Database Develop

[Q] General Sony Query from a Moto user

Heya, I'm considering a Sony Z when my existing contract expires in Apr, currently a long standing Moto user, just have a few questions to see how Sony compare in certain areas:
Moto Wi-fi & 2g/3g radios are pretty good, what are Sony like in this regard?
The media options are not bad on Moto, though the phone speaker itself is pretty quiet, are Sony better/louder ? (I'm guessing audio chip is going to be at least as good, possibly better)
If it's as reliable as my moto has been, it'll be pretty good.
Are Sony easy to root? and restore to factory settings if needed.

techguyone said:
Heya, I'm considering a Sony Z when my existing contract expires in Apr, currently a long standing Moto user, just have a few questions to see how Sony compare in certain areas:
Moto Wi-fi & 2g/3g radios are pretty good, what are Sony like in this regard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony is pretty good in this regard too. Nowadays everything comes from Qualcomm or something similar anyway, so you won't notice any difference with your Motorola smartphones.
techguyone said:
The media options are not bad on Moto, though the phone speaker itself is pretty quiet, are Sony better/louder ? (I'm guessing audio chip is going to be at least as good, possibly better)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends. The speaker isn't always incredibly loud but it's not worse either. The general audio quality will probably be a little better on Sony's given their amount of experience.
techguyone said:
If it's as reliable as my moto has been, it'll be pretty good.
Are Sony easy to root? and restore to factory settings if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and yes. As long as you get an unlocked one with an unlockable bootloader Sony's are probably the easiest phones to root and put custom ROMs on. Restoring to factory settings is equally simple. Sony's are almost unbrickable too.

That's great, thanks for that. On another note are Sony's fussy about SD card the way that Moto phones are, or can you stick in any speed/make with no issues?

techguyone said:
That's great, thanks for that. On another note are Sony's fussy about SD card the way that Moto phones are, or can you stick in any speed/make with no issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll always work, but probably only in FAT32. This is not really a problem, but you cannot put files over 4GB on your SD.

