Sony vs. Huawei opinions needed - Huawei P9 Questions & Answers

Hi all, anyone here who were previous sony owners? i just need some opinions regarding EMUI, build quality, durability differences between these two brands. I'm planning to upgrade this year to the p10/p10 plus once it's released and was wondering how it differs in terms of features and usability?

I was user of Sony and Sony Ericsson almost from start. From ""recent"" Sony devices I had Xperia Z, Z3 and compact version, and last year for some time I used XZ and Galaxy S7 when I wanted to buy new phone... and I choosed P9 instead, and probably like you, I jump to P10 (or even plus version) after it show up.
1. Build Quality, Huawei is on pair with Xperias, and in some ways, especially fitting of elements, its even better than some Xperias, that after year just... move or dont fit like before. I also drop my P9 few times and I have only one 2mm scratch on side after it hit rock in park... it was miracle that it dropped like that because normally phones fall on screen...
2. Materials? I would call it draw again, they are very good quality, especially screen that is really though, after all those years I realized that even if two phones use some fancy gorilla screen name... they are different in terms of quality and how they manage scratches.
3. Camera? Sony have best sensors, but worst algorithms you can imagine. Last good Sony camera in phone I saw in Xperia Arc S, after that they just get one really bad drivers and copy/paste it to every phone. Huawei in other hand, especially in P9, beat a crap of Xperias, even the new one. Its fast, it have nice algorithms that dont mess quality, it have LOTS of options, and you get almost perfect details and colors if you know how to handle it.
4. Screen. I could say that XZ have really nice screen, P9 is also nice, but... it just lack some "punch" in terms of brightness and colors. Not much but, I can say that galaxy S7 blown my mind in terms of quality of screen, but even that was not enough to buy it. In every day usage P9 dont give any troubles, even on direct sun, so I could say that compared to XZ its overall draw again...
5. Performance.... Xperias are really simple and give you that "almost stock" experience, but even XZ, just like Z3 have that slow down without a reason and it can actually lag in simple task like using browser. In more demanding task it can work really good, but P9 even with slower GPU is not behind it at all! I was actually surprised that it P9 work so fluid and even VR games dont give it much troubles. Also P9 in everyday usage is really amazing, no hangs at all. That was one of key point why i choose it, because even S7 had that slow downs when doing simple task not related to games or other heavy tasks. From addons like Fingerprint sensor(that is damn fast) rest is perfect, no problems at all... Also speed of camera on Xperias are really average, camera app is just sluggish, and the same with starting phone. Xperia XZ needed x2 time more to boot up than P9
6. Software. Here is a bit tricky choose, because Xperia UI is simple and nice, and Sony have nice update policy, and it have really good customization community, but its a bit slow sometimes without a reason and after I switched to EMUI... i found out that Xperias where really... outdated and stripped from most of options. Even if Huawei update system is... just slow and weird, EMUI have loots of customization options, simple way to theme it without any complications, build in applications are really nice and easy to use and overall it give that perfect experience of good phone system. You can hear that some people have problems with EMIU 5 after update... but Its nothing new, when I had xperias, it was the same, ALWAYS about 25% of people whine about "bad" update. EMUI 5.0 is just perfect if you update it properly. Simple as that.
7. Battery life... Here Sony literally F up xperias. As far as older Xperias like Z3 and its compact version had amazing battery life, when I used XZ... it was just... average, After day and a half I had 15-20% And for past good 5 years, I literally use the same apps over and over so it give me some nice look of how battery life work in every day usage on all phones.
And here come P9 that, true, after update to EMIU 5.0 its a bit worst compared to 4.1.1, but its difference of less than 10% I still can get with my P9 solid two days of usage and I still have about 20% left without turning off any features like NFC or Bluetooth.
I just have small tip to make it even better: in App setting section, just turn off internet access to all apps that dont need it, and use optimization option every day. Huawei P9 is just in top10 if you looking for device with good battery optimization. And I think they will do the same with P10.
Also worth mention is charging. I found out that xperias always charge slower and it almost stop charging if you use phone in the same time. my p9 with stock charger can get almost full in... hour or two AND STILL charge so fast if I use it in that time!
So yeah, as a user of Sony, and now Hauwei device, I can say that Huawei is what Sony was few years ago.
Because Sony now give us average devices that maybe are nice made, but are overpriced and with every generation some key features are "worst" or the same as previous ones.
Huawei in other hand give us nice made devices, with nice price tag, some amazing features(like camera in P9) and what I wanted most: stable and good experience in everyday usage, even if their update policy is a bit average... But most of people whine that they need new udpate that beside adding new number in phone info... work the same, so im not mad if I need to wait that month or two more to get that new number...
Overall that why I choosed P9 instead of XZ and galaxy S7(that actually was just 10Euro cheaper(promotion), but even if screen was AMAZING... it was just... not what I expected from it). P9 is stable and reliable and have few features that I need in phone, and P9 give me what I need.

