please explain to me why the camera is so bad

please explain to me why the camera is so bad - Sony Xperia Z Ultra

hello everyone
please someone explain to me why the pictures taken by the camera are so bad knowing its still an 8mp camera, my iPhone shoots better pictures than z ultra even my galaxy s2 pictures are better. It is the processing done by sony to pictures taken by camera, if yes if it is disabled will then the pictures be better , please someone explain

Over processing. It's a software issue.

LordManhattan said:
Over processing. It's a software issue.
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since its software how can that be fixed or replaced with another software

hykhleif said:
since its software how can that be fixed or replaced with another software
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How can it be fixed? By not raping our photos after we've taken them. It's an idiotic decision by Sony.
I've read that Camera Zoom on the Play Store gives better results, but you still won't get good photos unless there's a good light source. Sony needs to push out an update that corrects the over processing, but god knows if and when that will happen. In the meantime, check out the Play Store and play around with different camera apps.

LordManhattan said:
How can it be fixed? By not raping our photos after we've taken them. It's an idiotic decision by Sony.
I've read that Camera Zoom on the Play Store gives better results, but you still won't get good photos unless there's a good light source. Sony needs to push out an update that corrects the over processing, but god knows if and when that will happen. In the meantime, check out the Play Store and play around with different camera apps.
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thats even awful to know that its a software bug, how come sony did not see that huge problem?????

hykhleif said:
thats even awful to know that its a software bug, how come sony did not see that huge problem?????
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Click to collapse
They were probably trying to push it out on the market as quickly as possible, which we also saw in other areas of the software (SODs, screen issues, phantom clicks etc.)

LordManhattan said:
They were probably trying to push it out on the market as quickly as possible, which we also saw in other areas of the software (SODs, screen issues, phantom clicks etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont know about sony how they handle problem through updates but is sony good in that area, as I came from samsung devices???

hykhleif said:
i dont know about sony how they handle problem through updates but is sony good in that area, as I came from samsung devices???
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Click to collapse
They seem to be I got my phone last week and already got 3 or 4 updates.

hykhleif said:
i dont know about sony how they handle problem through updates but is sony good in that area, as I came from samsung devices???
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Click to collapse
we've had three updates in three months. Seem to be way better than Samsung.

The camera is horrible until you start manually controlling ISO. Even in lower light I keep it at 400 or 800, anything over that will just look like **** but you'll be surprised with the quality of the pictures you can take when you set the ISO to 200 or 400

I think it's not just software that's the problem with the Ultra. I think Sony intentionally used a very cheap sensor that is marketed as 8MP but is actually just comparable to VGA. Gives me the reason to save up for the X-E2.
Sent from my C6833 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

You should try Lenovo super camera.( Google the apk) It really improves the image quality. But i agree. It looks like 2MP on stock camera.

keithleyson said:
I think it's not just software that's the problem with the Ultra. I think Sony intentionally used a very cheap sensor that is marketed as 8MP but is actually just comparable to VGA. Gives me the reason to save up for the X-E2.
Sent from my C6833 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
Agreed. SONY is so cheap.
They simply don't want to make a perfect device.

IMO, the camera takes ok pictures for social media use, if I need something to hang in my living room, I'll use my dslr or rx100

if you try to take pic with Ultra Z in the house the pic is so bad i don't want even look at it, it contains alot of grain, but outside the house the pic is ok. i got also Xperia arc, the photo taken by arc is much better than Ultra Z.
Poor i did not know this before buying the thing

centi50 said:
if you try to take pic with Ultra Z in the house the pic is so bad i don't want even look at it, it contains alot of grain, but outside the house the pic is ok. i got also Xperia arc, the photo taken by arc is much better than Ultra Z.
Poor i did not know this before buying the thing
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Click to collapse
I agree I will now likely be returning the device.
My 4-5 year old Sony Xperia X1 with a 3.2 MP camera takes better photos then this phone.
Basically the ZU camera is not usable for anything but taking a photo of a sign / piece of paper to remember / remind you of some notes.
Forget about taking a photo of your friends, or anything really.
Its quite depressing, i love everything about the phone and really want to keep it, but the quality is so bad that the word bad, is a grave overstatement and makes it sound good.

cenkaetaya said:
I agree I will now likely be returning the device.
My 4-5 year old Sony Xperia X1 with a 3.2 MP camera takes better photos then this phone.
Basically the ZU camera is not usable for anything but taking a photo of a sign / piece of paper to remember / remind you of some notes.
Forget about taking a photo of your friends, or anything really.
Its quite depressing, i love everything about the phone and really want to keep it, but the quality is so bad that the word bad, is a grave overstatement and makes it sound good.
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Click to collapse
Totally agree, i can't put it in better words. I can't imagine that sony uses this kind of quality in this high end phone. That really isn't logically, I assume it's a software thing.

