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Question for Galaxy Note + S2 owners

I am thinking about upgrading from S2, can someone with both phones compare - what advantages (if any ) / disadvantages Note has over S2 ?
Obviously Note has bigger screen - but screen aside - did you notice any other area where Note triumphs S2 ? (GPS, wifi, battery life with screen turned on, sound quality, camera, sotware issues...) How about heat problems ? S2 can get pretty hot under high workload, is Note any better ? (afaik it basically runs the same chip just clocked higher which makes me wondering)
Also regarding the screen - are the colors / brightness / outdoor visibility etc. the same and the difference is only in size / resolution / ppi ? And finally: is there someone who tried both and actually preferred S2 ?

They're almost the same. For me the major difference is battery life and spen ... I love to sketch. So I switched. Battery is superb.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

I don't own either, but from what I've seen the battery is way better on the Note than basically any other Android phone. Colors will be slightly less vibrant because it's not a SAMOLED+ display, it's just SAMOLED. But honestly, who cares? It's 720p!

Yumunum said:
I don't own either, but from what I've seen the battery is way better on the Note than basically any other Android phone. Colors will be slightly less vibrant because it's not a SAMOLED+ display, it's just SAMOLED. But honestly, who cares? It's 720p!
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The colors are amazing. I find them just as vibrant as the S2. The only real difference is the pentile display, but the dpi is so high you can't even tell. I find the screen to be far more useful than the S2 with the extra size and resolution.
Battery life wasn't great at first but once I turned off latitude and froze a few samsung apps it got MUCH better. Oh, and using minimum brightness is a major factor too. I wasn't too happy about turning the brightness down but after a day you don't notice it. I just have a widget on the desktop so I can quickly turn up the brightness if I need to.

After using the phone for a bit more, the Note is better in some ares:
-GLONASS satellite system allows it very fast lock in and response, although its not as precise as GPS, maybe 5-10ft off, but realky isn't an issue at all.
-Better PPI, but can see grains if eyes 6" from the screen.
-Screen is slightly brighter.
Cons: Can't operate it one handed at all due to size.
Sound quality is the same, not bad but not great. Same camera I think. Both can get pretty warm, but a case helps.

battery life: qualitatively it seems note lasts longer.
sound quality: equally good but note louder esp on speaker.
heat: i suppose any phone will heat up under stress e.g. video, charging but by and large i have never felt much heat from either.
camera: this is one area note is better than S2. S2 had weird pink hues but this is less noticeable in note. the screen seems to respond better in camera mode for note too.
in short, unless size and portability are major concerns, note is a better get. hope this helps!
comrad said:
I am thinking about upgrading from S2, can someone with both phones compare - what advantages (if any ) / disadvantages Note has over S2 ?
Obviously Note has bigger screen - but screen aside - did you notice any other area where Note triumphs S2 ? (GPS, wifi, battery life with screen turned on, sound quality, camera, sotware issues...) How about heat problems ? S2 can get pretty hot under high workload, is Note any better ? (afaik it basically runs the same chip just clocked higher which makes me wondering)
Also regarding the screen - are the colors / brightness / outdoor visibility etc. the same and the difference is only in size / resolution / ppi ? And finally: is there someone who tried both and actually preferred S2 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Allrighty.
I currently own both, and can help you out with answering a few things.
I'll start off with something that I haven't seen many if any even, touch base on:
Typing is a dream. I used the stock Gingerbread keyboard on my Galaxy SII as it was the most comfortable one for me, but found it a tad cramped at times and landscape was just too wide to type anything on naturally. On the Note using the same keyboard, I personally had fewer mistakes and found that my typing speed had stayed near dead on to my thumbing on the smaller brother. I'd say it hits that sweet spot for completely comfortable portrait typing.
The sound quality in call is right on par with that of the GSII, dare I say even a little bit better. In any of the time I've spent talking on it, I haven't had an issue and it's clear on the other end.
Battery life is most certainly better. It's not worlds better, but I have no worries that I won't kill my battery come the end of my day and get home, whereas there were days were I was cutting it too close for comfort on the GSII. I'm a light to moderate user, with locally stored music playback anywhere from 1-7 hours, screen on time around 3-4 hours, bluetooth always on (for MBW-150), and no wifi every day.
I've found the software for the camera to be improved. It's not Nexus-fast in terms of snapping off a photo, but it's easily much faster at taking a photo on the Note than the GSII. Image quality and detail is on par with the GSII's snapper.
The Note is the same as the SII in terms of heat. That hasn't changed, but this is only if you're actually working it by playing games or watching HD video. Likewise, it stays cool with regular use, as does the SII.
Screen saturation is almost that of the SII's screen, but not enough to fret about. I've found the colour on the Note's screen to be a touch warmer, but that could very well be because it's a newer screen with less on time than my GSII. Outdoor visibility isn't an issue, at my usual screen brightness of 25% I have no problems making out what's on the screen throughout the day, even in near direct sunlight. This was the same case with it's smaller sibling, so no real differences here.
As a note about the Note's screen (pardon the pun), the screen is fantastic. Flat out. Text, images, and video are easily more crisp and enjoyable to view on the Note than the SII. Because of the high pixel density, you can't even make out the sup pixels while reading unless you bring the phone less than 6" away from your face and even then it's difficult.
I absolutely love my Note. Everyone I've showed it to has had the same reaction: "Wow. It huge!". So it most certainly stands out if that might matter to you. There are times where I miss the GSII for it's size and general 'feel'. It's definitely been tamed and feels a touch more responsive while moving through the OS, and the light weight was always a plus. There have been times where my hand was slightly fatigued from holding the Note, but again this really is a two handed device.
To sum it all up, I bought my Galaxy SII in August. I just got my Note about a week ago, never handling or seeing one in real life and I feel it was a worthy enough upgrade. My reasoning is of course biased for my wants in the device, but chances are if you're looking into getting this device, you'll surely be impressed.