[Q] In-depth questions and queries

Hello guys.
I'm a long time reader but a new member.
Almost two months ago, my HTC One V was stolen by pickpockets in a crowded Mumbai train.
Since then, I was looking to buy a new phone. Soon, phones like Xperia M and L caught my eye. While I was browsing to phones, I saw Xperia SP, and the bang for the buck it gave, made me decide that this might be the phone I might buy.
Now, as I was looking and going through stuff, I came to know a lot of the cons of the phone, while pros outnumber the cons, the cons were quite important in this case. I've gone through a lots of threads and have known a lot, but some questions remain. Hence, I'm asking some questions in order to solve my queries and give a better view about it. Wish to get proper replies.
1. What version is the Indian variant. C5302, C5303 or C5306.
2. Lots of people say it's heavy. How do you feel about it.
3. GSM Arena wasn't happy with the loudspeaker, does it ring loudly? I see all the phones having a speaker in the back, causing it to ring very quietly.
4. Now an important one. On my HTC One V, I had an option to move apps to SD card. As I was browsing, through the forums, I came to know that it's not possible anymore without rooting. And rooting is something I do not prefer as of now (I had huge plans for One V, but unfortunetely, it was stolen before I decided to root it after the warranty was over).
On One V, I was having loop boot problem after moving the files to the SD card, however, that's not an issue here. Thing is, on One V, I had used AppMgr III (App 2 SD) to move my apps to SD card.
So now is my question. Will App 2 SD work without rooting? Has anyone tried using it without rooting? The Apps 2 SD page mentions this:
Move apps function may not work on your device as manufacture removes the function of moving apps to SD from Android system (not support: S4, S DUOS, Note2, Tab 2, L5-L9, OneX, 7-10" tablet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this apply to Xperia devices too?
This is very much a concerning thing to me, as 5.8 GB isn't a lot if one likes gaming.
5. Has the lack of sufficient space, just 5.8 GB, ever caused concerns for you?
6. Again, important one. How bad is the WiFi? I live in a 1BHK house in a suburb. While I mostly use WiFi (and internet for that matter) near my router and PC situated in the hall, my One V never did well for reaching the bedroom, something I was expecting SP to do well until I came to know about the problem.
Same situation here, I do not prefer to root my phone. Can the WiFi be fixed in any other way? Different channel / mode?
7. Does the WiFi fixes available here actually fix your WiFi? After using the fixes available, is it comparable to other phones' / laptops' reception? What do you think, it's software problem or hardware problem?
8. Do you expect Sony to fix the WiFI problem in in future?
9. People who have rooted then flashed their phones to latest Android should not having any WiFi problems right?
10. I remember some version of iPhone having grip of death for WiFi. Do you guys think SP's bad WiFi reception is due to this?
11. Now the camera. I've seen enough photos / graphs to say that Xperia SP probably has the worst smartphone camera I've seen. Comparing it to my HTC One V, One V was like godsent camera phone. So what to you guys think, is the camera something that is acceptable or just total deal breaker?
I personally do not have any use for the camera. However, my sister is a big camera selfie lover. While I see that the camera takes some beautiful vivid pictures outside, my use the camera would be mostly indoors.
From what I can understand is that the camera is over-compressing the images? I've seen photos very in-depth and have concluded that, one, SP pictures lack details, two, have lots of noise.
Those who wanna compare it on GSM Arena, don't use to ISO chart, see the camera on the color poster: gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=3&idPhone1=5364&idPhone2=5363&idPhone3=5375.
Compare it something like HTC One V and see the difference of quality of images.
While I've photoshopped and removed noise from the pictures I've found from the internet, from Xperia SP, I don't know if it's worth it, so I'm confused.
12. I've read some users saying that they tried 3rd party camera apps like ProCapture and they immediately saw that Xperia SP started taking great pictures. Can you say the same for yourself? Has anyone tried doing such?
13. Have people who have rooted / flashed SP to latest Android see any improvements in the camera?
14. What do you think. Is Xperia SP's crappy camera about hardware quality of the camera or the software?
15. Do you, being realist here, expect Sony to fix the camera with an update?
16. Now about rooting. Will rooting void the warranty? I read somewhere that if you do not unlock the bootloader, you do not void the warranty. Is it possible to just root the phone without unlocking the bootloader without flash it?
17. Noob question. Do you receive updates if you have rooted the phone? If yes, lets say, I made changes to the WiFi file, and then I updated the phone, will the root stay? If not, will the changes made to the file stay?
18. Now about the CPU. I know the phones are moving very faster these days. However, I'm making a big investment if I buy Xperia SP. So SP being so powerful of a phone it is, do you expect it to stay good to play generally powerful games for lets say, next 4 years? I'm not a person who likes changing his phone every year or two, nor do I have money to do that.
19. Some people are reporting screen touch issues when charging or when putting on desk. It is said to be fixed, is it true?
20. I compared the phone to Galaxy S3 and found that S3 had more contrast ratio when playing videos, however, Xperia SP seemed more bright, what to you guys think?
21. How is the front camera? I don't care about the resolution, but clear enough for video calling?
22. Any other problems / things anyone feels worth mentioning?
That's pretty much it for the phone, however, I have more questions.
23. I'm willing to squeeze out more money for a better phone like Xperia ZR, Galaxy S3 and such. However, they have their own problems. Like, S3 is nowhere to be compared with Xperia SP as SP's graphics is top-end.
As for ZR. I have two problems with it, one small, one big. The small one being people calling it's loudspeaker muffed and the big one being it not being Gorilla Glass. To understand what I'm concerned about it, see this: youtube.com/watch?v=4GzYnDnZDRg and this: youtube.com/watch?v=Q2qdwsFd-Qw. It shows that ZR screen is neither tough / shatter-proof nor, thanks to the sheet, scratch proof. And removing the sheet means warranty void. I've seen that even Xperia Z has the same thing, which makes me think how people manage with this?
24. What alternative phones to SP price range (Rs. 20500 to 22500 here - $330 to $360) or Galaxy S3 / ZR price range (Rs. 26500 here - $425) do you guys recommend?
25. Is the phone worth it? Will you recommend it to me?
Anyway, sorry for huge post. As so many days of sadness for the loss of my HTC One V, I'm asking this, so please bear with me. All these questions have been churning in my mind from almost month and a half now.
Any help with the questions will be greatly appreciated.

1- I don't know, It could be the 5303 or 5302
2-Yes, its heavier than the Z and ZL at 155 grams
3-Ring volume its OK, better than my previous phone (Xperia pro)
4-No. You cant move apps to the external microSD without root.
5-The internal storage its just for apps, the external for media. Its enough but could be better
6-I've never had problems with the Wi-Fi the last 5-6 months with my SP
7-They are just placeboes
8-I dont think so
9-????????????
10-Could be the metal used on the frame, If thats the reason the Z1 may have similar problems
11-Mediocre photo camera, my old pro (neo,ray and arc similar) took better pictures. Video recording is OK. You may want to use another camera app
12-Even Instagram's camera takes better pictures
13-I haven't seen any improvements
14-Could be both
15-May or may not be fixed when 4.3 arrives
16-In many countries, rooting voids the warranty...but just keep a copy of the STOCK, ORIGINAL firmware and flash it before taking it to a service shop. Bootloader unlock may void the warranty, Its better to ask before doing it because it cannot be undone. Dont worry about flashing, on a Sony phone its very easy
17-Yes, you may receive updates but you will lose the root access. Sometimes Update Service refuses to update if the phone is rooted, sometimes not. After unlockin the bootloader you cant use official sony tools, just flashtool.
18.I'm sorry to hear that...I made a huge investment on my SP too, but electronics, specifically smartphones are not designed or built to last. They are disposable. Right now its a good phone...but next year will be obsolete.
19-I had that issue. I dont know if there is a fix for that, but I tried disabling the glove mode and it seems to stop the touch issues
20-Screen isn't that great, cant compare to LED screens
21-Z and ZL have better front cameras. The one in the SP is still as bad as the one you will find on a 2011 phone
22-Phone overheats, that makes some people feel uncomfortable, up to 47 degrres celcius when playin real racing 3. No big deal for me
23-??????
24-I live in Mexico.
25-Yes, it will be a good phone for the next 12-18 months. After that time you will have to buy a new one.