The real reason come from the thickness...
A normal sensor is very thick! Close the Z Ultra. How you want to do like this.
Software will probably help, but don't dream: Z Ultra and his sensor is to thin.

Have you tried a different camera app like FV-5? I hope the pictures can be fixed with an app because I went in to the store to test out the device and the photos were really terrible!

After reading all the review and my device photo result, i think i know the culprit. It is related to the no flash condition on the Ultra, thus to be able to reach higher light into the sensor, they purposefully increase the ISO level to the extreme. Thus the grainy photo. Once you reduce the ISO into the low 100-400 with manual mode, the quality increased tremendously.
But how to counter attack the reduced light? well, none that i know of with stock camera, but the Camera FV5 with modified shutter speed seems like the best solution. For me, even though the stock experience is bad, when tweaked, it's very adequate for an 8mp

Related

XZU camera: diabolical!

coming from a note 1, Im a little shocked to see just how badly compressed the ZU's camera is.. I dont care about the lack of flash, but the colour is terrible and i often cant see a great improvement from VGA res photos to "8mp" (actually apparently only 7mp.. and only 4:3) .. im clinging to the fact that its the jpg compression that is causing the majority of the lacking detail (looks very much like it) and that an update somewhere along the line will let you save as fine quality or ideally TIF / RAW

I haven't actually got the phone yet but have seen a lot of reviews on this topic and they all agree with you... I think your right that they have rushed out the phone to early adopters to beta test if you like before releasing to the western markets. I'm pretty sure there'll be an update with in a month that improves camera, screen issues as well as Sony app crashes.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

It's completely the JPG compression. At 8MP setting, the resolution is 3264x2448. That would be a 22 meg uncompressed file. The photos the ZU takes are 1.5 megs as a JPG. They're way overcompressed and show ridiculous amounts of artifacting. Why do they do this? What year is this? Are we concerned about a 5 meg photo?
My guess is some marketing / support execs decided they didn't want to take support calls for people trying to email a few 5meg JPEGs so they just crank it up to heavily compressed so the files are 1 meg and email easily without any conversion.
I just hate that everything has to be decided based on the lowest common denominator of idiots. Clearly though, that's what's happened here because the camera sensor is probably not bad.
It will be funny when people are all excited to buy Honami because of the 21mp sensor but the final JPGs will be compressed to ****.

Yeah, after 2-3 weeks with this, a coming to love it in general, fact is the camera will have me off to the Note 3... Silly Sony.

Lenovo super camera....a lot better jpg's . Works with xzu.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

calinormy said:
Lenovo super camera....a lot better jpg's . Works with xzu.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
i tried this but always got "the camera is in use, close apps using it" .. even directly after a boot.. (I also read reports of v3.5 containing trojans) which version did you try?

Sent from my C6833 using xda app-developers app

The XZU has a camera? Wow, it's so far down my list of priorities, I guess I just didn't notice.

I was actually impressed with the camera on this smartphone. So much better than my Xperia T on color reproduction and noise reduction.

I feel like the camera is really good in light but useless in low light. I love my phone but I may buy something like the galaxy camera or if the qx10 gets a larger holder I would buy that.

so is this truly a software bug and can it fixed by sony

hykhleif said:
so is this truly a software bug and can it fixed by sony
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Click to collapse
I myself don't bother too much with great camera quality on a smartphone.. Nowadays, it's about capturing the moment rather than checking every pixel out of a picture.. If you are really into such a thing, those QX series is a great addition i guess

Hey asone great pics I have taken with the Z Ultra
http://imgur.com/a/karNr
Sent from my C6802 using xda app-developers app

I think Sony is using a cheap sensor on the XZU. The pictures are just plain ugly comparative to older phone cameras. The worst picture taken from my HTC Butterfly looks way better than the best picture taken by my XZU.
Sent from my C6833 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I'm contented with how the picture that I took with my XZU turned out. Maybe because I am not a "photographer" :laugh:
Note: Photos were cropped and I just encircled some parts of it, as I used them in reporting something at work. No filter done though!

