Database Info

Is the Z3 worth it?

Now asking that question here is not the right place to ask since.. Well.. Most people already purchased the device. It is however, the best place to ask about the Z3 since, well.. Most people purchased the device.
At this point i started out on Android with the HTC desire z, then the original Galaxy Note, LG G1, and have now paid off my Galaxy Note 2. Looking for a new phone I found that my needs is somewhat fulfilled with the Z3, although it is hard to tell, without actually owning and using the device as my daily usage.
I was thinking off continuing along the Samsung Note series with the 4, but the screen is to big, and I am honestly a bit tired of having a hard time reaching the far side of my phone. Battery is my main concern actually. I got rid of the LG G1,due to not being able to accept the uptime ratio and I see the the Z3 contains a 3100 mAh battery like my Note 2, and that Sony promises 2 days on 1 charge, but to be honest I don't really believe in such a promise. Hell, I could squeeze 5 days our my battery if I really tried, but the thing is that I actually use my phone.
So is it a decent battery that actually delivers in the Z3?
Also. The camera. That has really got me going as I use my camera a lot, and must admit that lenses and cameras is done really well by Sony.
But is the camera really noticeable better than say a 13 MP camera?
And last but not least. I flash custom Roms. Not as much as I used to, but I would choose a custom bleeding edge Rom over some stock firmware waiting for updates with 3 GB bloatware.
I heard something about locked bootloaders and Sony on general not being a good choice if you want to flash anything, and yet I saw something a few weeks ago where Sony released official video guides on unlocking your Xperia phone.
So which is it?
Has the Z3 been pried open to gain root access and flash custom roms?
Thanks

70 views and no response at this point.
should i take that as a no.

Ok I'll bite.
You'll get anywhere from 6-10hrs of screen on time on a Z3. Factors will be how many apps you use and what types of apps those are, obviously something like a processor and graphics intensive game will chew up the battery far quicker than the gmail app. With realistic, moderate use 3-4 SOT per day, you really can get 2 days battery life.
Some people love the camera and some people hate it. It's a bit slower to respond and in the Auto mode it will spit out a down sampled 8MP file FYI. If a little thought is put into taking a pic, it can produce some excellent results.
ROM support is pretty bad right now, but then again Sony's UI is pretty light
Hope this helps.

I would say it's worth it... and I get mine tomorrow. Honestly, I've had my share of devices, but I keep going back to Sony.
1) The UI is nice, pretty light (as mentioned by se1000) and it does mostly what I want. Nova usually winds up on the device at some point if I want the AOSP look.
2) Sony is good with warranty repairs etc... I know from experience from getting work done on my Xperia T years ago. Took some time as I bought it from the UK and used it in the states, but they didn't balk at repairs and I sent the thing in unlocked and rooted.
3) Build quality feels better to me than any other device I've handled. I am coming from an LG G3
4) They are community friendly. Sure, they may not RUSH to put out Lolli, but they are head and shoulders above others (I've mentioned Oppo... I used to have a find5). They also have, basically, Sony XDA reps as I see them, and I think they work with the FXP team on stuff?
5) Small updates are frequent. Not KK to Lolli, but updates in the same build. I think there have been 5 or
6 on the Z1c I had... you know they're paying attention.
Now, you'll find a decent amount of posts expressing issues with the device. Hell, you'll find the same for any device. The way I see it, usually people make noise when something isn't working, and rarely when things are all hunky dory. Therefore, you will always have a disproportionate level of experiences, in favor of those with issues. I am not going to say the issues are excusable, or that they don't exist, but I tend to think that generally most devices are better than their XDA threads might indicate.
Just my .02

I would also say: yes, it is worth it.
I come from a Galaxy S5 and I don't miss it at all.
I own the Z3 only for a week now, but normaly after 2 or 3 days I'm "not so much in love" anymore with the device but I am still in love with the Z3.
I tested much devices like the One M8, the LG G2, the LG G3, the Z2, the N5, the S5 and finally the Z3.
All in all it is the best device in my eyes. Its design is great, it's very comfortable to use (also in one hand), it's fast and the battery life is insane.
I only have to charge it every 2 days and I get a SOT of 7h +.