As cachanilla86 answer almost everything.
for Q9. No - most of the sp suffers from wifi problems. whether rooted or not...
for Q23 Check S4 or xperia Z ultra...

1. Don’t know either
2. Yes its heavy, a manly phone
3. The loudspeaker is fine, may not be the loudest on earth but it’s fine.
4. Apps to SD is a contentious issue – the official line is that Google don’t like external SD cards and from Jelly Bean onwards it was no longer part of any Android builds. It’s the same with hardware navigation buttons, Google would prefer them to be on the screen soft keys. However manufacturers can do what they want – Samsung does what it likes and still uses hardware buttons and has tweaked their builds to allow app to sd. Sony haven’t had hardware nav buttons for some time now and perhaps their love for DRM makes them sympathetic to the idea of stopping users from moving apps around.
Anyway, it doesn’t work without rooting, hell it doesn’t work in the normal sense when you ARE rooted – hopefully a nice CM build will come along and resolve the situation for us.
5. Yes and no – it would be nice to install loads of games without a care, but I only really play one ‘big’ game at a time. Rooting can help too because you can move the data portions of big games to an external sd card with folder mount.
6. Range is excellent for me, the authentication process can take ages though, I had the same problem with my 2011 xperia – when the phone is trying to connect to the router signal strength seems to drop and I think you get into a loop of the phone thinking the wifi is too weak to connect to and it swaps to data, the signal goes up again and you try to connect but the same thing happens again. With my 2011 device most custom kernels, especially ones that were cm10 based, connection was instant – this is almost certainly a software issue.
There is talk that the most modern routers don’t have as many issues.
7. The fix that works best for me is the one that changes the level at which the phone decides the wifi reception is so bad it has to swap to data – the range is and has always been great for me, better than other devices in my house.
8. There have been 3 build versions of the phone so far – I’ve always had to apply the tweak. Don’t think Sony regard it as a problem.
9. There are no custom roms out there that provide the latest version of android, they are all based on 4.1.2. There should be a 4.2 build from FreeXperia at some point and a 4.3 build from some independent developers, but there is no ETA for either of these builds. This is not to say that the developers of existing custom roms haven’t tweaked wifi so it works better.
10. As I said, I’m certain it’s a software issue.
11. The camera’s auto mode is pretty poor in conditions which are less than optimum – you can take a nice photo if you mess with settings BUT in my opinion this is missing the point. If I want to mess with settings I’ll use a proper camera, I just want to take quick snaps with my phone in situations where I didn’t necessarily think I’d need to bring a camera. For the SP (and other Sony phones) the camera doesn’t support this type of spontaneous photography very well.
12. Haven’t heard of procapture, thanks for the tip
13. See my previous comments – the only builds available for the SP are 4.1.2 based.
14. Hope it’s the software – I’m no expert, but people talk about too much processing/compression.
15. I had a 2011 xperia with 8MP and the camera on the SP is not significantly better – I don’t think Sony believe that it’s a problem.
16. Unless the apps/mods/roms you install after root cause hardware damage, you can always just flash a stock rom – so warranty should be unaffected. Of course if you are unable to flash a stock rom because of hardware damage…
17. You do receive updates if you’re rooted. Historically if you updated OTA you kept root, via the PC meant you lost it.
18. The smart phone market is moving so fast that I doubt any phone out today will be able to play the most demanding games from 4 years time without any trouble. The latest iphone has 64 bit architecture and this will soon follow for android. Similarly, I imagine that graphics chips are upgraded once or twice a year – so you might be as many as 8 cycles behind what is considered top of the range. The SP is a midrange phone, with some flag ship properties.
19. There are still some touch issues in my opinion, though this is improving build to build.
20. Don’t know about the S3 – the XP screen is fine though, not mind blowing, but in no sense bad or embarrassing.
21. Fine for video calling, perfect in fact. OK for selfies if close up. Do not use for anything else – as mentioned it would only be an average FC for a 2011 device.
22. Not really you’ve been very thorough
That's pretty much it for the phone, however, I have more questions.
23. Don’t think the S3 is better, the S4 mini is better in my opinion ONLY if you can live with a smaller screen. If you can stretch to the ZR do it.
My last xperia didn’t have gorilla glass – I used screen protectors and after 18 months of use I sold it to a recycling company for the maximum stated value (so they regarded it's condition as perfect). Any phone with a large screen is more vulnerable to being broken than one with a small screen. Most days on the underground and on buses I see people with busted screens - usually S3s, S4s and iphones - but I guess this is because they are the most common phones.
24. The choice for me was this or the S4 mini – I prefer Sony phones though and the bigger screen was the deal breaker. You could wait for the new Nexus, maybe a month to go? This was my plan, but my network provider offered me an early upgrade to move to 4G and I couldn’t say no.
25. The phone is definitely worth it – I’m not mad on photography and am rooted, so can get around the storage issue. After that it has most of the really important flag ship stuff, the things that you need, rather than eye scrolling or the ability to take it swimming, and the user experience is great.