@Akinaro Im not the one who asked, but thank you for taking time to write such a rich response Coming from a load of phones (lg g4, galaxy s6 being the latest) I can say that p9 is certainly a full package. Everything I want is ticked, no big complaints at all.

Hi @Akinaro, thank you so much for this really detailed comparison between the two! I was kind of hesitant at first because i really like Sony's build and UI after moving from Samsung. But as you said, ever since after Z3, nothing really peaked my interest, especially battery life. So I'm moving to Huawei since it's the only phone that somehow interested me.
As for updates, i have no problems with late to never. I've never updated my Z3 from Kitkat 4.4.4 because as you said and as i have read in various forums updates usually screws up with the performance of the phone.
Hopefully, the upcoming P10/P10 plus would have great battery life as well. As it's one of the features i'm looking for in a phone. Thanks again for the great input!

I just switched from Z2 to P9, and I have nothing to complain. I was a fan of Sony for years, my first one being an Xperia Acro S.
Eventually the battery from Z2 went bad, and I needed something new. Sony's phones had been disappointing me lately, so it was no more an option.
The P9 was my choice because of the camera, and the option to shoot RAW. It's nice to have a good camera with me, even when I'm not carrying my DSLR.
Design and build quality are nice, and I like the software too. I never used the app drawer even in the Z2
Only downside was the keyboard, but I installed the Xperia keyboard from XDA

I have to agree @Kimelsson . So far, Sony's recent releases have been disappointing. Though i have no doubt that their cameras had improved a bit, somehow something is lacking. i think its the contrast. I'm not sure.
Yes! i also wanted the ability to shoot raw which is why i wanted to try something different this time. I was considering the iphone 7 but the lack of fast charge, average battery life, AND omission of 3.5mm audio jack was enough to push me away.
Really? Does the keyboard work with no problem?

I used sony xperia e4g z1c z3 z5 and now p9. I can honestly say that p9 is the best in them. İn every condition and term. Even better than z5.

Related

Should i switch from Xperia Z to Xperia Z1?

