Experienced Z3V owner roll call... - Xperia Z3v General

I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."

AddictedToGlass said:
I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When my Z3v screen went shot... I tried an LG G6? Whatever the current one is. Took it back a week later and bought an unopened Z3v off of Ebay. Nothing has what this phone has from Verizon. Stereo front facing sound. Camera button. IP68 water resistance. Expansion memory slot. If another phone ever had all that... I'd upgrade. Until then I will happily keep my Z3v.

kentompkins said:
When my Z3v screen went shot... I tried an LG G6? Whatever the current one is. Took it back a week later and bought an unopened Z3v off of Ebay. Nothing has what this phone has from Verizon. Stereo front facing sound. Camera button. IP68 water resistance. Expansion memory slot. If another phone ever had all that... I'd upgrade. Until then I will happily keep my Z3v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Moto X Pure checks most of those boxes. I still like the Z3V, but since the usb charge port "flap" is failing again, I'm thinking of switching back to my old Moto X 2014. There are not a lot of compelling upgrades out there, I tend to agree. Front facing stereo is a big plus for me, and most of the nice new phones have speakers near the usb charge port...not great.

Still using this and my pixel as o e of my daily devices

I use the z3v exclusively since i got it in 2014. It has enough features for me. Camera is good, the music player is great , i have 128gig card with 32gig internal , So enough storage for anything i ever do. I have rooted it, modified system to dark instead of white, so it doesnt hurt my eyes. Added viper ,dolby, and a few other mods and its been a great phone for me . If it breaks , i will replace it with another z3v off the net .

I still have the Z3v and occasionally use it for light duty work, but a couple months ago I moved on finally to the Note 8. It was literally falling apart with the battery expanding...I had to constantly Force the back glass panel back inside the frame. But I had the phone for 3 full years and never once had to do a factory reset... it never once even lagged.
The Z3v was the best phone that nobody knew about. If i could get another Sony on Verizon I would. But that's just not the case.

Sony z3v Haven
First of all, this phone is stable. The only problems I've ever had with this phone is when I was attempting to Root or upgrade to 5.1.1. I've used this phone rooted & exclusively since 2015 and have yet to find a replacement phone. I am on my 3rd z3v. I have a tendency to drop my phones and I don't like to use cases.
Most the time I have run this phone on T-Mobile from California to Florida & International networks in Mexico, Turkey, & Eastern Europe --it works perfect and once I activated it on the Verizon network and I fell in love :victory: with it all over again; it's like the phone became AliVE again! It's blazing fast on Verizon however Verizon is too expensive and their lack of affordable international options pushed me back to T-Mobile.
REASONS I LOVE THIS PHONE
High Quality Craftsmanship(aluminum&glass)
Dedicated Camera Button
IPX8 Water Resistant
Front Facing Stereo Speakers
QI Wireless Charging (which I almost always use as to avoid opening the flap & for convenience)
SD memory card slot
Beautiful full HD screen (which I never appreciated until forced to use an Apple 6s for my work)
Quality HD Music Player
Superior Auto 20+ MP Camera pictures & 4K Video (the Timeshift Video-High Frame Rate-is stunning!)
ONLY REASONS I AM LOOKING FOR A REPLACEMENT
VoLTE (I want access to T-Mobile's voice over LTE because it only works with Verizon)
Access to more of T-Mobile's 4G network. (Newer faster radios bands for T-Mobile and other companies)
Dual SIM phone.
If I cannot find another phone with these options I will be buying my 4th z3v. The Verizon representative tried to push their latest Motorola on me but I hated the feel. It felt cheap.

AddictedToGlass said:
I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen support on other sites. It caused me to hard brick my phone. haha
The real issue is that there are posts for the Z3 as well as Custom Roms for it. Sometimes they apply to the Z3V, but nobody comes flat out and says it. I for one am not willing to brick another phone just to perform a test. Of course, I don't think that is possible because the replacement phone I received has a locked bootloader... my old one definitely unlocked. I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to though.

