Related
This will probably a rant, but I don't really want it to be a rant, I like discussions better I really do. So I will talk about some of the reasons to support my claim in the title. If you feel like it please tell me how you feel about this situation.
So I've been using the Galaxy S7 Edge Exynos version since it came out, and before that the S5, and before that HTC One X. To be honest I almost went for the iPhone 6s because I was just sick and tired of all the software problems with the S5, background apps constantly draining battery and there's nothing you can do because most of the time it's Google Play Services. I was like, ok this time I'm moving over to Apple, but then the S7 came out with the curved screen and waterproofness and all that good stuff. I was seduced and got the S7 edge instead.
Today I don't regret my decision back then, I still like how the S7 matches up against the iPhone 6s. I love how it's waterproof because I like to wash it once in a while, it's a stupid reason but whatever... I love the screen and how it's impossible to see any pixels. I love the battery life (except the times when an app mysteriously drains battery in sleep). And I love the camera performance. However, with iPhone 7 coming out, the tides are turning fast.
Areas the iPhone is better than any android phone
1. The iPhone 7 is faster than any Android phone, and I don't see Android catching up. The single core performance of the A10 is just off the charts, nobody is even close to it, and nobody will be in the foreseeable future.
2. The iPhone 7 now has wide gamut display with ambient lighting awareness. While android fanboys are still obsessing with MOAR PIXELS. While I agree the iPhone COULD use more pixels, it's not a significant improvement going from 1080p to 2k. But it is a big improvement going from dumb static colors, which look harsh and terribly blue under most indoor lighting conditions, to dynamic and natural colors on the iPhone 7 and iPad Pro.
3. Android still has no high precision vibration motor like the Taptic Engine. The increase in precision delivers a qualitative change in how vibration helps UI experience. Android is still stuck with ancient rotational motors that can only give one type of long continuous vibration. I haven't tried the iPhone 7 home button. But the static trackpads on newer MacBooks are amazing, like you swear it's a perfect button with precisely the same actuation force everywhere, except they're static and you're not actually pressing anything down.
In comparison, capacitive buttons suck because they require no force to activate and it's easy to activate by accident. Hardware buttons are ok but the long button on Samsung phones can fail to activate when you press the side and not the centre.
4. Sapphire. I don't know if people forgot about it or what, the iPhone has sapphire camera cover glass ladies and gentlemen, did we just forget about that? Some Android manufacturers like Sony for some reason still think it's a good idea to use plastic. The durability of the iPhone camera hump is just much more reliable. Also the Home button is sapphire. Why is that important? Well because if you have hard dust particles on your phone, it won't immediately scratch unless force is applied, like when you press a button. This makes the buttons more vulnerable to scratches. The S7 still has plastic buttons, mine is already scratched up.
5. Actual hardware-based features, rather than software hacks. The perfect example for this is the selfie flash. While Android phones have been doing it for a long time, none has a custom display driver chip like the iPhone has. Why? Well because they can't afford it, Android phones use off-the-shelf components as much as possible to reduce cost. When a selfie flash is really needed, like with some Chinese phones, they just mount LED flashes in the front, which makes the front face of the phone ugly.
Another example of this is 3D touch. When this came out many Android fanboys were like, oh why can't you just long-press to do the same thing? Other examples include the aforementioned Taptic engine, dual tone flash, decent DAC and amp for headphone output, Multiple RGB ambient light sensors, and chip-based fingerprint encryption.
6. Honest, sincere software updates. My S7 Edge still has no palm rejection. Enough said. While the iPhone 5 can run the latest iOS 10.
7. Higher quality apps from the App Store. Tighter control over what apps are allowed and not allowed to do. Peace of mind that no app will drain your battery in the background.
8. Gaming performance. the iPhone not only has the fastest GPU, it also has Metal which is actually used by devs. While Android has Vulcan, it's pointless because nobody uses it anyway. Also most android apps are designed for mid-range android phones, which are much much slower than iPhones.
9. Design. As pretty as the S7 Edge is, it cannot match the attention to detail like the iPhone. The speaker holes aren't chamfered, the holes don't aline properly and it looks stupid. the USB port isn't centred which also looks stupid. When the best of Android can't compete with the iPhone, I think it is safe to assume no other Android flagship will come close in a long time. Also, the clock icon actually moves, so does the calendar.
10. Apple Watch. Android wear watches are just too big, they're gigantic, wtf guys? make a smaller watch! I have the Gear S2, it's great it's barely small enough, but it is also the smallest non-Apple smartwatch. Again, while the S2 looks great from a distance with the round screen and stuff, it's not water proof to 50 meters, you have the ancient and really bad classic watch band system which is impossible to install and uninstall unless you only use the band Samsung gives you. And there is no speaker, and the OS is much much much less powerful than Watch OS.
Areas where the iPhone is strong, but not necessarily the best
1. Sound quality. Yes the LG V10, V20 and a couple of Chinese phones have better sound quality than the iPhone. But most android flagships still suck in this department. Please don't say Viper, it's exactly the problem I was talk about. Software hacks will never be as effective as purposeful and quality hardware. When you have a weak ****ty amp no software will allow it to drive good headphones.
2. Screen. While we can all agree that Samsung has better screens, the same can't be said of other phones. Mostly because of ****ty calibration. Most android phones are horribly blue, with super high color temperature. Now with the iPhone 7, apple has two screen features Samsung doesn't namely wide gamut with proper color profile management, and awareness of ambient lighting condition.