jnocomski said:
I'm contented with how the picture that I took with my XZU turned out. Maybe because I am not a "photographer" :laugh:
Note: Photos were cropped and I just encircled some parts of it, as I used them in reporting something at work. No filter done though!
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Click to collapse
From the pics you posted you can clearly (or not) notice the lack of detail. It looks like a collage. Compare that to the photo from my HTC Butterfly at the same 8MP.
View attachment 2354834

keithleyson said:
From the pics you posted you can clearly (or not) notice the lack of detail. It looks like a collage. Compare that to the photo from my HTC Butterfly at the same 8MP.
View attachment 2354834
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Like I said, I'm contended with it, collage or whatever. Not that meticulous on photos. That's just me though.
Sent from my C6802 using Tapatalk HD

jnocomski said:
Like I said, I'm contended with it, collage or whatever. Not that meticulous on photos. That's just me though.
Sent from my C6802 using Tapatalk HD
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Click to collapse
The quality... is pretty bad.
My Galaxy Note 2 camera is much much better.
The quality is so bad that even for a basic photo of friends it doesnt do.
Like the other guy said, if you take a photo of a whiteboard at college, or at a presentation it comes out so bad that you can barely see whats on it.

I don't know how you people are managing to screw things up so bad with the camera. It's no Lumia 1020, but it's really not that bad if you don't use the standard Sony app. Or even if you do, it's fine so long as you don't zoom in. Not sure how you're going to claim it's not good enough for casual pictures of friends. I find it had to believe there are so many photography enthusiasts out there all of a sudden. Before I had a smartphone, I didn't own a camera at all, and I know many people for whom this is also true. I suspect this is the case for many users. Any camera is better than no camera.
Sent from my Xperia Z Ultra using xda app-developers app

AntiLazarus said:
I don't know how you people are managing to screw things up so bad with the camera. It's no Lumia 1020, but it's really not that bad if you don't use the standard Sony app. Or even if you do, it's fine so long as you don't zoom in. Not sure how you're going to claim it's not good enough for casual pictures of friends. I find it had to believe there are so many photography enthusiasts out there all of a sudden. Before I had a smartphone, I didn't own a camera at all, and I know many people for whom this is also true. I suspect this is the case for many users. Any camera is better than no camera.
Sent from my Xperia Z Ultra using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
common man the pictures are really bad and i wish this is just a software issue, as I love this phone and wish at least it takes good pictures but really the pictures are bad, can someone maybe contact sony and ask them so that we can get this to rest and keep wishing for things that might never improve

Bur or not to buy :P

Hello,
I still think about getting Z2, despite of huge hardware issues like overheating. I have few questions to be asked:
1. I found in camcorder (video mode) there is no possible to use "touch to focus" feature. You cannot select what point is to be focused. Right?
2. How much do I need to undervolt CPU and GPU to avoid overheating during 4K filming or just in very hot sunny day?
3. If I install custom ROM, will camera remain as usable as in stock ROM? Example in Samsung often custom ROMs couldn't have the same camera as stock ROM because stock ROM camera used system parts not accessible for custom ROMs - ie. Samsung's deep level files.
So in custom ROMs camera was crap.
4. Is there still plenty of defect batches of phones? We all know Sony manufactured plenty of crap phones and rare of them is without malfunction - bad bezels, jinky camera ect.
^^

Wow! If I believed in massive hardware issues and build quality so poor it's rare to find one without malfunction, I'd put my money elsewhere.

Well I'm on my third Z2... But, as far as custom rims go it's just like Sammy. Stock based roms are near perfect and AOSP based roms will have their share of problems. Honestly though, a stock Sony rom that is rooted is excellent. The slow motion camera capability is my favorite. Far better 120fps capability than the iphone5s and Find7.

ghostofcain said:
Wow! If I believed in massive hardware issues and build quality so poor it's rare to find one without malfunction, I'd put my money elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some week productions which are "better" than others but it is hard to check in shop what week was phone manufactured. Generally newer batches are better than earlier.
farfromovin said:
Well I'm on my third Z2... But, as far as custom rims go it's just like Sammy. Stock based roms are near perfect and AOSP based roms will have their share of problems. Honestly though, a stock Sony rom that is rooted is excellent. The slow motion camera capability is my favorite. Far better 120fps capability than the iphone5s and Find7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So in AOSP ROM I will not be able to use stock camera app because its files are not open source like in Samsung?

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
There are some week productions which are "better" than others but it is hard to check in shop what week was phone manufactured.
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Click to collapse
I understood there was a tag by the SD slot. Open box, check tag, return phone, hardly rocket science.

