Signal Strength of Z3 Compact LTE - Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooti

I am considering buying the Z3 Compact Tablet with LTE. We have a cabin in the mountains with poor wirless reception. I've noticed with my Nexus 7 LTE that it gets a more consistent signal than any of my cell phones which are many. The problem is my Nexus 7 does can only make calls using SIP and with only Edge speeds at the cabin at best, it's hard to make a call.
I was wondering whether the Z3 Compact Tablet may also have a bigger antenna and may also get better cellular reception than a regular smartphone. Has any one used their Z3 in place of a smartphone in areas where the signal was weak on their phone but not on their Z3 Compact Tablet?

Related

How is the Note at keeping calls?

Does it drop calls like the iphone? (Anyone actually switch from the iphone to the note and notice a difference?)
the phone is pretty good, no issues or dropped calls yet... pretty equal to my iphone 4S as it has the redesigned antenna. Way better than the iPhone 4 signal quality however...
AEDan1977 said:
the phone is pretty good, no issues or dropped calls yet... pretty equal to my iphone 4S as it has the redesigned antenna. Way better than the iPhone 4 signal quality however...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense all the people who said I'll get more dropped calls had the 4 not the 4s.
Coming from sprint, i'm a little leery, but I can't handle their ****ty data network anymore. (Voice is still rock solid)
lowspeed said:
That makes sense all the people who said I'll get more dropped calls had the 4 not the 4s.
Coming from sprint, i'm a little leery, but I can't handle their ****ty data network anymore. (Voice is still rock solid)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea the iPhone 4 antenna is ****.
I've had a couple dozen calls so far and haven't dropped one. And they're loud and clear.
I live in Alaska and my Iphone 4 would drop calls like it was a hobby. I spend a couple of hours a day on the phone and so far the reception on the Note has been rock solid. I'm more than pleased with my upgrade.
Sweet
^
coming from the iP 3GS i can say the Note for me has slightly better reception in former dead areas, and the volume and clarity is quite a bit better. i am very pleased, as this is necessary for me to run my business.

San Diego users

As the title says any sandiego users what is your experience with data and this phone.
Not very impressive but the signal in my bedroom is pretty low
It's been better than my old GS3 for the most part. It switches from 3G to 4G pretty quickly. The 3G is not impressive though but ok for light usage. 4g "spark" is nice though.

