Should I buy the Z2? - Xperia Z2 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Can anyone tell me any downsides to this phone? Is there a better choice? Is it worth the money?
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IMHO Not worth it anymore. Marshmallow MAY BE the last big update. It is a 2 years old phone, Is still a capable device, but it is starting to show its age.

Z3+ or a LG G4 is very worth it although both arent new devices
This device has grown a bit old and is on its last few updates (or so goes the 2 year support time)

I have the Xperia z2, I've had it for 2 years now.
1) The battery life is good.
2)Performance (It can play gta sa on max with no lag or very little).
3)The Noise Cancelling Earphones that come with it are amazing.
4)The Xda community has a lot of support for this phone. You can find all kinds of roms for it.
5)However the last update for it will be marshmallow. (I am running the beta 6.0.1)
I would tell you to buy the z3 because they are now in the somewhat same price range. Or if you have the money the G4.
If you have any other specific questions feel free to ask me. Keep in mind everything I say is my personal opinion and is subject to my own personal use.

If you don't have a lot of money, you can get a good phone for a good price. The z2 has everything you need, fantastic qc801 and even 3gb of RAM.
There are some cons:
-no fingerprint sensor
-no qi (but magnetic charger. Keep in mind, you can hold your phone in your hand and use or with magnetic charger, with qi this would be... not so good.)
-USB hidden behind plastic cap. This is crap, they made it better from z3 onward.
As I bought mine like 15 months ago, it was like: why buy a z3 if you can have a z2 for less money? They are almost identical.
Today the price gap may be smaller, so z3 could be more attractive.

I have mine for about a year and half and I wouldn't switch... Before Z2, I used Nexus 4,5 and I've never really complaint about battery life, but after having Z2 for some time... Can't imagine having smaller battery.. It's one of those things, that you get used to so easily... Plus Android is nearly stock, not filled with tons of bloatware, and generally smooth and enjoyable to use.
If you're thinking about Z3/Z2, then I would guess it doesn't really matter which one you choose, since they are quite similar.
In the end, it really depends on what you prefer/need.. If you're really about top new technologies like fingerprint sensor, etc. then you might be disappointed after some time for not having it, but if you are looking for a phone that has very good battery life, display, performance and also looks pretty nice, then I'm sure you'll like it...

Yes it worths if you find it at a good price (maybe second-hand in good condition) , Z3 has 90% same specs as Z2 , same cpu , same memory , same screen and same features .
Here are my personal opinions about Z2 :
The cpu is fast enough to handle any app/game nowadays , I still didn't see any lag even in heavy games , I don't belive in those dual quads , is useless since the phone uses only one quad a time and it's more a commercial thing .
Memory is big enough (3Gb) , maybe too big , I had a S4 with 2Gb and NEVER filled even 1.5Gb and I was on 5.1.1 , actually the 6.0 uses less memory so is even better .
Screen is OK , I admit an AMOLED would be much better but the actual screen on Z2 is just fine , I came from an AMOLED phone (S4) and I got used to TFT really quick .
Battery is the simply the best from all smartphones I had , I am on CM12.1 and I just changed hotplug to MSM-mpdecision wich shuts down unused cores and I get almost 3 days with normal use (internet + calls + wifi all the time) and same smoothness as normal .
Software updates : Marshmallow is the last one for sure , but I just don't care because I will always use Cyanogen versions of ROMS since I hate stock roms full of bloats .
In my honest opinion fingerprint , infrared , heartrate , humidity and temperature sensors are just pointless features added for marketing .
Watch this video , what this guy says there is very true , people are getting easily manipulated with pointless new features by these smartphones companies .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkVQk2ypTg