It is interesting to see different experiences with SGS2 and Note. I own both, and here is my quick comparison.
Screen - I like the bigger format ( I love the bigger format) but the screen is not as bright as SGS2. White is little bit grayish. Colors are pretty much same, I don't see the problem with RGB or pentile display. So Note: 1 point.
Sound - I absolutely love the sound, all notifications are louder, in call volume louder, speaker louder and more bass. Note: 1 point
Wi Fi signal: I tested SGS2, Note, Galaxy Tab and my wife's Iphone 4G wifi signal strength in my house, I have latest Linksys router, super fast cable internet with latest modem capable up to 100 mbps, in real I am getting 54 mbps. Note performed worst of all of them. Around 16 mbps versus 22 for SGS 2 and iPhone. Very dissapointed with wi fi signal strength as well, loosing signal in places where SGS2 and iPhone still works ok. Note: 0 points, SGS 2 : 1 point.
Camera: oh boy, much much worse than SGS 2, I couldn't believe how bad this camera is. I will post later side by side pictures from both phones with same settings, you will be surprised. Not focusing as quickly as SGS2, white balance off, takes ages refocusing between light area and dark area, etc... SGS 2: 1 more point here.
Stylus: since SGS2 doesn't have it, Note gets 1 more point here, because I find this feature very useful for my business and it was one of the main reasons I bought this phone. (screen and Stylus)
Scrolling between home screens is little bit laggy, much more noticeable than SGS2. Stock browser scrolling is jerky, not iphone smooth as SGS2. Wake up screen delay is 1.5 sec from pressing any button ( home or power) compared to almost instant screen on with SGS2.
Both phones running stock firmware, SGS2 is on UK unbranded 2.3.4 rooted, Note is on 2.3.6. German firmware not rooted.(yet)
Using it on USA AT&T carrier. Phone signal more less same,somewhere SGS2 performs better, somewhere Note has better signal, but I am satisfied with both phones performances.
Overall I prefer Note right now, it may be because of it's novelty versus my "old" SGS2, but it will be very hard for me to go to smaller size screen phone after using Note. Probably the best phone I ever had so far. I bought Note without seeing it in real from Amazon.de and I am not dissapointed with the purchase.
enjoy it, life is short.

Well thanks everyone, my general impressions from what has been said are:
1.) Screen is much better
2.) Battery is much better
3.) Pen is a potential advantage (I almost forgot about the pen)
4.) Experience with remaining features can vary (probably due to manufacturing differences ?) but overall they are all more or less comparable to Galaxy S2
5.) With one exception being GPS, at least based on this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=arOYNNux_mg
it seems the Note's GPS should be quite superior (it may be the best GPS in any phone yet ?)
So if screen, battery life and GPS are improved over S2 then it's probably good enough for me. However it would be much cleaner cut if there would be more horsepower under the hood as well I'd love some faster CPU, 32GB of storage and faster stock sd cards. (Actually I'd love to see some SSD on it You can put SSD into a netbook so why not to a phone ? )
Also one thing I would probably prefer is to have 16:9 (720 height instead of 800) display and about 4.8 - 5" big, slightly more portable and less funny looking while making a call. Maybe they've opted for Note's aspect ratio as to give better support for note taking ?

ive had my galaxy note for a month. just picked up a free galaxy s2 today on vodafone AU's $29 cap. personally, i think i'll stick with the note. everything about the note is just more convenient for me. bigger screen makes portrait keyboard awesome, higher res makes everything look better. battery life is only better on the note with gaming and video watching, both are on par for web browsing battery life due to the weakness of samoled.
gps is much much better on my galaxy note. locks down fairly well when im indoors whilst the s2 cant even lock after running it for half an hour in navigation mode.
as for the screen ratio, samsung havent made a phone that uses 16:9 screen ratio for a fair while (if they have made any at all, cant seem to think of any). the slightly wider/taller (depending on how you look at it) makes portrait keyboard useful, but i must agree, the extra pixels are wasted on videos. if you want a 16:9 screen ratio, look towards the lg nitro hd and galaxy nexus.
one thing the galaxy nexus has that these phones dont seem to have is the correct positioning of the 3.5mm socket. the galaxy nexus has it positioned on the bottom, like my old n900. this is the perfect place for the socket since it means you can pull your phone out of your pocket when headphones are plugged in and it will be the right way up. it also means if youre plugging it into anything in your car, it wont have any silly cables coming out the top. its one of those little things that are nice and much appreciated. but im digressing a bit here.
overall, the phones will be similar, with the screen being the main difference and the unique advantage of the note will be the S pen. but that may be a bit of a downer in terms of update speed. for the galaxy s2, all samsung need to do is refine the experience, add touchwiz, and its all ready. for the note, they need to add touchwiz and then modify the S-Pen apps to run correctly as well. shouldnt delay the release of ICS for the note by too much considering samsung should have gained experience with ICS when working with the galaxy nexus, but its still a bit of a delay.
and i dont think SSDs will be needed on phones for a fair while. honestly, when will you need a read speed faster than 20mb/s? or a write speed faster than that? its only really useful when transferring files to and from a PC, but as to actual device usage, it has little impact. videos are encoded at what? 17mbps? thats still only 2-3mb/s of write speed needed. theres very little on the device that could take advantage of the added speed of an SSD. its just something that will drive up the product cost with very little benefit in realworld usage. apps load quickly enough so i dont think samsung would bother to consider an SSD for phones anytime soon.

Souai said:
and i dont think SSDs will be needed on phones for a fair while. honestly, when will you need a read speed faster than 20mb/s? or a write speed faster than that? its only really useful when transferring files to and from a PC, but as to actual device usage, it has little impact.
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Faster than 20MB/s - yes it's mainly for data transfer. But note also that while most android apps are small, some (especially games which can have couple of hundreds of MBs) should benefit from faster storage. And if you bench seq. write speed of S2 it's nowhere near to 20MB/s. It's more like 5-7MB/s - very slow for large data transfers (I don't know if Galaxy Note is any better). The internal memory of S2 is of course optimized for fast random reads/writes rather then seq. speeds. But if we can have high capacity USB3 sticks with read / write speeds above 100 MB/s and still very good random read/write speeds (e.g. 64GB flash for about 100€) then maybe to have phone with 32GB-64GB internal memory and 50/30MB/s and USB3 etc. could be done for similar price (which would be very fine with me).
Note seems to be well suited for video playback but with typical 720p movie at about 5GB I find the 12GB internal + 32GB external SD cards quite limiting in capacity as well as in transfer speeds (esp. considering that I need permanently at least 16GB for my music collection and lot's of free space for 1080p video recording) Surprisingly most netbooks have comparable RAM capacity and CPU speeds (at least for non floating point tasks) to those of highend smartphones, yet the storage capacity and seq. transfer speeds on netbooks is order of magnitudes higher.