Sony C5 Ultra - Two weeks review

Hello there,
Let's talk about the C5 Ultra with Innolux display, model E5506, Software version 29.0.A.1.55.
It sucks to know it's stuck to Android L 5.0 but it's good to know it will go directly to Android M 6.0, I can see how Sony care about the image of the C5 as it uses it in many advertisements, and also if you go in the official page about software upgrades you'll see that the White C5 is the one that show a marshmallow on screen.
One note about size, it's big. If your hand is not big enough, don't even think about it. It has a one hand mode but I don't use it, my hand is big enough - however, I bought a Nillkin case and I feel it's grip improved, the plastic/glass back make it slippy... really slippery.
After two weeks I learnt how to hate and love this device that promise to be a super mid-range one but that many times act like a flagship. I used as comparison my Xperia Z3C as comparison to draft a list of pro and cons and if I have to say the first thing that come up in my mind about the two is that the display show more saturated colors on the Z3C but of course it has a triluminos display. Other than that I am surprised how the C5 "at times" perform ways much better than the Z3C.
Google now, for example: the voice recognition is faster and smoother in the C5 rather than in the Z3C - Damn you Sony for leaving us with 5.0, Google now conflicts with Camera so I have to disable the voice recognition in all screens otherwise I won't record videos with audio.
Smooth menu navigation, apps open fast and in some cases faster than the Z3C. The C5 has a full HD display and the Z3C no, so you expect that the performance on the C5 should be a bit more laggy, well it's not. It's really smooth but seems that the Memory Leak occur in 5.0 and after few hours of normal usage the device lags, slow down and eventually I'll have to reboot the device to regain full performance.
The MTK True Octa-core inside the C5 doesn't warm like the Z3C Qualcomm QuadCore - The Z3C heat and when it does it, it does it really badly compared to the C5 that it heat too but not like the Z3C and camera won't crash although the camera welcome you at times with the message warning that if the device heat too much it may close the camera app... never happened to the C5, happened a lot to the Z3C.
Photos - Weird how the Z3C take great photos but the C5 take greater ones! It's not a matter of MPX, but a matter of sharpness: C5 take great sharp photos, Z3C take great smooth photos - Confused here but both wins.
Battery life - Tie: They do last an entire day in mixed usage scenarios - no games, I don't play games on phones but due my job there are moments when I really need to use the phone a lot especially if not at the office or in front of a computer. Both devices are connected to my Pebble Time and SWR10 SmartBand and there is little to no battery drain but if both connected to my car stereo I can see a significative battery drain, especially if listening music with Spotify thru the car stereo.
Battery Charger: They both sucks, but the stock one of the C5 sucks even more (0.8A ewww). Anyway in both cases I don't use the stock charger but an Anker Turbo Power adapter, 8A - Both charge in less of two hours... so, just beware: do not use the stock charger: I call them a black cheapy-little jokes.
Interface: Tie: Sony idea of interface it's not that bad, it's not 100% vanilla but almost, there are color icons, different colors here and there some specific functionalities added and it's 100% bearable/lovable.
NFC: Works better in the C5, in the Z3C (probably for the glass-back) is slower.. however I installed a Nillkin frosted back cover and now they are at the same level. Anyway they both works but without cover the C5 win.
Connectivity - WIFI: Eh... the Z3C claims to be dual-band - True, the C5 claims to be single band - True and the winner is C5. The wifi is faster on the C5, I don't know where is the issue with the Z3C but Miracast stutter a lot, it's slow to download, slow to connect, slow slow slow. The C5 is great to cast, fast to connect, fast to download, faster faster faster.
Connectivity - H+/LTE - Tie: Found same download speed in both device, fast and reliable - it may be related to my Carrier, not sure.
Connectivity - Signal Reception: Almost a Tie, one only issue is that the C5 tend to connect more to LTE and when it does the signal strength is slightly lower compared to when connected to H+ anyway I haven't lost signal at all and signal quality is good in both devices.
Connectivity - Bluetooth: Almost a Tie, but Z3C has stronger Bluetooth signal than the C5. Random disconnection of my smartwear if I am one room away, not happening with the Z3C. - Anyway, both are reliable.. just the C5's is less powerful.
Call Quality: Ladies and gentleman, the winner is the C5. While the Z3C has a great call quality, I can say that the C5 with with same call settings (Equalizer: normal, Speaker Voice Enh, and Noise suppression) sounds ways much better - I suspect that the size of the speaker is different hence the quality gain.
Speaker Quality: Tie and not - Damn Sony! Z3C: Stereo - C5: Stereo but Mono - Meaning that the front firing speakers are good in both devices but probably with this software version in the C5 we get just Mono Music reproduction with using just the bottom speaker!! Why???
So basically, after two weeks I think that the C5 is a super-mid range device that thinks to be a flagship device, and probably it is one. Sony never said it's a mid-range, they said the M5 was and left the C5 as an incognita. 2GB of ram are enough but not with android 5.0 in fact I think that the only issue of this phone is the installed Android Version, in fact if you excuse me I'll close this review with a "I need to reboot the device as it started to lag again" - I hope that Sony will rush the Marshmallow release and probably the C5 will become a great device and probably I'll say it's a real flagship device.
YoGem said:
Hello there,
Let's talk about the C5 Ultra with Innolux display, model E5506, Software version 29.0.A.1.55.
It sucks to know it's stuck to Android L 5.0 but it's good to know it will go directly to Android M 6.0, I can see how Sony care about the image of the C5 as it uses it in many advertisements, and also if you go in the official page about software upgrades you'll see that the White C5 is the one that show a marshmallow on screen.
One note about size, it's big. If your hand is not big enough, don't even think about it. It has a one hand mode but I don't use it, my hand is big enough - however, I bought a Nillkin case and I feel it's grip improved, the plastic/glass back make it slippy... really slippery.
After two weeks I learnt how to hate and love this device that promise to be a super mid-range one but that many times act like a flagship. I used as comparison my Xperia Z3C as comparison to draft a list of pro and cons and if I have to say the first thing that come up in my mind about the two is that the display show more saturated colors on the Z3C but of course it has a triluminos display. Other than that I am surprised how the C5 "at times" perform ways much better than the Z3C.
