Z3 vs Galaxy Note 4 from those who own both - Xperia Z3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

This may sound stupid, and I know that there was a huge discussion about just this prior to shipping. However, I wanted to revisit this subject now that both phones are available.
I have owned both since Thursday, and prior to my Z3, I owned a Z2 and an iPhone 6 plus for a trial period.
I love the size of the screen on the note, but there are small things that my z3 does that have me longing for it over the note.
Of course at the top of the list is battery life. However, in the launcher skin, there are other factors.
I hate the stock messaging app on the Note, which has forced me to use Hangouts as a replacement (this was also partly due to looking for an all in one messaging solution like imessage).
Touchwiz also lags in scrolling sometimes and has a horrible solution for creating folders.
The Z3 has been solid, although the low headphone audio should be corrected. The screen is fine for me inside, but I struggle with it outdoors due to my transition lenses fighting with their antiglare solution.
Otherwise, I am torn between the two. Fast charging on the Note is phenomenal, but I love the feel in hand of my Z3.
Anyone else have an opinion?

Ive gotten my Z3 today from sony as a gift, and i wont give it away. Had the note 3 b4, not the Note 4, but the Z3 feels much better in types of design and materials.
UI is working very fast, Cam is much better than in Note 3. I wont miss the stylus, havent used it that much.

- Battery life:
+ Normal usage: Z3 better
+ Gaming or really heavy usage: equal or maybe Note 4 a bit better. Z3 really hot when gaming so battery drain really fast. Note 4 is much cooler.
- Launcher + skin: Z3 lighter, smoother bit simpler. Richer functions on Note 4.
- Mainly outdoor usage: should go Z3.
- Charging: Note 4 faster ( 2 h ), Z3 about 2h 45m.
- Audio: Note 4 better esp Exynos version.
External speaker: Note 4 louder but too shrill and distortion. Z3 speaker better with me.
- Touch screen: Note 4 a bit better esp in high sensivity mode.
- Root, Rom: Note 4 better. I'm pretty sure there will be much more custom Rom and Mods for it. Z3 already sale a mount of time but only can root if unlock bootloader -very annoying for me.
- Note 4 faster but Z3 abit smoother due to sometime lagging TW.
- Note 4 camera generally better but Z3 better under extreme low light condition.
About 80% I will stay with Z3 because:
- Looking + feeling
- Water resistant
- I want higher brightness, outdoor visible.
- Good battery life.
- One hand operation
- Much cheaper: 646$ vs 837$ of Note 4

For me Note 4 has
1) faster charging an i am not uncluding the fast charge mode either, it also has better battery not by alot maybe by 1 and half hours but considering it is pushing a 2K screen.
2) the note 4 is louder in calls (also better call quality and reception), loud speaker (Z3 sounds better though) and in headphones (better audio quality too).
3) Note 4 also has caller readout and also blocking mode and more call settings like better call equalizer and additional loudness volume and other neat little features like when you press the volume button from the home screen your able to turn up ringtone, media, notification and system sounds independently of each other where as on the z3 you have to go into settings, quick toggle notifications are also a bit better as they are right there when you pull the menu down whereas on the z3 you have to click on qucik settings tab i mean things like these is why I like Samsung phones despite touchwiz being laggy at times. Also on the text message keyboard the number buttons are at the top so you dont have to click the number button to bring numbers up. It just has more features and I am not talking about those useless things like eye scrolling and air view and the motion stuff.
4) Note 4 is better for playing games plus the larger screen gives you more space I guess due to being more powerful and better GPU, it doesn't skip a beat nor does it get hot when I play asphalt 8 for a long time, battery also drains less during gaming.
5) Note 4 feels more solid but I guess thats due to the additional weight but both phones look and feel great to hold, Z3 is easier to use due to smaller dimensions
6) Note 4 has better screen but Z3s screen is alot brighter
7) Note 4 has better camera/video recording and video sound
8) Multi tasking features and S pen ofcourse
Call me mad but despite all of this the Z3 is my main phone reasons being
Yes the note 4 does majority of things better but the Z3 still has
1) A very good camera/video recording and video sound and focuses fast
2) not as loud as the note 4 but DSEE HX really does make a difference and especially if you use the MDR-NC31EMs and sound quality is still . I don't find the Z3 as low in volume as the Z2, Z1, Z, T & S before it however Sony still could improve on the volume.
3) Call Quality and reception on the Z3 are still more than good enough
4) Battery life is excellent
some things that maybe some people do not know about or care about but I do and is a thing I have always been annoyed with samsung phones for a long time
5) you can't send messages longer than 3 pages without it turning into a MMS (sony and HTC allow you atleast 10 pages) and as someone who texts alot this is really annoying. Another thing is if you want to forward messages you can only do so to 10 people at a time (say you want to send a invite to a party or merry christmas or happy new year to people in your contacts)
6) if your in a phone call and someone sends you a video via whats app, you cannot watch the video until you end the phone call (Sony and HTC allow you to watch the video)
7) I understand this really wont apply to some people but you can listen to music and record video when your in a phone call (You can also do this on HTC phones) the music one doesn't bother me really but sometimes when I am on the phone and I see something sometimes I might want to record it and with a samsung phone u have to hang the call up first where on a htc or sony phone u can just tell the person you want to record something and to keep quiet lol).
8) The Z3 is waterproof and currently in London it has been raining alot and last year i was wearing a tracksuit bottom and top and it rained really heavily and despite my s4 being in my pocket it still got somewhat wet and that was the end of that working without a hitch, so after just splashing 630 on the note 4 i rather not take it outside in this weather unless i am going in my car. Annother example is on saturday I took my daughter to legoland for her 4th birthday and while we were there the weather was a bit miserable and it did rain at times and had I just had the note 4 with me at the time some of the pics I took I wouldn't have been able to as the phone would have got seriously wet, whereas with the Z3 no issues just continued to snap away.
9) The Z3 just feels smoother to use at times is the faster of the two to opening the main apps I use: Call log, phone book, text messaging, settings, camera, gallery/album, music player, whats app. Though scrolling around etc is faster on the note 4.
Loading dolphin browser they are the same but loading web pages and connecting to wi fi/4g the note 4 is faster.
Closing apps they are the same I have tried this several times and despite me having big hands the Z3 is easier to use one handed. Sonys ram usage management is better aswell, I don't know if its a good thing or not but the Z3 always has more ram available at any given time both phones have the same apps on them aswell.
So for those reasons right now I use the Z3 as my main phone and the Note 4 is for note taking/all the multi tasking stuff and playing games.
Its also a nice change from having Samsung as my main phone I mean I have had the Galaxy S, S2, S3, Note 2, S4 & S5. I have had the Xperia S, T, Z & Z1 too but for me they were lacking vs the Samsung at the time imo in terms of audio volume, loudspeaker volume, call volume from earpeice, camera/video quality + I found the cameras quite slow to focus and battery life so I never ended up keeping the sony phones for a long time. However Sony did address alot of these issues with the Z2 but I still found the audio volume lacking a bit and chose to go with the S5 instead as it was louder, however the z3 imo as stepped up the volume so I decided yep I am going to get it and I mean just look at the Z3 is looks stunning awesome looking phone! not that the Z2 wasn't a looker but the Z3 is more refined with the founded corners for me.