I got it today ! It's very big AND unfortunately the side panel has annoying squeaking problem. It's only on one place - below the volume button, exactly where I tend to leave my fingers. Anyone else with the same problem ? Never had any squeaking problems on SGS2.

Is there a possibility that the back cover has not been clicked in place properly? I get squeaking too when that happens.

I have both phones.
When I got the Note I wanted to sell the S2, even had a buyer for it.
But after I used the Note for a day I start to have serious second thoughts.
The S2 is so much smoother ... Honestly, in this respect the Note is much closer to SG1 than SG2.

Hey mates
I have both of these phones myself, and I'm just wondering is there any possibilities to move memos from SGS2 to note??

Chagrim said:
Hey mates
I have both of these phones myself, and I'm just wondering is there any possibilities to move memos from SGS2 to note??
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With the backup feature on the PC, with syncing them to google, with the option to back them up with MyBackup, there are a lot of options Probably the easiest would be go into the options of your SGS2 Memo app and sync it to google, and then just redownload them on the Note. I like everything OTA. I dislike having to plug everything in to get stuff done.

zkyevolved said:
With the backup feature on the PC, with syncing them to google, with the option to back them up with MyBackup, there are a lot of options Probably the easiest would be go into the options of your SGS2 Memo app and sync it to google, and then just redownload them on the Note. I like everything OTA. I dislike having to plug everything in to get stuff done.
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Ok, now I feel myself really dumb! Thanks for that

holgalee said:
Is there a possibility that the back cover has not been clicked in place properly? I get squeaking too when that happens.
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That's not possible because I tripplechecked (by removing and putting back) the cover prior to asking here.
But there is more to Note than that: I saw videos of Note compared to S2 etc. on youtube I saw pictures in reviews etc. but nothing could prepare me to how big it actually is in real. I will be probably in minority here but I can't avoid thinking that it's actually too big - for calling it a phone at least. At the same time I could live with larger screen and res than S2 (mostly for comfortable video watching) So I think if I could spec and ideal phone for me, based on interpolation between S2 and Note it would have display comparable to Galaxy Nexus (1280x720 ~ 4.7" - 4.8", 120g - 140g) that should be a perfect balance between display usefulness and overall portability. Too bad they've crippled Nexus with missing SD slot and missing flash support. Hope that Galaxy S3 will hit it all right (I already can't wait ) Btw any chance Note's awesome GPS making it to other Samsung phones ? (can it be put to any phone regardless of it's size ?) As far as GPS goes the difference is stunning (basically a toy like implementation vs. state of the art awesomeness)
Now I have hard time deciding what to do with Note: I should probably return it but then the screen is so awesome that it's very tough to just return it, even when I don't need it Btw about the screen and pentile vs. non-pentile debate: there were only few occasions when I noticed there was some grain on the Note without looking for it, e.g. the red birds in Angry Birds Rio and orange balloon in Samsung demo video (from 0:36) On galaxy2 I never noticed any grain (even when looking for it), so yes Superamoled Plus would be even nicer but for 99% of practical cases it doesn't matter to me.

Where are those comparsion photos that someone mentioned. Has anyone had the camera perform poorly?

I own both, well I gave the S2 to the missus when I got the Note.
The Note is equivalent too, or better then the S2 in everything. I would find it impossible to have an S2 as my main phone now after having used the Note for almost a month.
You will hear a lot of negativity about the size of the Note, I kept hearing it is too big, it is uncomfortable to carry etc etc. Nonsense. It took me a day (max) to get use to the size, it fits in all my pockets comfortably and is very portable. Dare I say it I think it could even be a tad bigger, maybe 5.5" All other phones now seem tiny to me, and this has become the standard. I don't think I will be able to go back to a small(er) phone after using this.
I have found the camera and video recording similar to the S2. GPS on the Note is amazing, I get a lock in seconds, it beats every other satnav/phone I have ever owned. The screen... wow. One month on and it still impresses me. Games, Videos, Satnav, Internet Browsing even Ebook reading is all a joy on the Note, it is the ultimate all in one device imo.