Google now, for example: the voice recognition is faster and smoother in the C5 rather than in the Z3C - Damn you Sony for leaving us with 5.0, Google now conflicts with Camera so I have to disable the voice recognition in all screens otherwise I won't record videos with audio.
Smooth menu navigation, apps open fast and in some cases faster than the Z3C. The C5 has a full HD display and the Z3C no, so you expect that the performance on the C5 should be a bit more laggy, well it's not. It's really smooth but seems that the Memory Leak occur in 5.0 and after few hours of normal usage the device lags, slow down and eventually I'll have to reboot the device to regain full performance.
The MTK True Octa-core inside the C5 doesn't warm like the Z3C Qualcomm QuadCore - The Z3C heat and when it does it, it does it really badly compared to the C5 that it heat too but not like the Z3C and camera won't crash although the camera welcome you at times with the message warning that if the device heat too much it may close the camera app... never happened to the C5, happened a lot to the Z3C.
Photos - Weird how the Z3C take great photos but the C5 take greater ones! It's not a matter of MPX, but a matter of sharpness: C5 take great sharp photos, Z3C take great smooth photos - Confused here but both wins.
Battery life - Tie: They do last an entire day in mixed usage scenarios - no games, I don't play games on phones but due my job there are moments when I really need to use the phone a lot especially if not at the office or in front of a computer. Both devices are connected to my Pebble Time and SWR10 SmartBand and there is little to no battery drain but if both connected to my car stereo I can see a significative battery drain, especially if listening music with Spotify thru the car stereo.
Battery Charger: They both sucks, but the stock one of the C5 sucks even more (0.8A ewww). Anyway in both cases I don't use the stock charger but an Anker Turbo Power adapter, 8A - Both charge in less of two hours... so, just beware: do not use the stock charger: I call them a black cheapy-little jokes.
Interface: Tie: Sony idea of interface it's not that bad, it's not 100% vanilla but almost, there are color icons, different colors here and there some specific functionalities added and it's 100% bearable/lovable.
NFC: Works better in the C5, in the Z3C (probably for the glass-back) is slower.. however I installed a Nillkin frosted back cover and now they are at the same level. Anyway they both works but without cover the C5 win.
Connectivity - WIFI: Eh... the Z3C claims to be dual-band - True, the C5 claims to be single band - True and the winner is C5. The wifi is faster on the C5, I don't know where is the issue with the Z3C but Miracast stutter a lot, it's slow to download, slow to connect, slow slow slow. The C5 is great to cast, fast to connect, fast to download, faster faster faster.
Connectivity - H+/LTE - Tie: Found same download speed in both device, fast and reliable - it may be related to my Carrier, not sure.
Connectivity - Signal Reception: Almost a Tie, one only issue is that the C5 tend to connect more to LTE and when it does the signal strength is slightly lower compared to when connected to H+ anyway I haven't lost signal at all and signal quality is good in both devices.
Connectivity - Bluetooth: Almost a Tie, but Z3C has stronger Bluetooth signal than the C5. Random disconnection of my smartwear if I am one room away, not happening with the Z3C. - Anyway, both are reliable.. just the C5's is less powerful.
Call Quality: Ladies and gentleman, the winner is the C5. While the Z3C has a great call quality, I can say that the C5 with with same call settings (Equalizer: normal, Speaker Voice Enh, and Noise suppression) sounds ways much better - I suspect that the size of the speaker is different hence the quality gain.
Speaker Quality: Tie and not - Damn Sony! Z3C: Stereo - C5: Stereo but Mono - Meaning that the front firing speakers are good in both devices but probably with this software version in the C5 we get just Mono Music reproduction with using just the bottom speaker!! Why???
So basically, after two weeks I think that the C5 is a super-mid range device that thinks to be a flagship device, and probably it is one. Sony never said it's a mid-range, they said the M5 was and left the C5 as an incognita. 2GB of ram are enough but not with android 5.0 in fact I think that the only issue of this phone is the installed Android Version, in fact if you excuse me I'll close this review with a "I need to reboot the device as it started to lag again" - I hope that Sony will rush the Marshmallow release and probably the C5 will become a great device and probably I'll say it's a real flagship device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice review, thanks
Nice review, I have the same feeling about the C5 Ultra, it's big, and ever since the 1.55 update, it's stable, I hope Sony keeps that level of stability with Android M, I probably wouldn't rush to update.
I like the camera, it is often slow to launch, but produces good results in most cases with Superior Auto, when I want slightly faster shutter speed and lower ISO I use Manual Mode + Sports/Party Scene (create Manual Mode shortcut on launcher). For videos I like the result when using Horizon app.
Of course if someone is being negative they can always mention the many Cons of this device, but as an owner I find the Pros outweigh the Cons.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Since Sunday 3 January 2016 I am in US and connected to t-Mobile, thanks to agreements between Movistar MX and t-Mobile I get fast LTE speed and I left WIFI mainly off. With my surprise the device is slightly faster and battery life improved.
As I said at the beginning of the review I think many of the issues are Lollipop 5.0 related, we should get M in the next weeks and hopefully many issues will be fixed. However this time I tried to hate the device and simply, I cannot... it's a really great device.
I personally Highly Recommend it.
Best mid class phone ever made
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The C5 Ultra is awesome, and I have good hopes that the 5.1 update just released will help fix some of the niggling bugs from 5.0 (especially the known memory leak).
Unfortunately, just last week mine decided to randomly turn itself off, and never turn on again. Tried all the key press combos, won't turn on. Eventually got it to take a firmware repair via Companion, which completed successfully, but the thing still won't turn in. Threw in the towel, sent it in for repair under warranty. Hopefully I'll get it back... soon...
i just got my C5 Ultra today and i am also highly impressed - it runs android 5.1 - but one thing i noticed is that my ethernet adapter won't work with the C5 - so now i am thinking of rolling back to stock rom - if possible - did anyone try an ethernet adapter with the C5 on Android 5 succesfully? it used to work on z, z2, z3 (until some later lollipop version) , z ultra ... so newwer versions of android seem to have make sony xperia devices loose the ethernet-work-out-of-box capability