I really really think it's strange that not one person said a thing about the terrible slow keyboard on the z3... Wich has some incredible lag on it when visiting some heavier websites. Or typing long texts. I'm really on the edge of returning the z3 and getting another phone. Already when typing this message I start to get lag now. I really hate this! I hope Sony will fix it real soon. Else this was my first and also last xperia

sygys said:
I really really think it's strange that not one person said a thing about the terrible slow keyboard on the z3... Wich has some incredible lag on it when visiting some heavier websites. Or typing long texts. I'm really on the edge of returning the z3 and getting another phone. Already when typing this message I start to get lag now. I really hate this! I hope Sony will fix it real soon. Else this was my first and also last xperia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change to any keyboard you want like Google Keyboard. This is the basic thing people often do not say.

Zanr Zij said:
Change to any keyboard you want like Google Keyboard. This is the basic thing people often do not say.
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I was going to recommend this as well, makes a world of difference.

Related

Switching from an iPhone 6 - advice needed

Hi guys,
I've used Android for a long time, and my last phone was a Nexus 5 (which I sold recently). As the iPhone 6 finally got a larger screen, I thought I'd try it out to see how I feel about it. In all honesty, the iPhone is a great phone with a solid OS, however I'm finding that I'm missing Android. I loved being able to have widgets on multiple home screens that gave me information without needing to launch an app, and I miss the way I was able to make the device unique to me. My iPhone home screen looks the same as everyone else's iPhone.
Now, coming from a Nexus 5 (which admittedly, felt cheap) the iPhone immediately feels like a premium smartphone, and I know that the Xperia Z series also have a premium build quality. I feel like the Z3 will be the perfect device to get me back to Android as I want something that is aesthetically great as well as powerful.
My main gripes with my Nexus 5 were that the build quality was cheap-feeling, and the N5 was known to have a really weak cell radio. In fact, I used to think my carrier wasn't great, but realised from having the iPhone that it was the fact that the N5 had a crappy radio. My iPhone has strong reception even in weaker coverage areas, and good signal is important to me - does the Z3 have good cell reception? Also, I travel on the London Underground to work every day, and when I would get above ground my N5 would take ages to lock onto a signal whereas my iPhone locks on immediately. How good is the Z3 at locking onto signal when you emerge from a no-coverage area?
Another thing, I know that the Z3 has a 20.7MP camera which is great, but I'd rather shoot in 8MP for smaller file sizes. Is it possible to change the resolution in the camera app? I was able to choose different resolutions with my N5.
One last thing - I've noticed that the iPhone screen is significantly brighter than my N5 screen was, and doesn't drain battery as quickly on higher brightness as the N5 did. How bright is the Z3 screen? Does the battery suffer significantly when the brightness is cranked up?
Sorry for all the questions. Would really appreciate some input guys.
I carry both a Z2 and an iPhone 6 on a regular basis, here are some answers, keep in mind this is comparing the older Z2 though.
- The reception on the Z2 is good but not great, the iPhone 6 edges it out but not by a whole lot
- Z2 seems fairly good on picking up a signal after it has gone out of range. I really don't think there's anything in it between the two devices here.
- Both the Z2 and Z3 have a "superior auto" mode which downsamples to 8MP. This is the mode you will most likely shoot in most of the time. Manual mode also has a range of MP choices and not just 20MP.
- The Z2 screen is rated to be dimmer than the Z3 screen so it's tough to say here, but I will say that if I were to set both my Z2 and iPhone 6 to equal perceived brightness, the Z2 would still have much greater screen on time than the iPhone 6 would, by a lot. I believe the Z3 would only be better in this department. It's not even close.
Thanks for your input
Does anyone else have any advice too? Maybe someone else that has also switched from an iPhone?
Coming from the Nexus 4, I only have good things to say about my Z3.
Reception is generally a lot better than my old N4. In areas where I used to have no service, I would still have service on my Z3. Picking up the signal again after going from somewhere with no coverage seems a lot faster than my old N4 (think seconds compared to a minute or two).
The Z3 shoots in 8MP using the default mode. You have to switch to manual if you want to pick different MPs. The time it takes to take pictures is a lot slower than the iPhone though, but that's the problem with a lot of Android phones which will be fixed with Android L.
The Z3 is pretty bright. I was able to get 6-7 hours of screen on time with full brightness all day, while listening to about 4-5 hours of music, watching 45 minutes of video, playing 2-3 hours of games and browsing the internet during the other times. If you're not doing too much CPU-intensive stuff, you can expect to get around 10 hours SOT give or take an hour. I wouldn't worry about battery life.
Overall the Z3 looks great and definitely feels like a premium phone.