Super happy
Maybe I'm just lucky but my Z2 is perfect. I've switched to CyanogenMod, as the camera now works there as well (came from a S3 running CM11

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Hello,
I still think about getting Z2, despite of huge hardware issues like overheating. I have few questions to be asked:
1. I found in camcorder (video mode) there is no possible to use "touch to focus" feature. You cannot select what point is to be focused. Right?
2. How much do I need to undervolt CPU and GPU to avoid overheating during 4K filming or just in very hot sunny day?
3. If I install custom ROM, will camera remain as usable as in stock ROM? Example in Samsung often custom ROMs couldn't have the same camera as stock ROM because stock ROM camera used system parts not accessible for custom ROMs - ie. Samsung's deep level files.
So in custom ROMs camera was crap.
4. Is there still plenty of defect batches of phones? We all know Sony manufactured plenty of crap phones and rare of them is without malfunction - bad bezels, jinky camera ect.
^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Touch To Focus works like a charm on Z2!!!
And my Z2 is just perfect.
Buy!

I agree. I have no problems with my device either. Remember, Sony sold millions of these units. All manufacturing has some degree of lemons. I have to believe in this case it is under 5%. I say buy as well.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I got batch 14w17 for which ppl say has lots of issues
as for my unit, I'd say its perfect, has none of issues, recorded around 8 mins of 4k with steady shot on 30 C, mixed direct sunlight and shadow,
i think it only has a slight gap on a top, but a paper can barely fit in

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Hello,
I still think about getting Z2, despite of huge hardware issues like overheating. I have few questions to be asked:
1. I found in camcorder (video mode) there is no possible to use "touch to focus" feature. You cannot select what point is to be focused. Right?
2. How much do I need to undervolt CPU and GPU to avoid overheating during 4K filming or just in very hot sunny day?
3. If I install custom ROM, will camera remain as usable as in stock ROM? Example in Samsung often custom ROMs couldn't have the same camera as stock ROM because stock ROM camera used system parts not accessible for custom ROMs - ie. Samsung's deep level files.
So in custom ROMs camera was crap.
4. Is there still plenty of defect batches of phones? We all know Sony manufactured plenty of crap phones and rare of them is without malfunction - bad bezels, jinky camera ect.
^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Huge hardware issues". The only issues I have is this forum with this constant harping on about "batches". This mobile is manufactured on an ongoing production line. There are NO BATCHES. It is not produced like bread where one hour the baker bakes one sort of bread then stops to bake a different sort, this is batches.
The Z2 is in constant manufacture, that tab on the phone is the week and year it was made, it signifies nothing except the date of manufacture.
Sony are well respected for their quality control and this mobile is no different. In every days production a lemon or two will be produced as in ALL THINGS WE BUY.
THE problem with the Z2 is the nonsense written here about batches and "Huge hardware issues" that are only in the uneducated minds of a tiny minority who write utter rubbish on this forum. The Z2 is as good as any other flag ship mobile presently available. If you don't believe this go look at the threads on any other flag ship phone on this very forum.
"Huge hardware issues" indeed. Some of you would believe in Santa clause if some idiot wrote about him here.
Ryland

Well atleast 1 straight thinking guy, but dont even try, i did, and all you get in return is getting attacked and insulted lol. 1 man started this batch nonsense and now it wont stop no matter what, and it seems like for example slightly off centered camera(where does it even say it has to be centered???) is considered as serious defect by some, or even hardware issue. This is hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

Ryland Johnson said:
"Huge hardware issues". The only issues I have is this forum with this constant harping on about "batches". This mobile is manufactured on an ongoing production line. There are NO BATCHES. It is not produced like bread where one hour the baker bakes one sort of bread then stops to bake a different sort, this is batches.
The Z2 is in constant manufacture, that tab on the phone is the week and year it was made, it signifies nothing except the date of manufacture.
Sony are well respected for their quality control and this mobile is no different. In every days production a lemon or two will be produced as in ALL THINGS WE BUY.
THE problem with the Z2 is the nonsense written here about batches and "Huge hardware issues" that are only in the uneducated minds of a tiny minority who write utter rubbish on this forum. The Z2 is as good as any other flag ship mobile presently available. If you don't believe this go look at the threads on any other flag ship phone on this very forum.
"Huge hardware issues" indeed. Some of you would believe in Santa clause if some idiot wrote about him here.
Ryland
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure? Who said there cannot be defected phones with off-centered cameras as example?
Of course they are in constant production - but that doesn't exclude possibility to get phone with some defects.
They can manufacture 1000 phones till Quality Control finds example off-centered camera. They correct problem and next phones are fine, but those 1000 go to shops as they still work properly, but have visual issues. People who don't know about such issues like this will not return phone and generate costs for Sony, so they can count on people's poor knownledge.
Don't believe in Quality Control, only a fool believes in this. They check one phone per few dozen thousands and that's all.