Thanks for the answers guys.
After this, I'm more unsure about SP.
Now, I'm considering ZR or ZL, as both are priced similar here.

DKT27 said:
Thanks for the answers guys.
After this, I'm more unsure about SP.
Now, I'm considering ZR or ZL, as both are priced similar here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unsure too as well now lol.
Might have to look for alternatives to SP with better camera for same price.

King p1n said:
Unsure too as well now lol.
Might have to look for alternatives to SP with better camera for same price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If camera is a priority, then Xperia M has a good camera. However, you may not find any phone with such a powerful processor and graphics card, 720p screen and other features at this price.

I read all the questions wont be answering all, but I'll suggest you to go with XPERIA ZR (Don't go for ZR if you gona be using some mods or different ROM's as ZR is a low legacy device and many don't own it so there are no good devs for ZR) or ZL or either Nexus 4 also about rooting you can root any phone it doesn't voids warranty and also removing the scratch-proof sheet on ZR can be removed it doesn't voids warranty.

RuchRha said:
I read all the questions wont be answering all, but I'll suggest you to go with XPERIA ZR (Don't go for ZR if you gona be using some mods or different ROM's as ZR is a low legacy device and many don't own it so there are no good devs for ZR) or ZL or either Nexus 4 also about rooting you can root any phone it doesn't voids warranty and also removing the scratch-proof sheet on ZR can be removed it doesn't voids warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer.
I might not use any mods or ROMs as of now.
ZR and ZL seem to be priced same here. So I'm leaning towards ZL.
As for Nexus 4, it's good but no microSD card support and ZL seems better.
Thanks again for the rooting issue. However, I read that rooting requires one to change ROMs or something? I'm very much a noob in this so no idea.
About the glass and the scatter proof sheet. One, I want to know whether the glass is actually tough enough to challenge Gorilla Glass or is even near it. I'm scared for the phone hitting the ground and the expensive screen breaking. As for the warranty, see this. The only reason to remove the sheet is, that it's cloth and scratch magnet, which can be fixed by by scratch guard I think.

DKT27 said:
Thanks for the answer.
I might not use any mods or ROMs as of now.
ZR and ZL seem to be priced same here. So I'm leaning towards ZL.
As for Nexus 4, it's good but no microSD card support and ZL seems better.
Thanks again for the rooting issue. However, I read that rooting requires one to change ROMs or something? I'm very much a noob in this so no idea.
About the glass and the scatter proof sheet. One, I want to know whether the glass is actually tough enough to challenge Gorilla Glass or is even near it. I'm scared for the phone hitting the ground and the expensive screen breaking. As for the warranty, see this. The only reason to remove the sheet is, that it's cloth and scratch magnet, which can be fixed by by scratch guard I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need any ROM's for rooting, there are many rooting toolkits by DooMLoRD which easily roots a device, and the shatter proof glass is pretty strong (I feel far better than gorilla), my phone has felt many time (XPERIA Z) and nothing happened except a few scratches on the body but nothing on screen or back and I also have removed the scratch proof sheet and I mostly do so with all my XPERIA's it does not voids warranty.

DKT27 said:
If camera is a priority, then Xperia M has a good camera. However, you may not find any phone with such a powerful processor and graphics card, 720p screen and other features at this price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on a 5mp now on Galaxy Nexus and its not too great either and i see the Xperia M has a 5 MP also.
Hate the way Sony skimped on the front cam to only VGA, especially If I finally getting involved in snapchatting and what not it wont be great
I've heard people throw the 8mp camera and software in the same sentence, Im guessing its not the software that causing bad quality images?

Should I buy Z1 now?

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you can help me with a decision. I was planning to buy One plus One but realised that they don't have band 20 which means very limited/no LTE coverage in UK and I don't want to own a phone in 2014 which won't support 4G.
I am not keen on spending a lot of money on Z2 and I can get used Xperia Z1 in the range of 200-230 and was wondering if it would be a good choice?
Do you think for that price Xperia Z1 is a good phone and can be bought amongst other big guys? I mean it still has SD800 and 2GB RAM!!
Appreciate your help!
Thanks