Sell S6 Flat, Go Z5 Premium or wait for Marshmallow?

Hii Folks!
So I just got back from our local mall and took a test drive of the New Z5 Premium. I'm stoked. From the fingerprint unlock to the Camera Test, amazing. Its fast too. I was trying to stress the device by multitasking really fast, flawless. I'm now having a dilemma if I'll sell my S6 and go Z5P. Oooorrrr, wait for Marshmallow then decide whether to throw in the towel. No bashing please. Thanks!
I have S6 and am having trouble with my cell reception. Keep losing network pretty randomly now in dodgy network areas where my sony Z3 holds on pretty well! Ive used my friend's Z5P and it is a good phone with solid network and better battery. But I think camera and screen are debatable between S6 and Z5P. I'm also looking to replace my S6 due to the network issue and sony Z5/Z5P are my top choices at present. But I might wait for S7 for a couple of months.
I think maybe wait till marshmallow drops. Many beta users have reported that the fingerprint sensor speed and recognition has improved in the marshmallow update.
Dpk1 said:
I have S6 and am having trouble with my cell reception. Keep losing network pretty randomly now in dodgy network areas where my sony Z3 holds on pretty well! Ive used my friend's Z5P and it is a good phone with solid network and better battery. But I think camera and screen are debatable between S6 and Z5P. I'm also looking to replace my S6 due to the network issue and sony Z5/Z5P are my top choices at present. But I might wait for S7 for a couple of months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't had the chance to compare the ZP5's camera with my S6. But from what I can say is when I took a little bit of mixed shots and the zoomed it, there are minimal noise. It feels detailed.
Jhayzt said:
I didn't had the chance to compare the ZP5's camera with my S6. But from what I can say is when I took a little bit of mixed shots and the zoomed it, there are minimal noise. It feels detailed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64808179&postcount=1013
I got both S6 and Z5c(the cam on Z5/Z5c/Z5P is same). The only good from Z5 camera is more accurate WB and auto exposure. The Z5 focus much improved over Z1~Z3 but I'll call it still slightly worse than IP5s, not as good as advertised while S6 focus is decent to the level near my friend's IP6(I've friends who own IP5s and IP6). The S6 OIS is unbeatable, I could take 100/200iso at low-light/indoor easy but on Z5 I've to pick 400iso to reduce handshake.
Z5 got good software video stabilization but it hurts so much the FOV and degraded the video quality. With software video stabilization enabled you hardly record a long video bcoz it will push the cpu to limit and overheat easy. S6 video stabilization may not as well as Sony but you can record video in long length with full FOV, the FHD/4K quality on S6 is also much better.
Battery on SD810 is quite power draining no doubt worse than Exynos 7420. Mine Z5c got best battery life in entire Z5 line but it looks like no better than S6 in my experiences, might be a bit better but not very noticeable. If you think S6 is power hungry, the fact is Z5P will just more worse. One reason is Z5P screen is dark, max brightness is like half of Z5/Z5c/S6 so you always need to tune up a bit the brightness and wasted extra power. The 4K panel isn't mature yet.
The fingerprint sensor faster than S6 but once the power button gets dirty the recognition speed become slower than S6. So, the S6 isn't fastest but more stable overall.
All and All. It's hard to make a conclusion bcoz all I can feel is the current Sony build are still beta, gonna wait 6.0 to release the camera power on Z5. Expected major upgrade of camera API and improved battery when 6.0 hits Z5. I'll say wait 6.0 to arrive on S6 and Z5P and check the result clearly. If you have free time, waiting for S7 is a even better choice.
I would give MM a chance on the S6
Like M...N said there are reports of more effective and usable fingerprint sensor support.
- Renolz
I actually sold my 8months old S6 (64gb) and got myself a new Xperia Z5 (dual) black. As stated earlier my S6 had a lot of network connectivity issues which got worse with time, got repaired but to no use. I was bit unsure about how good the camera would be on Z5 as there are mixed reviews.
My quick review of Z5 compared to S6 (after 2 days use):
- Better battery backup: my Z5 is at 67% after a full days use (charged fully at 10 am), while my S6 used to be at 4-5% by this time and had to charge it at least once daily (sometimes twice daily). 3g data on all the time with some voice calls, chrome browsing, whatsapp etc. Only using one sim in Z5.
- Camera: IMO the daylight pics on Z5 (23mp manual mode) are better overall than S6 (sony sensor). The pics are sharper overall with vibrant colors but slightly noisier compared to softer (less noisier) dull looking pics on the S6. The night pics are comparable on both but S6 auto mode does way better job than sony's. You actually need to know the manual mode on the Xperia very well as to get good results in poor light (which are comparable to or sometimes even better than S6). Also the camera app is faster and easier to use on the S6 compared to Z5. But, to me (a long time sony user) its a non issue. Mind it there are faulty units with lots of lens blurring and all (as apparent from reviews online) with Z5 in particular, so you need to keep that in mind. Mine doesn't have any such issue.
- Screen and touch response: Samoled vs Ips lcd. Both have their pros and cons. I like the touch response on the Z5 better though. Auto brightness works better on Z5.
- Network connectivity: Much better on the Z5 IMO.
- UI: Z5 has cleaner UI which is seamless. Samsung UI felt a bit laggy at times but both phones are pretty snappy.
P.S - I'm really happy with my purchase overall! Sony's camera app needs work for sure, which I'm confident will be done in coming updates. Samsung needs to improve upon its battery backup and UI IMO.
As this question is in your mind, I'm pretty sure you'll not be satisfied with the S6 again! Why wait? Sell it and get yourself a new Z5, but make sure you'll accept its minor deficiencies.
No offence, but if you're not satisfied with your phone, get another which will make you happier
If you need people to convince you to stay with galaxy s6, you've already made up your mind. Go with Z5, because you're always going to find a flaw with galaxy series.
Z5 pros: Custom roms, better battery life, better camera, micro SD slot, better sound quality, more open for devs (unlocking/relocking bootloader, releasing source codes etc.)