Related

So I returned my DNA today

After much deliberation I finally returned my DNA today, but not for the reasons many of you might suspect. I have unlimited data, and I'm a power user and run off pure 4g all day. I didnt care about the sd card since I rely on google music/netflix/youtube/PlayOn for all my entertainment. Coming from the thunderbolt the DNA's battery life was a breath of fresh air. I would keep the DNA mounted in a tablet stand next to my desk all day running at full bright, surfing constantly. During lunch I'd watch a solid hour of netflix. I stream slacker to and from work. I always keep gps/bluetooth on and have multiple sync services running such as gmail, twitter, etc. By the time I get home my phone usually has 25% life, and thats without any charging. This is a huge win for me since the thunderbolt requires constant charging.
However the problems for me were the lack of kickstand (i dont like cellphone cases and keep mine naked at all times), and the lack of car docking ability. I kept forgetting to bring my tablet stand with me during lunch and I'd have to watch movies with the damn thing flat on the table. Without Qi car docks I have to stick my phone in the cupholder, where I can only see about half of the screen and have to let it bounce and bang around while I drive.
Finally there was the lack of openness. Verizon really boned us on the locked bootloader, and it seems like all the rooting material out there has about a 50% chance of bricking your device, not a risk I'm willing to take. So I fired my TB back up and felt right at home. Ad-blocking, wifi tether, customized quick settings, and a safe s-off method. I was at home again. The DNA was a great phone, but it wasnt enough of a TB killer to warrant the upgrade. The TB is still fine in my books and I plan to get some more good life out of it. I must say I got REALLY addicted to using the LG wireless charging pad, so I decided to buy a couple of OEM thunderbolt docks for my home/office desks so that I can quickly dock/undock in a similar fashion to the LG pad. Plus my phone will now charge in kickstand mode
......waiting for SGS4 now hehehe..
50% Chance? I'm wondering where in the world you came up with that info. Seems to me you are just uncomfortable with what is involved to unlock. And that's the reason you returned it.
Or we could go with the car/cup holder theory and docking..... but that's more of a simple fix......
If you know how to use adb and the sdk-tools, which you should if you plan to do any kind of modding, then you should have no problem unlocking the bootloader. That's the only concern that might have been worth returning it for. Otherwise its a great phone.
Understandable. U need to enjoy what u purchased. U don't like it, u return it. I wouldn't keep something I don't like either. I did the same thing with the Droid Eris and got the Google Nexus instead.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
If you skim through the unlocking threads there are numerous complaints about people bricking their devices. I dont know what their experience levels are, but this is far above the norm for any new device. Seems to me the dev's released their tools a little too prematurely. I'm sure it will get better in time, to the point of a one-click which is what everyone always wants. But I paid full retail for this device, and there's no way I was risking a brick because my computer hiccup'd during an adb push or because I hit a wrong button and rebooted twice or some other cardinal sin and be completely screwed. I'm all for flashing the hell out of my phones so long as there's a failsafe. But bricking? I dont think so. Like I said, it just needs time to mature.
The car dock stuff is very true however. I hate ugly gaudy clunky looking universal mounts, with their 3 or more brackets required to grip the phone. Plus the dna has that difficult to remove rubber cover on the port that I'm sure will fall off from repeated use. In the morning before going to work I dont have time to manhandle a car mount. I want to just pop the phone in and go, like I could with my TB mount. But with no sign of Qi car chargers on the horizon, and the actual written specs for the designs only released in october, it could be quite some time before we see them, if at all. I'm sure there's like 0 demand for Qi car chargers at the moment so it's a tough sell to bring to market.
I probably wont be looking at any phones at all for a very long time, even the SGS4 that I hinted at, because I'm sure they'll all suffer the same shortcomings. No OEM docks and no Qi car chargers.
RunNgun42 said:
If you skim through the unlocking threads there are numerous complaints about people bricking their devices. I dont know what their experience levels are, but this is far above the norm for any new device. Seems to me the dev's released their tools a little too prematurely. I'm sure it will get better in time, to the point of a one-click which is what everyone always wants. But I paid full retail for this device, and there's no way I was risking a brick because my computer hiccup'd during an adb push or because I hit a wrong button and rebooted twice or some other cardinal sin and be completely screwed. I'm all for flashing the hell out of my phones so long as there's a failsafe. But bricking? I dont think so. Like I said, it just needs time to mature.
The car dock stuff is very true however. I hate ugly gaudy clunky looking universal mounts, with their 3 or more brackets required to grip the phone. Plus the dna has that difficult to remove rubber cover on the port that I'm sure will fall off from repeated use. In the morning before going to work I dont have time to manhandle a car mount. I want to just pop the phone in and go, like I could with my TB mount. But with no sign of Qi car chargers on the horizon, and the actual written specs for the designs only released in october, it could be quite some time before we see them, if at all. I'm sure there's like 0 demand for Qi car chargers at the moment so it's a tough sell to bring to market.
I probably wont be looking at any phones at all for a very long time, even the SGS4 that I hinted at, because I'm sure they'll all suffer the same shortcomings. No OEM docks and no Qi car chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in no way trying to change your mind, as I just came from a Rezound with a dock at work, at home, and car mount/dock and I definitely enjoyed them.
However in the wireless charging thread in the accessories section, there was a post by a iBOLT guy stating that they were working on a Qi car mount/dock. Just a heads up. :thumbup:
Here's a link to his post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34620722
Sent from my HTC Droid DNA
I'm sorry, I can't help myself, but the DNA isn't a TB killer? Are you kidding?
LOL, EVERY high-end phone that has come out since the TB was a TB killer.
(....my $.02 and, of course YMMV)
rfarrah said:
I'm sorry, I can't help myself, but the DNA isn't a TB killer? Are you kidding?
LOL, EVERY high-end phone that has come out since the TB was a TB killer.
(....my $.02 and, of course YMMV)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree with the OP. I had a TB (with extended battery), and I preferred using it over the S3, MAXX HD, and DNA. None of those phones were worthy of an upgrade to the TB, IMO.
geoff5093 said:
I completely agree with the OP. I had a TB (with extended battery), and I preferred using it over the S3, MAXX HD, and DNA. None of those phones were worthy of an upgrade to the TB, IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh... Why are you still here then?
Idk why these threads are made but hey why not okay the not worth the upgrade from the tb made me laugh so hard my gf hit me cause I woke her .. gpu ,cpu screen reactiveness I mean it blows most phones away wait no all phones next to the nexus 4 in most areas DNA was better or ties even rendering a much higher resolution . Unless you wait for the s4 by your standard why get a glass on glass device u need to handle with kid gloves .... But the rooting method isn't there a one click now , s off I'm sure will come but if u absolutely need to flash now u can get the 8 gig no expadable mem or wait the 6-8 weeks in the play store for the 16 gig :banghead:
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium
Bye!
RunNgun42 said:
After much deliberation I finally returned my DNA today, but not for the reasons many of you might suspect. I have unlimited data, and I'm a power user and run off pure 4g all day. I didnt care about the sd card since I rely on google music/netflix/youtube/PlayOn for all my entertainment. Coming from the thunderbolt the DNA's battery life was a breath of fresh air. I would keep the DNA mounted in a tablet stand next to my desk all day running at full bright, surfing constantly. During lunch I'd watch a solid hour of netflix. I stream slacker to and from work. I always keep gps/bluetooth on and have multiple sync services running such as gmail, twitter, etc. By the time I get home my phone usually has 25% life, and thats without any charging. This is a huge win for me since the thunderbolt requires constant charging.
However the problems for me were the lack of kickstand (i dont like cellphone cases and keep mine naked at all times), and the lack of car docking ability. I kept forgetting to bring my tablet stand with me during lunch and I'd have to watch movies with the damn thing flat on the table. Without Qi car docks I have to stick my phone in the cupholder, where I can only see about half of the screen and have to let it bounce and bang around while I drive.
Finally there was the lack of openness. Verizon really boned us on the locked bootloader, and it seems like all the rooting material out there has about a 50% chance of bricking your device, not a risk I'm willing to take. So I fired my TB back up and felt right at home. Ad-blocking, wifi tether, customized quick settings, and a safe s-off method. I was at home again. The DNA was a great phone, but it wasnt enough of a TB killer to warrant the upgrade. The TB is still fine in my books and I plan to get some more good life out of it. I must say I got REALLY addicted to using the LG wireless charging pad, so I decided to buy a couple of OEM thunderbolt docks for my home/office desks so that I can quickly dock/undock in a similar fashion to the LG pad. Plus my phone will now charge in kickstand mode
......waiting for SGS4 now hehehe..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're gonna do what you're gonna do, and it's important to be happy with your device. But seriously, these are really stupid reasons for returning a device. Lack of a kickstand? Seriously? Prop it up against a book like everyone else does. Or get a case with a kickstand. Or use a cassette tape box. Or just hold it up yourself. There are many exceedingly easy solutions to this problem that don't make you look like the laziest person on the planet. Car docks are coming; you can't expect a brand new device only offered on one carrier to have a plethora of third-party support right out of the gate.
There is most certainly not a 50% chance of bricking your device. There's an 100% chance of bricking it if you do something stupid. If you follow directions, your risk is very slim. And again, the device has been out for less than a month. Stop being so damn impatient and let the devs work. The fact that we already have some roms trickling out is quite impressive in my book. They'll have a foolproof method out before you know it.
Honestly, after seeing thread after thread about how "awful" the battery supposedly is and how the lack of an SD slot is "inexcusable" (despite the fact that Google and Apple have omitted this for years now), this thread is sort of refreshing - it's nice having new, even less legitimate complaints to pick apart.
anti09 said:
You're gonna do what you're gonna do, and it's important to be happy with your device. But seriously, these are really stupid reasons for returning a device. Lack of a kickstand? Seriously? Prop it up against a book like everyone else does. Or get a case with a kickstand. Or use a cassette tape box. Or just hold it up yourself. There are many exceedingly easy solutions to this problem that don't make you look like the laziest person on the planet. Car docks are coming; you can't expect a brand new device only offered on one carrier to have a plethora of third-party support right out of the gate.
There is most certainly not a 50% chance of bricking your device. There's an 100% chance of bricking it if you do something stupid. If you follow directions, your risk is very slim. And again, the device has been out for less than a month. Stop being so damn impatient and let the devs work. The fact that we already have some roms trickling out is quite impressive in my book. They'll have a foolproof method out before you know it.
Honestly, after seeing thread after thread about how "awful" the battery supposedly is and how the lack of an SD slot is "inexcusable" (despite the fact that Google and Apple have omitted this for years now), this thread is sort of refreshing - it's nice having new, even less legitimate complaints to pick apart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