Call quality

When you call granny, does she keep saying "Huh?! Wut?!" or does the conversation flow pretty well? Rate this thread to express how you feel about the Sony Xperia X Compact's call quality. A higher rating indicates that calls are clear and crisp, and that regardless of background noise, you can hear the other party clearly (and with ample volume) and they can hear you.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Cellular Strength is not upto the mark..
Excellent. No complaints. O2 UK. Very rare to find myself with no signal. Much better than galaxy s7 in this respect.
I get static noises and bad line on calls where the other parties can't hear me properly.
I use the X Compact on T-Mobile. Unfortunately it doesn't support VoLTE or wifi calling, so it has to use the older GSM networks for phone calls. I have fairly regular problems hearing the other party because of this, unfortunately. Of course this depends on the signal in the area, but other phones that support VoLTE handle calls much better in my area.
Calls over 4G (like Hangouts) are crisp as clear as anything else.
locofocos said:
I use the X Compact on T-Mobile. Unfortunately it doesn't support VoLTE or wifi calling, so it has to use the older GSM networks for phone calls. I have fairly regular problems hearing the other party because of this, unfortunately. Of course this depends on the signal in the area, but other phones that support VoLTE handle calls much better in my area.
Calls over 4G (like Hangouts) are crisp as clear as anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me in France, X Compact does not work with VoLTE but it's not Sony's fault. Device is compatible. Blame the operator...
Quality call is very good for me even in 3G and with poor reception so it's still OK.

Asus Zenfone Max M2 downunder!

I bought an Asus Zenfone Max M2 (64/4GB version) a bit over a month ago from an ebay seller claiming to be an Aussie seller (yah right!). The phone took a bit longer than it should have to get here but I must say that I am very impressed with the value for money. I thought I'd just provide some feedback to anyone in OZ thinking of buying one of these phones.
It only cost me $330AUD delivered and for that money, there just isn't anything even remotely comparable in OZ. It was a replacement for a Nokia 7 Plus that got stolen. The Zenfone uses the same chipset as the Nokia, has a much larger battery, dual sim, better screen, much better volume and costs half the price. The only things that are lacking is NFC, AC WiFi and USB C charging which the Nokia had. None of these are deal breakers for me though (obviously).
And, strangely SquareUp would not allow pairing it's card reader with the Nokia phone, despite the phone being Android One and purchased over the counter at a large Australian retailer. But SquareUp pairs perfectly with the Zenfone, despite it being an India model purchased from a grey importer on ebay. Very strange but I'm glad I can finally use Square with my phone.
Battery life is just superb...………....days! I have not noticed any connectivity issues at all and the radios subjectively seem to work even a bit better than the Nokia. From what I understand my version of the Zenfone is missing LTE band B28 (700Mhz) used by Telstra and Optus but it seams to stay connected Telstra 4g regardless (using other bands presumably).
That's about it I suppose, other than to ask what strange marketing decisions led Asus not to release this excellent budget priced, mid-range spec phone into more worldwide markets? And for that matter, why don't any of the major phone makers release their big battery India version phones to wider markets, big battery phones are awesome! (if you're not a hipster in skinny jeans )

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