S6 cons: no stable custom roms due to Exynos + Knox tripping = no guarantee outside EU and quite bad battery life compared to G4/Z5 or any other comparable high-end phone released in 2015.
The s6 is only acceptable because of its design, no other stuff makes this phone worth it. An iPhone would probably even be a better choice than the S6. But if you especially dont care about custom roms and just look at hardware specs than just go with that Z5 premium or wait for the Galaxy S7.
In reality, it is impossible to run the 28nm octa-core SD810 Z5 with a full day usage and still got 67% battery left. I think it will need a Z3c with KitKat rom to do that.
If you just trying to get best SOT out with super light use and tune the screen to real dark, it is achievable though. Indeed, I'm a S6 light user mostly and my S6 always got 6~7hrs SOT as well. Such a campaign doesn't reflect real world performance for most people. There are many complaints from medium to heavy users from Z5/Z5c/Z5p on XDA and talk sonymobile forum about battery life.
I always prefer color reproduction from Sony. S6 used a heavy noise reduction and a bit dull but there are just too much noises on Sony. Speaking to the details, both of my IMX240 and ISOCell performs better than my Z5c day and night. It is strange that your S6 IMX240 photo not as sharp as Z5, in my experiences the IMX240 is just too sharp and I even want it to be lower. Me any my friend got a Z5c, mine is absolutely perfect without blur while my friend one got slightly blur so clearly no problem on my camera.
Both got pros and cons on auto brightness and touch responsive. Z5 auto brightness is too bright while S6 is a bit dark but overall I prefer S6. S6 got faster touch responsive while power saving disabled and some lag when power saving on. Z5 is more consistency on this part with or without Stamina on.
Actually, S6 got way more custom roms and kernels but sure no AOSP/CM. S6 got knox trip but Sony also has DRM key and TA partition.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/samsung-galaxy-s-6--s-6-edge-unified-development/cyanogenmod-13-galaxy-s6-t3269984
EDIT: I just found that CM13 is available now on S6
Fullmetal Jun said:
As this question is in your mind, I'm pretty sure you'll not be satisfied with the S6 again! Why wait? Sell it and get yourself a new Z5, but make sure you'll accept its minor deficiencies.
No offence, but if you're not satisfied with your phone, get another which will make you happier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the most accurate reply for this question :good:
Quintz said:
Z5 pros: Custom roms, better battery life, better camera, micro SD slot, better sound quality, more open for devs (unlocking/relocking bootloader, releasing source codes etc.)
S6 cons: no stable custom roms due to Exynos + Knox tripping = no guarantee outside EU and quite bad battery life compared to G4/Z5 or any other comparable high-end phone released in 2015.
The s6 is only acceptable because of its design, no other stuff makes this phone worth it. An iPhone would probably even be a better choice than the S6. But if you especially dont care about custom roms and just look at hardware specs than just go with that Z5 premium or wait for the Galaxy S7.
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Click to collapse
the camera on the S6 is better.....better screen, design....and TW is miles ahead and better than sony's UI...it looks outdated....so you're wrong....the only reason to get the Z5 over the s6 are water proofing, and battery, some people would like an sd card also.....but still the S6 is better...can't deny that....and an iphone 6 is better? give me one thing the iphone does better....
abdelha said:
the camera on the S6 is better.....better screen, design....and TW is miles ahead and better than sony's UI...it looks outdated....so you're wrong....the only reason to get the Z5 over the s6 are water proofing, and battery, some people would like an sd card also.....but still the S6 is better...can't deny that....and an iphone 6 is better? give me one thing the iphone does better....
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Click to collapse
How are these statements you are giving supposed to be contra-arguments when I havent mentioned anything about it. I did say that the S6 design is better. Also I havent mentioned anything about stock roms, I was referring to custom roms, i.e. Cynogenmod, slimroms etc. Also screen is debatable, the Z5 premium has a 4k screen with alot more ppi and sharpness,while the s6 qhd could be more colorful.
Regarding iPhone 6s:
https://mobile.twitter.com/arter97_dev/status/681054354153971712
https://mobile.twitter.com/arter97_dev/status/680299853801365504
https://mobile.twitter.com/arter97_dev/status/641752688728764416
Here we can see that the iPhone 6s A9 chip beats the Exynos 7420 in single core performance, which is most noticeable in real world comparison. Also iOS will always will be more in harmony with its own device than android and X brand phone. Ofcourse I wouldnt pick an iPhone because I like using cynogenmod etc. myself, therefore the z5 premium is a better choice than the galaxy s6. But id choose an iPhone above an exynos device any day..
Quintz said:
How are these statements you are giving supposed to be contra-arguments when I havent mentioned anything about it. I did say that the S6 design is better. Also I havent mentioned anything about stock roms, I was referring to custom roms, i.e. Cynogenmod, slimroms etc. Also screen is debatable, the Z5 premium has a 4k screen with alot more ppi and sharpness,while the s6 qhd could be more colorful.
Here we can see that the iPhone 6s A9 chip beats the Exynos 7420 in single core performance, which is most noticeable in real world comparison. Also iOS will always will be more in harmony with its own device than android and X brand phone. Ofcourse I wouldnt pick an iPhone because I like using cynogenmod etc. myself, therefore the z5 premium is a better choice than the galaxy s6. But id choose an iPhone above an exynos device any day..
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first of all, in your comment you said iphone 6 and not 6s...second...CPU isn't everything, screen, camera, battery....so even if the 6s is a bit faster it falls in all other aspects.....
abdelha said:
first of all, in your comment you said iphone 6 and not 6s...second...CPU isn't everything, screen, camera, battery....so even if the 6s is a bit faster it falls in all other aspects.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt mention the iPhone 6, you should know this since you quoted me. Anyway doesnt matter. Battery wise the iPhone is quite good compared to android phones, because iOS is harmonized to the hardware used (something android lacks). Check http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-review/8
According to this test it beats the s6 battery usage, but not charging time.
Also a reason why the lower MaH battery lasts longer is because it isn't packed with an unecessary qhd screen (nowdays gimmicks sell better than innovation). Retina, 4k etc screens are good enough and yes you see a difference if you put it next to the s6, but in real world you dont compare screens all day.
And camera wise id pick the s6.
All with all, I am not here to promote the iPhone, but I just want to make a statement how bad the exynos s6 device is compared to other (android) phones. The only things that matter nowday are battery life, performance, camera,functionality (this aspect is taken less in consideration by non xda users ) and design. All screens on high end phones look quite good.
Quintz said:
I didnt mention the iPhone 6, you should know this since you quoted me. Anyway doesnt matter. Battery wise the iPhone is quite good compared to android phones, because iOS is harmonized to the hardware used (something android lacks). Check According to this test it beats the s6 battery usage, but not charging time.
Also a reason why the lower MaH battery lasts longer is because it isn't packed with an unecessary qhd screen (nowdays gimmicks sell better than innovation). Retina, 4k etc screens are good enough and yes you see a difference if you put it next to the s6, but in real world you dont compare screens all day.
And camera wise id pick the s6.
All with all, I am not here to promote the iPhone, but I just want to make a statement how bad the exynos s6 device is compared to other (android) phones. The only things that matter nowday are battery life, performance, camera,functionality (this aspect is taken less in consideration by non xda users ) and design. All screens on high end phones look quite good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's a bit confusing, you saying that the S6 with exynos is bad compared to other androids!...and you're wrong, it's the best cpu for androids, and in multi core it's the best in the world...my s6 is 9 months old and it doesn't lag....so if you're getting lag then it's either you have a defect phone or i don't know....the S6 fly through anything i do....and it and the NOTE 5 are the fastest android devices.....the ram management is bad but the speed is just great...it's faster than the nexus 6p....just so you know....
abdelha said:
it's a bit confusing, you saying that the S6 with exynos is bad compared to other androids!...and you're wrong, it's the best cpu for androids, and in multi core it's the best in the world...my s6 is 9 months old and it doesn't lag....so if you're getting lag then it's either you have a defect phone or i don't know....the S6 fly through anything i do....and it and the NOTE 5 are the fastest android devices.....the ram management is bad but the speed is just great...it's faster than the nexus 6p....just so you know....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I yet again need to say this but I didnt mention lag. And yes the exynos chip is the best for android, but the sacrifice you need to make (no stable custom roms) is quite high. Anyway enjoy your phone, take care.
I sold a Z5 to come back to this phone. The premium is simply an oversized and ugly version of the Z5.
The only good thing on the Z5 is the fingerprint sensor.
Real world use, the Z5 camera is absolutely awful, daylight and low light is blown away by S6, it distorts pictures, and has no stabilisation in low light so motion blur even when you keep very still. Battery life is awful (4hrs SOT), the screen is not sharp enough, the phone is laggy, runs very very hot, and is NOT water resistant, speakers get wrecked after any contact with water, permanently.
The only good thing on the Z5 is the fingerprint sensor.
Aside from some very small skips (not lag) in settings menu, the S6 runs smooth and fast and battery life is 5hours SOT, camera is unbeatable. Very glad I got an S6 again.
On a side note, I have an Iphone 6 for work, unfortunately, and its far from lag free and smooth. It is buggy and battery life is mediocre at best although it does charge fast. Camera is useless.
TheEndHK said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64808179&postcount=1013
I got both S6 and Z5c(the cam on Z5/Z5c/Z5P is same). The only good from Z5 camera is more accurate WB and auto exposure. The Z5 focus much improved over Z1~Z3 but I'll call it still slightly worse than IP5s, not as good as advertised while S6 focus is decent to the level near my friend's IP6(I've friends who own IP5s and IP6). The S6 OIS is unbeatable, I could take 100/200iso at low-light/indoor easy but on Z5 I've to pick 400iso to reduce handshake.
Z5 got good software video stabilization but it hurts so much the FOV and degraded the video quality. With software video stabilization enabled you hardly record a long video bcoz it will push the cpu to limit and overheat easy. S6 video stabilization may not as well as Sony but you can record video in long length with full FOV, the FHD/4K quality on S6 is also much better.
Battery on SD810 is quite power draining no doubt worse than Exynos 7420. Mine Z5c got best battery life in entire Z5 line but it looks like no better than S6 in my experiences, might be a bit better but not very noticeable. If you think S6 is power hungry, the fact is Z5P will just more worse. One reason is Z5P screen is dark, max brightness is like half of Z5/Z5c/S6 so you always need to tune up a bit the brightness and wasted extra power. The 4K panel isn't mature yet.
The fingerprint sensor faster than S6 but once the power button gets dirty the recognition speed become slower than S6. So, the S6 isn't fastest but more stable overall.
All and All. It's hard to make a conclusion bcoz all I can feel is the current Sony build are still beta, gonna wait 6.0 to release the camera power on Z5. Expected major upgrade of camera API and improved battery when 6.0 hits Z5. I'll say wait 6.0 to arrive on S6 and Z5P and check the result clearly. If you have free time, waiting for S7 is a even better choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The question I have for you is, none of my third party apps can auto focus the s6 rear camera. Only the official camera app and HwTest app can. Do you have any experience with this?