angry much? Much rather have someone return a device that doesn't make them happy, than to sit on here everyday and complain about a device's perceived shortcomings.
And my wife still rocks the Tbolt and has no problems with it. It works for her (at least until spring when its upgrade time).
RunNgun42 said:
After much deliberation I finally returned my DNA today, but not for the reasons many of you might suspect. I have unlimited data, and I'm a power user and run off pure 4g all day. I didnt care about the sd card since I rely on google music/netflix/youtube/PlayOn for all my entertainment. Coming from the thunderbolt the DNA's battery life was a breath of fresh air. I would keep the DNA mounted in a tablet stand next to my desk all day running at full bright, surfing constantly. During lunch I'd watch a solid hour of netflix. I stream slacker to and from work. I always keep gps/bluetooth on and have multiple sync services running such as gmail, twitter, etc. By the time I get home my phone usually has 25% life, and thats without any charging. This is a huge win for me since the thunderbolt requires constant charging.
However the problems for me were the lack of kickstand (i dont like cellphone cases and keep mine naked at all times), and the lack of car docking ability. I kept forgetting to bring my tablet stand with me during lunch and I'd have to watch movies with the damn thing flat on the table. Without Qi car docks I have to stick my phone in the cupholder, where I can only see about half of the screen and have to let it bounce and bang around while I drive.
Finally there was the lack of openness. Verizon really boned us on the locked bootloader, and it seems like all the rooting material out there has about a 50% chance of bricking your device, not a risk I'm willing to take. So I fired my TB back up and felt right at home. Ad-blocking, wifi tether, customized quick settings, and a safe s-off method. I was at home again. The DNA was a great phone, but it wasnt enough of a TB killer to warrant the upgrade. The TB is still fine in my books and I plan to get some more good life out of it. I must say I got REALLY addicted to using the LG wireless charging pad, so I decided to buy a couple of OEM thunderbolt docks for my home/office desks so that I can quickly dock/undock in a similar fashion to the LG pad. Plus my phone will now charge in kickstand mode
......waiting for SGS4 now hehehe..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While everyone is entitled to their opinions I have to disagree. I came from a Thunderbolt as well. While I do miss the kickstand, the Thunderbolt is a single core battery hog that has no official support beyond Gingerbread. The Liquid ICS was great but had a lot of bugs that will never get fixed. Data drops, garbled text, blank webpages... I couldn't ever go back from this quad-core Jelly Bean beast.
I'll agree that the difficulty of getting s-off on this phone is a major bummer right now, but I can live with it. Rooting it isn't really risky or that difficult. In fact, it's easier to root the DNA that it was my Thunderbolt what I first did it. I'm confident the great devs on here will crack it in time.
Threads like these make me wish one click root/unlocks were never released. Having to actually understand what you are doing will weed out the real power users from the ones who think they need to root because they can't live in a locked down environment.
I don't know why we are all trying to point out things that the OP listed as flawed, it's his $$ and his decision.
drumz0rz said:
While everyone is entitled to their opinions I have to disagree. I came from a Thunderbolt as well. While I do miss the kickstand, the Thunderbolt is a single core battery hog that has no official support beyond Gingerbread. The Liquid ICS was great but had a lot of bugs that will never get fixed. Data drops, garbled text, blank webpages... I couldn't ever go back from this quad-core Jelly Bean beast.
I'll agree that the difficulty of getting s-off on this phone is a major bummer right now, but I can live with it. Rooting it isn't really risky or that difficult. In fact, it's easier to root the DNA that it was my Thunderbolt what I first did it. I'm confident the great devs on here will crack it in time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too came from the Thunderbolt and your right the DNA is a OMG upgrade. And yes I miss the kickstand.
The OP can return his/her phone for whatever reasons he or she deems reasonable. I hope your next phone is the phone of your dreams. Would I return my DNA for the same reasons? Not a chance in heaven or hades. My old phone was a Samsung Captivate on AT&T. My new DNA takes my old Captivate in the back beats it up beyond all repair. The DNA is a MAJOR upgrade. Its not a prefect phone, but man is it awesome.
this thread is about as useless as my nipples
RunNgun42 said:
If you skim through the unlocking threads there are numerous complaints about people bricking their devices. I dont know what their experience levels are, but this is far above the norm for any new device. Seems to me the dev's released their tools a little too prematurely. I'm sure it will get better in time, to the point of a one-click which is what everyone always wants. But I paid full retail for this device, and there's no way I was risking a brick because my computer hiccup'd during an adb push or because I hit a wrong button and rebooted twice or some other cardinal sin and be completely screwed. I'm all for flashing the hell out of my phones so long as there's a failsafe. But bricking? I dont think so. Like I said, it just needs time to mature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This part is not opion, and I think you're wayyy off the mark. If you think the DNA has more bricked device threads, you are very confused my friend. My S3 has full unlock capability, yet has many many many many many more brick threads than you guys do. Every device I have owned had more than the DNA.
All devices will have multitudes of brick threads, and many many more. People are lazy, want one-clicks, don't wanna understand what they're doing, and brick their devices. Its a fact of nature. Not "far from the norm" at all.
Its his personal opinion jeez, let him breath. We all spend money for retarded reasons on newer phones so we can break them in a sense. If the guy is specific on where hos money is being thrown he has every bit of entitlement to do so. Is the post necessary? No but if everyone had an issue with it they should just not post and bring it back to the top. If you have something to add then do so respectfully. Were all grown ups here, c'mon guys.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium

