring 1080p over QHD because they struggled to find a big viewing difference and battery life was better on 1080p. phoneArena's first paragraph mentions that here. At this point it's more about Lazy reviewers and bragging rights than the actual facts.
I do seem to notice the shutter lag and low-light focus hunt on my phone's camera more than other people it seems, and I have the latest updates. Judging by others on here maybe it's just my phone, or I'm taking more low light pics. Quality is otherwise great in normal daytime usage.

Darkdragontc said:
I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.
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Have you tried a 256GB card? The US Asus site says 128GB SD card limit and the global site says a 2TB max SD card size. So the question which is correct or did the US version just get gypped?

Blues-n-Blazin said:
Have you tried a 256GB card? The US Asus site says 128GB SD card limit and the global site says a 2TB max SD card size. So the question which is correct or did the US version just get gypped?
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Okay so upon investigation, it looks so far as the Taiwanese version (Asus' home country) was the one to get 2TB. US and India are both 128GB on their sites. I'm going to check a few more countries.
Edit: Japan got 2TB too, then again, they don't even have the 64GB SD820 version at all.
---------- Post added at 08:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------
The Simple said:
That one chipchick review was definitely dumb. Couldn't read one of my fingers? really? laughable... I have seen reviews of another phone (LG V20) where reviewers and users sh*t-talked it's fingerprint reader, realizing only later that they forgot to take the new protective plastic cover off of the button...
Don't get me started about the 1080p screen complainers... The Super AMOLED screen is one this year's best. What's worse about these reviewers is that phone makers listened to them when they complained last year about preferring 1080p over QHD because they struggled to find a big viewing difference and battery life was better on 1080p. phoneArena's first paragraph mentions that here. At this point it's more about Lazy reviewers and bragging rights than the actual facts.
I do seem to notice the shutter lag and low-light focus hunt on my phone's camera more than other people it seems, and I have the latest updates. Judging by others on here maybe it's just my phone, or I'm taking more low light pics. Quality is otherwise great in normal daytime usage.
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When I click the shutter, my screen flashes a tenth of a second later. I never expected instantaneous on a phone though...I upgraded from a note 2 though and don't care about pictures that much. Is it supposed to be instantaneous? Asus just released another update to improve the camera further on their site and it should be getting pushed to our phones soon. Well it has been released for the SD821, but that means the SD820 should get posted soon, if not already. The OTA hasn't been pushed to my phone yet but I read somewhere that it could take a week to push the OTA after they release it.
I would like better pics in low light but I feel that is strictly software and should get better with updates. We will see.
Edit: actually I just went to the camera and it is actually instant when I hold the phone steady.

Better Mobile App

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