First hours with the s7 Edge G935F

First couple of hours with the s7 edge
Got the phone today and boy do I love this thing!
Here are some notes of the first few hours with this phone.
Model:G935F
Browser: this is seriously faster then my browser on my desktop!( no joke)
Have the addblock fast app integrated and my God it is fast!
Camera: only took one pic so can't really tell yet but the focus is instant!
Performance: this is one fast phone! The apps install quickly and you you can actually use the phone will it's installing without any hiccups. The RAM is good, keeping atleast 15+ medium heavy apps open. Also see the benchmarks I did(attach)
Design: it doesn't feel any bigger than my x S6, Samsung really nails the screen to ratio on this one! It's quite slippery and do get allot of FP on it but overall a gorgeous phone!
Battery: got it with 50% left I'm down to 27% ATM. Can't really tell yet but by all the tasks I did from start my old S6 would have lost nearly 50% after setup and this did it on 17% so I'm more then happy from what I've seen so far.
SW: I actually got a force restart when trying to bring Netflix in to the edge tasker but worked after the restart, I also noticed that it some time stutters for a millisecond when typing (samsung keyboard)but nothing overly disturbing. Seems like the SW isen't there quite yet but since the phone technically isen't released yet I'll just wait and see how it turns out, it need a tune up imo and hopping for a day 1 OTA. Otherwise it's really fluid and without any serious frame drops. Really like the AOS and the edge feat.
Sound: it's louder than the S6 and there is also a built in EQ which is a good feat! I tend to get a little more width from my old s6 with Bluetooth to my speaker which is a plus.
I can also hear the voice of the person more clear with the s7 and the speaker seems a little louder from the ear grill.
Reception: seems good, have 1 stapel more than I got with my former S6 on the same place's.
Note! I did NOT close any apps when I did the benchmarks and I also ran them after each other and also direct after installing them, as you can see in sling shot I'm at a little high thermal from start but nothing serious IMO. I also tested the phone with power saving mode on with geek bench and guess what?! It is more powerfully with the PS mode on then the S6 is with it off
Ran : quadrant,geek bench, slingshot 3.1
Yeah got mine today too and I absolutely love it. Haven't had a chance to play with the camera much. Was particularly keen on using the raw/pro mode. But coming from an LG G4 it isn't as good software wise. The LG G4 really did feel like a pro camera with easy sliders for shutter etc whereas the s7e is a bit more fiddly. Small gripe I know! Loving it so far though.
One very low light pic of my puddycat :victory:
Focus is 5x as fast in low light than the s6. Very good lowlight performance!
Off-topic: Is that a maine coon?
Thanks for the reviews guys, i'm getting this phone in a few days!
I know everyone is excited with the new release but can we try and stop all the duplicate threads please, there is already one here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/how-to/impressions-t3325825

Is this phone any good?