3. Water proof. At this point only Samsung and Sony have the expertise to do this.
4. No headphone jack. I actually like this, even though I use a 3.5mm headphone. It's just more beautiful in design. A Chinese phone also did this a few months before to try to steal Apple's thunder so it's no longer exclusive to Apple. How do you listen to music while charging? Well there will always be some down sides to progress, the answer is simply you can't, not without a dongle of some sort. I do worry about the quality of the DAC in the adaptor they give you.
5. Battery life. the iPhone now has some of the longest battery life, other than crazy designs with like 5000mha batteries. Increasing battery size is just not the right way to increase battery life. Apple does the right thing by improving efficiency instead. Because bigger battery takes longer to charge, and using quick charge reduces battery lifespan, bigger battery also doesn't reduce power draw, which causes heating problems. Where as increased efficiency has no down sides (other than price, cost and difficulty).
6. Hardware silence switch. WTF Android manufacturers!? It's so useful! have one of these please! Why not! Because it doesn't look badass on the spec sheet?
Areas where Android is ahead
1. I am serious here, this has been a big problem for me for a long time. You can't freely arrange the icons in iOS. I get why Apple is doing this, because most people suck at arranging their home screens, most people are not good artists or designers. If you give them freedom they will just make their phone look lame and stupid. While I can agree with that decision from their perspective, I still wish I can customize my home screen.
2. No file system. So frustrating, so annoying. While I also hate how messy the android file system is, with all the apps making random folders everywhere it also bugs me as hell. Why isn't there a middle ground? Have a simple root directory with four folders that say Camera, Pictures, Music and Documents, with NO other folders? This is getting better with iCloud access and stuff so yea, it's not as bad as before.
The problem with Android at the end of the day, is there is no single device that can do enough things better than the iPhone. The iPhone is either the best or almost the best in just so many categories. You can get the V20 for best sound quality yes, you get no waterproofness, no stunning design, no best screen. You can get the Note 7, but you get bad sound quality, no new camera features, and bad software updates. You can get the Nexus 6P for good updates, but you get ****ty plastic construction (with metal shell), really bad sound quality, bad screen, and outdated camera.
Any argument someone makes to me about iPhones gets countered with one single word:
iTunes.
If Apple would give us a proper navigable file system (WTF is wrong with drag-and-drop?) and the ability to customize the homescreen beyond wallpaper and where to put icons in that boring-ass grid, I'd be more interested. Customizable interface (ie: launcher), on-screen widgets, and the ability to use storage as STORAGE, and I'd be interested.
The iPhone is fine if you're looking for a smartphone. My Androids are computers I can fit in my pocket, that can do all sorts of things an iPhone can't.
And iTunes is the worst. Just awful.
This is an Android development/discussion site, not iPhone.
Thread closed.
Hi everyone! I have a Sony z3 and I'm really in love with Sony's devices.
I saw this phone but I have two questions :
1) it's possible to root it? Or there are problems with drm in the bootloader like on z3?
2) between this and the one plus 5 which one do you suggest? Which make the best photos and videos?
3) can you suggest me some good cover for this phone?
Inviato dal mio D6603 utilizzando Tapatalk
In a word, no. Not for the price. I never really have buyers regret but on this device I do. I wish i had just bought a HTC U11.
Positives
Good industrial design
Fingerprint scanner is great
Battery life is excellent
solid performance
Negatives
The camera in the day is great, not the best but not the worst. The camera in the evening is poor at best unless you have a tripod.
Obvious distortion issue on 95% of camera modules, people who say they don't I think are in denial, so that number is most likely 100%
The dual speakers are quiet and sound quality is also not the best.
The screen is great but the sub pixel arrangement means it is not as good as the HDR screen on the lower resolution G6 or S8.
The Headphone jack is great, but the volume is low. Having used the S8, iphone 7 and HTC U11, they are all much louder - Dongle or not.
The Frame of the phone is plastic and scratches very easily. My plastic case has scratched the sides already and I am very careful with my phones.
No MHL support, No figerprint support in USA, no wireless charging and althought the industrial design is good the screen to body ratio is poor.
I would save you money and buy a cheaper HTC U11 or One Plus 5.
All of which is publicly known for a long time now. All devices have pros and cons, the question is what your wiling to live with and what are you not able to do without.
Fact of the matter is this, whilst the camera is probably the most significant issue, pretty much everything else is just subjective ramblings of whoever your speaking too. Wireless charging? Wow but a deal breaker? I doubt it
Phone case a bit scratch prone? Who doesnt use cases on these phones these days.
Everything else except the camera is subjective, meaning some folk won't mind the audio, some will, some will not like the bezzle, some will.
Personally the u11 not having a jack is a deal breaker. Blooming stupid idea not having one given the cheapness of headphones. Sorry but if I've forgotten to bring my phones I'm not spending 25 quid on a new set, I'll be spending no more than a fiver from just about any shop on earth
The one plus 5 nice phone, but who's idea was it not to add a sd card slot?! And is got a comparatively low PPI.
And both of those have loaded with pish compared to the XZp relatively stock UI
Now that's not to say they are rubbish, you just need to work out what you want and what you can compromise with.