So i have an Xperia Z, and i'm thinking of upgrading to a Z1, but i don't know if it's a worthwhile investment.
I am more or less satisfied with my Z, camera is a miss in some more difficult situations, but other than that it does what i want it do.
Bassically i want to know 3 things;
1) Does the S800 make much of a difference in real usage compared to S4 Pro?
I have very high end games on my Z, like MW4, Riptide 2, Asphalt 8, and in my opinion they are as good as they can get, but maybe i am wrong.
2) How good is the screen?
3) How good is the camera, in your honest opinion? The more in-depth answer, the better!
I know i could read reviews, but they are running older software, so i think image quality might have changed over time.
Thank you for your answers, in advance.
Warmo said:
1) Does the S800 make much of a difference in real usage compared to S4 Pro?
I have very high end games on my Z, like MW4, Riptide 2, Asphalt 8, and in my opinion they are as good as they can get, but maybe i am wrong.
2) How good is the screen?
3) How good is the camera, in your honest opinion? The more in-depth answer, the better!
I know i could read reviews, but they are running older software, so i think image quality might have changed over time.
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I love my Z1 but in my honest opinion, I would probably not upgrade yet unless you are a diehard Sony fan or definitely can't wait for next September or so. But I'll try to answer your questions best I can:
1) It makes enough of a difference to show in games but doesn't really show huge improvements in normal usage. If your Z can play the games you have without hickups, then those games aren't a reason to upgrade to S800. This of course may or may not be different for future and upcoming games but for now both chips can play those games just fine. If you are thinking of upgrading, I would probably not list this as #1 reason unless you want a more future-proof device (and more are coming out during and after Q1).
2) The screen is a bit of hit and miss. It seems Sony is using at least two if not more types of panels and some of them are better than others. If you get a good one, the screen is excellent and very enjoyable. However the lower-graded panels seem to have a variety of issues from yellow hue and bad viewing angles to even problems with the actual touchscreen. The only way to avoid these issues is to read about them and then try to examine the unit you are going to purchase at a shop. I would personally not recommend getting the Z1 online for this reason. I also had to get my touchscreen fixed because of touch issues but after repairing it under warranty it works perfectly and I am not suffering from the yellow hue issue.
3) The camera is good but the software is lacking. To be more precise the automatic setting that the camera starts with (called Superior Auto or SA) is extremely hit or miss and in many cases produces sub-par pictures. This will be an issue if you want to quickly take the device out and snap pictures without touching settings. The pros on the other hand are that the manual settings are versatile and by using manual you can take as good or better pictures than any other cameraphone on the market right now not counting the new high end Lumia's with their pureview technology. There is hope that the camera software can be improved with future updates but this is what the current situation is like. As for my own experience, I'm still getting used to the manual settings and am not yet entirely satisfied with my pictures. I'm getting the hang of it though and they are showing some small improvement - my biggest challenge is low light (100% of the time in winter for me) and noise/grain.
As of now if I was you I would wait. There are new models coming out from Samsung and later from HTC and possibly other manufacturers and the rumors are quite promising. There is some inconsistency with the Z1s that are sold and you really need to be able to examine your unit prior to purchase unless you rely on getting lucky. Also it's likely that later on in Q3 or Q4 Sony will announce the successor to the Z1 which will probably be a bigger leap from the Xperia Z that you have right now. This is just my opinion and I hope it helps.
OFFTOPIC: Also don't be surprised if your thread goes PUFF as the mods don't allow comparison threads and I'm not sure will they count this as one.
1) It's definitely faster. But with 4.3, Z is already fast enough IMO.
2) I actually prefer Z's screen. Z1's has got slightly better viewing angle but Z's colours are better IMO. And Z has got white balance settings, Z1 doesn't.
3) I don't see that much difference between the two, to be honest. But Z1 can create much better bokeh. And when it's set to 20 MP, a slightly blurry photos may still look good when uploaded on web at lower resolution (e.g. Facebook's 2048x1536 pixels). Apart from that, they seem to produce similar looking photos, esp in terms of colour tones, contrast, noise levels, etc.
All in all, I don't think you should upgrade now. It's already a bit late for you to do that. Better wait for the 2014 flagship (Z1's successor).
I've owned the Z and I had a love/hate relationship with it for the following reasons:
-Battery : It sucked. No really, I've tried and tried to make it last at least a day and never succeeded. Yes, I'm a heavy user, but when I switched to the G2 I never ran out of juice with the same use.
-Screen: The screen on the Z1, no matter what these people are saying, is MUCH better than the Z. Not just in terms of viewing angles and washed out colors (which obviously have improved remarkably), also in terms of brightness and color reproduction.
-Lag: The S800 is a beast, after using the G2 I knew for a fact that any phone I buy next would absolutely have to have it. In real world use, its snappy as hell and even under the most intense 3D gaming and heavy multitasking it never skips a beat.
-Camera: the camera on the Z1 has improved after the latest update, and for me, the rule of thumb is quite simple. Use Superior Auto for night shots and Manual 20 MP the rest of the time and you won't need much tweaking to create some absolutely brilliant photos. The Z no matter what I tried It wouldn't hold a candle to the Z1.
This is my opinion having used both phones and a G2 - the upgrade is welllll worth it.
I'd definitely wait for 2014 flagships
few reason why I didnt get the Z and got the Z1
1. Z covered headphone jacks... really annoying to take out the flaps everytime you want to listen
2. battery life sucks
3. mediocre camera... (I expect sony to revolutionize smartphone camera at every flagship, same with that they did on Xperia S, first 12 mp camera)
which all the above was resolved at Z1...
---------- Post added at 09:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 AM ----------
2 things:
1. if you are a person who has the cash power to upgrade your handset every year? then do it.
2. if you are a person who upgrades rarely and have to buy the absolute value for money handset every time (every only 2-3 years)... then don't do it, wait for the successor by end of the year.
Ask yourself, do you really need a new phone? Does your Xperia Z not perform as you like?
I would strongly recommend that you wait for few days until the CES (tech conference) ends. for the past few years sony has revealed new flagship during this conference (they might or might not do this year because the Z1 was released not to long ago). But you should wait and see if they release anything interesting for you.
regarding your question, The Z1 is an upgraded Z in almost every aspect including screen, battery, camera, chipset... etc and is more future proof because it has newer chipset and because it was released later so it will be supported for longer. However, if you are satisfied with your Z, I suggest that you wait for 2014 H2 flagships (not even the one that might be released in H1) which will be using chipset based on ARMv8 architecture because this will be a big step forward in the mobile industry. Chipset is the most important part of the phone because better chipset means better performance, gaming experience, camera, overall experience ...etc
thank you for opinions. I decided not to do the upgrade from the Z to the Z1, and i will wait to see what 2014 will bring.
i admit that the camera was really the singular compelling reason for me to switch, my Z does good pictures, except ones w/ bad light. but i can live with that.
hopefully the new flagships won't be as big as the reports are predicting. the Z is right at the edge of my comfort zone in terms of size, and i have big hands mind you.