Does this phone have louder speakers, a better camera, better battery life and a brighter and better screen than the xperia Z2? If not which device is better than the Z2 in all those areas?
Hi,Theandroidfan, if we are talking about the camera and the screen, of course that Z5 is better than Z2, but when we are talking about battery life, it's not good as the Z2 cause the snapdragon 810. The brighter of the screen is bad, it's lower than the S6 and Moto X Play. Speakers, I don't know how loud is the Z2, but it's also lower than the S6 of my father,
Regarding
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javiwz said:
Hi,Theandroidfan, if we are talking about the camera and the screen, of course that Z5 is better than Z2, but when we are talking about battery life, it's not good as the Z2 cause the snapdragon 810. The brighter of the screen is bad, it's lower than the S6 and Moto X Play. Speakers, I don't know how loud is the Z2, but it's also lower than the S6 of my father,
Regarding
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i actually came from a Z2
Things better
- Performance (no lag at all)
- bugs (there are not as many)
- Camera is outstanding (front camera is actually quite good for an xperia)
- Louder and better speaker
- no weird audio crackling or terrible quality
- finger print sensor
- Z5 has more support time (e.g z2 wont recieve updates soon)
Better Z2 things
- battery life (by default the z2s stock battery is better)
- battery size
- front glass feels smoother
Also came from Z2. In general Z5 is noticeably faster and camera is better however there are several problems you may have when you buy Z5. I had the replace it 4 times (yes you read it right, FOUR TIMES) to finally get the unit without problems. First two had left hand side photo blur (as well as other three but I just realised all Z5's suffer from this problem so I gave up), third one was randomly resetting, fourth had build quality issues (rattling vibrations and gaps between the screen and sides). Luckily fifth unit seems OK now so I can finally enjoy it
In terms of differences between Z2 and Z5 I'd say that:
Better:
1. Brighter screen
2. Much faster
3. Camera is better with faster focus and wider field of view (if you can live with left hand side photo blur)
4. No USB port flaps
5. Better design (in my opinion)
6. Fast charging
7. Finger print sensor
8. Less visible touch grid lines on the screen
Worse:
1. Battery life is shorter by around 20%
2. Tiny notification light in comparison to Z2
3. Left hand side photo blur problem
4. Risk of getting faulty unit
5. Volume button placed in very inconvenient place
All in all it's a great phone and I love my Z5 but you have to be aware of possible issues if you're not lucky with the unit. If you can, order it from the retailer who has great return/replacement policy so you can replace it easily if you get faulty phone. I read quite a few horror stories where people are stuck with faulty phones and Sony refuses to fix it.
When you get your phone watch out for the problems below and if you experience any, ask for replacement:
1. Random resets - first try to fix the software using PC and if it's not fixed replace it
2. Any build quality issues, don't hesitate and replace it. It's an expensive flagship phone and you deserve to get high quality product
3. Read this and Sony's forum to check if you have any other issues and if you do and it cannot be fixed don't go to Sony, just replace it with the retailer. Sony will most likely ignore it and it will take ages to get your phone back.
I hope that helps but if you have any other questions or need help, the community here is great and you know where to find us.
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I had a z2 too. Battery and camera on z2 much better than z5. My z5 is history already.
Stay with z2, keep your money and try to find a real upgrade.
Definitely.

Help deciding on what to upgrade (from z5)

