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I decided to change mi phone (Z1 compact), but I'm very exigent and the rest of the "mini" models are extremely poor in specs, build quality, well in everything. I have to mention that my gadgets lives in an Android/Windows ecosystem.
IMO the models to choose would be the Z5 compact or Z3 compact. But It's because I don't know if there are better models on sale or coming.
I'll list the technologies I'm interested in.
Longest battery life
IPXX Certification
Magnetic/fast charging
Aptx/High-res Audio codecs
5 poles audio jack
Memory card support
ac WiFi/ LTE cat 6
FullHD Camera + the best focus at night
The fastest mobile GPU available
Mini/Compact body desing
What's your suggestion??
Thanks.
Info
[email protected] said:
I decided to change mi phone (Z1 compact), but I'm very exigent and the rest of the "mini" models are extremely poor in specs, build quality, well in everything. I have to mention that my gadgets lives in an Android/Windows ecosystem.
IMO the models to choose would be the Z5 compact or Z3 compact. But It's because I don't know if there are better models on sale or coming.
I'll list the technologies I'm interested in.
Longest battery life YES
IPXX Certification YES
Magnetic/fast charging YES
Aptx/High-res Audio codecs YES
5 poles audio jack YES
Memory card support YES
ac WiFi/ LTE cat 6 YES
FullHD Camera + the best focus at night YES
The fastest mobile GPU available YES
Mini/Compact body desing YES
What's your suggestion??
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO YES Upgrade to XZ5c
:good:
[email protected] said:
I decided to change mi phone (Z1 compact), but I'm very exigent and the rest of the "mini" models are extremely poor in specs, build quality, well in everything. I have to mention that my gadgets lives in an Android/Windows ecosystem.
IMO the models to choose would be the Z5 compact or Z3 compact. But It's because I don't know if there are better models on sale or coming.
I'll list the technologies I'm interested in.
Longest battery life
IPXX Certification
Magnetic/fast charging
Aptx/High-res Audio codecs
5 poles audio jack
Memory card support
ac WiFi/ LTE cat 6
FullHD Camera + the best focus at night
The fastest mobile GPU available
Mini/Compact body desing
What's your suggestion??
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro, just get the Z5 compact......unless if you are picky on the design and pricey, then get the Z3 compact
Okay
So guys are you saying that there are not another devices with those features??
In a positive way, I'm right with my idea.
In a negative way, the rest of the manufactures dissapointed me :'(
Thank you so much.
[email protected] said:
So guys are you saying that there are not another devices with those features??
In a positive way, I'm right with my idea.
In a negative way, the rest of the manufactures dissapointed me :'(
Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true at this moment. The manufacturers are all looking for the big screens.[emoji174]
㊙Send from somewhere on the earth™ ?
I went from Google Nexus 5 to z5c because I felt I wanted a smaller phone. Even though the difference is not that big, it feels a lot smaller and looks a lot better.
To answer your question, I found z5c to be one of the only small phones compared to all other phones out there. It feels good in my hand, I can reach the whole screen and it is very good looking. The size is the same as z3c but with better specs and new design on the outside. If the price is a big deal, go with z3c. If not, go with z5c. It is about the same size as iPhone 5s, slightly thicker. Holding it in my hand, I recommend it. Keep in mind that I got it this Monday, I have only had it for two days. Wait a few weeks until all the cons have appeared.
Only drawback so far, the placed the volume button at a very awkward location, below the lock button..
Unfortunately, the Z5 compact is the only hi-end (2015) Android phone with small size. Your other 2015 option is the iPhone 6S but it has a totally different OS as you probably know.
Other old options are:
Z3 compact: still a good phone, still supported, not too old.
Moto X 2013: small with excellent grip and battery life, awesome phone, but I think it's no longed maintained.
itaq said:
I went from Google Nexus 5 to z5c because I felt I wanted a smaller phone. Even though the difference is not that big, it feels a lot smaller and looks a lot better.
To answer your question, I found z5c to be one of the only small phones compared to all other phones out there. It feels good in my hand, I can reach the whole screen and it is very good looking. The size is the same as z3c but with better specs and new design on the outside. If the price is a big deal, go with z3c. If not, go with z5c. It is about the same size as iPhone 5s, slightly thicker. Holding it in my hand, I recommend it. Keep in mind that I got it this Monday, I have only had it for two days. Wait a few weeks until all the cons have appeared.
Only drawback so far, the placed the volume button at a very awkward location, below the lock button..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I read that about the volume button position. But, Ok, it's nothing really severe.
I'm coming from a Nexus 5 too. Do you feel the camera better or worse? (I really like the HDR+ quality of the Nexus 5).
I have moved from Z3c into Z5c and I can't complain. The only issue i have is its little but slippy but my old iPhone was that too.
Build quality is very good as well as screen and speakers (which are btw louder than in Z3c)
New UI looks more vanilla which if you are Nexus fan a good think (I am )
I havent tested camera yet nor battery life but it drops around 4% in 7 hours standby (considering push emails, bt on)
thesebastian said:
...
Moto X 2013: small with excellent grip and battery life, awesome phone, but I think it's no longed maintained.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently sold an unlocked Moto X 2013 and it had Lollipop on it. I doubt it will get updated again but it was good to get it to 5.1.