Related

[q] xperia z2 vs lg g3

Hi guys!!!!!I have a galaxy ace 2 and an xperia tablet z,but now its time to upgrade my phone...
Im thinking the z2 and the g3.if i put it side by side i would choose the z2 for these features
1 water proof and dust proof
2 front speakers
3 bigger battery
and of course the 3 gb ram
the experience i have from my tablet is perfect,never had a problem and has a huuuuuuge battery (6000mha)
the only thing that put me into thoughts is that everyone are saying about the poor service of sony and that is a shi**y company
.I dont see that on my tablet but i feel that i must ask you what do you think about these two phones now that they are in our hands
do you have any problems about z2? what do you think?
No problems with Z2 here, I had same dilemma I bought the Z2 over G3 because of the RAM, real world battery performance seems much better due to larger battery and no 4k screen and camera.
For me, majority of customer service are sh**tty they will try evade from warranty repair or replacement but in the case of there is a money involved im pretty sure you will be entertained. Anyway for me, I don't judge based on customer service but the product itself and updates of software. So for me, z2 is much more reliable and better than others cause of overall aesthetics, usefulness of application such as walkman, camera and movies, water resistant my how I loved this feature, and lastly the great battery life. The wishlist only I have is a better front facing camera. Qhd is just a gimmick for me I did compare from z2 and its not a really big difference to compromise the battery life. Rather had a great battery life than a little difference of display quality. I hope sony doesn't bring that qhd from z4 and unless they dont compromised size and battery.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Z2 all the way
Great design, best battery life,good performance and of course the waterproof!!!
g3 is overrated with qHD and bigger screen!!!
what about the warming problem that many say? Any lag problem? Have you had any software upgrade?
And the last thing that im really curius,why the other brands dont make a 3 gb ram phones?(except the big and pricy G3)
in my eyes the z2 even though it is close to 1 year old phone,is equal than the g3
last question(i promise) if i take the z2 is it possible to have 3 years more with the latest firmwares(custom roms) etc
and will it be possible to run the future apps?
Ive personaly compared those 2 and i can say that the camera of the G3 is better than the Z2 (z2 makes better daylight ones tho). 2 Gb of RAM can still handle everything and it will be like that for a long time (3Gb are a showoff for now). The screen of the G3 is way better and we know why , Just the battery backup is abit worse for the G3. For videos Z2 also wins. With a mod G3 can reproduce 60fps of 1920x.. and its still laggy. I personaly can't talk about design..Z2 wins in every aspect + the waterproofness aswell as you mentioned.Speakers of Z2 are better also. Its up to you.LG have a vry friendly interface with good stuff in it and ofcourse a infrared and a vry helpful buttons on its back.
Thank you guys, I'm probably going for the z2, I ll try to watch more reviews but I think that the xperia is going to be my next phone.... Thanks again