Hi there.
Currently owning the z5. I intend to upgrade to a sd820, I know, minor upgrade but I am tired with this phone getting hot. (it gets hot whenever updating apps from play store, syncing my photos to the cloud and even chrome browsing, I won't even mention any camera related activity).
So I am choosing between Sony..again, the xperia x performance and the one plus 3.
I care most about battery performance and as I said the device not getting too hot (which, in turn can negatively affect the previous battery life). Then I'd like to have a useable camera (photos mostly). By the way, z5's photo capabilities are good enough for me, however I hated how the camera overheats and stops sometimes. Finally, audio performance is also important.
From what I can gather, oneplus 3 battery life is only marginally better. I also heard that xperia xp occasionally gets hot? Camera performance seems to not be a deciding factor, however I was only looking at some picture samples I found, I rather prefer the Sony's but it might be just me being used to z5's color/saturation?
Could anyone that had exposure to both these devices help me with deciding between the 2 on these aspects:
Battery life
Photo quality
Audio
Overall performance (as in everyday use)
Thanks
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millicent said:
Hi there.
Currently owning the z5. I intend to upgrade to a sd820, I know, minor upgrade but I am tired with this phone getting hot. (it gets hot whenever updating apps from play store, syncing my photos to the cloud and even chrome browsing, I won't even mention any camera related activity).
So I am choosing between Sony..again, the xperia x performance and the one plus 3.
I care most about battery performance and as I said the device not getting too hot (which, in turn can negatively affect the previous battery life). Then I'd like to have a useable camera (photos mostly). By the way, z5's photo capabilities are good enough for me, however I hated how the camera overheats and stops sometimes. Finally, audio performance is also important.
From what I can gather, oneplus 3 battery life is only marginally better. I also heard that xperia xp occasionally gets hot? Camera performance seems to not be a deciding factor, however I was only looking at some picture samples I found, I rather prefer the Sony's but it might be just me being used to z5's color/saturation?
Could anyone that had exposure to both these devices help me with deciding between the 2 on these aspects:
Battery life
Photo quality
Audio
Overall performance (as in everyday use)
Thanks
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I can't be of use when choosing between the two phones but I would just wait until Sony bring out their next generation of handsets and you can decide if it's good enough or not.
I'm not impressed with Z5's to be honest (I have a Z5 Compact) but loved the design. It's a bit thick (hard to hold) and a bit heavy though.
I wouldn't buy Sony again after my Z5 experience. They've fixed most things now, but given the price I would expect a lot more. One+ looks great
I would suggest you a HTC 10. Bought one for my Mother a few weeks ago. Its really great!
im with EDGN htc 10 upto 50% faster from Z5 and better sound
dont know about picture and battery
and im also not gonna buy SONY anymore... sony X is about same as Z5+-,,, and Sony XP maybe faster but same audio, same lens.. (without the 4K filming, only if rooting)
also lots of bugs not the same service and quality
To be honest, I paid $800CAD for my Z5 when it came out last year and it's finally a phone I can enjoy (took Sony almost 12 months to come up with a decent firmware though, and everything before .224 has been nothing but trouble for me: poor battery life, bluetooth disconnecting, phone freezing, laggy/choppy UI)... the Z5 now has a pretty good stock firmware and is a reliable device, but at this point, I don't feel it was worth all that money. The OnePlus 2 I almost purchased last year instead of the Z5 finally wasn't an inferior phone by any means, but it was a lot cheaper.
The only phone I would maybe be be willing to pay $800+ for at the moment is the Note 7 (because well, like Samsung or hate it, the Note 7 is the ULTIMATE Android phone), but realistically my next phone will most likely be a ~400-500$ phone I'll get next year (OnePlus 4? I liked my OnePlus One a lot, so there's a chance). Flagship specs for the asking price of a mid-range phone is appealing.
Considering flagship Sony phones are well built but are also very expensive (some may say overpriced), my next phone won't be a Xperia. I'm not impressed at all by the new Xperia X series (same old hardware, build quality isn't worthy of Sony and the Z series, same old camera sensor/optics, etc.). From now on, a phone will have to be VERY special to justify a $800+ price tag as far as I'm concerned.
If I were you:
#1: Keep your Z5, it's still a good phone, wait for the OnePlus 4 or next year flagships, at least they will be a worthy upgrade (the 820 isn't THAT faster than the 810. I doubt you can even notice the difference in day to day usage)
or
#2: If you can deal with the Samsung firmware (it's not that bad anymore), absolutely want a new phone and have some cash to spend: Sell your Z5 while it's still worth something, and go get a Note 7 (now that's a significative upgrade from the Z5. The SoC isn't that faster, but more memory, better/bigger display, better battery life, better camera, USB-C + wireless charging, etc.)
I don't see the point of replacing the Z5 for anything else beside the Note 7 at the moment. The current flagship phones (Galaxy S7, HTC10, G5, name them all) aren't enough of an upgrade imo versus the Z5 you're using at the moment
My 2 cents, and sorry for my less than pefect English (Not my primary, and not even my secondary language )
What about one plus 3? I believe it's worth the upgrade since you won't spent much after selling your z5. Full Manual camera settings, 4gb ram, crazy fast charging and the flawless oxygen os.
I'm actually thinking about it but since our z5 is the last z and my emerald green is a jewel I'm having drawbacks. Battery life is the problem on my z5 I never get more than 4 hours SOT.
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Just a follow-up on this..
So I gave up the z5 and bought the note 7 that I am using for 1 week.
In case anyone wanna know about the transition to samsung (my last samsung was the s2 awhile ago).
The reason I gave up the z5 was, I have mentioned before, the overheating issue, especially while operating the camera but there were some other instances.
In spite of this I kinda liked the z5 camera. Also, the battery life, when not overheating, I would get up to 6 hours sot in a full day. I also liked -- still do - some other
features of the z5, such as many elements of its hardware/software design, so normally I would've prefferred to move to a newer xperia iteration.
Anyways, I am on this samsung note 7. The device has been praised quite a bit so although initially I wouldn't consider it (reasons: samsung, touchwiz, edge screen) in the end I pre-ordered it.
So, how this note7 experience compares to z5:
battery: pretty much same battery experience, after having disabled some bloat (but only really a few so far, I think there's still room for improving further); I was hoping for more then 6 hours sot in a day considering the battery size but also, just like in the case of z5, I am using pretty much all the features, bt low power constantly on for my fitness/notification tracker, lte/wifi depending on location, all location scanning on, brightness half-way etc. I think the z5 standby time was better though.
overheating: no overheating so far, it's still warm outside (sometimes up to 30 deg Celsius). Yay!
performance: pretty much on par with z5, can't say the note is much faster as it should be perhaps.
screen: I am using the basic mode, brightness even at halfway is much more brighter than z5. Overall, the screen is fine and it's nice to see the actual deep blacks on it.
camera: I was afraid of this aspect. I am actually impressed by the camera performance, to resume, it seems to be just another generation really. The most impressive thing is how fast is it, even in low-light conditions. The only negative or positive if you will, the lens is less wide.
sound: another important factor, for me at least. Fortunately, samsung delivers here too. The wired or even bt sound compares well to the z5, to my non-audophile ears it sounds
much much better than sony's. The system equalizer actually works and makes a world of difference.
Other things note 7 I like: always on display, blue light filter, fingerprint works now all the time, the led cover view
What I miss from z5: xperia keyboard, fm player, double tap to wake, glove mode
Oh, and I received right away the August 1st security update (when I started it on August 22). Hopefully they keep up the momentum on this apsect.
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