[Q] Anyone interested in LG Tribute development?

I just picked one of these up yesterday, the LG Tribute, the Sprint version which is model LS660P (same hardware with the Virgin Mobile version). It's a Snapdragon 400 SoC quad core powered smartphone - it's basically a mix of features between a 1st gen Moto G LTE (the SoC) and the Moto E (removable battery and microSD slot) - it's a CDMA/LTE device only so it's more akin to the Sprint/Boost/Cricket versions of the Moto G I suppose - it does have a SIM card slot but since there's no GSM radio I suppose that's a dead end. It has Sprint LTE support for LTE bands 25, 26, and 41 - it's Spark-enabled as well.
So far in using it I've been extremely pleased with the performance overall considering it's $39.99 right now at many retailers like Fry's and Best Buy (retail is $79.99).
The biggest downside is the 800x480 display resolution but honestly I could care less these days. I just owned an LG G2 and loved it but I had to sell it to cover some bills, and when I saw the Tribute specs and that low price I figured it couldn't hurt to mess around with it a bit.
But in terms of getting it up and running, the first time I powered it up I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this on the Apps screen:
Just that, and nothing else - this thing has zero Sprint bloatware on it, absolutely nothing, and nothing from LG either. Yes it just has 4GB of internal storage leaving about 1.45GB for the user but it's got the microSD slot for storage. I've done all the requisite Google stock apps updates and installed all the apps I've purchased and the free ones I regularly use and I still have 435MB left so I'm good to go. Put my 32GB microSD card in it with 6GB of Opus-encoded audio files, a couple of movies and TV shows, and so far it's been fantastic.
Current battery is showing 37% left from a 100% charge, 12 hours and 3 minutes on, 5 hours and 14 minutes of screen on time so far (and still going because I'm watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier on it and there's 1 hour and 45 mins left in the movie), Wi-Fi has been on the entire time (it's in Airplane mode, however), screen brightness using MX Player is set at 12 (of 15), volume at 15. I use Google Hangouts with Google Voice to make "phone calls" using Wi-Fi so it's in Airplane mode most of the time when I'm at home.
I expect to hit the 7 hours of SOT and this is the first full charge on the device so, consider me a very happy camper.
I know requests have been put into place for Stumproot support so a root could be possible on this device, and I know that LG has posted the 4.4.2 ROM and kernel source code (I grabbed that last night). So here's my question:
Is there anyone out there that might be interested in attempting to develop any recovery for this (assuming we get root at some point), and then perhaps developing some custom ROM for it - seems like it should be a relatively easy thing considering a) we have the full ROM and kernel source even though it's just 4.4.2 at the moment (I would guess LG has no intentions of boosting this to 5.0 so that'll most likely never happen) and b) it's so close to the architecture of the CMDA/LTE version of the Moto G LTE that some kind of port might be possible towards Lollipop if and when that happens...?
Long sentence, sorry about that, I get wordy at times.
But I just figured I'd ask if there's any interest at all. Yes, it's weak on the resolution, yes, it's not a powerhouse device, yes, it's fairly cheap but it's functional and could be an awesome little smartphone with a little "help" thrown its way like a potential for a custom kernel as well to get the quad core and the governor a bit more under control.
I fully suspect this device is easily capable of 7 hours of SOT with such "upgrades" if anyone is interested. I lack the technical know-how and skills to get buried in ROM development much less kernels, so I figured I would toss the question out considering it shares so much common with the Moto G LTE variant + the Moto E's microSD slot potential.
Just curious... any responses are welcome and appreciated, thanks.
Update:
It's even better than I'd hoped...
Almost 8 hours of screen on time - that was a full movie (2 hours 15 minutes long and I let it play the entire thing, first frame to final), 4 TV shows (about 42-45 minutes long each), music playback for almost 1 hour, a few Wi-Fi phone calls using Google Hangouts/Voice, and some web surfing using the stock browser.
$40... absolutely amazing.
I'm just concerned about the amount of CPU time the Android OS shows there - it apparently used as much battery as the screen being on for 7 hours and 38 minutes did so there's something amiss hiding inside. Will be using Wakelock Detector to see if I can detect anything I can disable on the next go considering this was the first full 100% charge and battery test. Just for the record, the Keep Awake time listed on the Android OS battery usage page is 11 hours so it's not idle, there's something going on in there that's using the battery, now I just have to find out what it is. The CPU total time was 4 hours 17 minutes for Android OS.
I'm pretty satisfied, now I wonder what this thing could really be capable of in terms of battery life with a proper custom kernel and ROM. I wonder...
I've been waiting for something to pop up for this phone. I've had it for 2 weeks now. Its great. I agree the battery life is awesome on this thing.
I have the VM version and would be willing to test if someone came up with something.
sigh
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
Tribute
I also just switched to a Tribute, with KitKat. Was incredibly pissed off to find that Android had crippled the external SD's role. I mean, WTF guys? So now I am on a mission. Every day I scour the interwebs looking for hope that someone has figured out a root exploit for this. I would even settle for being able to flash a custom ROM like Cyanogen. Just so long as I can get PodKicker to save 'casts to the friggin SD card. Is that too much to ask? Anyway, nothing i have attempted so far has worked at all.
Oh, and you got lucky with the no bloatware thing. I got mine through Boost Mobile, and they clotted this damned thing chock full of B.S. To the point that OUT OF THE BOX I couldn't install apps from Playstore without uninstalling previous updates to all the big Google apps. And without Root, I can't get rid of this BoostZone ****e.
I have my doubts as to whether or not this device will get any support here at all at this point (yes I know it's just been a day or so since I made this thread). I didn't even know about the LG L90 till earlier today and when I checked out the specs I realized that it's a better device overall than the Tribute, of course the price reflects the differences as well (larger higher resolution screen, just qHD 960x540 but still it's larger at 4.7" also), with NFC support (I actually make use of that myself), the removable battery/microSD slot, and it's got support here with its own subforum now with a lot of activity (well, a lot for it I suppose) and it even has an IR port for QuickRemote too which is pretty awesome: my Wife is deaf so anytime we go someplace like a Doctor's office or hospital with TVs on, if the captions aren't enabled I turn 'em on with the smartphone. Used to do that with my Galaxy S4 Active in the past, nice to see LG and some other companies are hopping on the "remote control" bandwagon now too.
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
The L90 is "on sale" through T-Mobile's website for $100 with a coupon code right now, I would have grabbed that if I had known about it and the development in progress. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes out next time, might find one used on craigslist soon so we'll see what happens.
I'll keep the Tribute, of course, and keep hoping for a root at some point. I did ask in the Stumproot thread for someone to take a look at it and see what might be possible so, let's keep our fingers crossed.
As for the bloat, I had someone at HowardForums tell me if I activate the phone with Sprint (which I haven't done) that'll install all the Sprint bloatware so, fat chance of that happening I guess. I'll keep it as is and hope for the best.
Anyone working on this? I tried stump, and there are a ton of requests, but no one has said a word about it.
Thanks!
Still hoping but no progress has been reported. It's common knowledge these days that root on newer devices is going to continue to get more and more difficult with the potential that someday we're just not going to be able to do it on most anything. The low price of this one and lack of the high end specs makes most devs (at least in my opinion) not even give a crap about it so, if someone does and we benefit from it, that's awesome.
If nothing happens, it wasn't a complete waste, it's a fine little device with decent processing power and damned great battery life as noted so, $40 was nothing I guess.
Still looking
Still looking for root to the LG Tribute and nothing works. Has anyone heard anything new about it???
Just bumping this to revive interest.
sweetbsting said:
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
I realize that but there has been quite a bit of interest in the model on the internets so unless you have something helpful to add, kindly ignore my post. Thanks.
aburn95 said:
You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do understand that your comment takes away from the actual thread content, right?
Here is more information about the phone for anyone interested in development:
LG LS660 (LG Tribute) Virgin Mobile.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-LS660-Virgin-Mobile-tribute
Should I buy this phone and wait for a root?
Or are there other similar price and spec phones that are easier to root?
Do some phones never get rooted?
-snip-
br0adband said:
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
LiquidRabbit said:
Where did you download this? I am pretty curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own the LG Tribute any longer but the source code was at LG's open source repository for the LS660P (the Sprint variant, but it should be identical to the others I would guess):
https://www.lg.com/global/support/opensource/opensourceList?types=NAME&search=ls660p
emarkp said:
Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I can't even remember now, I saw some post at one of the other forums (AndroidPolice maybe) that said someone had discovered a working bootloader unlock, I could be wrong in that but honestly I can't recall the specifics at the momemt. As stated, I no longer own a Tribute (nothing at the moment, my sig always reflects what I own at any given time, for the record).
Good luck... it's really a fantastic smartphone for the $40 I paid for it (and Fry's still sells it for that price). I wish there was a GSM model 'cause I'd be all over it in a second flat; can't do much of anything with the CDMA model in terms of getting service here in my area. I won't deal with Sprint for service, and Boost/Virgin Mobile/etc don't have plans that come anywhere near what the $30/month T-Mobile plan does so...
For $35 a month, you get unlimited everything on Virgin Mobile...
For $20, you get 300 minutes and unlimited everything. I stuck with the $20 plan at unlimited everything as I was grandfathered in many, many years ago.
Possible root method?
Hello! I have been using android for a while and just got this phone (LG Tribute, Virgin Mobile). I was researching rooting this, and I found this: youtube.com/watch?v=ZBdrVa_bo5o
It seems to be advertising legit software, etc, but I wonder if this successfully roots the Tribute. On their website (androidphonetransfer_DOTCOM) ,they have a free trial for the software.
I'd like to try it, but I'm not sure if it would mess up my device or not (I'm new to rooting). anyone want to give this a try?
It does not work.
I am also interested. I was looking for a android phone with at least 4.5 inch screen to act as a dedicated gps navigator. LG Tribute fit the bill perfectly. Quad core processor is fast, would be nice to get rid of Sprint activation and clean the device up with a root.
I'm surprised there is not more interest in this phone. The sale price of $40 happens pretty regularly, which IMO is a great deal for this phone.