Selling my Z5 compact, here's why

Hi,
I'm selling my Z5 Compact under MM. The decision was hard because I kinda love the fingerprint but...
The battery is a complete joke, it doesn't last a day compared to my old Z3C which is far more better in everything,
The device gets warm and hot all the time, in any application I go (I have no games and I mostly use Google apps and Telegram)
The back camera glass protector has some problem, see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/z5-compact/help/dirty-camera-glass-protection-t3336230
I'm going to take back my good old Z3 Compact which is far more better.
And you ? Do you also share the same feelings about it ?
Before the MM update - yes, I felt the same. Since MM and the newest update mine has been great.
If it weren't for z3c side charging I would have never chosen the z5c. I'm holding onto mine for a bit longer until this HTC mini, s7 mini, and xiaomi mini release. Front facing speakers are keeping me from downgrading back to a mini Samsung for the time being.
And as far as battery life and heat issues I'm right on the same page. I've adapted to it for now by quick charging at lunch time to get me through the work day and clipping phone to me so I'm not burning myself in my pocket.
I am thinking about doing that too, but there are 2 things that keeping me from that, fingerprint sensor and camera! I don't know what to do, wait for S7 Mini,go for S7, wait for SONY to maybe fix issues of this phone or what else?
I think if only this phone had 3GBs of RAM we had no problem or even SONY used good old Snapdragon 801!
i had drain and heat problem until i shutoff 4G, now (3G.5HPSA) only dosnt need really need fast internet
now my phone is 40-90 hours average use , instand 12-30
i have 5.1.1 but maybe it will work also with 6, u can try
I am quite happy with the phones performance and battery life since MM, but I have now preordered the HTC10 and my neighbour is already waiting to buy the Z5C from me. If the HTC10 is as good as I beleive it is, I can overlook the fakt that I hate big phones in this case. Ive been a very happy HTC owner since the HD2 and lastly the M7. The Z5C is a great phone to me, but it will never be more than that. HTC usually managed to float my boat just that tiny bit better than the other brands
eivissa said:
I am quite happy with the phones performance and battery life since MM, but I have now preordered the HTC10 and my neighbour is already waiting to buy the Z5C from me. If the HTC10 is as good as I beleive it is, I can overlook the fakt that I hate big phones in this case. Ive been a very happy HTC owner since the HD2 and lastly the M7. The Z5C is a great phone to me, but it will never be more than that. HTC usually managed to float my boat just that tiny bit better than the other brands
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be a big HTC fan until they went to the one series. They are supposedly bring an h10 mini out with flagship specs this year. Hopefully they don't disappoint like the last two minis, I want to go HTC again.
eivissa said:
I am quite happy with the phones performance and battery life since MM, but I have now preordered the HTC10 and my neighbour is already waiting to buy the Z5C from me. If the HTC10 is as good as I beleive it is, I can overlook the fakt that I hate big phones in this case. Ive been a very happy HTC owner since the HD2 and lastly the M7. The Z5C is a great phone to me, but it will never be more than that. HTC usually managed to float my boat just that tiny bit better than the other brands
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know the HTC 10 has not stereo speakers anymore? only dual speakers one (lower) for bass and for top on high pitch
Z5C is kind the same thing BUT! still stereo , Z5C top speaker wave range of 150hz-22050KHz and bottom speaker is 500HZ-22050Khz (less bass)
Superrman said:
you know the HTC 10 has not stereo speakers anymore? only dual speakers one (lower) for bass and for top on high pitch
Z5C is kind the same thing BUT! still stereo , Z5C top speaker wave range of 150hz-22050KHz and bottom speaker is 500HZ-22050Khz (less bass)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, I dont care about that stuff. If I want to listen to music I get me a proper stereo and speakers or headphones. Any cellphone speaker sounds horrible.
What kind of personality disorders do people have these days to need a stabilized photosensor for selfies? Is a look in the mirror in the morning not good enough anymore? Million megapixels cellphone cameras still make crappy pictures in comparison to any 100€ camera Ive gotten my hands on.
Marketing makes us beleive that we need so many things in our cellphones, but in the end they usualy cant to one thing great.
I bought the Z5C because it was the only product available that offered highclass specs in a small phone. I dont like the design of it, the picture quality, speaker sound quality, sony customizations...you name it. Its a good phone for what it is. A phone. Snappy performance and 2 days on a charge make me a happy user.
The HTC10 is not compact, which I am not happy about, but it has a beautiful design and HTC Sense. Apparently it also has better sound quality if you connect good headphones to it and I like to listen to music with the best possible quality. This is an archievable goal in a phone btw...dslr picture quality isnt!
If someone builds a phone with the size of the Z5C (or even smaller), 1080p resolution, aluminium body/looks like the HTC One series, happily dumps the selfy camera and top-spec hardware, but little to no changes to stock android, then I buy that phone in a heartbeat.
The complete contrast for me is Samsung now. Make it huge, put useless features on it and customize it to the max. Full throttle marketing bull**** in my mind, but people seem to love it.
eivissa said:
Dude, I dont care about that stuff. If I want to listen to music I get me a proper stereo and speakers or headphones. Any cellphone speaker sounds horrible.
What kind of personality disorders do people have these days to need a stabilized photosensor for selfies? Is a look in the mirror in the morning not good enough anymore? Million megapixels cellphone cameras still make crappy pictures in comparison to any 100€ camera Ive gotten my hands on.
Marketing makes us beleive that we need so many things in our cellphones, but in the end they usualy cant to one thing great.
I bought the Z5C because it was the only product available that offered highclass specs in a small phone. I dont like the design of it, the picture quality, speaker sound quality, sony customizations...you name it. Its a good phone for what it is. A phone. Snappy performance and 2 days on a charge make me a happy user.
The HTC10 is not compact, which I am not happy about, but it has a beautiful design and HTC Sense. Apparently it also has better sound quality if you connect good headphones to it and I like to listen to music with the best possible quality. This is an archievable goal in a phone btw...dslr picture quality isnt!
If someone builds a phone with the size of the Z5C (or even smaller), 1080p resolution, aluminium body/looks like the HTC One series, happily dumps the selfy camera and top-spec hardware, but little to no changes to stock android, then I buy that phone in a heartbeat.
The complete contrast for me is Samsung now. Make it huge, put useless features on it and customize it to the max. Full throttle marketing bull**** in my mind, but people seem to love it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup also one of the reason i bought this phone because its small, my previous phone was 3.5" sony with walkman WT19 , so even this one abit big for me, lol..
im mostly disappointed of
1.camera lens (plastic) can scartch easly and can ruin the shots
2.photos are noisy\blurry even with good light ,
3.phone heating fast, (even low end apps or, even 4G signal; if high end apps like asphalt 8 in 2mins its 50c\120F)
4.when phone get hotter it become slower ,
5.speakers are uneven and weak , loudspeaker awful, my previous phone was 4times louder didnt need it use of bluetooth in car, now i need...
6.didnt came with quickcharge QC adapter
7.didnt came with in-ear headphones
8.update the phone to MM make it worse battery and lags,camera*, didnt upgrade it yet*
still pretty fast phone with nice battery but not worth the price (mine cost about 800 US$ when i bought it)
My only problems with the phone are:
some hick-ups during normal operations
overheating
average camera
poor system customization options
Otherwise the phone is perfect. The battery is great, I've recently lasted two days (~10% when going to sleep on the 2nd day) with automatic brightness and 24h sync with mobile data, some sms and a few calls, I even played some Hearthstone on a bus. The battery seems to have problems on certain units.
Greets
EDIT:
Mine was 390 USD... gotta love Europe