About z5c vs nexus 5 camera: I can't compare because after I dropped my nexus, the camera became useless. It could not focus anymore.
My Xperia Z of nearly 3 years has broken, a screen crack just now that I noticed after a CSGO session. Maybe I furiously pounded on my desk after some typical BS and that caused it; who knows. I really wanted to hold onto my Xperia Z until the 2016 series of flagship devices with the SD820, and was considering purchasing a cheap stopgap till those release, or buying a nice phone now and upgrade in a few years. This Oneplus X seems like a nice middleground between those options - I can give this to a family member, perhaps.
The fact the Oneplus X has an SD card slot, excellent screen, good software features and decent battery life at a reasonable price is enticing. I couldn't care less about gaming performance or the camera - I play chess, sudoku, and occasionally a gameboy emulator. I had a few questions though:
- How much of the storage capacity (I'm assuming it comes with 16gb standard) is usable out the box? I have a 128GB sd card so I'm hoping I can use marshmallow's features to merge it with internal memory.
- What's audio like? Distortion at high volume, quality compared to other phones and so on - I'm coming from a Sony phone which have high quality sound, is the X comparable?
- How is developer support? I've heard Oneplus are withholding certain sources required for easy development - I wanted to experiment with other ROMs like Chroma, and so on. I suppose this will happen over time?
- Is the ceramic option worth it? In the pictures, it doesn't seem to be rounded off like the standard glass finish, and I haven't been able to find any resources about it.
- Does GPS lock on quickly and effectively?
- How is battery life? In a typical day I spend the day in Uni where there's typically no signal inside buildings, so airplane mode saves battery for me. Enough for 2 day battery life?
Thanks in advance, I've heard some bad stories about the Oneplus One which I bought for my mum, apparently warranty support is awful. Hopefully that's changed.
bump
I'm fully satisfied because.
1. Best in class screen
2. No lag
3. Calling feature
bump
I am looking for a new sub 4.8” phone. I had S4 mini once and the size was perfect. I then upgraded to LG G2 and it is frequently inconvenient to carry. Actually, when I think about it, the weight might be more important then than size, so provided the phone is light, I could go a bit larger than 4.8"
The things I MUST have:
- good camera: At least on the S4 level
- very good battery life
- MicroSD card slot, OR at least 50GB internal storage
- Android M: from manufacturer, I need photo quality at the highest possible level so that rules out CM13
- root
Things it would be nice to have, but can live without:
- NFC
- dual sim
- waterproof
Things I do not care for at all:
- gaming: I have been using a smartphone since 10 years now, and not once I played a game on it
- production year: I don’t care if the phone is 2016 or 2013, as long as it fits the bill
Here are the phones I already considered and rejected:
- Xperia Z3c: perfect phone with clown camera
- Xperia Z5c: after 4 hours of research it looks like Sony again made the camera not very good (might reconsider if it turns out the camera is actually good)
- Galaxy S5 mini: I read it is a downgrade form S4 mini (but if it is only about GPU then I might reconsider)
- LG G2 mini: good camera, size and battery, but no M, LTE and 1 GB of ram is a serious tradeoff
- Redmi 3: bad camera
- Mi4c: so-so camera and battery life
- Mi5: size, so-so camera
- Meizu Pro 5: OMG this phone is PERFECT... Except for being a shovel. Such a pity they never completed Pro 5 Mini.
Suggestions and comments will be appreciated.
Contry: EU
Use: phone, podcasts, camera!, navigation
I'm really sorry but I wouldn't buy the Z5 Compact again. I really hate the battery life even though I'm rooted. I've been using the Z1 Compact for a year with an average life of 26-27h per charge and 5-6h SOT and I'm struggling to get 20h and 3-4h SOT with the Z5 now...
Not sent by me!
- good camera: At least on the S4 level
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not smartphone camera expert, but z5c camera is rather bad. 24mpx mode has absolutely no sense, 8mpx pictures look good until you'll zoom in and realize how much NR was applied and how much detail is lost because of it. Slapping 24 megapixels on less than one square inch was bad idea, now it's noisy even on lowest ISO values, and obviously this "lossless zoom" is useless because of noise as well. Sometimes i even wonder if it's not worse than camera from my previous phone, BB Q10.
I'd love to see RAW straight from z5c sensor, maybe this NR was just over-the-top and it could be processed better, but there is no way to shoot RAW with this phone (at least for now).
impactor said:
I am looking for a new sub 4.8” phone. I had S4 mini once and the size was perfect. I then upgraded to LG G2 and it is frequently inconvenient to carry. Actually, when I think about it, the weight might be more important then than size, so provided the phone is light, I could go a bit larger than 4.8"
The things I MUST have:
- good camera: At least on the S4 level
- very good battery life
- MicroSD card slot, OR at least 50GB internal storage
- Android M: from manufacturer, I need photo quality at the highest possible level so that rules out CM13
- root
Things it would be nice to have, but can live without:
- NFC
- dual sim
- waterproof
Things I do not care for at all:
- gaming: I have been using a smartphone since 10 years now, and not once I played a game on it
- production year: I don’t care if the phone is 2016 or 2013, as long as it fits the bill
Here are the phones I already considered and rejected:
- Xperia Z3c: perfect phone with clown camera
- Xperia Z5c: after 4 hours of research it looks like Sony again made the camera not very good (might reconsider if it turns out the camera is actually good)
- Galaxy S5 mini: I read it is a downgrade form S4 mini (but if it is only about GPU then I might reconsider)
- LG G2 mini: good camera, size and battery, but no M, LTE and 1 GB of ram is a serious tradeoff
- Redmi 3: bad camera
- Mi4c: so-so camera and battery life
- Mi5: size, so-so camera
- Meizu Pro 5: OMG this phone is PERFECT... Except for being a shovel. Such a pity they never completed Pro 5 Mini.