My Note 4 thoughts

I figured it might be a good idea to share my thoughts on the Note 4, since I always put a lot of research into smartphone buying and someone might find it useful There are some of you that are still leaning toward different flagships all of the time (like I did!), so I hope this helps.
First of all I would like to mention that about a month ago I made up my mind to give up my LG G2 and switch to a new smartphone.
The Xiaomi mi4 came up first.
I liked the design, UI, price, specs. Everything about the mi4 is just above average, but thats about it. It didn't have that even slightest "wow factor" that I needed to push me to buying one. It's a very good phone, but the warranty would require me to send the phone far into the unknown in case something was wrong, I wasn't sure If I would pay tax as well. Nobody had the 64 gb model either (16gb and no card expansion, really?!). I decided that this would probably be a wise choice but it didn't offer anything more than what I already had on the G2, and in some cases, it was worse (camera). I passed.
My second choice was the LG G3.
So like always, I started researching, checking out different variants and prices, digging through the specs, looking for its strong sides and flaws. I liked the quad hd display at first, the SD 801 SoC, good camera with laser autofocus. The UI was a nice upgrade from the LG G2's cartoonish look. The 32 gb model seemed a good option with its 3gb of ram (although I didn't like the design as I wanted something different from the G2).
As I started to dig deaper though, I noticed that the display isn't all that awesome, as there is more to it than just resolution. I think they might have made the phone much better if they sticked to a 1080p panel and focused on other aspects like color reproduction, brightness, power consumption. I found out that the 801 chip is stretched to its limits (even over them..) with that display, which caused overheating, throttling and lagging in demanding tasks and games. I believe a smartphone should be able to handle anything you throw at it so I dumped the G3 from my plans.
Then the Z3 came up.
So again- researching, digging, looking at the cons and pros. I liked the design a lot better than the G3 (besides the plastic corners, although I can justify the reason they used them for). The display was beytter than the Z2, with very good brightness and color reproduction after making some adjustments to the stock settings. The audio quality is superb as well, the whole phone is waterproof and its battery life was very well above the current smartphones.
The camera in the Z3 is top of the line, but I didn't like how it overheats. Making the phone thinner wasn't necessary in my opinion and sony might have thought about the component allocation in the device, as putting everything in the top part of the phone wasn't too smart of a choice. The UI was something that I didn't like the most though. I know I could throw a custom ROM at it in a while, but I wasn't sure how that would work with the camera, battery life and other features sony offered in the stock ROM.
I almost made my mind up on the Z3, as it had everything I wanted and I could live with its cons but then the price came into my mind: 515 pounds including tax.
Thats the part the note 4 came into play.
I watched the Note 4 presentation: the phone impressed me in overall, I liked the design, UI, hardware etc. So I started digging again.
I've always wanted the best out of my phone, no matter if I was going to use all of the functions it had or not. I used my phone for calling, texting, making notes in google keep, gps, playing games, listening to music, browsing the web, taking pictures. Usually I endep up rooting it and putting a stock like ROM on it (although I used the stock LG G2 ROM all the way). The design of the phone was always important for me, thats why I had an iphone 4s and 5 for a month before ditching it cus of the awfully simple and boring OS.
The Note 4 seemed to be a very good phone that offered what I wanted and much more beyond that:
1. The display
It's resolution could have been not increased. Samsung could have stayed with a 1080p panel. But thats not whats important about this panel. This is what the DisplayMate test results are:
"The Galaxy Note 4 delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance: it is the first Smartphone display to ever get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except one Yellow for a Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. The Galaxy Note 4 has again raised the bar for top display performance up by another notch. "
The display is a window through which you interact with your phone, and it is a component that must be top of the line. There should be no compromise here. Samsung exceeded my expectations in this matter.
2. Performance
There are 2 variants of the Note as most of you know. I'm still having a hard time with both of them. At first I thought the Snapdragon is an obvious choice considering it was superior to all of the other chips last year.
But then the 64-bit affair came into place. Anyone would like their phone to be futureproof, and a 64-bit SoC would be a wise choice. The exynos and snapdragon chips offer pretty much the same performance. I tried looking at the benchmarks, real world usage, gaming, but one outpaces the other in different things and it is very hard to tell the difference. I believe the fluidity of the UI and overall performance must be taken into consideration the most, as I believe both chips will handle anything you throw at them when apps and games are optimized. The choice is either taking the 20nm exynos and hope for better battery life and 64-bit support OR the snapdragon one and expect better dev support.
I wanted the Exynos for the wolfson chip, as I like good quality music from my phone. I'll be using good headphones and PowerAmp so I figure I wouldn't notice much difference anyway. At least not enough to pay extra and import the exynos variant.
I'm pretty much set on the Snapdragon 805 as I believe the battery life should be good on both (the andreno 420 is powerful with lowered power consumption). Like I mentioned earlier I might change the ROM after a while if something good comes out. It's a matter of personal taste- NOT performance of the chips. Thats my opinion on the matter.
3. User Interface
Touchwiz was out of the question for me up until I saw the Galaxy S5 UI. I actually liked the flat style and functions it offered. The note 4 UI is pretty similar. I really like the S-Pen experience, it should be a great change for people who haven't used it before. I love taking notes and I'll use it often. I like the functions it offers, the selection in different UI elements, the ease of copy/pasting, more precise touch input.
Touchwiz has a lot of useless apps that I might not like, but I'm sure it will be possible to get rid of the ones you don't like later on, the dev community in here will surely help. I could go on about the stamina mode, multi-window, the ability to resize apps etc, but you've all seen that on videos. The most important fact for is that touchwiz had been improved, it is eye pleasing, smoother and faster than ever. It is the best custom android OS you can get atm.
4. Camera
On paper both of the cameras looked really good to me, but I wanted to wait and see the real world results. I wasn't disappointed. there were some early comparisions done, but some of them were pictures or videos not taken with the note 4, so getting a correct view at the performance was quite hard. We have these results now and the note camera is a top notch performer. I find day pictures top of the line, the details are there, colors are popping, OIS helps as well. 4k shooting isn't all that important to me but its a nice addition. The camera seems to be very capable and will perform great in a day-to-day user's hands as well in an experienced person ones.
You may find the night shots worse than of the lumia or z3, but thats just terribly trying to find a flaw to me. Come on- who the hell is going to photograph a piece of paper in the dark of the night!? insane. There are pictures taken with the note at night, i like how the lights aren't blurred and everything seems very crisp and detailed. Do remember what you'll be using the phone camera for, and the Note 4 delivers more than I want in those terms.
5. Battery life
Many people find this very important. I thought the Note 4 might get bad results cause of that screen so I checked out some vids of the LTE-A Galaxy S5 with the higher res display. The results were the same as the standars S5.
I am not sure if its the chip that is more power efficient, some power saving changes in the OS, or the screen, or maybe all of these at once, but the results people are having on the Notes they recently picked up are very pleasing to me.
Final words
I probably shouldn't, cause its so ridiculous, but I'll mention the gap gate as well- I don't give a crap about it. I wont even notice it. Especially with the case I'm going to put on the phone. And its something that samsung probably addressed already in the new batch of phones. There are other things I should maybe mention, but these 5 are most important for me. I really like the performace of the Note 4, its UI, functions, metal frame design, micro SD storage expansion, camera, battery, IR blaster and everything else that seems to be a full package that many will find good enough to put their money on. I surely will. On the black one of course

You have really done some good work digging up info and comparing them.

Just to add couple points to OP's excellent write up:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already.
The gap between screen and frame around might be by design, due to combination of plastic, glass and metal having different expansion rate due to temperature changes. My thinking is that if the phone was brought from very warm room into very cold outside, metal frame would cool and shrink much faster than the rest and could even possibly crack the glass, doing so. The gap possibly allows for contraction/expansion without doing any damage. Either way, outside of aesthetics, it doesn't affect anything and it's a non issue. Probably blown out of proportions as an attempt to shift attention away from bendgate.

pete4k said:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already
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I think he was referring to the increased GPU load due to the higher resolution which is a valid concern.
But as it has already been said, even the S5 LTE-A with its Snapdragon 805 and QHD resolution has the same battery life as the regular S5 with Full HD and Snapdragon 800.
Still, it would be interesting to see the battery life on a Snapdragon 805 device with only a Full HD display.