Is the z5C still worth buying?

The z5c came out almost 1 year ago, do you guys think the z5c is still worth buying?
What do you guys think? If no, what would you consider buying, considering the z5c as first option?
***edit: it's my 1000th post on xda yay! ***
i think yes, small phone, great performance, great camera, didn't have any problems in 5 months except camera lens, but devilcase lens protector fixed that, i would buy again
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I bought it 2 months ago. Totally happy with it. No problems up to now.
I wanted a small phone with good performance, and this one was the only one that fitted these criteria.
My 2nd option was iPhone SE... since I came from an iPhone 4S, I was a bit tired of iOS. Personally I think Android Marshmallow is in a really good shape when compared to iOS, in my opinion it is even better.
Buy.
bought one yesterday. Its the best small phone i could find for the $380 i spent. iPhone SE is about the only other 1 i would have considered.
If you dont require a sd slot there are better options.
I picked one up for USD370 (including shipping) for my wife. She had a Z3C before and loved it, but the screen stopped responding. For that price it is an amazing phone.
The latest firmware almost fixed all stuffs, the phone is pretty usable and finally safe to buy and recommended now. The only thing disapointed me is the photo/video quality still not as good as my older Z1c at high ISO(the sensor indeed got 25MP not only 23MP which is over crowed on a small 1/2.3" size) but no doubt Z5c focus speed and camera speed way faster and screen much much clear.
I think yes if you want to buy a small flagship phone. It's just great in everything, almost. I bought it on February and I love this phone.
+
fast
Responsive touchscreen
No lag in almost every game and apps even in high graphics
The camera is awesome (front and rear). but sadly it's can't run the camera over 25 min in 4k. The autofocus actually fast this will be great when you record a video. You can make a bokeh, hdr, or a long exposure pictures. And it's camera is also good in low light.
I like the keyboard, you can swipe like swift keyboard and the auto correct is very usefull
The battery life good also, I got 6-8 hours in normal use (social media, music and browsing) and 4-5 hours when I play fifa 16
-
The phone getting hot very fast when you use the camera, and play online game like fifa 16.
For me it recently sure was. As a former iPhone 5 user I wanted to switch to Android on a small (< 5" screen) high-end device. Early 2015 I choose a Z3C based on these criteria. Very nice in almost any way, though camera -especially rooted- was kind of crappy.
I recently upgraded to the Z5C based on the same search criteria. It seems that most manufacturers tend to put more low-end hardware in smaller devices, here Sony has done a nice job. I considered the Samsung Galaxy A3, though the Z5C came out best for me.
I look forward to the day that a more complete and stable version of Cyanogenmod will be released for the Z3C This is likely to make my Z35 experience optimal.
I had a z3c, love the small size and massive capabilities. I replaced it with the z5c about 8 months ago. There is no other device on the market I would rather have. Even tried a galaxy S6 for a bit... Hated every moment of having that one.
My only beef with its I cannot have any special software that comes from having a vendor branded device. (No VOIP on AT&T)
Bought one month before. Best decision according to me. But not the best for those who doesnt want small size or fm radio.
How do you guys have "great performance" from your Z5 Compact? Mine runs worse than my older HTC One M8 in games. The Z5 Compact gets hot after 2 minutes of high graphics gaming, however, if you know how to root, install a new kernel etc. you might get good performance. I'd say underclock the CPU and let it get a bit hotter before automatically downclocking. That's at least what I'm trying now. The camera is good, however not the best. Batterylife is better than most phones, speakers are meh, and overall the phone is stable. Used it for 3 months or so and since I got it 100 dollars cheaper than the iPhone SE I think it's good enough. Just hope I can push the performance to at least as good as my One M8 :/
InterestedHacker said:
How do you guys have "great performance" from your Z5 Compact? Mine runs worse than my older HTC One M8 in games. The Z5 Compact gets hot after 2 minutes of high graphics gaming, however, if you know how to root, install a new kernel etc. you might get good performance. I'd say underclock the CPU and let it get a bit hotter before automatically downclocking. That's at least what I'm trying now. The camera is good, however not the best. Batterylife is better than most phones, speakers are meh, and overall the phone is stable. Used it for 3 months or so and since I got it 100 dollars cheaper than the iPhone SE I think it's good enough. Just hope I can push the performance to at least as good as my One M8 :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the guys that claim good stories are unrooted so you know they don't actually use their phones. I've had great results in power consumption and heat with androplus v34, but it comes at the price of performance.