Z2 is only a viable upgrade from Z1 if you want the better screen and speakers. The SD800 still kicks ass
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

invinciblervd said:
Hi guys,
I was wondering if you can help me with a decision. I was planning to buy One plus One but realised that they don't have band 20 which means very limited/no LTE coverage in UK and I don't want to own a phone in 2014 which won't support 4G.
I am not keen on spending a lot of money on Z2 and I can get used Xperia Z1 in the range of 200-230 and was wondering if it would be a good choice?
Do you think for that price Xperia Z1 is a good phone and can be bought amongst other big guys? I mean it still has SD800 and 2GB RAM!!
Appreciate your help!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Z1 is a great phone. One of the best phones currently on the market, even with its successor already on the stores. It's not a match for the Z2/S5/G3/M8, of course; but it's not outdated like the Galaxy S3 was in June/2013. I plan on keeping my Z1 for the rest of the year, and maybe upgrade when the Z4 shows up.
Qualcomm and the other mobile CPU manufacturers were on a very quick escalation of CPU power on the last few years. You had a huge jump every year, so last year's phones were severely outclassed when the new models came up. This has slowed down quite a bit since last year. The Snapdragon 801 on this year's phones is just a bit faster than the 800 on the Z1, which is not that much faster than the Snapdragon 600, which is just a bit faster than the Snapdragon S4 Pro from October 2012. In other words, except for the screen and speakers, the Z2 is just a small overclock ahead of the Z1. For a low price, it's a bargain (here in Brazil it still costs the equivalent to about US$450,00).

Steve_max said:
The Z1 is a great phone. One of the best phones currently on the market, even with its successor already on the stores. It's not a match for the Z2/S5/G3/M8, of course; but it's not outdated like the Galaxy S3 was in June/2013. I plan on keeping my Z1 for the rest of the year, and maybe upgrade when the Z4 shows up.
Qualcomm and the other mobile CPU manufacturers were on a very quick escalation of CPU power on the last few years. You had a huge jump every year, so last year's phones were severely outclassed when the new models came up. This has slowed down quite a bit since last year. The Snapdragon 801 on this year's phones is just a bit faster than the 800 on the Z1, which is not that much faster than the Snapdragon 600, which is just a bit faster than the Snapdragon S4 Pro from October 2012. In other words, except for the screen and speakers, the Z2 is just a small overclock ahead of the Z1. For a low price, it's a bargain (here in Brazil it still costs the equivalent to about US$450,00).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gpu went from 450 to 578 mhz. This is the biggest difference. Also because android is getting graphically more intense, slowly but surely.

I got my Z1 last saturday, so...HELL YEAH!

I'd still get the one plus one. Had the z1 for a while. If I was to choose what's currently available it'd be the HTC m8 then the z2. But the one plus one is worth the wait.
FYI, EE uses bands 3 and 7 which I'm assuming that the one plus works on, if not then I'll be skipping it myself. Still need to research this so thanks for the heads up, I'd missed that. Cheers m8
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

No point in even talking about the Oneplus One, it is currently "vapourware". They haven't made more than a small batch and those are not going to be sold internationally. Hopefully, over time the Oneplus phones manufacturing will catch up with its overhyped marketing.
After much deliberation and hands-on investigating of all the competition, I got a Z1 recently (picked it up for 250, brand new in unopened box). The Z2 has better battery and the GPU is better but disappointingly the screen isn't that much better. The HTC M8 is amazing unless you intend to use the rear camera which is pants. The Galaxy S5, while packed with features, feels like most high end Samsungs cheap and plasticy. The HTC E8 looks to be worth waiting for as does the LG G3.
Apart from battery life, I am happy I got the Z1. The build quality, the camera, the fantastic work XDA devs have done and the UI experience go a long way.

dladz said:
I'd still get the one plus one. Had the z1 for a while. If I was to choose what's currently available it'd be the HTC m8 then the z2. But the one plus one is worth the wait.
FYI, EE uses bands 3 and 7 which I'm assuming that the one plus works on, if not then I'll be skipping it myself. Still need to research this so thanks for the heads up, I'd missed that. Cheers m8
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I was following 1+1 since the beginning and was all set to buy it and was thinking to use it on 3G. But after recent upgrade to 4G and using it for couple of months, I know it's going to be difficult to switch back to 3G just because you are getting a good phone.
EE are good but on the expensive side even for a sim only deal and the LTE-A they are working on will soon be on 800 MHz and band 20. I just don't want to buy a phone which in theory will be unlocked but would still in a way be locked to EE.

gandalf_grey91 said:
No point in even talking about the Oneplus One, it is currently "vapourware". They haven't made more than a small batch and those are not going to be sold internationally. Hopefully, over time the Oneplus phones manufacturing will catch up with its overhyped marketing.
After much deliberation and hands-on investigating of all the competition, I got a Z1 recently (picked it up for 250, brand new in unopened box). The Z2 has better battery and the GPU is better but disappointingly the screen isn't that much better. The HTC M8 is amazing unless you intend to use the rear camera which is pants. The Galaxy S5, while packed with features, feels like most high end Samsungs cheap and plasticy. The HTC E8 looks to be worth waiting for as does the LG G3.
Apart from battery life, I am happy I got the Z1. The build quality, the camera, the fantastic work XDA devs have done and the UI experience go a long way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
250 is a a really good price for a brand new phone. May I ask where did you get this deal? (ebay?) Thought the battery is really massive for Z1? 2800ma?
I agree about the xda devs, but its hard to get a fully unlocked phone. If someone has bought it via carrier and got it unlocked, it will still have bootloader unlock allowed = No.