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Are you sure? Who said there cannot be defected phones with off-centered cameras as example?
Of course they are in constant production - but that doesn't exclude possibility to get phone with some defects.
They can manufacture 1000 phones till Quality Control finds example off-centered camera. They correct problem and next phones are fine, but those 1000 go to shops as they still work properly, but have visual issues. People who don't know about such issues like this will not return phone and generate costs for Sony, so they can count on people's poor knownledge.
Don't believe in Quality Control, only a fool believes in this. They check one phone per few dozen thousands and that's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The days of using micrometres to gauge acceptable tolerances have long gone. Such measurements are now made by laser beam. SOME will escape all human efforts to exclude a lemon reaching the shops but that is why a two year guarantee is given!
No were have I written a lemon will not be found but the % these days with modern QA is tiny in comparison to days gone bye. Of course some poor soul will buy a mobile that has issues. Point is it has NOTHING to do with non existent batches and all to do with being given a guarantee by Sony.
If you are going to base what you buy on what you read on the WWW I suggest you don't buy any mobile at all and use public phones if they are working and not vandalised.
Ryland

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Hello,
I still think about getting Z2, despite of huge hardware issues like overheating. I have few questions to be asked:
1. I found in camcorder (video mode) there is no possible to use "touch to focus" feature. You cannot select what point is to be focused. Right?
2. How much do I need to undervolt CPU and GPU to avoid overheating during 4K filming or just in very hot sunny day?
3. If I install custom ROM, will camera remain as usable as in stock ROM? Example in Samsung often custom ROMs couldn't have the same camera as stock ROM because stock ROM camera used system parts not accessible for custom ROMs - ie. Samsung's deep level files.
So in custom ROMs camera was crap.
4. Is there still plenty of defect batches of phones? We all know Sony manufactured plenty of crap phones and rare of them is without malfunction - bad bezels, jinky camera ect.
^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. from what i've seen there is no touch to focus with video in xperia. Whether that is good or bad is debatable. if subjects around you are in the same focal range then you can pan around and things are in focus, this implies subject is stationary. If it isn't then it will be out of focus and here the z2 focuses fast enough provided it can get a bearing on the subject. That is to say subject fills up more of the screen than not. In some cases it can be a pain but in others it can be more practical. This is highly dependendent on the video you are making.
2. try not to get too carried away with 4k. This is a new feature and current hardware struggles to keep up. samsung limits recording to 5 minutes, g3 reduces bitrate to 30Mbits (s5 records in 48Mbiits and Z2 at 55 Mbits) and still imposes a 5 minute limit. Z2 does not impose any limit. What is more important is whether Z2 can do 1080p without issues and i've not heard any one complain about this.
As for general heating wait for the next firmware to drop and see whether people confirm it makes a difference or not.
3. custom roms means camera functions are limited. This applies with any model except nexus whose camera is public source.
4. faults are reduced with later batches is the most that can be said here. If its a pretty phone then earlier batches will have more issues. if you are in a position to exchange the phone when you notice defect then there is no problem ,but if you are importing from another country this will be difficult.
I have the same dilemma as you but for entirely different reasons. I'm deciding between the k zoom & z2
A mid range with all mid range entails, bulkier phone coupled with a camera with optical zoom vs a flagship that in most respects is well rounded and contender for flagship of the year whose only rival will be the z3.

[kEkA] said:
I got batch 14w17 for which ppl say has lots of issues
as for my unit, I'd say its perfect, has none of issues, recorded around 8 mins of 4k with steady shot on 30 C, mixed direct sunlight and shadow,
i think it only has a slight gap on a top, but a paper can barely fit in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY! Same situation here. Many people saying Batch 14w17 has many issues. Mine is PERFECT. I had the bad call quality issue at the other end, but mine seems to be fixed now..

I had the Z2 and I'm glad I got rid of it so fast. It was my first Sony phone and may be my last one. I didn't like how it felt in hand and yes, the phone has some serious over heating issues. When I had received the phone, I put my Sim card in and installed my apps like I do with every other phone. The phone got so hot by just installing the apps that it threw me off. I'm back to an M8 and I'm very Happy. But to each his own. Some may not experience what I have and love their Z2 but I'm definitely not one of them.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I say don't risk your money like I've just did on my new Xperia Z1c which turned out to be a disappointment. I read about the flash bleed issues before buying but I just thought it was exaggerated and that some people were just trolling. But when I experienced it myself it turned out to be a major issue. At least now I feel kindda glad I didn't get the Z2 which I also had in mind...I guess if I had bought it I would've had the overheating issues with normal photo shooting.
Anyway I guess it's also depends on the country you're in. I now believe Sony and maybe even other manufacturers ship defective products to third world countries like mine. So if you're living in say germany or the UK then I guess there would be no problems buying the phone.