My 2 are rooted (one with dry restrored) and running xposed,and xpower rom. Both seem to be faster and smoother than my sons' - much bulkier - m8 and iPhone 6. Can't find anything close to the quality of this phone at this convenient size.
I actually wouldn't recommend it at all since Sony stopped updating the software already. I am still on 1 April security patches. I find that unforgivable. And I'm going to switch to S7 once T-Mobile gets its sheet together –*they raised the price by 100 euro a week before I could extend my contract.
+
Small
microSD
water/dustproof
I like the screen very much
-
2 GB RAM which means apps unload faster than you can say "but I just opened two tabs in Chrome"
gets hot even without gaming (I reinstalled the software just in case but it didn't help)
no software updates
camera is not what I expected
I would actually recommend Z3C over Z5C. It's same size, cheaper, works faster (!), doesn't get hot and the Concept software is awesome.
Going to research rooting now, maybe it will manage memory a bit better.
S6 looks like on the same boat stuck with 1 April security patches. 720P required less memory intensive. Z3c is very easy to get touch screen problem after one year and the camera quality even worse than Z1c. I don't satisfied with Z5c but the price is dropping so I think still worth for new owner.
raytheblacksmith said:
I actually wouldn't recommend it at all since Sony stopped updating the software already. I am still on 1 April security patches. I find that unforgivable. And I'm going to switch to S7 once T-Mobile gets its sheet together –*they raised the price by 100 euro a week before I could extend my contract.
+
Small
microSD
water/dustproof
I like the screen very much
-
2 GB RAM which means apps unload faster than you can say "but I just opened two tabs in Chrome"
gets hot even without gaming (I reinstalled the software just in case but it didn't help)
no software updates
camera is not what I expected
I would actually recommend Z3C over Z5C. It's same size, cheaper, works faster (!), doesn't get hot and the Concept software is awesome.
Going to research rooting now, maybe it will manage memory a bit better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you on the latest software? Because i owned the z3c and now the z5c and besides the battery life i love this phone way more. Camera is far better and the software runs pretty smooth also even with a sheet load of apps in the ram is still fast.
Actually, the other important thing bugged me is the slow AC wifi speed but since the compact model got only single wifi antenna(Z5 got dual wifi antenna), it is impossible to top out wifi if you got a damn fast Internet connection and router like me.
When you build a NAS or share files via router, the Z5c can't playback ultra quality videos(like the video shoot from a DSLR at 100M+ 4K) though the connection detected at 433Mbps but in reality, I got only 70~120Mbps around. The speed is faster than 802.11b/g/n and good for general Internet purpose but only reached the very entry quality of AC speed.
Plus the rom I'm running Xpower 3.0(.224) bugged to browser vidoes shared out via win10 smb. I can view any photo but can't playback all videos, tested to roll back 5.1.1 and no problem. Not sure if .253 fixed the issue, been waiting for Xpower 4.0(.253) to release.
Yeah I am on the latest software. I had great hopes for it. But for instance today the phone heated up, stayed hot, lost 70% battery in three hours and then finally shut down with the red light blinking. Ummmmmmmm.
raytheblacksmith said:
Yeah I am on the latest software. I had great hopes for it. But for instance today the phone heated up, stayed hot, lost 70% battery in three hours and then finally shut down with the red light blinking. Ummmmmmmm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real hard to solve without root. If you root it, you can flash the Increase thermal-performance mod plus lower down the max cpu clock for the price of slower speed. In my experiences, they are quite a helping hand but sure can't fix all, might be 50% better experiences though.
If the X Compact with sd820 is real coming up, probably it can fix the heat issue(even so, sd820 is also hot). But I doubt I will switch to Xc bcoz Z5c already spend me much money, or only until the price dropping a lot next year.