invinciblervd said:
250 is a a really good price for a brand new phone. May I ask where did you get this deal? (ebay?) Thought the battery is really massive for Z1? 2800ma?
I agree about the xda devs, but its hard to get a fully unlocked phone. If someone has bought it via carrier and got it unlocked, it will still have bootloader unlock allowed = No.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty, including postage, it came in a little over 260, and yes, it was aquired from a popular auction site. Battery is good and I get about 3 days of moderate use but it has a strange quirk in that it loses 10 - 12% of battery in first 5 minutes of being turned on. Never had a phone that does that before. After that initial battery drain it settles down and lasts, as I said, quite well.
My Z1 is fully unlocked. I bought a couple of Xperia SPs for the parents soon after they were released and it was difficult to get fully (SIM and bootloader) unlocked models. But, especially, with carrier supplied models, as time goes on they simply replenish stock from what sony have available (in channel) rather than insisting on the locked bootloader models that are part of the initial deal the companies sign before the device is released. Same goes for phones supplied via insurance companies, usually the more time that passes after release the more likely you are to be supplied a sim-free fully unlocked model (although some insurance companies have deals to buy/supply refurbished models which means read the policy carefully).
For the same money, I considered a Galaxy S4 but having held it and tried it, I could not part with the money for such a cheap and plasticy POS. Seriously, even cheap end ZTE and Huawei phones feel better made than "flagship" samsungs. If HTC had included removable battery, SD card slots and a better camera on both M7 and M8 for the last 2 years, samsung would have sold half as many Galaxy S models.

saintgein said:
The gpu went from 450 to 578 mhz. This is the biggest difference. Also because android is getting graphically more intense, slowly but surely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember that you can overclock the Z1 GPU to 533 MHz, so that is a <10% difference. Overclocking both CPU and GPU, the Z1's 800 (2.4GHz/533MHz) is very comparable with the Z2's 801AB (2.3GHz/578MHz) and within striking distance from the S5's 801AC (2.5GHz/578MHz). No idea on how those overclock, though.

Steve_max said:
Remember that you can overclock the Z1 GPU to 533 MHz, so that is a <10% difference. Overclocking both CPU and GPU, the Z1's 800 (2.4GHz/533MHz) is very comparable with the Z2's 801AB (2.3GHz/578MHz) and within striking distance from the S5's 801AC (2.5GHz/578MHz). No idea on how those overclock, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say "you can overclock the Z1", you mean if you unlock bootloader, lose bravia engine / drm keys and install a custom kernel.

gandalf_grey91 said:
When you say "you can overclock the Z1", you mean if you unlock bootloader, lose bravia engine / drm keys and install a custom kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but why would you not unlock the bootloader? You can backup the TA partition and just restore it if needed, and everything just works without the DRM keys (if you believe you lost something, restore TA, install stock kernel, and you're back to stock). This is a development forum; I assume people here are willing to modify their devices to extract the maximum from them (in speed, battery life, whatever).

Steve_max said:
Yes, but why would you not unlock the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have thought that was obvious. Unlocking the bootloader on my old Motorolas or HTCs provided more function and in the case of the HTCs made things better with custom Hboots. But the current crop of Sony's use the bravia engine to enhance the screen which is an integral part of the user experience and unlocking the bootloader disables it. Yes, by backing up the TA partition it is possible to revert back if the bootloader has been unlocked. But, unlike some other phones, with Sony phones the users can only choose to either unlock the bootloader to flash non-stock ROMs and custom kernels and lose the Bravia engine or leave the bootloader locked with working bravia engine but never gain the ability to flash AOSP ROMs. You can't have both because of that pesky TA partition. Because the Sony stock ROM experience is so good and thanks to the fantastic work some devs have done on modules for the Xposed framework, some designed especially for Xperia phones, Sony users have 2 strong choices.

I unlocked my bootloader and x-reality (bravia engine) and BIONZ are still working flawlessly.

gandalf_grey91 said:
I would have thought that was obvious. Unlocking the bootloader on my old Motorolas or HTCs provided more function and in the case of the HTCs made things better with custom Hboots. But the current crop of Sony's use the bravia engine to enhance the screen which is an integral part of the user experience and unlocking the bootloader disables it. Yes, by backing up the TA partition it is possible to revert back if the bootloader has been unlocked. But, unlike some other phones, with Sony phones the users can only choose to either unlock the bootloader to flash non-stock ROMs and custom kernels and lose the Bravia engine or leave the bootloader locked with working bravia engine but never gain the ability to flash AOSP ROMs. You can't have both because of that pesky TA partition. Because the Sony stock ROM experience is so good and thanks to the fantastic work some devs have done on modules for the Xposed framework, some designed especially for Xperia phones, Sony users have 2 strong choices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dislike the idea of special postprocessing on images on the screen. The X-Realty engine is that: some processing on your pictures/movies when the phone shows them on its own screen. They won't appear like that on your computer, or when you share the picture with anyone, out when you print them. It is a fake improvement, and I prefer to keep it disabled.
Anyway, AFAIK there are ways to make that work on UB. Never tried, but this is said to work well: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2635986

You are right, I don't like it either, any thing that only affects the devices own screen is a fake improvement. But thank you for including the link, I didn't know I had the option to unlock the bootloader and keep the bravia engine/x-reality.