Suggestions and comments will be appreciated.
Contry: EU
Use: phone, podcasts, camera!, navigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest you get the z3 compact if you not too picky on the camera.....it offers you great battery life and its very cheap and plus tons of development....z5 compact is alright but the battery life isn't better than the z3 compact unfortunately and plus if you want root, you have to unlock the boot loader since there is not a root for locked boot loader yet......cant think of any other small phones that offers what you looking for unless you wanna get the iPhone 6s/iphone se.......just need to understand that every phone has its pros and cons. no phone can be perfect..
probably you've analyzed all the possibilities, tough you can still try on gsmarena site and use the "phone finder" menu to search the perfect phone for you
I'm not loving the phone but I'm not hating it either. For me it was a good buy.
1) Front dual speakers. They are good not perfect but much better than rear or side mounted speakers.
2) Water proof. This is a genius feature. I'm not planning to take a swim with the phone but if some beer get over it on a party... yeah I need no further explanations.
3) The Sony UI, at least on the Z5 lineup is more stock UI than e.g. the S7.
Sure the fingerprint scanner is trash (it never works on mine; hardware seems to work fine it's when your fingers are greesy or dirty) and the camera is certainly not perfect but good to use.
All in all it was a good buy for me.
impactor said:
I am looking for a new sub 4.8” phone. I had S4 e once and the size was perfect. I then upgraded to LG G2 and it is frequently inconvenient to carry. Actually, when I think about it, the weight might be more important then than size, so provided the phone is light, I could go a bit larger than 4.8"
The things I MUST have:
- good camera: At least on the S4 level
- very good battery life
- MicroSD card slot, OR at least 50GB internal storage
- Android M: from manufacturer, I need photo quality at the highest possible level so that rules out CM13
- root
Things it would be nice to have, but can live without:
- NFC
- dual sim
- waterproof
Things I do not care for at all:
- gaming: I have been using a smartphone since 10 years now, and not once I played a game on it
- production year: I don’t care if the phone is 2016 or 2013, as long as it fits the bill
Here are the phones I already considered and rejected:
- Xperia Z3c: perfect phone with clown camera
- Xperia Z5c: after 4 hours of research it looks like Sony again made the camera not very good (might reconsider if it turns out the camera is actually good)
- Galaxy S5 mini: I read it is a downgrade form S4 mini (but if it is only about GPU then I might reconsider)
- LG G2 mini: good camera, size and battery, but no M, LTE and 1 GB of ram is a serious tradeoff
- Redmi 3: bad camera
- Mi4c: so-so camera and battery life
- Mi5: size, so-so camera
- Meizu Pro 5: OMG this phone is PERFECT... Except for being a shovel. Such a pity they never completed Pro 5 Mini.
Suggestions and comments will be appreciated.
Contry: EU
Use: phone, podcasts, camera!, navigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from the s4 mini a few months back. Hands down the best phone I've ever had. The z5c doesn't beat it on much, I miss my s4 mini and contemplate going for one of the 64 bit versions daily.
The z3c would be a better option for you if you can live with side port charging. The z5c camera is worse than s4 mini IMO, some people manage to take decent photos with it but I can't. I imagine the z3c isn't much different in that regard. Also the footprint of the z5c is quite a lot bigger than the s4 mini due to the sharp corners even though they're similar in overall size. It makes holding it one handed feel sketchy. Pocket print is pretty large as well since the back has sharp corners as well, and the weight feels nearly doubled. Also battery life is a huge problem for the z5c, ~6hours use max with no replaceable battery. I carried an extra battery with me for my s4 mini and never had to plug in as I had two more on the chargers at all times ready to go.
Being in eu you might have better selection of the s5 mini. America only got the g800a and hasn't been rooted yet, Mexico got the g800m and has root but is impossible to find or I would have chosen that over the z5c.
There's not a lot of other options out there currently. S7 mini is rumored but I'm willing to bet the screen will be too large. H10 mini is rumored as well but I can't say if will have sd slot. More and more the iPhone SE looks like a good option as well.
civicsr2cool said:
I came from the s4 mini a few months back. Hands down the best phone I've ever had. The z5c doesn't beat it on much, I miss my s4 mini and contemplate going for one of the 64 bit versions daily.