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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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.

Why should I buy Xperia X Performance?

I have been a big fan of Xperia Z series since the first Z. I changed my phone every time the new Z came out (except Z1 since I just started my career life without much savings).
Every time the new Z came out, I could find its awesomeness, imo, for example the first Z was stylish, waterproof, and powerful but it suffers a lot from heat,washed out display, and loosen waterproof charging caps. Then Z1 came out with more charming metal body, magnetic charging port, and 20 Mpixels camera, highest for a smartphone at the time.
Z2 came out as what the first Z should be at the first place with bigger and vivid screen, stereo speakers, and battery life is awesome to the point that I never found any others with this battery longevity at the time . For Z3, is almost identical to Z2 in term of spec sheet but I found it's very nice to hold in my hand plus the speaker is a lot better, far better than even Z5.
Z4 was very good on the spec sheet, especially with no more microusb cap but the battery life is a very big disappointment with almost half what Z3 lasts. It also suffers a lot of heat from normal uses. Z5 premium is, imo, the most refined Xperia with decent battery life, big screen, stylish material and colors selection.
Also, I don't know if it's me alone but every time I got the new Xperia on my hand, I felt really good and every single one of them was attractive.
Strangely, I can't explain but when I hold X/XP on on my hand, I didn't feel a thing, not even a glimpse of attractiveness although my country is offered 64GB/dual sims variant at the same price as Galaxy S7 (32GB/dual sims variant) with contract. I was never really into Samsung before (not because I hate it but I just neither found it attractive) but this time, I event think of waiting for Note7.
What are you guys' opinions? What are your before and after buying feelings toward X Performance?
How I've tired from this speech. Shut up and go to gnusmas, apple, htc, moto/lenovo, xiaomi, zte, huawei and where u want! DON'T BUY SONY! Moaner!
Desperanto86 said:
How I've tired from this speech. Shut up and go to gnusmas, apple, htc, moto/lenovo, xiaomi, zte, huawei and where u want! DON'T BUY SONY! Moaner!
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Thanks a lot for your opinion. Actually I was about to buy XP. The price without contract is very high but the price with contract is acceptable. The plan that I will have to pay for is quite similar to what I currently use but I have to stay with it for a whole year. That's why I ask foy you guys' opinion at the first place. Because I love Xperia but this time I'm not really sure if it worth changing (not in term of spec sheet but your real experience of using it.
It seems you are extremely not appreciate the question but you made a good answer anyway. If a current user doesn't have such a good thing about it to say but purely throwing back a bad temper. It absolutely clarifies my answer.
If you are a dual sim user, you should note that the S7 forces the 2nd sim to be in 2G mode when the 1st sim is in 4G/3G, and vice versa.
On the other hand, the XP allows the 2nd sim to be in 3G-voice standby when the 1st sim is in 4G/3G. This functionality is important for countries like Korea or Japan which no longer have 2G, or countries like Singapore, Australia or USA which are going to shutdown their 2G networks soon. The other phones such as Mi5, Moto G4, Zuk Z2/Pro, etc which support this feature are from Chinese OEMs.
Another advantage the XP has over the S7 is Sony's willingness to allowing unlocking of the bootloader.
Im also considering getting a XP but with its cost here in the Philippines, i might get a S7 or a Z5.
I always look at the batt first, then the speakers, then the cam, then lastly the specs.
Get the sony xperia x performance. Hope getting a blazingly fast phone with a processor that snap dragon actually really refined and improved with a bigger jump than previous iterations.
Your being the best camera in a smart phone and one of the best android UIs on the market. And a nice phone that isn't riddled by logos. It's Sonys best. Everything you need nothing you don't. And the best waterproofing.
Sent from my F8132 using Tapatalk
^ I've been backreading the XP thread for quite some time now. How's the batt life and the speakers?
i bought mine for good stereo speakers screen size ,can change os if needed, underwater just in case , didn't but HTC cause is was to big and clumsy for me and mini specs wasn't the same at all
but sony dont have same and good speakers anymore
my last phone was twice louder and more bass (wt19i walkman)
but i would've wait for XP is about 50% different from Z5's( i have z5c) 80K and antutu against 120K (XP) and more 200$ bit didn't know how much it would take and my phone was really slow and old 6-5year old
btw Regular Xperia X is less fast than Z5's
anyway it was BIG different from my old sony (LWW wt19i) 10K score 700% LOL.... 1100% could be nicer.. but
to the point if you have Z5 dont buy the XP phone up to 40-60% overall performance does not worth spend another 750US$
The XP is waterproof, you have to get the S7 active of you want that feature, which is locked to AT&T in the US and is priced about 25% more than the XP. That made my choice pretty simple.
Sent from my F8132 using Tapatalk