[Q] to buy this phone or not?

Hi
I wanted to buy this phone. do you recommend it or not? why?

It was a great phone ... a year ago, but still good for its price
mahdi87_gh said:
Hi
I wanted to buy this phone. do you recommend it or not? why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you just want an android phone, look at samsung or lg.
If you want Xperia now, go get t2 ultra, its screen is better, front cam is better, and runs 4.4.2 (same as ZR), and can app2sd.
The only situation when I will recommend this phone (again, in 09/2014) is the fact that it can switch batteries.

paulson881 said:
If you just want an android phone, look at samsung or lg.
If you want Xperia now, go get t2 ultra, its screen is better, front cam is better, and runs 4.4.2 (same as ZR), and can app2sd.
The only situation when I will recommend this phone (again, in 09/2014) is the fact that it can switch batteries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thanks
I want a phone not more expensive than this phone. I checked for T2 ultra. It's cpu, gpu, memory is lower than ZR
I just wanted to know if ZR devices have any particular problem? does it get new updates?
Thanks

Reply
mahdi87_gh said:
First of all, thanks
I want a phone not more expensive than this phone. I checked for T2 ultra. It's cpu, gpu, memory is lower than ZR
I just wanted to know if ZR devices have any particular problem? does it get new updates?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the specs are slightly lower classed, but the ability to app2sd sort of nailed it.
As for update, for ZR, after the planned 4.4.4, I highly doubt 5.0 will ever come.

A very good phone
mahdi87_gh said:
Hi
I wanted to buy this phone. do you recommend it or not? why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think it is the best phone that you can get with the same price
very good phone and i have no issues with it and i can play any game without lag and it performs really good
about apps2sd i use foldermount and this is not a problem for me
the only thing is, that sony released a lot of updates to it and we might not see android L but android 4.4.4 is just days away

Recommended
Price/Performance: I get around 33U$ I still find it worth the price, now some shop in my country was down price to 26U$.
Water-Resistance: I found it easier to clean, Use when you go to bathroom etc.
Prime camera: The main reason I'm still use Sony... Even an after-sales service suck so bad in my country.
Not Recommended
Price/Performance: Some phone have cheaper price with nearly performance: like Moto G, Xiaomi etc.
Water-Resistance port-cap: I found sometime it made me annoy to open, which quite difficult on this model(I'm use Xp Acro S before, it whole lot easier)
Front Camera: yeah let have VGA front cam... which can only find in a phone below 20 U$ (except from sony lol)
Speaker sound: Since it on the back of the phone you barely hear it clear or loud... except you turn it around, turn a volume up or used you hand to redirect a sound.
Internal Storage: 8GB.... while system eat up nearly 3GB. and no way to move app to SD card without a root.
And some rumor I heard was All Z series will have Android L for sure.
ps. I'm not good with english

ZervZ said:
And some rumor I heard was All Z series will have Android L for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source?

paulson881 said:
Source?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, a rumor.
Source from a shop in my country, Its in Thai language. that why I won't quote at first place.
If you want to read, here
https://www.facebook.com/sonyxpth/p...1312/796772170365461/?type=1&relevant_count=1
They said
"Every Xperia phone in Z series going to have an update to Android L.
Congrats all of Z series owner.
The other series are not going to have it.
Got it?"
Still no more trust worthly source talk about this yet.

Cons: You pay extra for the xperia brand, get a Xiaomi or Oppo etc. if you dont care about waterproofing etc.
Pros: ITS WATERPROOF. Also its exactly the right size for a phone IMO.
Totally worth it.

stormsaber said:
Cons: You pay extra for the xperia brand, get a Xiaomi or Oppo etc. if you dont care about waterproofing etc.
Pros: ITS WATERPROOF. Also its exactly the right size for a phone IMO.
Totally worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note : you pay extra(EXTRA)++++++++ for a SAMMY.:laugh:

No. Wifi and Bluetooth issues. Otherwise, fantastic phone
Sent from my C5502 using XDA Free mobile app

Yes You Can Buy
Xperia Zr is best phone.its same as xperia z.hardware are same in both phone.
I recomamded this zr because price is cheap then Z:good:

do not buy
mahdi87_gh said:
Hi
I wanted to buy this phone. do you recommend it or not? why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please never buy this phone. I am using this phone and having bluetooth and wifi problem. I can't use bluetooth and wifi. I insist you to buy Z instead of ZR. You can search on google that 50% users having problem with wifi and bluetooth. This phone is not water resistance well.

deciding to switch to xz1c from xc

hello, im trying to decide to switch from x compact to xz1 compact, i wonder how much faster is xz1c? faster better lol, looking for upgrade haha gonna give this one to my mom probably, watched some reviews on xz2c but its kinda too big, i dont play games at all and love using phone with one hand, is it worth upgrading? write me your thoughts :>