---------- Post added at 05:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
indecently, I got the XZp after a lot of deliberating.
And with the exception of the camera, I am happy with it.
Just hope they sort out the camera, not so much the wonky lines introduced by the lens, but by the overuse of sharpening, the camera is stunning as shown by the image on the screen but after processing, it certainly losses its flare, if someone is watching, if they wont change the processing, give us the option to shoot RAW and ill deal with it
If you are watching a lot of videos on Youtube, Netflix and Amazon Prime and you also transfer many movie files into your phone, then buy it and you will never regret it. But if you are not watching a lot of media content then wait for the XZ1.
I don't have any of above mentioned pro lens. And I am vary happy with the phone. Speakers are enough loud and the audio is perfect from the ear pads. No distortion at all.
dazza9075 said:
All of which is publicly known for a long time now. All devices have pros and cons, the question is what your wiling to live with and what are you not able to do without.
Fact of the matter is this, whilst the camera is probably the most significant issue, pretty much everything else is just subjective ramblings of whoever your speaking too. Wireless charging? Wow but a deal breaker? I doubt it
Phone case a bit scratch prone? Who doesnt use cases on these phones these days.
Everything else except the camera is subjective, meaning some folk won't mind the audio, some will, some will not like the bezzle, some will.
Personally the u11 not having a jack is a deal breaker. Blooming stupid idea not having one given the cheapness of headphones. Sorry but if I've forgotten to bring my phones I'm not spending 25 quid on a new set, I'll be spending no more than a fiver from just about any shop on earth
The one plus 5 nice phone, but who's idea was it not to add a sd card slot?! And is got a comparatively low PPI.
And both of those have loaded with pish compared to the XZp relatively stock UI
Now that's not to say they are rubbish, you just need to work out what you want and what you can compromise with.
---------- Post added at 05:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
indecently, I got the XZp after a lot of deliberating.
And with the exception of the camera, I am happy with it.
Just hope they sort out the camera, not so much the wonky lines introduced by the lens, but by the overuse of sharpening, the camera is stunning as shown by the image on the screen but after processing, it certainly losses its flare, if someone is watching, if they wont change the processing, give us the option to shoot RAW and ill deal with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't owned a phone with a memory card slot in about five years and haven't missed it
crom1 said:
I don't have any of above mentioned pro lens. And I am vary happy with the phone. Speakers are enough loud and the audio is perfect from the ear pads. No distortion at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me
Super Chimp said:
I haven't owned a phone with a memory card slot in about five years and haven't missed it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Na, my old dear doesn't either but the she's 65 an can barely turn the phone on. I on the other hand have a requirement for an expansion slot, not just for additional storage but for peace of mind, knowing that should my phone go to the great rubbish dump in the sky, its important data is kept safe and to hand where ever I might be.
The 1 second slow-mo is a joke. And the blocked FM radio tuner is also a slap in the face of every Sony customer out there. Not to mention the other blocked features.
If you tell me what cloud service I can use, I will upload some photos.
dazza9075 said:
Na, my old dear doesn't either but the she's 65 an can barely turn the phone on. I on the other hand have a requirement for an expansion slot, not just for additional storage but for peace of mind, knowing that should my phone go to the great rubbish dump in the sky, its important data is kept safe and to hand where ever I might be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You ever heard of cloud storage grandpa.
Super Chimp said:
You ever heard of cloud storage grandpa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, its a wonderful service that, when you are connected to the internet, allows you to backup and stream data. The problem is moving 30GB of Data on to the cloud and downloading it takes a fair old toll on your Data plan unless you are connected to wifi and, shock horror, wifi isn't everywhere and even if it is, it can be A, Throttled, or B Data Limited which kinda sucks, it also takes a great deal of time.
What you are saying in a round about way is this, you don't actually need two legs these days, you can get away with a wheel chair in most places so actually, lets lob our legs off our new borns because they are clearly redundant. Ludicrous? yes but its the same with expansions slots, you don't NEED an expansion slot but having them can make life awfully simple.
Just the other day I decided to de-brand my XZp. Wiped the device and back up and running in a few min, all my work is exactly where I left it, all my photos are right there various other backups for a number of other apps plus music blar blar blar. all there, no fannying about having to download it all again
Disdrediting something as simple as a expansion slot is daft, yes not everyone needs them but if you do, its better to have and not need then need and not have. Same with the 3.5mm jack (which I notice my comment isn't being challenged as much on here) Do we need it? no, does it make life simple, yes.
---------- Post added at 12:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 PM ----------
oh one other thing, my kids are like 12, I sincerely hope I'm not a Grandpa, around my neck of the woods Pre-Teen parents are thankfully few and far between, but I realise in some other parts of the world its more common practice, so just for future reference, I'm Not a Grandparent.
We all know the hardware capability is there but it has been bottlenecked on purpose. MHL anyone?
XZ Premium is for those who like the most advanced tech in their phone like a 4k Display, dual speakers, 960 slow mo camera, etc...
But it's definitely not for "Common Stream Product Lovers" like Samsung or Apple fanboys. As much as the Hardware is awesome and Sony Quality, the Drivers are terrible. All complaints you will hear about the XZ premium are in fact Software based.
- Wide Angle Camera has Distortion? Really? This is completely normal and expected. But this pushes people to complain because Sony isn't as good as coding a proper software to counter balance the distortion.
