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[Q] What about Xperia M2 Aqua (D2403)?

Well im planning to buy Xperia M2 Aqua, but it prings up some concerns about development for this phone. On paper it has very simmilar specs to Xperia M2:
Both have 1GB RAM
Both have 4.8 inch 540x960 screens
Both have 8MP camera
With only diffrence being in proccesors (witch from what i know makes pretty much all the diffrence)
1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8926 Quad Core (only for Xperia M2 D2303,D2306)
vs
1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8926-2 Quad Core (for Xperia M2 Aqua)
I dont really know whats the diffrence between both proccesors, doubt we can talk about compatiblity. But its not a big diffrence right?
So would there be any development for Xperia M2 Aqua, since i doubt its going to get a seprete forum (would be great though)?

- The screen is now marketed as IPS but it still has the greenish tint at lower light settings, so no improvement.
- The resolution is the same QGA and that's fine for a 4.8 screen in my books.
- The water-resistant covers eventually drop off after some months of use, at least this is what happened on my V. Anyway don't rely on that and emerge into water. When new it's ok but after weeks ... you wouldn't be the first.
- The powers saving are attributed mostly to KK, you can have that also on the non aqua model.
- As for the processor I can't say anything, except that on my 2303 the core 2 and 3 are pretty rarely used. A custom kernel would be really needed here.
- The glass is still the same, declared scratch resistant but not Corning, and smudging in the same manner.
- 1 gB RAM to my opinion in practice is not really enough anymore, but that does not concern Sony only.
- Sony is not exchanging our devices for the after 5 months after launch updated M2. Also consider a Asus Zenfone, Xiaomi, or a Lenovo in this class. They cost either less or offer much more for the same cash.

Well Xiaomi is pretty much non existant in my country, same for Lenovo phones. I was considering Asus Zenfone 5 for a while, but the M2 Aqua has like 70€ price cut, so its a good deal for only 199€. The major problem is that i'd like to get Cyanogenmod on it one day, but though thats happing.

MLDev said:
Well Xiaomi is pretty much non existant in my country, same for Lenovo phones. I was considering Asus Zenfone 5 for a while, but the M2 Aqua has like 70€ price cut, so its a good deal for only 199€. The major problem is that i'd like to get Cyanogenmod on it one day, but though thats happing.
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you like buy a Chinese made smartphone than buy a support software
welll, they're a much better than M2 but they won't give a software support on it

Choosing developer friendly, reliable smartphone for a person with poor vision

Hi all.
I am a developer (mostly web, just occasional mobile) with poor vision since birth and I'm looking for a smartphone which should meet the following criteria:
- budget under 350 EUR
- has no problems installing custom launchers; I'd like to install Launcher WP8 style . I have used Xperia Neo V and Lumia 920, and my eyes really enjoy minimalistic WP tile interface. I seriously consider to develop my own launcher some day for special needs of my eyes (and other people like me). I know that there is a magnifier built-in but I'd like to avoid using it, if possible - it's just simpler, if I can get text sizes, colors and usability without using those somewhat inconvenient triple tapping gestures
- has an upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow available or planned for sure (rumored does not count)
- at least 16GB RAM (have heard complaints that 8GB is too little space for Android today)
- screen size - 5" seems to be the sweat spot
- other features - like any midrange phone - 13MPx camera, microSD is mandatory
- solid build quality. I don't change phones more than once in three years, so I'd like the phone to last and survive normal everyday use.
- no glass back (I've heard bad reports of Sony Z being too fragile). Strong plastic or aluminium is good
- has repair services in Europe (and also in my country, Latvia). I'll be using the phone as my main "work horse", so I want to get repaired it fast and hassle-free, in case if...
- has not locked out normal development support (with "normal" I mean remote debugging and installing self-compiled apks )
- can be rooted and flashed with custom ROM and has reliable and stable ROMs available (most probably, I won't need this in next 2 years, anyway, but who knows... I just want to be sure)
So, I looked through the options available, and now I have three candidates:
HTC One M8s
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE500KL Dual 16GB
Huawei P8 Lite ALE-L21
I intend to buy the phone from a reliable local shop, which means that I might receive a model which is definitely not locked to any carrier, but it might be not meant for my country (Latvia) Most probably, it will be some European model. However, my current Lumia model was targeted at Saudi Arabia, but it had no problems with installing European updates on it. I hope that Android won't disappoint me and I won't be stuck with something totally Arabic or Chinese, but from the other hand I've heard that sometimes those regions get updates even faster that Europe
So, the main question for the time being is:
Is it worth paying for HTC One M8S instead of buying Asus Zenfone 2 or Huawei P8 Lite?
M8S seems really attractive, but I'm not sure if it won't turn out to be PITA to install and develop custom launchers, considering deep SenseUI integration into the core Android. And there might be other factors, unknown to me which might make Asus Zenphone or Huawei P8 Lite a better choice for my requirements.
I'd really appreciate your feedback, especially from owners of the mentioned devices and developers who know HTC, Asus and Huawei ecosystem and their attitude to developers (support, ignore or fight against unauthorized software).
There where some attractive models which matched specs-wise and price-wise but unfortunately I had to neglect them because of unknown Marshmallow upgrade or because of glass back:
SAMSUNG G903F GALAXY S5 NEO 16GB
Samsung A500FU Galaxy A5 16GB
Huawei Ascend P7 Black
Sony E5603 Xperia M5
Sony Z2
Sony C6603 Xperia Z Black
Sony D6603 Xperia Z3

So, as nobody tried to convince me otherwise, I'm going to order HTC One M8s. I just hope that it won't turn out to be less development friendly than ZenPhone 2.