I had XPERIA Z5 and bought XPERIA X Performance. This is the best Sony phone to date with no good battery life (battery life is better then one on XPERIA Z5 at the moment). Only reason to buy XPERIA X Performance if you already have XPERIA Z5 is because of heat. XPERIA X Performance only heats when using camera longer or if you play games too long and now in Croatia outside temperature is about 35 C. So if the heat is your reason buy it. Otherwise don't buy it. But if you have some older phone you should buy it.
About swiching to Samsung instead I don't know. I am not Samsung fun because of their UI.
Coming from z1c, z3c, z5c to now owning the XP for less then a week.
Before the XP the z5c was a let down compared to its predecessor the z3c. Particularly in general performance but moreover the lacklustre camera performance (the plagued 810 chip didn't help the Z5 line.)
Now, the XP.
Hands down is a far more refined device. As refined as the z3c. The performance is lightning - thanks to the 820 chip and the extra GB ram (3gb.)
Coupled with the lightning performance on the camera FUNCTIONALITY (I'm not stating the QUALITY of the Shots are the best - however the quality is drastically better then the z5c predecessor.)
But what I am stating is that the camera responds and opens and takes pictures faster then on any Sony I've played with (those of you coming from the z5 line know exactly what I'm on about.)
For instance, from standby/sleep mode. As long as the camera settings are preset to 'Launch & Capture.' Then when taking a picture from standby you will notice the picture that has been captured is of that instance of when you clicked the camera button... Although the UI hasn't even rendered. Try this with a moving object and you will notice how frkin fast the capture time is.
Again not professing the QUALITY of the Shots are superior, but simply that the function of the camera is now quite sublime.
The XP works VERY VERY WELL, overall outstanding performance. Yes it will have its niggles. But generally it's the best of what Sony have been trying to achieve.
I don't care for 4k video capture. Nor a 4k or QHD screen. This 1080p is more then ample for a phone. For me coming from the zCompact series (720p screens), this XP screen is amazing and more then enough.
I am very pleased with this device.
The only drawback is the lacklustre Sony Stamina mode. But this is almost not there fault. For OEMs to provide Android phones officially they must adopt key features from Google's updates, hence Sony HAD to employ Google Doze feautre, in this forced effort they clearly couldn't employ Sony's native Stamina Mode (succesfully at least) in the way we'd been accustomed to especially on the z3 line (you can imagine Doze and Sony Stamina not working happily hand in hand, as they both in essence are trying to achieve the same thing, albeit Sony Stamina Mode was far superior.)
Just my 2cents on anyone fighting with Sony Stamina Mode.
Fantastic device.
Sent from my F8131 using XDA-Developers mobile app
I agree with every word you wrote.
tomo100brt said:
I agree with every word you wrote.
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[emoji106]
Having read through the XP forum here, and then this thread, I felt some '1st Hand Heritage Sony User' experience and comprehension was required.
I also can attest that the fingerprint sensor on the XP is insanely faster then the z5c. Wasn't expecting it to be quite this responsive. Impresses on that front too.
Sony UI is second to the Nexus Line. That's a fact.
As good as Samsung's hardware is, there software is like a step backwards from Androids look/feel. Whereas Sony manage to keep the look/feel impressively Stock (replace Sony Launcher with Nova all day everyday, and I don't think you would notice much difference between a Nexus user experience and the Sony User' experience - again this is from my 1st hand experience.)
1 niggle I've noticed, actually since the z3 line, is that the WiFi signal has typically got poorer over longer distance from the WiFi router.
I can achieve a better WiFi signal on my z3c then I can on my z5c and XP.
This thread should be changed to 'Why wouldn't you buy the XP?' ?
Sent from my F8131 using XDA-Developers mobile app
I've been a Sony Fanboy since the Release of the Xperia S, I owned the SP, the ZR bought the Z1 Compact as well and finally the Z3 Compact and I must say they did really well on those devices, especially the Z3 Compact. But looking at the X Performance, I think they're just trying too hard, the price tag to begin with doesn't even look welcoming at 700 Dollars for a phone without any fingerprint scanner, and the battery life isn't any good as well reading from numerous reviews which compares it to the previous flagship the Z5. For now I have my eyes set either on the S6 or the One M9, especially the M9. Those boomsound speakers sound better than Sony's speakers any time.
This is just my opinion tho, If coming from the Z3 Device line, stick with your Z3 and wait for newer models. The Z3 is by far one of the best Sony Z Line phones, stable, doesn't overheat and an active community to keep it going.
So true RE Z3 as the standout of all Sony's.
When it comes to a price war, then yes, the XP price is very overzealous. Can't argue there.
But i find when it comes to a User requiring the 3 points below (such as myself, typically coming from Sony's compact range):
1. Comfortable 1 handed ergonomics.
2. Up to date hardware
3. a Nexus like - look & feel (an unadulterated Android experience.)
Then I conclude the XP is at the forefront in this regard.
Personnel preferences as always ?
Sent from my F8131 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Would you recommend this phone to a friend? Or another device with Nougat?