som3a14 said:
I say don't risk your money like I've just did on my new Xperia Z1c which turned out to be a disappointment. I read about the flash bleed issues before buying but I just thought it was exaggerated and that some people were just trolling. But when I experienced it myself it turned out to be a major issue. At least now I feel kindda glad I didn't get the Z2 which I also had in mind...I guess if I had bought it I would've had the overheating issues with normal photo shooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask for a replacement, flash bleed is a hardware issue that happened with some Z1 & Z1c units. Unheard of with Z2.
Just like i never heard of people complain about too much heating with the Z1 line.
som3a14 said:
Anyway I guess it's also depends on the country you're in. I now believe Sony and maybe even other manufacturers ship defective products to third world countries like mine. So if you're living in say germany or the UK then I guess there would be no problems buying the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nonsense.

Ryland Johnson said:
The days of using micrometres to gauge acceptable tolerances have long gone. Such measurements are now made by laser beam. SOME will escape all human efforts to exclude a lemon reaching the shops but that is why a two year guarantee is given!
No were have I written a lemon will not be found but the % these days with modern QA is tiny in comparison to days gone bye. Of course some poor soul will buy a mobile that has issues. Point is it has NOTHING to do with non existent batches and all to do with being given a guarantee by Sony.
If you are going to base what you buy on what you read on the WWW I suggest you don't buy any mobile at all and use public phones if they are working and not vandalised.
Ryland
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx for better clarification, I just hope not to get poor phone. I wait till Z3 release to make Z2 prices down - in case of my disappointments, pain will be lower
One Twelve said:
1. from what i've seen there is no touch to focus with video in xperia. Whether that is good or bad is debatable. if subjects around you are in the same focal range then you can pan around and things are in focus, this implies subject is stationary. If it isn't then it will be out of focus and here the z2 focuses fast enough provided it can get a bearing on the subject. That is to say subject fills up more of the screen than not. In some cases it can be a pain but in others it can be more practical. This is highly dependendent on the video you are making.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm you mean there is no T2F in system camera or it is disabled by driver and no other video apps can use it? I often use T2F because continuous autofocus is bad - can be lost while manual focus stays steady.
2. try not to get too carried away with 4k. This is a new feature and current hardware struggles to keep up. samsung limits recording to 5 minutes, g3 reduces bitrate to 30Mbits (s5 records in 48Mbiits and Z2 at 55 Mbits) and still imposes a 5 minute limit. Z2 does not impose any limit. What is more important is whether Z2 can do 1080p without issues and i've not heard any one complain about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you do [email protected] FPS (I will be using only this mode) without heating problems even in direct sunny weather?
3. custom roms means camera functions are limited. This applies with any model except nexus whose camera is public source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As same as Samsung it seems.
I have the same dilemma as you but for entirely different reasons. I'm deciding between the k zoom & z2
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Click to collapse
Mother of God, if I was to choose between them I'd definitely pick Z2 up

Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Hmmm you mean there is no T2F in system camera or it is disabled by driver and no other video apps can use it? I often use T2F because continuous autofocus is bad - can be lost while manual focus stays steady.
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Click to collapse
There is no T2F in video with sony. Yes focus will be lost when you pan around but it gets it back quick. There is also some focus hunting which was not there in earlier models in low light. See Shem's videos on YT and you will notice it. Possibly a firmware fix to address this last one.
Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Can you do [email protected] FPS (I will be using only this mode) without heating problems even in direct sunny weather?
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I do not know about 60FPS, i tested this in a shop with 1080p and it went 10 minutes without issues. This was after the 2:30 record in 4k which said camera is shutting down.
Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast said:
Mother of God, if I was to choose between them I'd definitely pick Z2 up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, i wish i had your clarity of thought. Am referring to k zoom not s4 zoom. k zoom is the successor to the more bulky s4 zoom. The ads can be a bit off putting as they only feature smiling women using this device. It's take two and a definite improvement in terms of form factor over its predecessor. The annoying thing is i know samsung will nail it next year with v3. That means a possible replacement whereas with z2 i don't think i'd bother as soon. Whatever software improvements z3 brings with will end up with z2 thanks to community efforts.
10x Optical zoom and aperture control opens up many possibilities for framing. you will not use zoom all the time but its handy to have when you want it. And once you get used to it, you cannot go back. Put it this way, no flagship without optical zoom will ever compete with it other than the successor to k zoom.They cannot be compared with on this aspect alone. Without zoom z2 is comparable in image quality but there are more camera features on k zoom. Plus and the most important is this is an android device.
But you compromise in other areas that might be unacceptable to those used to flagship performance.

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.
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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:

Had to switch 4 xperia z2s because of bad call quality - stil not fiixed, what now?