- Sound? That's completely relative in so many levels. First, when you listen to HD audio, the speakers are awesome. The sound can't be cleaner and the level is just right. But 90% of apps and low quality media will not sound as good. Again, it's a software issue. For some reason, you open an APP and the sound is too Loud and sounds really bad. You open another and you hear nothing. And sometimes you hear some high quality sound and go "wtf? The speakers are that good so why all the other stuff sounds so terrible?". Again, Sony's Drivers. It's like they don't even care.
4K Display? Best Display ever. And even better for VR. Do not believe that complete BS that LCD is not good for VR etc... I have written a whole thread about it, and there I explain how this is BS. The first 8K VR headset uses an LCD display. So what's the problem then? Again no Support from Sony for nice 4K Content, (Except Youtube), and not even any APP. And no, there's no shadow effect whatsoever. What people complain about is in fact the 30 FPS blurriness because of stereoscopic settings. ( Stereoscopy can't have a constant setting in any distance. So if an item on the image moves fast, this will cause the 3D effect to get off because sterescopy can't work at the same level wherever you look in the display. That's why Samsung is in fact working on a VR which tracks your eyes so they can focus immediately where you look. This will help them to not only fix the 3D continuity but also lower the need for resources by lowering the resolution anywhere you're not actually looking). (and btw, If XZ premium would allow its processor to play 4K at 60 FPS, even this wouldn't be an issue). But of course, this is less detectable on Amoled displays. Oh, Amoled have this problem too. The Note 7 Gear VR gets also blurry as any other 3D rendering device. Even 3D movie theaters have this problem. Finally, a 4K LCD is like 100000000x way better than any 2K Amoled. The absence of the screen door effect alone is worth it. But again, Sony doesn't even advertise that. Cause they really don't care.
------- Bottom Line:
Dude. This is the BEST Phone you can get. Ever. The Note 8, iPhone 8, etc.. are all Complete BS next to this Phone....
BUT, once you buy it, you are left alone with it. Sony doesn't have your back like Samsung or Apple. So if you're not a Tech Enthousiast who takes time to tweak his phone, tweak Apps, etc.. Stay away from it.
Sony is simply the best and this phone is easily the best.
There's literally no other brand I can see myself buying since all have weird stuff going on.
nomailx said:
XZ Premium is for those who like the most advanced tech in their phone like a 4k Display, dual speakers, 960 slow mo camera, etc...
But it's definitely not for "Common Stream Product Lovers" like Samsung or Apple fanboys. As much as the Hardware is awesome and Sony Quality, the Drivers are terrible. All complaints you will hear about the XZ premium are in fact Software based.
- Wide Angle Camera has Distortion? Really? This is completely normal and expected. But this pushes people to complain because Sony isn't as good as coding a proper software to counter balance the distortion.
- Sound? That's completely relative in so many levels. First, when you listen to HD audio, the speakers are awesome. The sound can't be cleaner and the level is just right. But 90% of apps and low quality media will not sound as good. Again, it's a software issue. For some reason, you open an APP and the sound is too Loud and sounds really bad. You open another and you hear nothing. And sometimes you hear some high quality sound and go "wtf? The speakers are that good so why all the other stuff sounds so terrible?". Again, Sony's Drivers. It's like they don't even care.
4K Display? Best Display ever. And even better for VR. Do not believe that complete BS that LCD is not good for VR etc... I have written a whole thread about it, and there I explain how this is BS. The first 8K VR headset uses an LCD display. So what's the problem then? Again no Support from Sony for nice 4K Content, (Except Youtube), and not even any APP. And no, there's no shadow effect whatsoever. What people complain about is in fact the 30 FPS blurriness because of stereoscopic settings. ( Stereoscopy can't have a constant setting in any distance. So if an item on the image moves fast, this will cause the 3D effect to get off because sterescopy can't work at the same level wherever you look in the display. That's why Samsung is in fact working on a VR which tracks your eyes so they can focus immediately where you look. This will help them to not only fix the 3D continuity but also lower the need for resources by lowering the resolution anywhere you're not actually looking). (and btw, If XZ premium would allow its processor to play 4K at 60 FPS, even this wouldn't be an issue). But of course, this is less detectable on Amoled displays. Oh, Amoled have this problem too. The Note 7 Gear VR gets also blurry as any other 3D rendering device. Even 3D movie theaters have this problem. Finally, a 4K LCD is like 100000000x way better than any 2K Amoled. The absence of the screen door effect alone is worth it. But again, Sony doesn't even advertise that. Cause they really don't care.
------- Bottom Line:
Dude. This is the BEST Phone you can get. Ever. The Note 8, iPhone 8, etc.. are all Complete BS next to this Phone....