Are people still enjoying the Z3+ (E6553)? I read it has Nougat and I want that. My last good phone was a Note 3, but Samsungs have a variety of issues like GPS and dead screens (not to mention exploding batteries) so I am looking at Sony. What do people think?
First of all, the phone is still on Marshmallow, and battery is awful and heat as well, there isn't much development so NO
Hell NO, stay away from this piece of sh*t.
If I returned back to purchasing point, I would grab a nexus 5x over this one. Right now there are numerous great offers and I don't recommend this one.
if a friend dosent play games its really good.
but if a friend would play pokemon go (just for example) an old samsung s3 would be better.
Worst phone, ever.
wow, thanks. Are any Sony phones good?
Also the sony website says the phone is getting Nougat. Is it not out yet?
http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2016/08/23/sony-xperia-and-android-7-0-nougat/
X
X performance
XZ
I don't own any of those, but they all seem good.
I bought the z3 plus for my girlfriend over the summer. Haven't had any issues with it. She plays the occasional game or two. But mostly uses it for Facebook, spotify and texting. Battery life is pretty good. Easily lasts a full day. Finally, haven't noticed any heating issues either. Sony definitely fixed the heating issues that were present when the device first came out. I would recommend the z3 plus if you can get it for a good price.
Got z3+ half a year ago. Using fot twitter, instagram, phone and playing ingress. Got 4-5 hours of ingress, no overheating. I would recommend.
overheating is not happening for me because i just check telegram and instagram but battery is really bad! z5 has the same battery but it is really better than z3+,plz go find something else,if you can buy it i suggest z5,its really good and after you buy sony phone i say you will never buy another companys phone bro
i LOVE the z4/z3+ and heat, for me, is now gone... perfect ( for me ) form factor, awesome screen... I feel like Z4 is THE pinnacle of Xperia's design language, the last flagship to bear the iconic power button.
...the battery life not as great when compared to other newer Xperia offerings which are now already coming down in price. Camera is ok in daylight.
Huge fan... have recently made x compact my daily, mostly for camera and battery,
and have XZ as well, but still prefer the in-hand feel of Z4 and will never get rid of it.
no Nougat.
Carlito17_2000 said:
Are people still enjoying the Z3+ (E6553)? I read it has Nougat and I want that. My last good phone was a Note 3, but Samsungs have a variety of issues like GPS and dead screens (not to mention exploding batteries) so I am looking at Sony. What do people think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony Phones are just fancy phones. They all are appealing look. But their build sucks. I prefer Samsung over Sony and now a days OPPO phones are better than both Sony and Samsung.
You're in the minority, but I appreciate the opinion
DZH1 said:
i LOVE the z4/z3+ and heat, for me, is now gone... perfect ( for me ) form factor, awesome screen... I feel like Z4 is THE pinnacle of Xperia's design language, the last flagship to bear the iconic power button.
...the battery life not as great when compared to other newer Xperia offerings which are now already coming down in price. Camera is ok in daylight.
Huge fan... have recently made x compact my daily, mostly for camera and battery,
and have XZ as well, but still prefer the in-hand feel of Z4 and will never get rid of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might go LG instead

How awful is EMUI, and can it be made more stock-like?