Hello all,
I have had the Xperia Z2 since it was released here in the Netherlanns end of may 2014. During that time, I had to switch my xperia z3 five times because of bad call quality.
The one I have now is still not good, almost everyone says that I sound bad or that the connectoin is really bad. I can hear the other party fine and loud enough. I've searched xda-dev for the soundmod, but I think that only fixes using the two speakers for notifications? Also, when in a loud room it is really hard for the other party to here me.
I'm tempted to exchange this one again and finnaly hope for a good one. I really want to like this phone, but it's getting harder and harder. I know that there is a call qaulity mod that fixes it for everyone, but I have not been able to find it. I did find this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z2/development/rom-envi-rom-stock-beta-t2811710 - But I dont know if it is included in there.
Also, when I take a picture in low-light, the camera has a tendacy to go all grainy on me and it seems to be really struggling to gte a sharp picture. Anyone else have this? I really expected more of this camera. It does take great pictures in good light though.
Many thanks!

The camera i know about
Low light is pretty much the same in most phones, xperias dont use any grain removing post processsing unlike other brands
For phone quality i dont know much but try changing some settings under >settings>phone
Disable noise reduction
Ive heard somtimes these settings fix problems like these

Envious_Data said:
The camera i know about
Low light is pretty much the same in most phones, xperias dont use any grain removing post processsing unlike other brands
For phone quality i dont know much but try changing some settings under >settings>phone
Disable noise reduction
Ive heard somtimes these settings fix problems like these
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did change the settings to see if it improved somewhat, it did not however. Low light can be good if you really know your way around manual mode though. Surperior auto can be either really awesome, or really bad. I guess it is replacing another one again... sigh.

Iekozz said:
I did change the settings to see if it improved somewhat, it did not however. Low light can be good if you really know your way around manual mode though. Surperior auto can be either really awesome, or really bad. I guess it is replacing another one again... sigh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im on my 4th Z2
Honnestly after all them defective replacements this one is working perfectly fine and im happy
If any brand ill stick to sony, My Xperia S was a tanky phone and somehow this Z2 (although i still distrust modern tech when it comes to toughness)
The only problem i currently have is when using google hangouts, no OTHER app does this at all but google hangouts somehow causes overheating
Not even gaming nor 4K recording does this :/

Envious_Data said:
Im on my 4th Z2
Honnestly after all them defective replacements this one is working perfectly fine and im happy
If any brand ill stick to sony, My Xperia S was a tanky phone and somehow this Z2 (although i still distrust modern tech when it comes to toughness)
The only problem i currently have is when using google hangouts, no OTHER app does this at all but google hangouts somehow causes overheating
Not even gaming nor 4K recording does this :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer, good to know I still have hope . Was thinking of switching to the One plus one, but i'll switch to a another one again. I must be very unlucky

Iekozz said:
Thanks for the answer, good to know I still have hope . Was thinking of switching to the One plus one, but i'll switch to a another one again. I must be very unlucky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True and not true
When this phone came out it was the very first to be manufactured by sony and not someome else
And to add to that about 9 batches werent tested hence the earlier models of this phone are faulty
Its likely you are going to come across this
If you have the money it may be worth an upgrade to Z2

Envious_Data said:
True and not true
When this phone came out it was the very first to be manufactured by sony and not someome else
And to add to that about 9 batches werent tested hence the earlier models of this phone are faulty
Its likely you are going to come across this
If you have the money it may be worth an upgrade to Z2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently own a Z2, not a Z or z1 Hopeing I get a Z2 that was manufacter later then April-May 2014.

Iekozz said:
I currently own a Z2, not a Z or z1 Hopeing I get a Z2 that was manufacter later then April-May 2014.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt notice that typo
I ment Z3
Manufacturing issues are less with Z3 vs Z2

Envious_Data said:
I didnt notice that typo
I ment Z3
Manufacturing issues are less with Z3 vs Z2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thought so. Maybe I can purchase one second hand, a new one is getting too expensive. The Xperia z3 also has more microphones then the z2, so that would help.