Moving on ...

I've been using my incredible 4g LTE ever since it came out and still love the form factor. It is starting to become a little slow and the camera could certainly be improved. Better battery life would be nice too.
I will probably keep using this phone until it completely breaks down on me or it just becomes too slow, but I'm wondering what phones former inc 4g lte users have moved on to. The main issue I have is that most phones are much larger. I like the 4" size, it fits comfortable in a shirt pock or my pants/jeans pocket. I know a 5" phone wouldnt fit very well and the whole point of a phone is that its portable.
I share your pain! I have had this phone since it released and it has hold up through every test of durability I could put it through. Today is the day that I move on to another my phone myself. Enricong, glad we could enjoy this awesome device even though it didn't have the biggest dev following it was still a great phone. I will continue to run this phone until the wheels fall of it.
Don't let this device fall. We just need to reach out to developers that have left this phone in the dust. This is the only good phone that I have owned that I have been able to have an unlocked bootloader. Let's revive this phone with new ROMs and more. Don't leave this phone in the dust.
enricong said:
I've been using my incredible 4g LTE ever since it came out and still love the form factor. It is starting to become a little slow and the camera could certainly be improved. Better battery life would be nice too.
I will probably keep using this phone until it completely breaks down on me or it just becomes too slow, but I'm wondering what phones former inc 4g lte users have moved on to. The main issue I have is that most phones are much larger. I like the 4" size, it fits comfortable in a shirt pock or my pants/jeans pocket. I know a 5" phone wouldnt fit very well and the whole point of a phone is that its portable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
droid mini--- its qa grate phone mostly google looking ( not much skin, what's there is useful) con no root for newer firmware, no removable battery, no sd slot
htc remix. it's the smallest newest phone ( my wife has one it's a bit bigger, but has an sd slot con bigger ( but not too bad ) no idea about the dev community
both of these phones are upgrades over the fireball
yea there's only 2 small phones even available.
i made hte jump a month ago to the s5. i'm getting used to the size - although still not 100% happy with dealing with a larger phone.
however, i do like the phone. but the s5 is older - so dev has already stopped on it. i can't even root it (phone came with a newer version that is unrootable). sorry, but devs just seem to play with the new stuff, which i can't blame them. there's just not enough people left on the older devices to make it worthwhile. the inc4g never had a strong dev base to begin with.
the s5 is a nice phone if you guys are ready to move on... although no root available for new software i really miss adblock and some customizing... but wifi tether works which is most important to me. s5 still has a sd card slot and removable battery. i may look for a rooted or older software version one on swappa that i can root.
j13smiley said:
yea there's only 2 small phones even available.
i made hte jump a month ago to the s5. i'm getting used to the size - although still not 100% happy with dealing with a larger phone.
however, i do like the phone. but the s5 is older - so dev has already stopped on it. i can't even root it (phone came with a newer version that is unrootable). sorry, but devs just seem to play with the new stuff, which i can't blame them. there's just not enough people left on the older devices to make it worthwhile. the inc4g never had a strong dev base to begin with.
the s5 is a nice phone if you guys are ready to move on... although no root available for new software i really miss adblock and some customizing... but wifi tether works which is most important to me. s5 still has a sd card slot and removable battery. i may look for a rooted or older software version one on swappa that i can root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not rootable? I do not want to imagine life without a rooted phone. I "need" WiFi Tether and the non-rooted options have historically never worked fully for me. That and TiB has been a lifesaver more than once... (Yes, I know we lived without a rooted Dinc4G for a long time until Unlimited was able to crack it open, and I *could* use a USB tether option if need be).
Sadly, I am now at the point with my Dinc4G (running ViperLTE) that I need to either upgrade to a newer phone or install a newer ROM because several apps simply won't update anymore on ICS (including the new expense system app for my work won't install on ICS, )
yep - verizon closed the root exploit with the last update. my phone arrived with the update already installed... should of ordered it a week earlier no dev is going to work on root for that phone now...
luckily foxfi does allow wifi tether without root and works on the s5! that was a must have for me so i'm at least ok with that. there's a bunch that i'd still love to have root for... but at least i'm functioning.

