Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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durbster
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by durbster »

I've just replaced the wife's Galaxy S2 (only starting to develop problems after nearly five years!) so have been looking at phones recently. She wanted something with a decent camera first and foremost.

I looked at the OnePlus3 but couldn't find one available, and the price has been hiked since Brexit so it's not quite the amazing deal it was. The weak point on many of the Chinese phones seems to be the camera, so that ruled most of them out for us.

From reviews the Sony Xperia didn't seem to make a compelling case for itself. The camera has monster specs on paper but the example photos didn't seem that impressive, and I always thought they looked a bit clunky to hold.

The Galaxy S7 seems to be considered the top Android phone these days but we ended up with the LG G5, as it's almost £100 cheaper than the Samsung and not that far behind in any area. We got the camera module free as part of the deal but in all honesty I don't think the modular thing offers much. The camera module just makes it a little bit easier to hold and behave more like a traditional camera, but it's a clumsy thing to attach, so you have to plan to use it in advance.

That aside, it's got a fantastic screen, good performance and a very good camera. Well worth considering I think.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by norbs »

The G5 is big! Well bigger than the Xperia Z3 Compact.

I had to laugh at the phone comparison site. Wanted to compare the current compact to mine.

This for the Z3... Shatter proof glass :rofl:
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by KNAPPO »

Picked up a Nexus 6P the other day. The camera is outstanding, in the past the Nexus line hasn't had a good camera but this one is kicking goals.
The stitching on Photospheres has been seriously impressive.

The phone is a behemoth which is still taking some getting use to. I pick up my old S4 or the wifes new S5 and the size of those feel about right to me. Glad the finger print scanner is on the back tho, makes unlocking a breeze unless the phone is on the desk next to me at work.

Performance wise its a beast. I have the last dev build of Nougart on it and there have been no issues whatsoever. Very smooth and responsive, no laggyness at all.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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The latest Xperia X has a compact, but not waterproof and not due til next month,.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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KNAPPO wrote:Picked up a Nexus 6P the other day. The camera is outstanding, in the past the Nexus line hasn't had a good camera but this one is kicking goals.
The stitching on Photospheres has been seriously impressive.

The phone is a behemoth which is still taking some getting use to. I pick up my old S4 or the wifes new S5 and the size of those feel about right to me. Glad the finger print scanner is on the back tho, makes unlocking a breeze unless the phone is on the desk next to me at work.

Performance wise its a beast. I have the last dev build of Nougart on it and there have been no issues whatsoever. Very smooth and responsive, no laggyness at all.
I have had one since last november. its an amazing phone. its the longest phone I have had since the Galaxy S2... i break phones easily and this one is going strong. lots of dents on it to.

love it :D
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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NeilPearson wrote:love it :D
Thankfully you don't have a Note 7, that thing would have blown up the moment you touched it :rofl:
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by NeilPearson »

haha, its funny, because its true.

I bent two Sony Xperia Z3's they were made of butter. and as norbs has found out, if a crack gets in the screen then the WHOLE screen stops functioning. most phones keep on going with a cracked screen. not these. I stay away.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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NeilPearson wrote:haha, its funny, because its true.

I bent two Sony Xperia Z3's they were made of butter. and as norbs has found out, if a crack gets in the screen then the WHOLE screen stops functioning. most phones keep on going with a cracked screen. not these. I stay away.
That is the first smart phone I have had that i cracked the screen. And it got dropped right on the front top corner, so no hope.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by smithcorp »

My Z5 compact's battery, after only a year or less of ownership, now lasts less than a day. If I start the day with 100% and not even using the phone much through the day, I get a 30% warning beep at noon! Any way to revitalise the battery?
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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smithcorp wrote:My Z5 compact's battery, after only a year or less of ownership, now lasts less than a day. If I start the day with 100% and not even using the phone much through the day, I get a 30% warning beep at noon! Any way to revitalise the battery?
Is there an app killing it Smiss?

i noticed my Z5 Compact going through a battery a lot faster since the last software update too.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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norbs wrote:Is there an app killing it Smiss?
Probably, though the battery monitor thing in settings didn't find anything. Definitely more noticeable after the recent update (and i see I'm being prompted for another software update) but a for a battery that used to last most of a week to now less than a day is a pretty dramatic difference.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by smithcorp »

Had to do a factory reset, which appears to have fixed the battery issue, fingers crossed.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by smithcorp »

So over this farking Xperia Z5 compact. Overheating, laggy piece of crap. Texting involves long lags, taking pictures or videos takes ages; and just ending a video can freeze the whole phone for 30 seconds. I am going to go to Telstra to recontract for a different phone - back to Samsung methinks, for a reliable, waterproof phone.
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

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smithcorp wrote:So over this farking Xperia Z5 compact. Overheating, laggy piece of crap. Texting involves long lags, taking pictures or videos takes ages; and just ending a video can freeze the whole phone for 30 seconds. I am going to go to Telstra to recontract for a different phone - back to Samsung methinks, for a reliable, waterproof phone.

I agree Smiss. Let me know how you get on with telstra. I went to the T shop in town and spent 45 minutes going through it ("My Samsung gets pretty hot too", customer service guy) only to be told they cant replace it because it technically isnt faulty. The fucking things gets to 46C!!

is a shame because the Z3 compact was an awesome phone/
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Re: Sony Xperia Z (Was rugged smartphone)

Post by NeilPearson »

I'll never go a sony phone after my experience with the Z3. It bent so easy and if the screen cracked you couldn't use it.
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