Feb 2016 - Z3 still worth buying, root friendly?

Please, Z3 faithful owners, can I have your opinions? Am I crazy to be looking at buying a Z3 at this late stage? Is the battery still good on latest Android? Some reviews talk of screens that break all buy themselves - is this a real risk? Should I care that Sony may stop making mobiles?
Why Z3? Well Z3+ seems to have worse battery. Z5 costs 50% more and not sure I need it.
I'm buying in UK SIM free. It's for business use: email, web, documents. Battery life is important, and I prefer no software bloat. Won't play games or watch movies (maybe a quick how-to on YouTube, that's it). Occasional camera, prefer idiot-proof. I'd like to keep using the phone for 3-4 years.
I do plan to root, with some hope of claiming under guarantee in case of hardware failure. I've done my best to scan these forums but please bear in mind I am totally new to Sony phones and there is a lot of info. It looks good so far - any gotchas I should know about? I see there are Marshmallow ROMs - are these safe/recommended for general use? And available for root locked bootloader? I didn't find a Xposed thread - does it work OK?
Many thanks.

I was in the same dilemma two months ago and i went for the z3. z3+ not worth it and z5 is more expensive and i'm not quite sure it's worth it. We have a z5 here at the office and i compared it with my z3. On the latest firmware both of them, it's true that z5 was a little snappier but not by much, tho when under heavy stress it will heat up...
Battery is very good for me. I usually use my phone 2 hours per day, on screen time and listen to music some 3 hours. Data always on and some bad reception where i work... I get home at 7 pm with ~50%. I say that's awsome. The camera is identical to z5, i don't see any difference. If there is, it's probably so small you won't even see it, at least not on the level that I expect mobile phone cameras to be.
Root is available, as well as xposed fwk. Everything works ok on the latest 5.1.1. MM ROMs are only for unlockedBL for now but we are soon expecting oficial MM. Anyway those MM based on CM are worse on battery and not working fully.
Any other info needed?

Yeah I have the same dilemma, but I consider between xperia z3 and nexus 5x. Do you know something about Sony plans about android N for xperia 3? What do you think will it get next android? Cause nexus 5x for sure. Thx.

I recently "downgraded" from an Xperia Z5 to a Z3 and I don't regret my decision one little bit.
More ROMs to choose from, root easily achievable by first flashing 4.4.4 and then flashing a pre-rooted .ftf.
Battery life is like night and day. I was ending the day on my Z5 with 5-10% battery. With my Z3 and a custom ROM, I'm ending the day with upwards of 50%.
Also, the Z3, to me, feels more premium and better built than the Z5.
If you can find one for £200 or thereabouts, grab it. It's a bargain.

Get one. But don't do what I did, I bought a unit from a guy who got a "new" replacement from his insurance company, the screen ripples when I touch it and I have pressure marks (the screen is genuine, however). The phone isn't waterproof either. Do you reckon I could send it to Sony and get it repaired? Maybe Sony repaired it.
Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Buying Z3 - Is it worth it yet?

Hi guys,
I'm going to buy Xperia Z3, but I have few questions before.
1. Is it worth it yet? WIll it get lower with the price in the time? Actually it costs about 250 Euro
2.. How about camera, I've read many reviews about it and there are diffrefent minds about it. I also saw some threads with camera mods (from Z5 libs etc) , does it seriously get better with quality?
3. How about official updates, will they be released yet?
4.If I'd decide to root phone and run custom rom, I had to restore stock rom to have warranty back? And to run custom rom on z3 I need to unblock bootloader first, yes?
That's all I think
Greetings, have a nice evening!

i bought mine last year and its still doing fine
guess i keep it for another year
i never had any issues running apps on google play due to slow hardware, so if you ask me the hardware is still fast enough
also the 3gb of ram is still plenty enough (i usually have over 1GB free)
if you try to flash roms that need dedicated kernels, yes you need to unlock the bootloader, otherwise you'll be fine with locked bootloader, there are ways to root official roms with bootloader locked
currently official android 5.1.1 rom is available and official android 6 beta rom has been released recently (you can find it in the forum here and install it)
about camera, im currently using android 6 beta and im sensing better image quality but im not sure since i havent had the chance to test the camera more precisely, but one thing is for sure, camera is not way much faster than before
p.s if you are not in hurry wait till x performance hits the market and if will probably kill the price tag on Z5
cheers