Hi guys,
Happy New Year to all! Seems like my first resolution for 2017 will be to get a new phone as my LG G3 decided to die a few days after Christmas while on vacation... lovely, as it was to be my only way of taking pictures! Anyway, I'm looking for a cost-effective replacement phone (I'm in Australia for reference). My preference would have been a Pixel phone, but they retail north of 1000 AUD for the entry-level 32GB non-XL Pixel here, which is just too expensive for my liking. Alternatively I would have considered the S7/S7 Edge, but just a few months before release of the S8 I'm not willing to pay full price for it.
This brings me to the P9, which is currently on sale here bringing its price to roughly half of the Pixel/S7 Edge (600 AUD), and given a major point for me is camera/picture quality, it is a serious contender. My main concern however is the rather heavy-handed EMUI skin. Are there any P9 users around here who generally prefer stock-ish Android and who have switched to the P9? What's your feeling around EMUI? As long-term users, did you get accustomed to it? Things like the notifications shade and the recent apps are making me cringe a little, partly because they seem much less practical than the default implementation in Android, and partly because.... they look like an iPhone
Are there any apps available to make EMUI look more like stock? I'd unlock the bootloader and root this thing if I buy it, so I'm thinking things like xposed modules? I'd also be fine flashing a stock-based custom ROM, but would rather avoid stock-based/CM/Lineage ROM as I'd like to keep full camera functionality.
Also - unrelated question, but are people generally happy with battery life on the P9? I'm a light/medium user and the 2 hours of screen on time I'd routinely get on the G3 would be okay most days, but obviously short for days of heavy use. I seem to be reading that 4-4.5 hours of SOT is standard, is that what people experience?
My fallback plan would be to get a ZUK Z2 to tide me over until this year's phones.
Thanks for reading!
I got a zuk z2 pro after initially moving from Windows Lumia 950. The hardware for price was awesome but the software on it was a nightmare so I sold it and switched to P9.
First I used Nova launcher which was great as Emui didn't have an app draw.
Now I am beta testing Nougat Emui 5 which is a lot better and closer to stock although still stuck with the Icons.
Currently Nova crashes with my widgets so until that is fixed I am keeping with standard launcher, actually now I am used to it I may just stay using it.
Sent from my Hauwai P9 EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
I used a Nexus 5 for 2 years , S6 for 1 year and now I have a P9 (HTC 10 for some weeks,other phones only a few days).
Emui is something new . For me,it feels like a new, fresh experience.
I'm done with stock android. If I buy a flagship device,i want some features . The phone is fast (feels faster than HTC 10,S6,etc) .
For me ,it's better than stock android. S6 had the features,but it was laggy (s7 is the same). P9 has the features but it's also fast.
For me it's BAD, but not the EMUI by itself. It's bad because it's poorly made. No double tap to wake up the screen, no wave to wake up but there are ton of other useless motion controls.. Even Knuckle gestures that pretty sure no one is using (or 5 people at most)... Notes app doesn't sync with Gmail. No Reminders app. Don't like the colors, even in the Nougat update. Black with dark blue is so ugly (to me) that if I knew this would be enough to skip this phone. One of my biggest problems - can't turn off the haptic feedback, everytime I am using google search the phone vibrates and drives me crazy, and of course is draining battery. The worst part of the Phone is the updates, mine is still with 1 September security patch, it's January now... Flagship not getting monthly security patches in 2016-2017 is a joke, especially with the raising virus attacks. Took them too long to update to Nougat - another flaw. Everything else - Screen, build quality, camera is pretty damn good. Battery is pretty good to 5 hours without any problem and on Nougat most people get 6 and more hours.. Software is the biggest flaw.
Yes you can make it more Stock like - take a look at the themes here that some good people are making. No need of another Launcher. They are great and make the phone at least look better. And they will be released for EMUI 5 too. I won't suggest installing launchers, at least I had really bad experience, my phone started lagging so much I had to factory reset it. And I asked many people, they had the same problem after installing another launcher. This is my opinion and my experience. To be honest, if I knew how I will feel with this phone, I was going to get me S7. My advice is just wait for S8... Or LG G5 right now is on great price in most countries, great phone, would take it everyday instead of Huawei... It's your money and your decision after all.
Thanks guys for all the valuable feedback. I gave it a good thinking and eventually went to buy the P9 last weekend. I'll be writing up some more thorough thoughts about it when I get a chance, but so far I'm quite satisfied. It's very fluid overall, and I have 61% battery left as I write this with 1.5 hours of screen on time - at this stage my G3, also with a 3000mah battery, would be close to throwing in the towel already!