Need Suggestions in buying new phone

Hello to everyone in the community,
I was using Sony Xperia Z1 till yesterday (now my phone is not turning on with red light blinking) and planning to buy a new phone which has best specifications at budget price. I m a fan of Sony and was using Z1 (brought it from eBay - imported) for past 2 years and replaced Sony battery once (30 Mar 2016) and now its totally dead even after replacing battery 5 months back. I am disappointed with Sony’s heating and battery problem (short battery life). Suggest me some mobiles to buy (preferably Sony ) . I need good looking stylish phone with good display quality (HD, 4K), primary and secondary camera, supports most of the games and with 4G-network.
thanks in advance

david_30new said:
Hello to everyone in the community,
I was using Sony Xperia Z1 till yesterday (now my phone is not turning on with red light blinking) and planning to buy a new phone which has best specifications at budget price. I m a fan of Sony and was using Z1 (brought it from eBay - imported) for past 2 years and replaced Sony battery once (30 Mar 2016) and now its totally dead even after replacing battery 5 months back. I am disappointed with Sony’s heating and battery problem (short battery life). Suggest me some mobiles to buy (preferably Sony ) . I need good looking stylish phone with good display quality (HD, 4K), primary and secondary camera, supports most of the games and with 4G-network.
thanks in advance
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Click to collapse
Sony website?

david_30new said:
Hello to everyone in the community,
I was using Sony Xperia Z1 till yesterday (now my phone is not turning on with red light blinking) and planning to buy a new phone which has best specifications at budget price. I m a fan of Sony and was using Z1 (brought it from eBay - imported) for past 2 years and replaced Sony battery once (30 Mar 2016) and now its totally dead even after replacing battery 5 months back. I am disappointed with Sony’s heating and battery problem (short battery life). Suggest me some mobiles to buy (preferably Sony ) . I need good looking stylish phone with good display quality (HD, 4K), primary and secondary camera, supports most of the games and with 4G-network.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest checking out the OnePlus 3, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Axon 7, and Honor 8. I would venture away from Sony personally because you can find a lot of other good phones.
If you want a new Sony check out there website. http://www.sonymobile.com/us/products/phones/ Once you decide on a device check out https://swappa.com/ for good deals.

KillerDroid96 said:
I would suggest checking out the OnePlus 3, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Axon 7, and Honor 8. I would venture away from Sony personally because you can find a lot of other good phones.
If you want a new Sony check out there website. http://www.sonymobile.com/us/products/phones/ Once you decide on a device check out https://swappa.com/ for good deals.
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Thank you for the info

Which one would be the best choice Sony Xperia X or Z5 premium or Z3+ ?

Recommendation to a phone with small screen?

Hello,
there are so many android phones out there, and i just wanted to ask whether you have any recommendations to a model which fits my needs and can be bought used for cheap, should be no problem if it's a few years old.
things it needs:
small size (like iPhone 6 or 12 mini)
nfc for Google Pay
maybe Snapdragon 8xx
good battery time
good custom Rom support
Phones like the Pixel 2 or Axon 7 seem to be good, but their Display is a large 5,5" 16:9... and the "lite" phones are often the "cheap" less powerful variant of their bigger brothers.
Thanks in advance

If you're ok with an older phone the Sony Xperia XZ2 is my favorite compact phone I've ever used.

XZ2 Compact with LineageOS 17.1 [OFFICIAL]

Have you seen Unihertz ? https://www.unihertz.com/store-products.html

anonymousfun122 said:
Have you seen Unihertz ? https://www.unihertz.com/store-products.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not knew them, but this is not especially this i was searching for. Thanks anyway

I'd also like to recommend a Sony: the Xperia XA2. Released around the same time as the other models suggested in this thread. I bought this one specifically because it's the most "modern" phone that I could find that still had a 16:9 screen.
Officially supports LIneageOS as well as SailfishOS if you're a die-hard Linux nerd.

That Sony Xperia XA2 would be a good possibility....

Opinions welcome: ROG Phone 5 vs Xperia 5 II

Hello,
I am going to upgrade my good old LG G5 (running LineageOS 17.1) next week,
and after careful filtering in GSMArena, I have narrowed down my options to ROG Phone 5 and Xperia 5 II,
both models are similarly priced, and they feature most of the specifications I was looking for, with some (less painful) difference:
3.5mm Jack, Dual Speakers, Big fast storage (although ROG doesn't have microSD),
Good Screens (although my G5 has 1440p..), Top notch Cameras..
I wouldn't do much gaming on either phone, but naturally, some gaming features are always welcome and they have benefits,
like the dual speakers, and the quad-dac setup in the ROG Phone,
I mainly want a fast feature packed phone, great for vacations and content consumption.
Now, the ROG isn't out yet, but what are your opinions looking at both devices, or owning a current xperia?
(or old xperia and old ROG?)
Things that confuse me include:
ROG Phone 5 has a 64MP Sony sensor, but in photo comparison it looks about the same as the 12MP on Xperia,
I know MP isn't everything, and Xperia does have it's own advanced camera apps, apart from the point and shoot basic app
ROG Phone 5 has a 'special' quad DAC, with advertised hardware, but the DAC in the Xperia in unknown as far as I know
ROG Phone 5 doesn't have a microSD slot, so I'd be stuck with the internal storage forever, this is potentially a slight issue
ROG Phone 5 doesn't pass durability tests of 'JerryRigEverything', it fails pretty easily on hand..
Repairability is also a factor for me.. (apart from Magisk and Xposed goodness, which are available for both devices..)
P.S the ROG Phone 5 would be available in stores on the 29 of march, 3 days from this post
P.S#2 Xperia 1 II is more expensive, but Also looks like a good choice