Thanks for your review
I have two ways, I can buy it right now and sell my s3 or wait till my s3 will crash totailly (USB is crashed, it charges only when phone isnt being used, 'cause mainboard is burnt near USB so it makes it unrepairable) and then buy it.
But anyway z5 is kinda expensive and I dont think the price will be likely z3

i really love my z3, its one of the most sleek device that i ever had.
the performance is good, never experience bad moments with my z3
camera was okay, its not that good, you will have a shock your phone before is an iphone, the sony camera software didnt have exposure lock in auto mode
quality wise is on par with iphone 5s, but it can pull brighter image in low light but its have a lots of noise (ios 12800)
front cam was bad, really really bad, its like 480p quality, noise, soft images, ugly.
and.., z3 bluetooth sucks, if you cover the top left corner of the phone, the bluetooth is distorted. (in my case)
if you can buy it cheap, then its worth it
still no plan to change my z3, its done it jobs well...

I can buy it for a little bit more than 270 euro, so I dont know

Is it still worth buying in 2017 ?

I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)

better get the galaxy s7.

Raulz0r said:
I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it isnt

Raulz0r said:
I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely.

It is not, rather get the S7 or Huawei P10 if you must.
Huawei has shown poor support for the P9 depending on your region, which will only get worse since the P10 has been released. :/

MHBGT said:
It is not, rather get the S7 or Huawei P10 if you must.
Huawei has shown poor support for the P9 depending on your region, which will only get worse since the P10 has been released. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. The support for the P9 has totally dwindled in that many of us are awaiting Android 7! Every other major player has released it for the current line and so many of the lines from the past! Yet we have a phone less than a year old which is not being supported!

Happy with mine and Android 7/EMUI 5

as time goes by i'm starting to hate this device.
-stars to lag when internal memory is about 1.5gb free (it still lags even with more free internal memory)
-average GPS performance
-poor ram management (my nexus 5 is way better when it comes to multi tasking)
-battery drain
-camera quality depends on the lighting conditions
-outdated security patch (i still have the december patch/no OTA yet)
-not future proof

I really like the phone, had it for a few months now. I got it this year and had no issues with it.
I did flash L09C432B378 and all working great at the mo.

shaunydub said:
Happy with mine and Android 7/EMUI 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you... But us in the UK are still on Android 6/EMUI 4.1
Thats really bad!!!!!

If you can get yourself a good deal on it, and get one unbranded so you are not stuck on old software by lazy carriers (shame on you EE - you've had 3 months!) then this phone is fantastic.
In the 11 months I've had it I've not rooted it. The first Android phone ever to make that claim with me. Hell, I haven't even factory reset it yet. It is still snappy. Best camera I've ever had on a phone, especially if you get good at flicking to manual mode, learning basic photography, and using the RAW files to edit afterwards. The simple auto mode gets it right most of the time, but as is standard, performace decreases with light levels.
The only things its really missing in 2017 is wireless charging, OIS, and decent video recording.
But that is just my humble opinion.
What I would say though is I wish I had been more careful with the battery. Charging it up to 100% every time now means that I am seeing about 85% performance of the new battery. This is nothing newsworthy. It's common knowledge 12 to 18 months down the road performance drops off sealed Li-Po batteries. Started charging it to 80% to try and get another few months out of it.

U can buy it!
I was a bit unclear when i saw the mess with rooting and custom roms on this phone, but if huawei will release the kernel source soon we are good to go.
EMUI 5 is great, smooth fast and easy to use and the theme editor is great.
For me this Phone works just great.

for me,i have it 10 months now,very satisfied,no lags,no problem,strong build device,he fell off hundreds of time,no scratch at all and I didn't use screen protector

tmohammad said:
Good for you... But us in the UK are still on Android 6/EMUI 4.1
Thats really bad!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason to be on Android 6. Plenty of guides around to update it and is very easy.