BUT, once you buy it, you are left alone with it. Sony doesn't have your back like Samsung or Apple. So if you're not a Tech Enthousiast who takes time to tweak his phone, tweak Apps, etc.. Stay away from it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agreed to this opinion. And I can add that for me it works on flawlessly. Battery, Sound on HI res audio is amazing.
lol i had the xperia xzp for about a week and what a phone it is the display and front speakers where amazing and i have always liked the design and the launcher of the xperias
what was bad for me was the camera and they always have been for me on xperia devices and ive had a few
xperia z,z1,z2,z3,xzp had them all and the cameras have always been the weak point for me which is really frustrating as on paper they have the best hardware for the cameras then all the competition but for me just seem to fail especially in low light
and now the whole not been able to root on locked bootloaders was it for me as ive never unlocked my bootloaders as ive never wanted to loose xreality ect
so i jumped on the bandwagon and now got the galaxy s8 plus but im starting to already miss my xzp
my views to anyone is get the xzp its a famous case of quality over quantity which all sony products not just phone have
There is certainly a lot more to a phone then benchmarks, I haven't yet seen a reliable means of benchmarking the UI, fluidity is one of the primary reasons I went for the XZp, but you can only really gauge that by watching it and comparing. personally I haven't experienced a single stutter despite very heavy usage and running some bloated crap not even once has this phone stuttered on the UI.
Its actually very impressive, but it's also entirely subjective.
On paper it may not appear to hold It's own when compared to others but in your hand I think it tells a different story.
I would like to see some evidence that Sony has deliberating DISABLED Features, I don't see how you can possibly know that to be true at this stage but if it is true then yes that's a single black mark against the XZp. Not sure FM radio is a deal breaker in my mind but each to their own
Thread cleaned
While healthy debates over which brand is better are okay, please try to not cross the line and keep it civil. Remember, not everyone will share your opinion and whatever you say or do will change their opinion/thinking
Now lets try and help the OP regarding whether to buy the XZ Premium or not
Honestly, I'd wait to see what the XZ1 brings.
I went with the XZ Premium because I wanted a dual sim phone, and the Compacts don't seem to come with dual sim support.
I would have waited for the XZ1 Compact but the 4k really sold me on this thing. It's great for watching videos in VR (Although I need to to change the resolution with ADB first).
If you're not looking for dual sim, the XZ1 Compact *should* come with an S835. I'd go for that one, but that's just me.
is the xz premium still worth getting now that we are in 2018? or is it worth waiting till sony releases there next flagship? what are you thoughts peeps
well, still only phone around the market with 4K HDR display. cool thing but only useful if you use 4K streaming services or keep that kind of content on your phone. and you still get good stereo setup if loud speaker matters to you and regular updates. it all depend on your personal preferences though. if you wait a bit more till sony release new flagship with "premium" in its name your xzp might get even more cheap and you getting a decent phone at good price.
I got rid of my XZP and got the Mi Mix 2 which to me is better.
XZPs body is huge for the screen u get, 4k is overkill on a screen so small, can't take full advantage of it. DRM key issue is a let down with Sony as usual.
Can get better for a lot cheaper in my opinion.
I just bought the device after my Z3 recently gave up on me.
All I can say personally is that I'm really glad that I finally got a new device and the XZP was a good choice I think.
To me the big bezels on the screen are not a problem but a good thing as I rather have some space on the front of the device to rest my fingers on.
The camera is pretty awesome but that's quite subjective as I didn't compare it to anything else than my Z3.
Softwarewise I'm still a fan of Sony's close-to-stock feel of Oreo.
I watched a lot of reviews and read a lot of articles beforehand and most of the negative things in those haven't been a problem to me at all.
So if you plan on buying a new device you could wait until the new line-up from the top manufacturers is ready and then get a good deal.
1. Signal reception. Samsung, HTC and Xiaomi nervously smoke their cigarettes. Sony da best.
2. Screen. Yes it's not ALWAYS 4K. Yes it's not as bright as _some_ OLED displays, but it's still one of the most true-colored displays on the market. One of the best.
3. Camera. Of course HTC U11, Pixel are unmatched. But also, knowing that, for example, Samsung S7/S8 aren't perfect and their owners still use Snapcamera or other 3rd party software for better shooting experience, I'd not say that Sony's got a BAD camera. Yes, SuperAutoMode is a total crap, but everyone knows that Manual mode is actually an automatic mode which, somehow, allows for better photos. So, I will say, everyone admits that XZ P has a DECENT camera for photos. And it's got the best Video. People say Sony shoots video as better than Pixel just as Pixel is better in taking photos over the Sony.
4. Performance. It's SMOOTHER than Samsungs. Just put them together. Multitasking and etc - watch videos on Youtube: more or less same as other phones with same specs, and even a tad better than iPhone X.
5. Style. Yet Sony is the company out of a small club with its own recognizable style. And cool colors. Also, Xperias feel more expensive at hand, because Sony doesn't stink in materials.
6. Physical shutter button. It's awesome.
Everything else should be a clear IMHO, but those are also features that differ Xperias from other phones.
-I DO love the Sony Apps (album, walkman). Sony also has the PlayStation suite, which I don't use. But you might
-I often DO use the Noise Cancelling wired earplugs via the 3.5mm jack. And SONY probably is the only company that offers this feature out-of-the-box (I use MDR-NC031, previously been using them with Z5 Premium and XZ)
-I hate the DRM thing which complicates the bootloader unlocking and adds unnecessary consequences
-I DON'T regard bezels as any sort of inconvenience
-Stereo speakers are a great feature, but I rarely listen to music without earplugs/headphones
To sum up... There's NO other actual powerful flagship on the market chat combines a powerful CPU, really decent camera, stereo speakers, IPS display, 3.5mm audio, SD-card and 2sim altogether. And those are really not as Hi-Tech as the wired NC or the 4K display featured here. Even some midrange smartphones offer those features, except for the CPU, camera and sound quality.