The z3c would be a better option for you if you can live with side port charging. The z5c camera is worse than s4 mini IMO, some people manage to take decent photos with it but I can't. I imagine the z3c isn't much different in that regard. Also the footprint of the z5c is quite a lot bigger than the s4 mini due to the sharp corners even though they're similar in overall size. It makes holding it one handed feel sketchy. Pocket print is pretty large as well since the back has sharp corners as well, and the weight feels nearly doubled. Also battery life is a huge problem for the z5c, ~6hours use max with no replaceable battery. I carried an extra battery with me for my s4 mini and never had to plug in as I had two more on the chargers at all times ready to go.
Being in eu you might have better selection of the s5 mini. America only got the g800a and hasn't been rooted yet, Mexico got the g800m and has root but is impossible to find or I would have chosen that over the z5c.
There's not a lot of other options out there currently. S7 mini is rumored but I'm willing to bet the screen will be too large. H10 mini is rumored as well but I can't say if will have sd slot. More and more the iPhone SE looks like a good option as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for putting things in perspective.
How would you compare S4 mini and S5 mini? Battery life, usability, camera, etc. I read somewhere the latter could be even considered a downgrade. What S5 mini versions would you recommended root- and rom-wise?
impactor said:
Thanks for putting things in perspective.
How would you compare S4 mini and S5 mini? Battery life, usability, camera, etc. I read somewhere the latter could be even considered a downgrade. What S5 mini versions would you recommended root- and rom-wise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never ended up getting an s5 mini. My s4 mini stuck around for nearly 3 years before I went to the z5c. I personally would think it'd be an upgrade s4 mini to s5 mini as you get 720p and fingerprint scanner. Anything else is a wash. There's a lot of YouTube comparisons of boot up times, quadrant scores, and GTA San Andreas comparisons between the two. If you can use dual sim I believe that's the one most Roms are built for on that platform.
I have to admit front facing speakers are a huge perk to the z5c, I forgot to mention that in the first post. The little bit I do use this for audio or YouTube it's a pretty amazing feature, just not enough to out weigh all the wrong with the phone lol.
I say grab an s5 mini, they're dirt cheap right now, if it doesn't work out go z3c as those are dropping price fast as well.
civicsr2cool said:
I never ended up getting an s5 mini. My s4 mini stuck around for nearly 3 years before I went to the z5c. I personally would think it'd be an upgrade s4 mini to s5 mini as you get 720p and fingerprint scanner. Anything else is a wash. There's a lot of YouTube comparisons of boot up times, quadrant scores, and GTA San Andreas comparisons between the two. If you can use dual sim I believe that's the one most Roms are built for on that platform.
I have to admit front facing speakers are a huge perk to the z5c, I forgot to mention that in the first post. The little bit I do use this for audio or YouTube it's a pretty amazing feature, just not enough to out weigh all the wrong with the phone lol.
I say grab an s5 mini, they're dirt cheap right now, if it doesn't work out go z3c as those are dropping price fast as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I read, fingerprint reader on S5 mini is crap, and I had completely no problem with S4 mini resolution.
If anything else is a wash, then why take S5 mini over i9195i? I am reading it has fantastic battery life (some guy here got over 12 days of light use!) and quad core...
Decisions...
To go for S4 mini Plus, S5 mini, or wait for S7 mini... damn...
Quick question to you all: Do you think a V10 is a worthy upgrade coming from the SG Note 4?
I'm looking specifically at the camera of the V10, do you think the pic quality is a significant jump compared to the Note?
Also SD 808 vs. 805 and 4Gb RAM vs 3 Gb make it a little bit better., plus the 2nd screen. The price of the V10 is pretty attractive now...
Maybe here's someone who even own(ed) both phones and has therefore worthful experiences for me.
P.S.: I've read the allready existing thread from 2015 here http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v10/help/worth-to-note-4-to-lg-v10-t3255960,
but nobody'd talking about camera performance there
lg v10 has better hardware specs
but no development
if you flash roms don't buy this phone
the note 4 camera is very nice maybe better then v10
and the battery life of v10 is not good for me
vip57 said:
lg v10 has better hardware specs
but no development
if you flash roms don't buy this phone
the note 4 camera is very nice maybe better then v10
and the battery life of v10 is not good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really, you think (know?) the camera of the Note 4 is better than the V10's?
I thought it's one of the top-notch cameras, since it's the praised G4 cam with even better software...
About flashing, I don't care much about that any more and try to get through with stock ROMs and without Root.
I learned the hard way that it might not be worth the hassle when you lose warranty because of rooting.
(Yes, Samsung denied warranty to me bc of rooting and I got an expensive repair out of that )
MisterKanister said:
Really, you think (know?) the camera of the Note 4 is better than the V10's?
I thought it's one of the top-notch cameras, since it's the praised G4 cam with even better software...
About flashing, I don't care much about that any more and try to get through with stock ROMs and without Root.
I learned the hard way that it might not be worth the hassle when you lose warranty because of rooting.
(Yes, Samsung denied warranty to me bc of rooting and I got an expensive repair out of that )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the camera is good maybe better than note 4 but overall it is not the best cam in the market
From Note 4 to V10, yes is a "must update". If you talk about Note 5 and V10 i probably say NO, but since is a Note 4...of course is a excelent update!
i cant say anything about camera on Note 4 but the V10 have the most complete phone-camera you can have, a lot of features not only in Camera mode but the best is video mode.
i cant complain about my battery life now, i have some issues last week but when reflash my stock ROM and do a debloat and nothing more i can tell you: use the phone brightness at 30% most of the time, wifi 24/7 and some apps always open i am getting a full day of battery and 5h - sometimes 6h, i did 6h from yesterday until today of Screen On Time!!!
overall is a full experience phone, you wont regret the change. and for the price you can grab it today is amazing!!!!!