Two noticeable drawbacks, the lack of OIS for a phone supposedly focused on photography is annoying, and the 3D performance is definitely very middling. I did know this going in though so it certainly is no big surprise.
Hi
Battery life on the P9 is way better than the G3 (I had one that sadly died as well). P9 is also much smoother and doesn't heat as much as the G3 did.
EMUI is OK. Takes a bit more time the first day to set things up, because some things are buried a bit deeper in the settings. If you're worried about the look... There's a good theming community with some really good "stock android" themes available. Pair that with something like Nova launcher and you won't even notice it's there.
The camera is indeed excellent.
I also came from the G3 to this phone. I am loving it. I was ready to unlock/root/custom after reading all the professional reviews slamming EMUI. It took a bit of getting used to, but 7 months later this remains the first Android phone I have not rooted. I haven't even given it a factory rest to combat slow-down, and battery life remains excellent.
There is a customer skin in this: (https://forum.xda-developers.com/p9/themes/theme-material-vui-t3429075) thread which provides a nice stock look to icons and notification bar. I missed the app drawer for about 2 days then just got a folder page set up and organised. On balance it doesn't take me any longer to get to where I want to go.
About my only complaint is that even with my White-list protecting certain apps from being killed, they still do not seem to perform as they did on the G3. These are automation apps like IFTTT which I used to auto arm/disarm my home security when I arrive leave.
cooldoud said:
Hi guys,
Happy New Year to all! Seems like my first resolution for 2017 will be to get a new phone as my LG G3 decided to die a few days after Christmas while on vacation... lovely, as it was to be my only way of taking pictures! Anyway, I'm looking for a cost-effective replacement phone (I'm in Australia for reference). My preference would have been a Pixel phone, but they retail north of 1000 AUD for the entry-level 32GB non-XL Pixel here, which is just too expensive for my liking. Alternatively I would have considered the S7/S7 Edge, but just a few months before release of the S8 I'm not willing to pay full price for it.
This brings me to the P9, which is currently on sale here bringing its price to roughly half of the Pixel/S7 Edge (600 AUD), and given a major point for me is camera/picture quality, it is a serious contender. My main concern however is the rather heavy-handed EMUI skin. Are there any P9 users around here who generally prefer stock-ish Android and who have switched to the P9? What's your feeling around EMUI? As long-term users, did you get accustomed to it? Things like the notifications shade and the recent apps are making me cringe a little, partly because they seem much less practical than the default implementation in Android, and partly because.... they look like an iPhone
Are there any apps available to make EMUI look more like stock? I'd unlock the bootloader and root this thing if I buy it, so I'm thinking things like xposed modules? I'd also be fine flashing a stock-based custom ROM, but would rather avoid stock-based/CM/Lineage ROM as I'd like to keep full camera functionality.
Also - unrelated question, but are people generally happy with battery life on the P9? I'm a light/medium user and the 2 hours of screen on time I'd routinely get on the G3 would be okay most days, but obviously short for days of heavy use. I seem to be reading that 4-4.5 hours of SOT is standard, is that what people experience?
My fallback plan would be to get a ZUK Z2 to tide me over until this year's phones.
Thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Nougat Beta I find EMUI 5.0 to be much more tolerable, as it is much closer to stock than 4.x, but also resembles iOS more than before which isn't great.
My biggest annoyance is its cloning of MiUI which, while understandable for a Chinese brand, is impractical. MiUI wastes very large amounts of screen space due to its obsessive "Top half=graphic, bottom half=details" design. Lots of screens have trivial graphics that have only a small amount of useful information, yet they're expanded to take the whole top half of the screen.
My only real annoyance is the stock features it replaces with versions that have fewer features. Case in point, the data usage monitor. Instead of taking the stock version and improving it, it seems Huawei built it from scratch because it can't do several things the stock version can do. Its interface in 4.x is ugly, in my opinion (also very MiUI), but even in 5.0 where it resembles stock, it isn't stock. You can't, for instance, check data usage for the previous month. You also cannot change the day of the month on which the monthly counter resets.
Considering it has the ability to cut off after you surpass a limit, it's clearly still designed with managing bills in mind, like its stock counterpart, yet they assume everyone's billing period resets on the 1st of the month.

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