I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..

han4mi said:
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
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Normally I would agree that FHD 1080p would be more than enough. However, since the GN4 is going to host the Gear VR, with magnifying lenses, I'm happy it went for the QHD
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

Audio Quality
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?

ymmp said:
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
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I have the same question, ´cause I am afraid, that speeker-quality will be on low level and I am used to fantastic stereo sound of my current htv one m8.
I think, the price for Note 4 ist extremly high. Meanwhile Samsungs flagships are playing in the same €-league with the latest iphons. So I want to hold it in my own hands first before buying it. In center of Europe the Note 4 will be available in about 2 weeks.
Maybe the new Nexus 6 has a better balance between price and specs. We´ll check it out.

Just read Phone Arena's review. Here's a quote:
"Unfortunately, the audio portion of the media experience isn't so spectacular. The single speaker of the Galaxy Note 4 is rather quiet and lacking any depth, making it sound thin and weak. It's not too bad, but it's far from the best we've heard"
How disappointing! The new Moto X is supposed to have an amazing front speaker. I just wonder if it is more like the Note 2 or 3.

I believe the speaker will be good enough to play the ringtone I choose. I prefer earphones+ Poweramp for my music. Like I said, it depends what you're expecting to use the phone for. The Note 4 meets my demands in key aspects and thats why I'm going for it. I don't want THE BEST PHONE. Such a phone does not exist. All of the flagships have their strenghts and weaknesses and a smart person would take the one with the most personally suitable set of features.

[Q] Is it too small for reading? Would a bigger device make reading better?

Hi Everybody!
So after 4 years with my iPhone 4, I think it might be about time to get a new phone. The Z3 Compact looks and sounds like the a really great phone for me, I like almost everything such as the speed, water-resistance, design, Sony skin etc.
BUT, I'm really not sure about the size. I'm just not sure it it's too small for me or just right. Consider this: The vast majority of the time spent with my current iPhone 4 (3.5') I use it for browsing the web (reading stuff) one-handed (either because the other hand is doing something else or just because it's more comfortable). So being able to use it one-handed is important to me, but then, so is easy readability. One of my worries going with a huge new phone is that it won't be as comfortable in one-handed use. I'm not the only person who has a smartphone in this world, so I did get to use the Nexus 5 (4.95') and found that while it isn't as comfortable as my iPhone 4 it is perfectly usable with one hand. The Galaxy Note 1 (5.3') I used on the other hand, not so much. If I decide I go with a bigger phone it will be the Galaxy S5 (5.1'), the LG G2 or the big Z3 (both 5.2'). I probably will be able to use these regularly with one hand (especially since I don't think these device are as big, chunky and clunky as the original Note), but nevertheless it won't be as comfortable, wheres with the Z3 Compact (4.6') I'm sure it'll be perfectly comfortable to use one-handed.
So what I'm wondering is - is the sacrifice in comfort even worth it? I mean, the vast majority of the time I use my phone not for playing games or watching movies, but rather for reading stuff, whether it's browsing the web or messaging (although I'm also thinking about starting with reading ebooks). When I use my teeny iPhone 4 (3.5') I don't really think "wow this is so small I can't read anything" (especially since almost all websites nowadays have a mobile view), although when I use a bigger device I defiantly notice that reading is easier. But will the half an inch difference (and 1080P resolution, whether that makes a difference or not) between the 4.6' Z3 Compact and bigger devices with 5.1'/5.2' displays really make a significant difference in reading? That's what I'm wondering and hope you guys and gals can help me figure out. However keep in mind that I want to make this discussion purely about what size is better for me, not about the features and prices of all these different phones which I am well aware of.
TL;DR: I want to know if a bigger display will make reading significantly easier and better - enough to sacrifice a little in one-handed use comfort.

Buy a Kindle, your eyes and you will thank me later.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Free mobile app

Tuberomix said:
...purely about what size is better for me
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Why you asking us then?

geronimoid said:
Why you asking us then?
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I'm asking you people because since I haven't used any new device extensively I'm really not sure how much half an inch difference and 1080P resolution (such is the difference between the 4.6' Z3 Compact and larger devices such as the 5.1' S5) can make reading easier, so I'm asking you people who have more experience and might know.
And I'm not going to buy a kindle because I need a smartphone for reading web stuff on-the-go.

Where are you based?
In the UK phone shops have the Z3C in store, often with working wifi so you could pop in and compare reading an article on your favourite online publications on that and other phones such as the Z3 or S5 to decide if the difference bothers you.
I *personally* believe 4.6" is a large enough, in fact the 4.3" screen that the Z1C had was one of the few things that bothered me about that phone. And this is from someone who owns the LG G2 and still loves it - the extra screen area is only noticeably better when watching youtube videos or playing games.

I've used the following phones as daily drivers, in this order, primarily for reading ebooks, forums, and general web browsing:
IPhone 4
Note 2
Note 3
Nexus 5
Z3 Compact
My opinion is the Z3c is so far the best of the lot due to a nearly ideal mix of size, power, and battery stamina.
I wouldn't willingly go back to any of the other devices except the Nexus 5, which I intend to keep as a backup phone.
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

Obviously they scale fonts/images/icons for the smaller screen. Some things appear smaller, and other things are sized fine but you just can't get as many on the screen. You have to decide for yourself, but it is entirely a matter of comfort and not function.
As for me, I wanted a phone that I couldn't feel in my pocket with top-tier speed and a strong battery and a decent camera. As a plus, the daylight readability and weatherproofing make it a very nice go-anywhere phone. I sampled a lot of phones this year, and I'm very satisfied to settle with this one for a while.

TJCacher said:
I've used the following phones as daily drivers, in this order, primarily for reading ebooks, forums, and general web browsing:
IPhone 4
Note 2
Note 3
Nexus 5
Z3 Compact
My opinion is the Z3c is so far the best of the lot due to a nearly ideal mix of size, power, and battery stamina.
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Click to collapse
I am well aware that the Z3 Compact is awesome feature-wise. However, didn't you feel that going down in screen size in comparison to the larger phones is kind of downside, and a detract when reading web-content/forums/ebooks? When you say that the Z3c is "nearly ideal mix of size..." do you mean it feels slightly too small for your everyday use (which is going to be pretty similar to my everyday use)?