I think you could get better phones... Maybe the Samsung S10e or if you want to stick with Sony, something newe like the xz2C or XZ3C.

well i could aim for xz2 compact, but its bigger in size, is it comfortable for one hand use? i prefer to stay at sony for next buy. Xz3 compact? cant find any info about it, can you link me comparison? cant find where to buy xz3 compact either

There is no XZ3 Compact.
Samsung S10e is way bigger than XZ1C / XC and I don't think it's comfortable for one hand usage.

thought so, i wonder if someone can help me decide if xz1 worth upgrading or i should wait a bit for some other phones. my xc is still kicking pretty good and rooted as well :fingers-crossed::highfive:

Simplyeh said:
thought so, i wonder if someone can help me decide if xz1 worth upgrading or i should wait a bit for some other phones. my xc is still kicking pretty good and rooted as well :fingers-crossed::highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was with the same dilemma... and finally i bought the XZ1C, even if it's "old" for the end of 2019, but works perfect and fits in one hand.
I tried the XZ2C and fits also very well, but is a little bit bigger (impossible to reach the top screen area with my thumb finger). Also i need to said that the weight of XZ2C surprised me (very heavy)
Hard to find a small smartphone nowadays with a nice hardware config!!

i.j said:
I was with the same dilemma... and finally i bought the XZ1C, even if it's "old" for the end of 2019, but works perfect and fits in one hand.
I tried the XZ2C and fits also very well, but is a little bit bigger (impossible to reach the top screen area with my thumb finger). Also i need to said that the weight of XZ2C surprised me (very heavy)
Hard to find a small smartphone nowadays with a nice hardware config!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You switched from x compact to xz1 compact? :silly: about xz2c i thought it would be hard to reach thats why prefer not to buy xz2c :crying: its beautiful tho

Bump bump bump need opinions ??

I switched from x to xz1, the xz1 is much faster and more responsive (mainly when opening new apps, or managing multitasking) even though in my case it rarely slows down for a few seconds for no apparent reason, especially when using chrome.
The camera is much better, even though it's still not great in low light situations. Battery wise it's about the same.
Sometimes i'd like to have a no-bezel 5 inch phone but anything else on the market is too large for one handed use.
I'd say the performance jump is not huge, but it's still quite noticeable. To be fair, the X was pretty fast already for most non - gaming tasks...

Great thats what i needed! Thank you!

@Simplyeh, if I should recommend something, go with XZ1 Compact if you still can buy it somewhere.
If you care about sony drm functions, xzp/xz1/xz1c phones are the last sony phones where you can backup and restore drm keys and make them fully functional after bootloader unlock.
Please see the exploiting xperia XZ2 - good and bad news post - getting a temporary root for locked TA backup does not help anymore with phones running TAMA platform (xz2,xz2c,xz3,...).
Most likely any newer xperia would behave the same, i.e. no chance for working drm keys restore after BL unlock, even if temp root could be achieved before unlock for TA backup.

j4nn said:
@Simplyeh, if I should recommend something, go with XZ1 Compact if you still can buy it somewhere.
If you care about sony drm functions, xzp/xz1/xz1c phones are the last sony phones where you can backup and restore drm keys and make them fully functional after bootloader unlock.
Please see the exploiting xperia XZ2 - good and bad news post - getting a temporary root for locked TA backup does not help anymore with phones running TAMA platform (xz2,xz2c,xz3,...).
Most likely any newer xperia would behave the same, i.e. no chance for working drm keys restore after BL unlock, even if temp root could be achieved before unlock for TA backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought xz1 compact white color used, not scratched screen for 180euros it's nice, still tho i could get new one for 275 eur with guarantee but i think it will be ok, bought my x compact used too and it serves me good, i trust my luck on this one too.
can't wait to receive it will take few days >.< still worried about battery life of a used phone a bit, hope it's alright
should i root it asap? i used stock xc for half a year it was smooth

Simplyeh said:
should i root it asap? i used stock xc for half a year it was smooth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have good reasons for unlocking bootloader.
Think twice, there is no way back to re-lock, even if you have the TA-locked.img backup. Similarly there is no way to get rid of the bootloader unlocked cannot check the sw for corruption warning screen on power up.

Yeah i know that, but if the performance no need more tweaks ill stay with it ?? im pretty positive that out of the box version is nice and there will be no need to unlock bl, i unlocked my xc mainly cause of some minor performance tweaks and remove bloatware.
Anyways noticed that my bank app on xc dont let me use nfc to pay cause its unlocked so i will definitely want to stay for that to play around haha :fingers-crossed:

Arrived! got a litlle yellowish dot transparent on the left corner in the bottom ,like the screen was pushed a bit hard and left there some lcd issues, but its very very transparent, owners said he was not aware of that, but the phone looks like out of a box really, screen got no scratches back side good too! that yellowish is seen on white background only, tho its not noticable when you look at it without examining. im happy so far so smooth ^^
Edit after a week of using: love this phone lol, much more responsive than xc and smoothhhhh