Galaxy A3 2017 experience after 2 days

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.
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Z5c vs Z3c in 2017

Hey everyone. This is my first post in xda and I joined specifically to ask this question. I'm posting this as a new thread because I wanted an answer from the perspective of 2017.
Should I go for the Z5c or Z3c? I'm looking for a new phone. Personally I love the size of the phones, and I fell in love with the screen positioning on the Z3c, where it's more symmetric unlike the Z5c whose top bezel is bigger. But yeah, the Z5c has the fingerprint sensor, and has better specs I guess? I also prefer the rounded edges of the Z3c, but everyone I know is asking me to go for the Z5c. Help?
Z3C doesn't have Nougat and won't receive updates anymore. Although Z5C has a bit worse battery life, it is better in every other aspect.
Zenthusiast said:
Z3C doesn't have Nougat and won't receive updates anymore. Although Z5C has a bit worse battery life, it is better in every other aspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will not receiving Nougat matter? From what I've read it caused plenty of bugs in the Z5c. Also, will not having Nougat mean the Z3c won't receive the latest updates on apps?
I'm sorry I don't know a lot
Z5c faster from Z3c almost x2 also finger scanner. better speakers from every Z series (even other z5)
but if you can buy go to Xperia X performance (is only 0.2 bigger and still small) and faster then both, and 3GB RAM, the screen got 1080P and not 720P although is enough if you wont use VR
btw you also have xperia X Compact but hes in-between z3 to z5 so leave it last he just looks like small XZ but specs not much different from z3 and performance if you want better design and android 7
anyway the big cons for me (i have z5c for 1 year now,):
1. 2GB RAM only (If i open highend, big\app\game) it use all the 2GB its even close the whatsapp!
2.the phone gets hot fast 40C/105F degrees after 5 minutes then the device close the big 4cores to cool down (mostly in highend apps)
some software bugs but this you can change(ROM) and or get updates so its any sony phone
---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ----------
PS
software bugs in Z5's started from 6 marshmallow not from 7 nugget
the big bugs for me is
1.limited charge voltage cannot be turned off (maybe thats why some ppl get abit low life battery its like the battery stop charging at 90%) but its good to the long term anyway to prolong battery life
2.unbalance speakers (only in the stock app they fix it)
3.only one speaker works in ringtones
I'd say the z3c is getting a bit long in the tooth now, however, the Z5 is a bit of a disaster - overheats, battery drain issues, and the nougat firmware is littered with bugs. If you absolutely have to have a Sony compact, go for the X compact. In most cases it faster than a Z5C for general usage due to the dire throttling of the processor in the Z5C. (Z5C will still be better for gaming, if you wear oven gloves)
Personally, I'm waiting to see what comes along next, as I'm hoping for an XZ compact or similar.
i agree with stevo almost on all parts he said, beside battery, i charging my phone every 2days, or every 24hours on average+ usage . even with the battery software bug
and X compact Cpu only bit better, and not get hot,
but GPU is almost 2 times faster on the z5c , if you dont gaming Xperia XC will be enough for you
anyway im not happy with sony anymore, and probably my last device from them, customer service and support is sucks, they rarely update with new device come up, they barely put in any updates
i was also looking for small device with P68 and stereo speakers , and this was the closest most companies stopped doing mini phones with high end specs
also iwas happy with my previous sony, the speakers was X2 better and louder i didn't even needed bluetooth for my car, now i got one..
he got CM updates till 2day and he from 2011, and the fourm there is still active Z5C barely a year or so and this forum dieing, meaning ,less Customs Roms, and updates from sony for sure,, the last android will be no more than N7.1.1
z3 compact is my proposal.
A ton of custom roms makes sure your phone stays lightning fast, very customizable, root without unlock bootloader, a couple of camera mods with unbelievable quality, a bit better battery, not getting warm, cheaper ...
I had it a few weeks, got stolen, then i went and bought the z5compact.
I am still searching for someone to switch phones with...
personal opinion,
new processor+new camera+fingerprint <<< community support

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