Go for galaxy note 7,
I've owned both, the V10 is not really any better in any one area as far as usability and performance. Personally I miss the note 4 and had I known what I do today I would have kept the note 4 and sold the V10 I got with my upgrade. The camera is a pita, it's slow, not that great has no built in editing to speak of and other than it's occasionally awesome video it's a disappointment. The second screen is not functional on my V10 and I honestly don't care as it's of no use to me anyway. I've tried very hard to like this phone and I've accomplished that much I like it. As in its better than an iPhone or my old galaxy nexus. Its alright overall, nothing amazing, some major problems here and there for people and that's my 2 cents. Honestly I trade this for a new note 4 right now. If you can wait and upgrade to the note 7 I'd likely go that route.
The main features of v10 are audio and second screen. Camera is one of the best which you can find in phones (I would say that it's comparable with S7, but v10 has full manual mode for video recording).
I bought this phone because of audio.
Thanks all for your inputs so far!
I must say, I like my Note 4. Problem is, that after 1 year the internal memory started to fail (MMC_read errors + freezes + reboots = now dead).
Now, with me rooting and flashing happily, Samsung denied warranty and I am there to pay for the repairs (change of mainboard).
That's why I said I'll never ever buy a flagship again (at least at the release date), so the Note 7 is definitely out of the game (for it's ridiculous price anyway).
I am, however, currently torn between the V10 and S7 edge.
For the S7 speak the performance/top harware + the praised camera, but it's still 200.- more expensive. Plus it has the inbuilt battery, and I know from experience that the power keeps degrading over the years (my Note 4 needed a new battery after 1 year).
(P.S.: My Note 4 is now already at Samsung repair for 1 1/2 months - enough time to send a few phones to China for repair and get them back earlier - lol)
I went straight from a T-Mobile Note 4 to a T-Mobile LG V10. The performance and battery life of the V10 are worse, but the V10 has a very high-quality headphone output rivaling $200 dedicated Audiophile media players, the V10 has the same camera sensor as the Note 4 but features a faster, and sharper lens, manual controls, RAW support, and overall better image quality. The LCD in the V10 is no match for the AMOLED panel on the Note 4, especially in sunlight. It's honestly all about trade offs. It's worse phone than the Note 4 but it's a better MP3 player and a better camera.
The battery life does suck but this can easily be solved with an extended battery for 30 bucks on amazon for the battery that is double the factory or 50 - 60 for a battery that is triple the factory battery.
PowerBear (double) and ZeroLemon (triple).
On this phone I actually recommend the double because the gauging of the triple under android is pretty inaccurate and when it gets low you have to turn off the phone, pull the battery and restart it to get a accurate reading.
I came from a note 3, the specs are only slightly lower from the note 4 and there has been a world of difference in response time and performance.
The camera in LG products in general is fantastic vs samsung. My note had considerable shutter lag, this issue doesnt happen with the v10.
Outside of screen quality (which is still great on the v10 just not amoled like the note series) and battery life (which is mostly due to the screen differences, amoled can actually turn off portions of the screen that are black, v10 can't) it's a upgrade from the note 4. Battery life can be improved via a extended battery pack as mentioned.
I would consider waiting though because the v20 is right around the corner. Though I am uncertain what its features its going to have other than the 820 snapdragon processor.
Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd share some thoughts on this device after having purchased it yesterday afternoon.
I bought this phone because I felt it was the first device that gave me what I had been craving for a long time - an Android version of the iPhone 6s. I like the size, build and feel of the iPhone 6s/7, but not the software or the price.
I think I am in the minority of people who prefer a smaller handset, and even though Android devices tend to fit a lot more screen real estate into smaller bodies, I still feel that the 4.7in screen size is ideal for me.
The only phones that run Android of that size have been the Xperia compact line, and the Galaxy Alpha/A3 2016 models. There have been others, but only these have come close. Unfortunately, they have suffered compromised designs and specs that have left me wanting (I have owned them all, and this is my opinion which others are free to disagree with).
This new handset, however, has me ticking a lot of boxes.
- Size is fantastic. Just a little smaller than the iPhone 6s, and feels great in the hand. Premium materials, solid build quality, great ergonomics, clicky buttons, no camera hump.
- The display is good, not awesome, but vibrant and colourful without being too over the top. Can be tweaked to each user's preference, and gets both very bright and very dim.
- fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate.
- Camera is good, not amazing. An iPhone definitely trounces this setup, but I paid £280 sim free and my usage is not too demanding so it's absolutely fine for me. Daytime shots are actually very pleasant and I think here it punches above its weight; low light is where it struggles, but I feel that most shots at night are not too important for me so it's a compromise I'll happily make.
- Call quality is very good and it holds onto signal well in my area.