I personally wont get it. You can get an S7 for a cheap price now but the only downside is touchwiz.
Here are some questions you want to answer:
Is having an up to date phone with good support from the manufacturer important?
Do you want a phone that will last 3-4 years with security updates?
Do you care about things like custom kernels, tweaking, custom roms?
You want a phone that is pact full of features and very customization?
If you said No to all of them or most of them, then get the P9. Its a good smartphone if you want something that just does the trick with no thrills but the downside is that this phone wont get much updates past the 1.5 - 2 years mark.
If you said Yes to all or most of those questions, then there is other options within that price range. A 2nd hand S7 or a OnePlus 3 (or 3T) may be a better option.

Z-Blade said:
I personally wont get it. You can get an S7 for a cheap price now but the only downside is touchwiz.
Here are some questions you want to answer:
Is having an up to date phone with good support from the manufacturer important?
Do you want a phone that will last 3-4 years with security updates?
Do you care about things like custom kernels, tweaking, custom roms?
You want a phone that is pact full of features and very customization?
If you said No to all of them or most of them, then get the P9. Its a good smartphone if you want something that just does the trick with no thrills but the downside is that this phone wont get much updates past the 1.5 - 2 years mark.
If you said Yes to all or most of those questions, then there is other options within that price range. A 2nd hand S7 or a OnePlus 3 (or 3T) may be a better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.

xtcislove said:
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you getting this info on kernel sources being released soon? Huawei is notoriously bad at releasing source code in a timely manner if at all. Kirin processors will never have the support and development that Qualcomm has.

xtcislove said:
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernel source was released for EMUI 4.1 and that was great but when Android N was rolled out (well, still being rolled out extremely slowly) we are stuck where we are now. It will probably happen again when Android M is released.
Dont get me wrong, this is a good phone but in my opinion, there are better phones out there at a similar price point with slightly better specs but much more development. However, if you are looking for a good daily driver without the tinkering, messing around, flashing stuff and etc, the P9 is a good choice.

I think you have to look at the price right now. A year ago the P9 had amazing worth compared to other smartphones like the Galaxy S7 because it was 100-200$ cheaper but it still offered very good performance.
Now a year later the P10 and S8 are out and the prices for the older models are reduced. The gap is much much smaller now (on the page where I like to buy stuff, digitec.ch): The P9 costs ~420 and the S7 costs 450.
If I had to choose between a 700$ S7 and a 500$ P9 I'd go for the P9. But between a 420$ P9 and 450$ S7? Probably for the S7.
Unless you specifically like the design or dualcamera features of the P9. Then it's still a very good phone that never feels slow and looks just amazing imho. I have it since launch and it has never let me down, it just works like a champ. Biggest flaw still remains: No way to unlock the screen from the front.

reasons i recently got this phone after my n5x bootlooped
Camera ,usb type c , screen and 3 year warranty
only reason i didnt get s7 was usb2 wtf didnt want to be messing around getting cable wrong way round every time
and for £200 bargain

Pixel in 2018 (coming over from Samsung)

Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!

harisyks said:
Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.

shagbag913 said:
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?

harisyks said:
I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't sound too good. Is there any way you could get logs? Or flash a factory image? Because there was a manufacturing defect in the pixels that caused a crack in the solder joint of the audio codec. Does a reboot fix the issue?

I got a Pixel 6 months ago after years of sony phones. I don't regret it. Like you Im very happy with stock android and I am always on the very latest version. At the moment I'm on 8.1 stock, rooted with twrp, xposed and custom kernel. There are custom roms available on these forums if that's your thing. Unlocking bl is easy, so root is easy. So long as you don't get a verizon in the US or EE in the UK. Unlocking your bl is a problem on pixels on these networks.
The phone itself, whilst not spectacular is very good. After my Sony phones constantly having problems with the screen coming loose Im looking for this pixel to be robust and reliable. So far so good. I've got the 128 gb but do miss an sd card. Makes wiping data so much easier but it's not a big problem.
There are monthly updates from Google and my understanding is the pixel will be supported until October 2019. I'm waiting for android p, the developer version is already available, so should get this in the next couple of months.
Oh and the camera is very very good
Overall would highly recommend. Always being on the latest android is the big plus for me.