The closest match by hardware feature set would be the LG G6, which doesn't really challenge XZ Premium... Maybe XZ, but not XZ1, neither XZs.
You want to wait? You'll get old and die before you choose then, cuz Sony releases a new flagship every half year. If you're not happy with XZ Premium for the price it's available today, neither you will be satisfied with the new Sony flagship for the price it's gonna cost. I also thought... If you're waiting for the perfect device, your dreams actually won't ever come true: while you're waiting, we're all using imperfect devices... and stay excited. We know they're not perfect. Nothing is...
I've just ordered mine last week and i'm totally satisfied ($550, Hong Kong).
Just wait and get the xz premium 2
- it has big ugly display while most moving to borderless design
- it do not has embedded wireless charging
- it is not fully dual sim as second sim can't be used with SD card inserted
- it still can't wake by double taps
- it do not has HDMI output (MHL)
- it has security and ergonomic faults coming initially
And I do not think that XZP2 will fix anything above. Sony showed at CES 2018 the same **** they made last year ;(
I love it and I'm gonna miss it when I buy my next phone that still has analog radio. Sony really betrayed me by not announcing the deal with the radio antenna being grounded. One minute we had perfectly good radios, next thing you know, you can't listen to live radio anymore without draining your mobile data and being asked to buy more.
If I were you, I would wait until MWC 2018 before making a decision. The new Xperia phone could outdo the XZ Premium
The XZ Premium has the best IPS display on the market hands down. It rivals the best amoled panels when it's in super vivid mode. And that's without 4K.
Is it worth it in 2018? Definitely.
I just bought one last night and I am very happy having it. The only gripe that I have right now is the timelapse video function. I could not find it or maybe, it is really not there.
akoikaw said:
I just bought one last night and I am very happy having it. The only gripe that I have right now is the timelapse video function. I could not find it or maybe, it is really not there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app you need to download, it'll appear in the camera apps. Search for "Time Lapse" in Play Store. Install the one with the blue dial and white arrows, i think the developer is Sukro or something like that. Anyway.
Also, time lapse available in snap camera hdr.
Many features were removed, and can still be substituted with some 3rd party software.
I am thinking also about buying it but sound quality and decibels from headphone jack are important to me and I heard/red that it is no good.
Can this be fixed with some sound mod?
Also, I am thinking about Moto Z (1.gen).
EZY-E said:
I am thinking also about buying it but sound quality and decibels from headphone jack are important to me and I heard/red that it is no good.
Can this be fixed with some sound mod?
Also, I am thinking about Moto Z (1.gen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The DAC is really loud on XZP. Sony actually advertises that.
Sasafrass said:
The DAC is really loud on XZP. Sony actually advertises that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I red on gsmarena it is far from thruth..
EZY-E said:
From what I red on gsmarena it is far from thruth..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSMarena is giving Xperia bad reviews left and right - They basically lie about stuff.
Sasafrass said:
GSMarena is giving Xperia bad reviews left and right - They basically lie about stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am talking about lab tests they do for every phone that comes out.
Link: https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz_premium-review-1610p7.php#aq
Sound output is 3 decibels lower than on my 4 years old iphone 5s (???)
And they boast about sound superiority on this phone...
EZY-E said:
I am talking about lab tests they do for every phone that comes out.
Link: https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz_premium-review-1610p7.php#aq
Sound output is 3 decibels lower than on my 4 years old iphone 5s (???)
And they boast about sound superiority on this phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. So use something like VLC for a virtual amplifier. That'll be a little louder
Sasafrass said:
Right. So use something like VLC for a virtual amplifier. That'll be a little louder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listening music via VLC app?
I would rather keep my iphone if I have to do such compromises.
If I buy Xperia I want to listen music through their default app, not some 3rd party app.
Preface: I am posting this here because I think it will be buried otherwise, and I want it to reach as many people as possible, since personally I wish I knew all of this before buying it.
…And kind reminder: If you feel you are an HTC combatant, please click the Back button and save yourself, and probably myself, from getting aggravated.
This review was prompted because I feel like swimming in a sea of superficial “reviews” online, which are mostly advertisements rather than real reviews, and a lot of peculiarities are unearthed only after the device is used for a sufficiently lengthy period of time.
The HTC U Ultra, in my humble opinion, is a double-edged sword (one of the edges is pointed towards the owner, sadly).
The screen is spacious at 5.7” and even though the phone is very large it can be managed in one hand, if you make a concerted effort. The overall size is exacerbated by the 2nd screen on top, which is reasonably useful, i.e. not utterly pointless.
The screen is a very good IPS-variety screen, with moderate brightness (visible enough in bright daylight). Note that the Oreo update, I believe, did considerably increase the maximum brightness, which could be very useful when the need comes, but absolutely not recommended for long-term use because of the borderline insufficient battery capacity. At least, the option to blast out the brightness in a pinch is there.
Performance is overall very good to great, games play well, day-to-day internetting, newsfeeding, facebooking, vibering (or whatever messaging app floats your boat) is great, and so is the multitasking.