- Sound quality out of the side mounted speaker is actually surprisingly good, at least as good as an iPhone 6s. Headphone performance is also excellent .
- Performance has been nothing short of excellent. I feel we have reached a point where there are not that many tasks that we do that actually need a Snapdragon 821 to run smoothly - granted, some 3d games need serious power on tap to run at their highest settings on a quad HD screen, but with a 720p screen, the A3 2017 runs pretty much anything at best quality without delay or hiccup. And everyday operation is smooth as butter without any lag or slowdowns. Granted, this is very early days, but I am hopeful this will continue.
- Battery life is astounding. I charged it on Saturday night and hit 100% at 10.20pm. I took it off charger and only put it back on at 2% while writing this review and I had nearly 9 hrs and 30mins of screen on time over 1 day and 3 hours. That includes 64 mins of voice calls. Please note that I was home all day on Wifi, but still, I have never seen times like that, not least from a 2300 odd mah battery. Awesome. It also charges pretty fast.
- Other stuff - water proofing is great, finally have USB-C, charges really quickly with the included adaptive charging brick, finally has a blue light filter.
And now for the balance of the review:
- Slippery despite its size, so a case or a skin is advisable.
- 16gb of internal memory nearly broke the deal for me, but a 64gb card and some transferring of apps has left me with 3.8gb left to play with internally. Definitely not ideal and a very cheap move from Samsung, but I'm also hoping Nougat brings adoptable storage soon which will eliminate this as an issue (here's hoping!).
- No notification light is something I have to adjust to, but the always on display does help *somewhat* ( I prefer the light as it's something that alerts me from afar, whereas the display is on regardless of whether you have a notification or not).
- Camera as described above has some shortcomings.
- Usual Samsung software compromised with bloatware - lots of useless stuff on here that eats into that 16gb that I cannot delete (Microsoft suite, Samsung junk, usual duplicate apps that we all use the Google version of). I'll keep trying the usual routes to rid the phone of this but I may have to wait a while.
Other than these points, I am really pleased. It feels nice to have paid relatively little for a device that feels so premium. I know there are other phones at relatively low prices that kill this on specs (OP3, Axon 7, Honor 8, etc) but they are generally much bigger handsets, so for anyone looking at something smaller, this is a great buy.
TL;DR, it's great, buy one if you like small phones ?
I always wanted a phone with an small amoled screen and water proofing so i jumped ship from the huge mate 8 to witch i am comparing. I agree with your pros but i found: 1-the camera is average and lacking OIS (need very stable hands), 2- cannot use sd card as default storage (very handy on mate 8), 3- phone very slippery, 4- Design and Screen of a3 2016 seemed better (personal opinion), 5- no stutter but little slow (comparing to mate 8). Only lacks IR blaster to check all boxes but we can't have everything.
Great feedback, thanks guys.
You mentioned not display is good but not awesome, could you elaborate? Is issue clarity or something else? Thanks.
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mario24601 said:
Great feedback, thanks guys.
You mentioned not display is good but not awesome, could you elaborate? Is issue clarity or something else? Thanks.
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a larger phone with a quad HD screen, it's never going to look as dazzlingly sharp, but on a 4.7 inch screen 720p still looks great and it is perfectly sharp and clear - if you've ever seen an iPhone screen, this feels much the same. Colours can be adjusted to your preference - I prefer accurate rather than punchy, but you can set it to either or somewhere in between.
I've had everything from a galaxy s6 which has crazy high pixel density to a Moto x, and personally I prefer the 720p smaller screen because it's far more efficient and I don't notice the pixel density difference after an hour or two.
Hope this helps.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Coming from a larger phone with a quad HD screen, it's never going to look as dazzlingly sharp, but on a 4.7 inch screen 720p still looks great and it is perfectly sharp and clear - if you've ever seen an iPhone screen, this feels much the same. Colours can be adjusted to your preference - I prefer accurate rather than punchy, but you can set it to either or somewhere in between.
I've had everything from a galaxy s6 which has crazy high pixel density to a Moto x, and personally I prefer the 720p smaller screen because it's far more efficient and I don't notice the pixel density difference after an hour or two.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
Thanks for sharing this. I am also very happy with this phone so far. It's my second day with it, the battery is at 39% with 4h45 sot and 1d3h total since unplugged. In a night of 9 hours, the phone just lost 3%.
I have noticed though that wifi is constantly detected as running by betterbatterysats, even if it's turned off. Any idea how to fix this?
patci32 said:
I have noticed though that wifi is constantly detected as running by betterbatterysats, even if it's turned off. Any idea how to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
F157 said:
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
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Click to collapse
Indeed, I didn't know. Thanks, I hope this works.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------
F157 said:
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, could you please tell me if you use other settings to improve your battery life?
patci32 said:
Indeed, I didn't know. Thanks, I hope this works.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------
Also, could you please tell me if you use other settings to improve your battery life?
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Mm, nothing special yet, as I'm really happy with battery life so far.
What I did in the past with other devices is for example use the app greenify (needs root) to hibernate apps you don't want to run in the background.
Also, something that really helped me with my old s4 mini was to set mobile network to 2g, and only switch to lte once required.
And as always, use wifi instead of mobile network as often as possible, disable Bluetooth if not needed, etc.