Breaking NEWS: LG insider confirms faulty phones!

I ended up talking to a phone tester that works for LG here in San Diego. She's from South Korea, she deals directly with corporate in Seoul and translates for them. I told her my V10 is a glitchy freakhouse and that it was all her fault.
She said they know that a certain percentage of the phones are defective with overheating, GPS failure and other issues. She didnt tell me what percentage though so not sure how wide reaching this is. I realize that missing fact makes this a little less valuable info but I thought it was interesting enough to share.
No product is perfect. I've dodge most of the issues I see here in the forum, only heating issue I had was trying the set up a email with Exchange server.
Like you said a number would be interesting. Did she indicate it was a hardware or software issue?
jbraft said:
Like you said a number would be interesting. Did she indicate it was a hardware or software issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't even fall for that crap.
I am with my third V10, all of them with dead píxels and screen issues...LG quality control is a joke.
jbraft said:
No product is perfect. I've dodge most of the issues I see here in the forum, only heating issue I had was trying the set up a email with Exchange server.
Like you said a number would be interesting. Did she indicate it was a hardware or software issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She didnt and wouldnt know and I'll tell you why. She explained their process. The testers just sit in an office and play with the phones, they dont use them in their daily lives. Then they send all issues to LG R&D who are supposed to diagnose and fix the issues.
Maybe they have other people doing more in-depth desting, I dont know but she is a contract employee of LG.
Visa Declined said:
Don't even fall for that crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what your intention is here but if we dont bring things like this to light then we're not doing anything to help all the people who are getting bad GPS, dead pixels, etc. that is screwing up their daily lives and causing a ton of hassle. I'm not an activist but I'm also not going to completely ignore it when this phone got me all excited, cost me $700 and then turned out to screw up my week and waste a bunch of my time.
arman3986 said:
I am with my third V10, all of them with dead píxels and screen issues...LG quality control is a joke.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I agree. I'm going to return the one I have today or tomorrow. I want this phone to work so bad. I might try a new one, one more time.
Yea, not sure if its true but I have read in many forums how phones don't work properly out of the box and most were fixed by doing a reset on the phone. The first V10 I had was great except for WiFi. I get over 100 Mbps at home and every device gets the same speed. However, the V10 was reaching 10 Mbps...after the reset it worked great and speed was up. I did end up exchanging for a new one (just to make sure I had a good phone, why I got to do a reset to fix a new phone) and the new V10 is great, out of the box. I get GPS lock quick, great WiFi and no lag.
Apache0c said:
She didnt and wouldnt know and I'll tell you why. She explained their process. The testers just sit in an office and play with the phones, they dont use them in their daily lives. Then they send all issues to LG R&D who are supposed to diagnose and fix the issues.
Maybe they have other people doing more in-depth desting, I dont know but she is a contract employee of LG.
I'm not sure what your intention is here but if we dont bring things like this to light then we're not doing anything to help all the people who are getting bad GPS, dead pixels, etc. that is screwing up their daily lives and causing a ton of hassle. I'm not an activist but I'm also not going to completely ignore it when this phone got me all excited, cost me $700 and then turned out to screw up my week and waste a bunch of my time.
Yup, I agree. I'm going to return the one I have today or tomorrow. I want this phone to work so bad. I might try a new one, one more time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since english is not my primary language I will do an extraordinary effort to do this...I've passed for 4 V10's already. I was waiting by 9.00am October the 30th to get this wonderful device LG announced that hit every single check mark that I always wanted in a smartphone. My first impressions should've sufficed cause the first one they brought was scratched out of the box, yes, the metal bands were scratched, so obviously I asked for another and that one was ok at least on he outside.
After less than a month I started to notice some weird behavior when displaying some content with the brightness maxed to 100%...dead pixels everywhere( I made a post). I exchanged that unit to and to make the story short I am with my 4th V10(counting the scratched one) and this one has "only" one dead pixel(or an array cause I don't think we can spot one pixel on this devices with our bare eyes) with no other issues so am keeping it fighting my OCD every time I think about it. I don't want to call T-Mo again and put another exchange request cause I know it will come with dead pixels and/or other more problematic issues.
LG quality control is a joke, at this price point dead pixels policy should be 0.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v10/help/how-lg-t3264290/page2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v10/help/dead-pixels-everywhere-t3263826
i have a lot of dead pixels and experiencing image retention issues. can someone help me? i dont know what to do.
Same here.
I have around 8 dead pixels on my phone, and my phone has guaranty but after contacting with guaranty they said only can repair and replace my phone lcd with another one.
SHAME ON YOU LG ???
I only see people complaining about phones bought from USA operators/stores, none bought on Amazon or other countries, I wonder
I bought my v10 on launch from vzw. No issues since day 1. Everything is spot on including the fingerprint sensor.
Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
in99flames said:
I bought my v10 on launch from vzw. No issues since day 1. Everything is spot on including the fingerprint sensor.
Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect most of the "complaints" are propaganda from the competition
For complaints. Try a different brand if your not happy with LG. Make both you and LG happy, and move on.
I have had my V10 since December (from T-Mobile). Initially no problems to report, but the image retention issue has become progressively worse (as I type this, the image of this site is being temporarily "burned in"), and the GPS has only recently been failing to connect for navigation. my father also got a V10 the same day, but does not report these issues. User activity may be leading to a faster declining lifespan of phone, but both phones have had a drastic increase in overheating since receiving the Marshmallow update, which may be playing a role in the even greater descent into decomposition.
I've been a big fan of LG phones for years, but the V10 may not be able to keep up with the demand (I'm 19, so like most millennials, I use my phone constantly-possibly why I have this issue)
So my LG V10 has been perfect from day one. Now lets assume that every post on this thread is factual.
Then all we can do is say sorry it was you that got the bad phone, if you add all the posts here it's still less the half a percent bad phones, that's a pretty good number.