The sound from the bundled headphones is outstanding (in combination with the proprietary HTC USonic EQ shenanigans), provided you like deep sub-bass and high brilliance without muffling the vocals (as I do). The sound is definitely V-shaped. The downsides of the headphones are that (a) they don’t have volume buttons, which, given the size of the phone and the inherent difficulty related to getting it out of the pocket to increase or decrease the volume, is moderately frustrating, (b) they are of the USB-C variety, which means you can’t simply plug them into most other phones or HiFi devices, and means that (c) you can’t charge your phone and use the headphones simultaneously, which, however, I wouldn’t do, since I would like the battery to have as longer life as possible, given the difficulty of replacing it (1 – the phone is a glass sandwich which means I can’t just pull the battery out and slap a new one in; 2 – HTC service centers, at least where I live, are few and far between, and 3 – the availability of spare batteries and the costs related to replacing the battery leave a lot to be desired). A negative too is that there is no USB-C to mini-jack adapter in the box, which means you have to buy one, which is easier said than done - a lot of those being sold do not work with the HTC U Ultra (unless you use apps such as Sound About or tinker with the OS) and the original HTC adapter is very hard to buy anyway, most places listing it as out-of-stock. Let’s not forget that routinely plugging cables into the USB-C connector on the phone (one for charging, another for USB-C headphones) will surely shorten the already-not-that-great durability of the said USB-C connector on the phone (and again the glass sandwich which makes it hard to replace said USB-C connector comes to mind). Also, here in Bulgaria people are not buying phones every year and the probability of me being at a place where someone could lend me their USB-C charger to top up my battery midday or mid-party are close to nil, so I have to carry my USB-C cable too.
The battery is not for power users. At 3000 mAh it is not well-suited to the power requirements of that huge and very high resolution screen (2560x1440 + 160x1040, that’s a lot of pixels). Overall, I get 3.5-4.5 hours of screen-on time from a full charge over one day, with some gaming and camera use. If you don’t use the stock camera (the phone automatically maxes out the screen brightness in the stock camera app, and you cannot turn it down, very dumb idea), don’t play games, and use the phone only on WiFi and not on 3G/4G, probably 5 to maximum 6 hours of screen-on time would be possible.
The digitizer of the phone uses snap-to-grid which cannot be switched off which is in effect when the finger is moving slowly. I tried very very hard to figure out the purpose of this seemingly dumb idea, and couldn’t find any sensible reasons for it, and also could not find any other phone with that function. I wonder why... The result is that some games, which require very precise finger movement, are much harder to play on the HTC U Ultra than on any other phone I have tried (granted I have not tried any other HTC phone).
The body of the phone is pointless, a.k.a. pretty. (To me it’s not even that pretty, apart from the logo-less fully black front glass, which I adore. But I digress.) That possibly resulted in the less-than-needed battery capacity and the fact that the phone seems extremely fragile. There is no wireless charging (which I personally don’t need) as an excuse for the glass back. HTC couldn’t even manage to make the sandwich seamless, you can definitely feel ridges where the glass meets the metal, and this even makes the phone uncomfortable to hold for prolonged periods of time. The saving grace (ironic as it may be) is that the hard-plastic case provided in the box makes the phone much more comfortable to hold and much less slippery, whilst also possibly protecting the glass back from shattering when dinged. This hard-plastic case almost entirely defeats any and all prettiness goals there may have been, so why not just make it out of that material, at that increased thickness, and then you could even cram in that much-needed larger battery… Oh, right, every other maker’s phones are made of glass too; prettiness above utility (certainly not my thing).
The second screen has some useful perks, such as having a “widget” of most used contacts or most used apps (then why have a dock too, hmm…), you can pick up the phone and the second screen will activate so you can glance at the time, battery charge, etc., you can activate the flashlight or control your music app from it. Also, and something that I particularly like, incoming notifications pop up on it, which means they don’t pop up over what you are currently doing. Yay!
There are problems with the fingerprint scanner (On Nougat, at least, have not used it since the Oreo update). Sometimes it just refuses to do any scanning but still activates the screen when touched. You are then required to enter your PIN to unlock the phone and then the scanner would work again as if nothing ever happened.
The vibration motor does not vibrate, it buzzes instead. I’m not attempting a pun or a joke, it is indeed a buzz. This feels super cheap, even compared to my 5 year old LG Optimus G Pro (great haptic feedback!). I thought it was a fault of my unit initially. Then I spoke to other owners of Ultras. Thankfully, I got used to it. That does not mean I don’t dislike it anymore.
The screen is not calibrated to sRGB standard but something much wider in terms of color gamut (allegedly DCI-P3, I don’t have instruments to test, or maybe and most probably they just wanted it to be “like Samsung”…). This cannot be corrected anywhere in the OS (you can correct the white point, though, which is good). If you like eye-popping colors you’re in luck, and conversely, if you like more natural colors – you’re certainly out of luck. The reds, especially, are rather eye-watering. On the other hand, the screen has very high clarity with no appreciable over-sharpening, rather high brightness (after Oreo update), low minimum brightness thus can easily be used in pitch black environments, and very little color inversion when viewed at angles (e.g. when showing your friends your awesome photos and videos). Of course, as any IPS screen, it is the brightness which rapidly drops when the phone is tilted, but the picture does not become yellowish or purplish, or grey instead of black. Which is very good.