Tuberomix said:
I am well aware that the Z3 Compact is awesome feature-wise. However, didn't you feel that going down in screen size in comparison to the larger phones is kind of downside, and a detract when reading web-content/forums/ebooks? When you say that the Z3c is "nearly ideal mix of size..." do you mean it feels slightly too small for your everyday use (which is going to be pretty similar to my everyday use)?
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Not at all. I went up in size after the IPhone because I thought it was too small, and, after experiencing the advantages and disadvantages of the larger phones, found myself moving back down in size, first to the N5 and now, smaller still, to the Z3c.
At this point I found I've gone nearly full circle, with a device somewhat larger than my original iPhone, but significantly smaller than the other Androids, and I'm finding this size to be the best overall experience for my use cases.
Specifically, for me, that means I want to read on a comfortably pocketable device with a bright, clear screen and not run out of power before I get back to a charger.
I believe this device meets that mix of my requirements better than any of the previous ones I have owned.
I haven't been bothered in the slightest by the downsize in physical screen dimensions or resolution when reading books, forums or websites.
The only adjustment I've had to consciously make is to change my typing style from my previous "tap each letter individually" preference to the "slide continuously to each letter in the word" style due to an unacceptably higher error rate of the former style on the smaller keyboard - a change I probably should have made a long time ago anyway.
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

Hi there I had similar concerns when I was looking for a new phone. Here's my thought process:
- When you are talking about one hand usability you can't only talk about screen size.
1. Example: While the 4.7" screen of the iphone6 is basically operable with one hand (provided you have big hands) the space that you need to be able to reach with your thumb is actually quite alot bigger, because of the homebutton placement. So when you're talking one hand use the iphone6 has actually a over 5" space that you need to be able to reach, which really is too big for "normal" sized hands.
2. Example: HTC Mini 2 (almost bought that one), the screen is 4.5" with on screen buttons meaning you only have to operate a 4.5" surface which is perfect for my hands. BUT the only way to power up the phone is with the power button on the top making it uncomfortable to use. You basically need to move your hand upwards to reach that button, while holding it with one hand and then back down again. Very risky maneuver if you ask me.
--> Z3C has none of these issues. You wake up by double tap, and control everything on the 4.6" screen. No need to reach any buttons which means you never have to adjust your hand while using the phone. That's way more comfortable and you reduce the risk of dropping it while adjusting.
Btw: Most of the time I'm using an app to switch off the phone (screen off and lock), swipe up from the on screen home button = screen off. If you don't wanna use those features: the power/lock button is placed perfectly for your thumb (right hand) or your index (left hand), whenever i grab the phone the button is right under my finger without me thinking about it.
-Now obviously in terms of actually using the phone to browse, read, game, do whatever the screen needs to be as big as possible while still being operable by one hand. But "handed" use means the furthest you will hold your phone away from your eyes is one arm length. Fully stretching your arm isn't really comfortable so let's say its a bit less than a full arm length. I personally am usually resting my arm on my belly while holding it, so thats not even half a meter (~20"). And I have to say with regular font settings the screen and more importantly the font sizes are almost too small. Coming from a 4.8" SGS3 i had to get used to the smaller fonts and screen, then I found the setting to increase font size and now it's not an issue anymore
-->I'm always able to rest comfortably when using it, without having to pull it in front of my face (iphone syndrom) to actually see anything... And that is the important factor for me. But I have to add: I also have a tablet. When I spend more than ~10min reading or writing stuff I usually switch to it. That was the main reason for me to get a "smaller" phone- no need for a phablet here. (4 Years ago people were laughing at my HUGE 4.3" DesireHD )
-In conclusion Sony did a really good job here IMHO. Comparison: The phone has a much bigger screen than the iphone 5S, but the size of the surface you need to operate is actually about the same because of very small bezels and intelligent button placement.
But it also really depends on what you want to do with it and on your hand size. For watching the occasional movie the Z3C would be definately too small for me. If you have really big hands I guess you could easily operate a 4.8-4.9" screen if the button placement doesnt get in the way. But for me the Z3C has that sweet spot in terms of size and great hardware... When I read the specs I instantly knew that was going to be my next phone.
Another little thing: The Z3C has exactly the same weight as the iphone 6, almost the same screen size but a 2600mAh battery compared to a 1810mAh in the iphone...

[Q] G3 vs Z3C? Opinions

Hey there, I'm planning to give back my g3 to amazon spend 20€ more and get the z3c...
I know this is the z3c forum so I will get more positive reviews about it.
Some extra info: I keep using my nexus 7 2013 for reading and video, with the G3 I didn't use the nexus 7 2013 at all these days so if I keep the G3 I think I will sell the tablet.
G3 foto gets really good with XCam from xdabebb although you can't modify so many values as the z3c manual mode 20 megapixel...
Battery: G3 can give me 5 hours SOT MAX in a day of use, if I forget to charge it It wont get through the second day.
The best thing I like about the LG G3 are the thin bezels and the fact of a 5.5 inch into so small sizes + the screen for multimedia purposes can substitute tablet use.
The worst thing about the LG G3 is the size for 1 hand is nearly impossible and dangerous (phone can easily fall), and the battery + the camera is only good with xdabbeb camera XCam and now with lollipop LG has removed many functionalities about the hardware of the camara that can be accesed
Sorry for the long post
TL.DR: Why should I get Z3 Compact over G3, provide some links in your answers (even I've searched in google quite a lot and not many people compare these 2 due to different screen sizes)