£280?!?! That's highway robbery for a device with 720p, small battery and everything in budget-range. You get this, all the bells and whistles for £150 with a well known Chinese brand. Now I know why I'd never ever get a Slamsug.
iMaterial said:
£280?!?! That's highway robbery for a device with 720p, small battery and everything in budget-range. You get this, all the bells and whistles for £150 with a well known Chinese brand. Now I know why I'd never ever get a Slamsug.
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Click to collapse
Please could you elaborate on one of these phones that you can get for £150? I'm pretty clued up but if I've missed something I'd be keen for you to share what you've found for myself and the community - my mother needs a new phone so if you've seen something better than the A3 for less I'd love to buy it
Sunil_Kaura said:
Please could you elaborate on one of these phones that you can get for £150? I'm pretty clued up but if I've missed something I'd be keen for you to share what you've found for myself and the community - my mother needs a new phone so if you've seen something better than the A3 for less I'd love to buy it
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Click to collapse
Which stats are you looking for? Battery? Screen res? SoC power?
Compare, with €150 phones, battery, res, SoC, well anything really part from 10 mm in size.
iMaterial said:
Which stats are you looking for? Battery? Screen res? SoC power?
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Click to collapse
Well I'm referring to your comment that you could get a better phone for £150, so I guess I'm wondering what phone you are saying is better for that price...
The battery life of the A3 is epic, the PPI is still perfectly decent (720p on 4.7 inches is still perfectly usable and arguably 1080p is unnecessary) and the SoC is both fat and frugal.
So really I'm wondering whether you can get something the same or better for less money
I'd be happy with an alternative with same form factor. Any recommendations? The A3 still not available in US.
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mario24601 said:
I'd be happy with an alternative with same form factor. Any recommendations? The A3 still not available in US.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
4.5 to 4.7" screen, 720p res. 2015 - today, only 4-5 options comes up.
http://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2015&nHeightMax=135&nDisplayResMin=921600&fDisplayInchesMin=4.5&fDisplayInchesMax=4.7
Only A3, Sony X and Z5 compact, Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro has enough RAM, battery and goodies. LG Spirit and Alcatel Idol 3 only has 1 GB and 1.5 GB RAM, not really a viable option.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Well I'm referring to your comment that you could get a better phone for £150, so I guess I'm wondering what phone you are saying is better for that price...
The battery life of the A3 is epic, the PPI is still perfectly decent (720p on 4.7 inches is still perfectly usable and arguably 1080p is unnecessary) and the SoC is both fat and frugal.
So really I'm wondering whether you can get something the same or better for less money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Redmi 4 Pro can be had for €150 and its battery life is Epic also, the Redmi 3 Pro is way better than A3 and Redmi 4 Pro, with 720p but alas 5". Redmi note 3 is also really good, for even less than €150. Samsung is priced at least £100 than it should, but the same can be said about Sony and Apple also.
iMaterial said:
4.5 to 4.7" screen, 720p res. 2015 - today, only 4-5 options comes up.
http://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2015&nHeightMax=135&nDisplayResMin=921600&fDisplayInchesMin=4.5&fDisplayInchesMax=4.7
Only A3, Sony X and Z5 compact, Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro has enough RAM, battery and goodies. LG Spirit and Alcatel Idol 3 only has 1 GB and 1.5 GB RAM, not really a viable option.
The Redmi 4 Pro can be had for €150 and its battery life is Epic also, the Redmi 3 Pro is way better than A3 and Redmi 4 Pro, with 720p but alas 5". Redmi note 3 is also really good, for even less than €150. Samsung is priced at least £100 than it should, but the same can be said about Sony and Apple also.
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I agree the Xiaomi phones are compelling - my main issue is the fact that they are all grey imports - many purchasers have reported that they do not get any warranty support whatsoever, they generally require a more experienced android user to side load the Google play store, and they have sketchy android skins which have also been reported to spy on their users.
Don't get me wrong, Touchwiz (or Grace UI as it's now known) is not exactly great, but I'd rather know I can walk into a Samsung store and get a problem fixed than rely on a Hong Kong based website for support.
I think it's only fair to compare this phone to what can be had in Europe, and in that regard, it blows the Sony X Compact, Alcatel and others out of the water.
And given its build quality and design, it's good value compared to phones that retail for double this cost.
Also, most Xiaomi phones don't come with NFC (no android pay), some don't have scratch resistant glass, no quick charging, etc
The A3 also uses a processor built on the 14nm process which is up to date technology, whereas the Xiaomi phones at that price point use outdated processors like the 650 and 616.
The 14nm process is what gives the A3 it's great battery life without needing a 4000mAh battery and heavier construction.
A final point - check out the videos of the Redmi note 3 bend test - not encouraging! (I will add the Redmi 3 pro did significantly better though which is good progress).
Sunil_Kaura said:
I agree the Xiaomi phones are compelling - my main issue is the fact that they are all grey imports - many purchasers have reported that they do not get any warranty support whatsoever, they generally require a more experienced android user to side load the Google play store, and they have sketchy android skins which have also been reported to spy on their users.