Z3v is the child neither Version nor Sony wanted

There is no reason that the d6708 should be in the Z3 area of XDA, other than to be a marker of mislabeling. From what I've gathered, the Z3v has a chipset similar to the Z2, but with the camera and power of a Z3, which in theory sounds pretty nice since the added camera button really makes this phone great for photographers. When I purchased the phone, I loved it... Over time, however, I noticed that the overheating really took a toll on the experience. Then things stopped working. I've read where people completely lost function of their camera... I lost GPS. The locked bootloader means that the phone is stuck in the past. The community has been able to root the phone and even go so far as to load a custom recovery, but it stops there. There are no new ROMs... No updates after 5.1...this phone is already pretty much dead in the water because neither Sony, Verizon, nor any developer will take ownership to give life back to this phone with so much potential. XDA needs to move this phone to its own device thread... Hopefully someone will make the separation and put some development into this device.
randomjoh said:
There is no reason that the d6708 should be in the Z3 area of XDA, other than to be a marker of mislabeling. From what I've gathered, the Z3v has a chipset similar to the Z2, but with the camera and power of a Z3, which in theory sounds pretty nice since the added camera button really makes this phone great for photographers. When I purchased the phone, I loved it... Over time, however, I noticed that the overheating really took a toll on the experience. Then things stopped working. I've read where people completely lost function of their camera... I lost GPS. The locked bootloader means that the phone is stuck in the past. The community has been able to root the phone and even go so far as to load a custom recovery, but it stops there. There are no new ROMs... No updates after 5.1...this phone is already pretty much dead in the water because neither Sony, Verizon, nor any developer will take ownership to give life back to this phone with so much potential. XDA needs to move this phone to its own device thread... Hopefully someone will make the separation and put some development into this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your frustration, but I disagree with your intentions of where the community should move to. When this phone hit the news about coming to Verizon, and once it did, it only remained as a few threads within the Z3 General forum. Owners of this phone and browsing customers of this phone would be entirely misguided by the threads of the actual Z3 when it happened. It was thanks to the people back then to help move the Z3v into its own subforum so a community could be formed in working directly with other people who has the Z3v. If you move it all back, it would be all for wasted efforts and the Z3v will just completely be buried without anyone to know its existence. The subforums should remain as is so it would help anyone else grab a still great phone.
Also, your gathered summary about the Z3v should be flipped. The phone has the chipset of the Z3, but everything else physically is a customized Z2 variant. The camera button is still nonetheless ultra useful as I do miss it on my Galaxy S7 Edge. The other issues I've had with my S7 Edge that I've never seen on the Z3v are lag issues, before and after root. I just rooted my S7 Edge and there are lots of bugs and kinks that had to be worked out, bu the Z3v never encountered such problems when it achieved root. Also, be glad you have custom recovery on the Z3v since custom recovery is not yet achieved for the Z3v. Just my 2 cents.
I have to say that I often come and check and see if there is any news about the z3v getting an update but it is starting to look more and more grimm. Which is sad because this is an amazing phone and verizon should of stuck with it. To bad for them I did fall in love with the sony phone line and since they don't really offer a sony phone anymore and att has moved into the area I have thought about changing over and buying a sony phone unlocked and hooking it up that way. Plus being a DirecTV customer I can get unlimited data for them. Now that is starting to look rather nice I must say. Thanks all.
Sony makes good phones, in fact in a recently released phone stats states the Sony line was the one that had the least restarts from crashing of any other phone.
If we didn't have the data package we have we would go to a GSM carrier and buy a newer Sony to use, great phones.
Sony has great build quality into their products, in my experience. My bro's S7 Edge had its LCD damaged (in a bulk case too) even though the phone looks perfectly fine without any cracks or water damage. I've dropped my Z3v dozens of time with the totally plain and simple case from Verizon, but no hardware damages done to it ever since.
My only contrast with both companies is that Samsung has excellent customer support by fixing his S7 Edge with no charge and completed the phone in a single day, being shipped back on its way anytime now. Sony requires all these paperwork and documents that doesn't even allow me to send my accessories to have them repaired, and I heard it takes weeks for them to do a repair too. Can't win them all, I guess.

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