I come from the LG G2 (1 year) -> Amazon Firephone (3 months)-> z3 compact (3 months so far) . However I help my friend to buy a LG G3 and use if for a couple of days. Technically, the LG G3 is mostly identical to the LG G2 (slightly bigger in screen and size, same camera, battery capacity, design and internals (S801 is just an overclocked s800)) However, when the G2 has very good battery life, the G3 is just average. G3 has better camera focus time thanks to laser sensor, but the image quality is mostly the same (they uses the same Sony sensor) The reason I switch to the Z3 compact is G3 is mostly the same as G2 and I need to upgrade my smartphone, as my father love to use the G2, and he's still using. And I advise 4 of my friends to buy sony devices. Our group now have 1 z3, 4 z3 compacts.
The reason for buying z3 compact is:
+ water proof: trust me, my s4 died for just drop into the water for 3 seconds. This z3c has several times accidentally into the water and she lives well. Plus one time listening to music under the heavy rain for more than 1 hour.
+ battery: The best battery life device for more than 10 smartphones I've used in my life. My habit is charge the phone over-night and I have to plug it in normally at 40-50%, 30% on the intensive day and even 70% on the easy one.
+ speakers: It has 2 stereo speakers towards your ears. Most of the other smartphone including LG and has speaker grill at the bottom (one ear in landscape mode) or in the back ?? after using phones with front-facing speakers, you will never go back. And my daddy love my mother's Moto G 2014 just because of those speakers haha.
The reason to not buy the z3 compact is:
-screen size: Depends. Yeah it's very efficiently designed since it has 4.6 inches screen and much smaller than the 4.7 inches galaxy alpha and Iphone 6. However, 4.6 can be considered too small for some. You can buy the z3 in this case, keep in mind that the bigger Z3 doesn't have the as good screen-size ratio as the z3 compact
-camera: IMX 220 is the very good camera (proven in other devices. However, I don't know why Sony can introduce the very bad camera software. It's hard to use, it's complicated, it re-focus when you hit the button even when you already focused just before. Plus, the camera software stays the same without any major updates for nearly 2 years since the z1 and z1 compact. It's a joke when Sony keeps updating theirs other apps like Walkman (now music), Gallery, launcher, themes, major android updates. And don't get me wrong, z3c camera is really good, it just cannot cope with the potential of the sensor itself, and ironically they are the maker of the sensor ha ha. And please not to forget the 2MP front facing camera is just average (with f 2.8 and bad quality) if you are the selfie person.
In conclusion, I'm very satisfied with the z3 compact and will stick with it for a long time.

robocopvn said:
G3 has better camera focus time thanks to laser sensor, but the image quality is mostly the same (they uses the same Sony sensor)
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Hello thanks for your post it was very usefull for me, I also owned the G2 for a while and I must say, from what I remember, the camera noise is much lower in the G3 under low light conditions. The main reason I want to get the z3c is due to the camera (in manual mode you can get impressive pictures & auto mode is improving from what I've read) and the battery. The biggest con I see with the z3c is non-removable battery. When the battery life ends it will mean you have to throw it away or take it to the service center and pay a big amount of money to get a new one.

EDIT: Damn, didn't read you already have a G3, curse my lack of reading skills.
I don't know much about the Z3C as I haven't had much contact with it besides playing with it at some store, but I suppose I can tell you a little bit about my G3
Pros:
+Screen size and resolution - it's just perfect for watching vids, playing games and browsing stuff in your bed. Everything you see is incredibly sharp due to the horrendous resolution. I can definetely say there is a difference between my dad's Z1 (it's FullHD, while Z3C is just HD so the difference is even bigger) and my G3 in terms of clarity of the display. You can literally read ant's-****-sized text.
+Camera - it produces really nice shots, in good surroundings it can give birth to magnificent images you will be proud of. And having the laser focus makes you feel like a James Bond... sometimes
+Performance - yes, the QHD sometimes makes the CPU a bit sweaty, but overall there is little to be desired. You may be disappointed if you expect your phone to switch to landscape mode in a blink, but for a simple user it is absolutely ok.
+Pretty and slim design - not as flamboyant as your favourite drag queen, but I really like the way it looks. Altough it is more like a matter of taste.
+Physical buttons placement - it may seem weird at first, but you will like it.
+Durability - I squeezed it many times in my pocket by sitting or kneeling abruptly, yet nothing happened and after six months my device still looks great. Also, the screen is really scratch resistant, there is no need to purchase any screen protector.
+Great standby time - it will live a looooooong life if you just leave it idle.
+Mod-friendly - easy to root, easy to flash, you can restore it no problem if you screw something up (no fear of permanently damaging the camera like in Z3C's case)
+Removable battery - you will love it if your phone gets stuck for some reason. Just pull the battery and all the bad dreams are gone!
Not-pros:
-Overheating - yep, sometimes it gets hotter than girls in your browser history. Hovewer, it occurs only if you push the phone to the limit.
-Need of tinkering - I mean, LG screwed up the software a little bit so you may want to get rid of some of the annoyances like screen oversharpening (it was so annoying that I've decided to root the device just to repair this one goddamn thing, I couldn't stand my mom's face oversharpened), heating, battery life, etc.
-Battery life - not as good as Z3C's, expect it to have 4-5h SOT and be battery hungry at the end of the day if you use it a lot. There are no perks like Stamina mode, though it can be dealt with through rooting or simply buying a bigger battery.
-Plastic - it doesn't feel as premium as the Z3, it emits some creaky sounds if squeezed, the back of the phone can get scratched if you place it on a harsh surface.
-Dimmed screen - not useless in a direct sunlight, but you will have a hard time reading the text on it.
-Not waterproof - unfortunately it's not as resilient as your ex-friend's head, you shouldn't try to flush it down the toilet.
-No stereo speakers - not like it is really needed on a mobile phone imo, but still.
So the way I see it... if you like small screens, perfect performance, topnotch battery life and water resistance, go for Z3C. But if these things aren't that crucial for you, then you won't be disappointed with LG's flagship child... oh wait, isn't G4 out already? Too lazy to check it, but this can only result in one thing - price drop.

Krastinov said:
So the way I see it... if you like small screens, perfect performance, topnotch battery life and water resistance, go for Z3C. But if these things aren't that crucial for you, then you won't be disappointed with LG's flagship child... oh wait, isn't G4 out already? Too lazy to check it, but this can only result in one thing - price drop.
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Thanks for your opinion, I've been using the G3 for 1 week or so and I got exactly that, 4-5 hours SOT and at the end of the day you had to charge it. The worse part of the G3 in my opinion it is that it was too big and this made even worse the fragile/slipery feeling.
The camera are great in both smartphones, but just today I saw one which was even more amazing, the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL. I had it a while and besides 5.7 inch it felt very solid and comfortable. Now I'm between going full retard and buy the 640 XL for 200€ or the z3 compact for 350€. Both are the best in battery performance and camera (although 640XL goes a bit higher on both due to wp). But z3 compact being so smal and so good camera and battery...

sanogueralorenzo said:
The worse part of the G3 in my opinion it is that it was too big and this made even worse the fragile/slipery feeling.
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Maybe it's just me and my sticky hands, but I haven't had any problems holding it. Never experienced any OMG-GONNA-DROP-IT scenarios (just being overly careful after shattering my last Samsung...). Moreover, I heard that the Z3C is more prone to being dropped due to the glass on the back... yet I'm not sure, the one I played with had some anti-theft gizmos attached to its back, so I couldn't compare :d.
sanogueralorenzo said:
The camera are great in both smartphones, but just today I saw one which was even more amazing, the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL. I had it a while and besides 5.7 inch it felt very solid and comfortable. Now I'm between going full retard and buy the 640 XL for 200€ or the z3 compact for 350€. Both are the best in battery performance and camera (although 640XL goes a bit higher on both due to wp). But z3 compact being so smal and so good camera and battery...
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Click to collapse
Yea, Lumias are great photo-taking devices, but you would have to settle for Windows Phone, which is... well, let's say that not everybody likes it. But it's your call, as an Android fanboy I would, of course, choose the Xperia, even though it's photo capabilities may be a bit behind Lumias.