Don't get me wrong, Touchwiz (or Grace UI as it's now known) is not exactly great, but I'd rather know I can walk into a Samsung store and get a problem fixed than rely on a Hong Kong based website for support.
I think it's only fair to compare this phone to what can be had in Europe, and in that regard, it blows the Sony X Compact, Alcatel and others out of the water.
And given its build quality and design, it's good value compared to phones that retail for double this cost.
Also, most Xiaomi phones don't come with NFC (no android pay), some don't have scratch resistant glass, no quick charging, etc
The A3 also uses a processor built on the 14nm process which is up to date technology, whereas the Xiaomi phones at that price point use outdated processors like the 650 and 616.
The 14nm process is what gives the A3 it's great battery life without needing a 4000mAh battery and heavier construction.
A final point - check out the videos of the Redmi note 3 bend test - not encouraging! (I will add the Redmi 3 pro did significantly better though which is good progress).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Redmi 4 Pro that I bought for a friend in Jan has the 14 nm Snapdragon 625. I can agree that it might lack a few finishing touches, but I could buy it for €150 inc shipping from aliexpress and get it in 7-9 days. But it's half the price, and I know the Adreno is a better GPU than the Mali.
Both on the Xiaomi and the Slamsug, first thing I would do it TWRP and LAOS ROM, they can keep their crap TW and MIUI, can't stand it.
Never the less, it shouldn't be 2x the price for something that is almost inferior in some points and better on others. Esp not in 2017, maybe some years ago, but every day there are better and better phones for under €200, like the Moto G5 and such, only problem is they are so damn big, and big phones are 99/100 new that are coming out, these days, sadly.
iMaterial said:
The Redmi 4 Pro that I bought for a friend in Jan has the 14 nm Snapdragon 625. I can agree that it might lack a few finishing touches, but I could buy it for €150 inc shipping from aliexpress and get it in 7-9 days. But it's half the price, and I know the Adreno is a better GPU than the Mali.
Both on the Xiaomi and the Slamsug, first thing I would do it TWRP and LAOS ROM, they can keep their crap TW and MIUI, can't stand it.
Never the less, it shouldn't be 2x the price for something that is almost inferior in some points and better on others. Esp not in 2017, maybe some years ago, but every day there are better and better phones for under €200, like the Moto G5 and such, only problem is they are so damn big, and big phones are 99/100 new that are coming out, these days, sadly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't disagree there - it's frustrating how few phones there are under 5 inches available.
I will say though that besides the Xiaomi phones which look to have a nice build, the Moto G4 is very cheap feeling, as are most of the other phones available here in that price bracket, so I would happily pay a little more for a nice looking and premium feeling device.
If the Samsung we're £220 I think it'd sell by the bucket load as £20-40 above phones like the G4 would likely tempt many up, but at £280 I agree that it's a harder sell for the lay person.
I'm looking at from the other side - it's a mild compromise from an S7 or a iPhone 6s/7 , but it's half the price, rather than double that of a cheaper device.
And it absolutely looks and feels as good as a £5-600 phone.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Can't disagree there - it's frustrating how few phones there are under 5 inches available.
I will say though that besides the Xiaomi phones which look to have a nice build, the Moto G4 is very cheap feeling, as are most of the other phones available here in that price bracket, so I would happily pay a little more for a nice looking and premium feeling device.
If the Samsung we're £220 I think it'd sell by the bucket load as £20-40 above phones like the G4 would likely tempt many up, but at £280 I agree that it's a harder sell for the lay person.
I'm looking at from the other side - it's a mild compromise from an S7 or a iPhone 6s/7 , but it's half the price, rather than double that of a cheaper device.
And it absolutely looks and feels as good as a £5-600 phone.
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Click to collapse
There are so many on this forum and in other places that airs the same frustration, so few options for a mobile ca 130mm lenght and 4.5 - 4.7" screen (720p at least), that I'm starting to wonder if we should do something about it, maybe talk to so manufacturer to make at least 1-2 phones under 5"
The Redmi 4 Pro I used for a few weeks felt no worse in build than the Iphone 6 or 6S I have tried a few times, both in metal around 140 - 145mm size. But for €310 I can get a Xiaomi Mi 5 with 820 and have €100 in change over. I have never held a Moto G, last Motorola I have tried was the 4.3" Razr Maxx and it felt solid as a rock.
The J5 goes for around €180-190 here and I see no reason why this smaller, entry level A3 shouldn't be priced in a similar fashion. These days due to deaths in the family and such I'm so poor that €100 is more than I can spare and my Android mobile that I have now is from 2012 or so, single core with 512 MB RAM and I hate every minute when I'm using it. I'm lucky to have been given a 2009 Sony Ericsson C901 as my main caller.
Just my 1¢ (It used to be 2¢, but due to the recession I've had to make cutbacks)
---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:16 PM ----------
What annoys me a lot is also that this A3 is bigger than the A3 (2016) and the battery is only 50 mAh bigger. They could easily have put a 2500 - 2800 mAh battery in this one, just like the Sony Z3, Z5 or X compact, which is 5 mm smaller.
My last perfect phone was the original moto x. I still use it. I am not a power user but the X just needs lil more power but on cm13 it's not bad.
I don't even mind going with old phone as long as has some custom roms to improve performance.
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