Camera performance

Having had the phone a few days now I've had time test the camera properly. I've noticed it tends to soften images, this is particularly noticeable with pets highlighted in the fur.
Coming from the pixel 4 it's pretty disappointing that it can't compete in a lot of instances.
The first few pics I took were absolutely awful. I updated the software and this improved the camera considerably. What's the chances of the camera software improving with further updates? Anyone coming from other Samsung devices that's had the camera improve with updates?
Really love everything else about the phone and don't really wanna return it.

steslatt said:
Having had the phone a few days now I've had time test the camera properly. I've noticed it tends to soften images, this is particularly noticeable with pets highlighted in the fur.
Coming from the pixel 4 it's pretty disappointing that it can't compete in a lot of instances.
The first few pics I took were absolutely awful. I updated the software and this improved the camera considerably. What's the chances of the camera software improving with further updates? Anyone coming from other Samsung devices that's had the camera improve with updates?
Really love everything else about the phone and don't really wanna return it.
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The softening your seeing is Sammy's processing. Complete garbage. It's the same on all their phones. Including my note 10+.
GCam mods are superior

That sucks. Guessing we won't be seeing a working exynos gcam version any time soon either.

steslatt said:
That sucks. Guessing we won't be seeing a working exynos gcam version any time soon either.
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ZGCAM works ok on Exynos, I can't seem to apply the configs though, worth you giving it a try to see how you find it

MilgeS said:
ZGCAM works ok on Exynos, I can't seem to apply the configs though, worth you giving it a try to see how you find it
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I've just got it now thanks, I'll have a play with it. What are the configs for?

Coming from a Pixel 4a the camera quality is VERY disappointing if you're using your cell phone camera to take pictures of anything that isn't a non-moving well-lit object. Lots of detail is lost especially when the subject is a person - facial features are smoothed out and that makes the hair look really blended together. Disabling the scene optimizer seems to help but you can't disable this in Portrait mode.
I have GCam installed but haven't had a chance to tweak the settings. It's better than the stock camera but........ coming from a $350 phone to an $800 phone and I still need to tweak camera settings???? Can't really express how disappointed I am in the camera quality and there is stock post processing is almost impossible to turn off.

steslatt said:
I've just got it now thanks, I'll have a play with it. What are the configs for?
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I believe they are "settings" that users share to give best performance in certain situations, I might be wrong though, that's my interpretation of them.

steslatt said:
I've just got it now thanks, I'll have a play with it. What are the configs for?
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I just seen another post and realised that the "configs" folder needs to be renaed to "configs7" to work, I have only found N10Z4 config to work so far, others crash the app.
Here's the link from the other post by Beserker15 https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/settings09/

Hi there. My camera is truly appalling, and significantly worse than the S10 I traded in. All photos on any setting are grainy and noisy. I can't get a good quality photo from a metre away in good light. Does anyone know if this is a software issue they are going to release a fix for? If not, I'm going to send it back I think.

Winnie87 said:
Hi there. My camera is truly appalling, and significantly worse than the S10 I traded in. All photos on any setting are grainy and noisy. I can't get a good quality photo from a metre away in good light. Does anyone know if this is a software issue they are going to release a fix for? If not, I'm going to send it back I think.
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Mine was like this right out of the box. The first software update improved it a lot but it's still very disappointing.

lect1984 said:
Coming from a Pixel 4a the camera quality is VERY disappointing if you're using your cell phone camera to take pictures of anything that isn't a non-moving well-lit object. Lots of detail is lost especially when the subject is a person - facial features are smoothed out and that makes the hair look really blended together. Disabling the scene optimizer seems to help but you can't disable this in Portrait mode.
I have GCam installed but haven't had a chance to tweak the settings. It's better than the stock camera but........ coming from a $350 phone to an $800 phone and I still need to tweak camera settings???? Can't really express how disappointed I am in the camera quality and there is stock post processing is almost impossible to turn off.
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My thoughts exactly, I'm sending it back this week. I was gonna go for the ultra instead but I asked the question over there and it seems while it's a step up from the regular S21 it's still very disappointing. In just gonna keep the pixel 4 till something decent comes out. Probably the next pixel now.

steslatt said:
My thoughts exactly, I'm sending it back this week. I was gonna go for the ultra instead but I asked the question over there and it seems while it's a step up from the regular S21 it's still very disappointing. In just gonna keep the pixel 4 till something decent comes out. Probably the next pixel now.
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The next actual "high end" pixel that comes out (not some mid-range device) my note 10+ is going bye bye. Never gonna look back at Samsung again.

The camera is good for outdoor. These pictures have been shot from approximately 150 meters [hand-held]. Please see it as a guide for you.

How's the audio zoom working in videos? Does the audio actually zoom in that direction or does it just get louder?

Agree the camera/app is disappointing. Hopefully they get it improved soon

zenfantterrible said:
The camera is good for outdoor. These pictures have been shot from approximately 150 meters [hand-held]. Please see it as a guide for you.
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Every new phone nowadays does a good enough job outdoors in daylight. The slew of problems with Samsungs camera come right after that. Especially indoors. Shutter lag and HDR always on no matter what you set it to just kill the camera. Samsung desperately needs ZSL.

Better Mobile App

welcome