Is the Z3C still worth to buy?

Hello everyone!
Right now I own a Moto X (2013) and I love it mainly because of the size of the screen, it actually fits in my pockets! But as of late, the battery is already draining a bit fast, and the camera has never been very good either. So I'm looking for a phone to replace it that has a better camera, battery and keeps about the same performance. The problem lies in the big sized phones available today! They're huge. I don't want it to exceed the 5.2 inch display size, nor it be larger than 140mm approximately.
So I thought about the Z3C. I also considered the new Xperia M5 (not yet on sale) (145mm long) or even wait for the Z5 Compact. What do you guys recommend? Is the Z3C still worth it?

I think the camera is is pretty good on the Z3C but I am no photographer. It suits my needs well. I think you will have a hard time finding a small phone (or any phone) that matches the battery life of the Z3C. For that reason alone, I think it is work it. I also think the Z3C is a nice looking phone. I also have a 2013 Moto X and loved it until I got spoiled by the Z3C's battery. You should find the Z3C to be faster and have better performance overall.

Z3 battery life is great and it fits in pocket much better than some of the slabs available now.
If you dont want to pay a premium for the absolute latest and greatest but want a phone that just works really well, i think the z3C is pretty good value.
Glass screen protector and decent case are a must though as although IP68 rated, dont think its very "drop proof".

- The Z3C battery life takes a hit with Lollipop though (damn mobile radio active bug), so if you're not satisfied, you can always roll back to KitKat for the best performance.
- The camera's auto-mode is decent in well lit conditions (tends to over-expose), but is sub-par indoors. It lacks sharpness once you zoom in on the picture. It actually excels in some low-light conditions due to the higher ISO, but most people don't need to take photos in a dark room.
- Over all, you won't find a better phone with more features at this price point that actually fits in one hand comfortably. Plus, it's waterproof.
That being said though, the new Z5C is supposed to be announced this week. Wait a few days and see if it's worth the upgrade or not.

Still the best compact phone (< 5") out at the moment. I just find Sony's politics towards homebrew and open source dev going slowly from mediocre to worse.
Z5c may be announced tomorrow so you may as well wait a day and see, but if it's, as rumoured, released with a Snapdragon 810 chip, Z3c may remain on top of the category until the next iteration...

Until the Z4C releases yes.

There is no Z4C - Sony skips a generation for the compacts. It will be a Z5C instead.

PuffDaddy_d said:
- The Z3C battery life takes a hit with Lollipop though (damn mobile radio active bug), so if you're not satisfied, you can always roll back to KitKat for the best performance.
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MobileRadioActiveFix

rafabr4 said:
Hello everyone!
Right now I own a Moto X (2013) and I love it mainly because of the size of the screen, it actually fits in my pockets! But as of late, the battery is already draining a bit fast, and the camera has never been very good either. So I'm looking for a phone to replace it that has a better camera, battery and keeps about the same performance. The problem lies in the big sized phones available today! They're huge. I don't want it to exceed the 5.2 inch display size, nor it be larger than 140mm approximately.
So I thought about the Z3C. I also considered the new Xperia M5 (not yet on sale) (145mm long) or even wait for the Z5 Compact. What do you guys recommend? Is the Z3C still worth it?
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Click to collapse
I am/was basically in the same situation as you! I also own a moto x 2013 an love it because of the screen size. It has a great feel in the hand, actually usable with one hand and it fits in the pocket nicely. But my battery life has gotten horrible since Lollipop, even with cm 12.1. I don't really care about the camera that much, and the performance was always great although lately its been starting to feel a little sluggish.
I researched for over a month but couldn't find any other good alternatives at this size. The only other option is the galaxy alpha ( but there are various complications with rooting, versions, LTE etc).
I finally gave up and went with the Z3C. Just got mine like yesterday though so I'm still in the process of setting everything up and transferring my stuff over. So far I really like it. It looks and feels nice and premium. It doesn't have as nice of a feel in the hand as the x because the back is flat and not curved. Software wise I will probably miss active display, but it seems like sony also included some neat features. Stereo speakers are just a different (better) experience than the moto speaker on the back. The contrast of the screen isn't as nice as the AMOLED on the x. But I definitely notice it being faster, which is nice. and so far the battery life seems to be amazing. I'll see how it is in a few days once everything is set up and I'm using it more, and then I can let you know. But so far it seems like I made a good decision.
Hope this helps.

I would go for the new z5 compact , if you dont care about custom roms, then go for the z3c , that is if you care about camera.
overall, get z3c for performance, looks, and cheaper than new z5c.
or z5c if you have money, probably better performance, bit expensive, no root yet.

PuffDaddy_d said:
- The Z3C battery life takes a hit with Lollipop though (damn mobile radio active bug), so if you're not satisfied, you can always roll back to KitKat for the be.
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There is a working Xposed module that fixes that.

ifonuser78 said:
There is a working Xposed module that fixes that.
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I know, but does it actually with for you? How much improvement have you seen? The thread for that fix is full of mixed results.
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app

Before buying/ordering the Z5c I would strongly advise anyone to wait until someone reliable thoroughly tests the Z5c to make sure the Snapdragon 810 version it sports has no heating induced performance issues.
It's not because "they" say the issues have been fixed that you should trust them. Anyway it's your call...

The reviews I've seen show that the camera is still painfully slow between shots. That .003 sec autofocus doesn't do us any good if you have to wait 2 seconds to take the next picture.