The sound from the rather inaptly named BoomSound speakers is anything but Boom. The Xiaomi Redmi 4X (~ EUR 100) or the Huawei P8 Lite (2015) easily trounce it in terms of sound quality (especially bass). The sound is also rather imbalanced, most of it coming from the bottom firing speaker (which is also very easy to inadvertently cover and mute whilst holding the phone horizontally). At least it is rather loud, can create a sense of spaciousness when held horizontally and overall it is not “bad” like on many other phones I’ve heard. What is not good at all, however, is that it has an undefeatable volume ramp-up curve, which means that any sound is produced with the volume being gradually increased in the beginning, omitting the initial attack. For songs, such as for example Brain Stew by Green Day, this could be rather hilarious (or to me, rather aggravating). Unsurprisingly then, there is no attack from most notification sounds. So, the good thing is the phone’s notifications could never startle you which means you won’t get a heart-attack if you forgot to reduce your notification volume. Yay… I guess…? Nah, this is just plain dumb and awful.
I wish HTC engineers knew what “centering” means. Then the capacitive buttons wouldn’t have been in the places where I least expect them to be during my day-to-day use of the phone. They are not in the middle of the chin centrally, they are not in the middle of the chin vertically, they are just simply not in the middle of anything. I thought I’d easily get used to that. I was wrong. Their sensitivity zones are also barely extending beyond their graphical symbols. Thus, I have to depress them with my entire thumbs to make sure I’ll catch them. Sneaky bastards. Even turning on the constant backlighting of the buttons does not help as much as I thought it would.
The capacitive scanner/homebutton is also a double-edged sword – easy to use when you want to, but also very easy to accidentally touch and activate when you don’t want to – especially during heated gaming this stinks a lot.
The camera may not be obliterating any DxOMarks any time soon, but to me it is really really good. For one, the wide aperture, combined with the OIS, means you get good night and indoor shots, which I sorely desire. It is fast to snap a picture, it can be activated with a double-click of the power button, it shoots great and reasonably stable 4K video, and even more stable FullHD video if you can sacrifice the clarity of 4K. Great sound recording too! (for the videos) Overall, the camera experience feels “flagship”. Also, given that the phone is with a Snapdragon 821, Google’s ported cameras work pretty well (mind you, there are bugs, sometimes the apps just close, sometimes they don’t produce the intended results, if any at all). When using Google’s ported camera apps the HDR photography results are quite phenomenal (at least to me) and even a lot better than the stock camera app (which is very good to start with) especially for high-contrast and night-time/indoor shots. Also, portraits come out pretty stunning (provided the app doesn’t crash, of course, but that’s not a fault of the phone).
A caveat is that both the front and back cameras of the phone are very prone to flares. It certainly looks like the image is being reflected by something inside (the lenses or the sensor assembly, I have no idea which exactly) and then this reflection gets picked up by the sensor. For instance, at night when shooting shops’ neon signs, I can easily see the vertically flipped ghost flares of those signs. I, personally, am not overly bothered and find those flares more interesting than troublesome, though. Some surely might not.
All in all, it is the high-quality spacious screen (side note: a 5,8” 18.5:9 screen has ~5 cm2 smaller area than a 16:9 5.7” screen, not counting the 2nd screen on the Ultra too), the awesome headphone sound, the great camera quality and experience that make this phone worth the ~ EUR 275, provided you can live with its shortcomings, which are quite a few in my view. You’d be really hard pressed (I’m pretty sure it is impossible but maybe the ZTE Axon 7 could do the trick) to find such a screen, such sound or especially such a camera on any other phone retailing for ~ EUR 300 brand new. At its original price I’d never buy it, though.
But, if you want off-the-charger longevity, a screen with realistic colors, really good speaker sound, durable body and good ergonomics, this is certainly not your phone, even at its current price.
To me it is quite the bipolar experience – sometimes it overjoys me with its sound or camera chops, sometimes it makes me want to smash it against the wall for its absurdly stupid quirks (Which I believe someone thought were “good design ideas”. No, they are not good at all.)
So it is quite the paradoxical one – it can be both extremely good value and extremely bad value, depending on what you want. Hopefully my personal observations can help you make your own well-informed choice.
Love it or hate it. I don’t see any middle ground.
Glad to see another bulgarian with htc u ultra. I thought that i am alone. Reading the title i expected another rant against htc but in fact the review is very good and completely confirms what i observed for the 5 months with this phone. I am not fan of games and the good screen, headphone sound quality and camera are very important for me so i am quite happy with this phone. I am not so heavy user so battery lasts between 1 and 3 days (usually 2) and i also have power bank with me supporting quick charge so battery life is not a problem for me. Generally i am quite happy with the phone at that price but definitely would not pay the initial price which was over 500 eur. Regarding the type c to 3.5mm adapter - i bought original one from here and it is working very good:
http://www.citytel.bg/adapter-htc-from-3-5-mm-to-usb-type-c-dc-m321
Great review, I agree with most of yours notes. I just wanted to add, IMO - currently there is no better phone for the price it goes these days.
Agree with some fancts, bottom line is at the current price, you cant get anything better.
The Speaker of this phone is pure cancer. My old Galaxy s6 and my business(forced) Iphone SE were way better. I'm not even able to hear Music while cooking etc. IT just fu*** the ears. This is without a doubt the worst phone I've ever bought. I really should have bought the honor 7x
I am a HTC Combatant and die hard, but your review is clear and very honest. Thumb Up! All the negative point you gave really need to be reviewed and improved by HTC. I'm facing the same issues. Overall I like the phone for my everyday use..
Thanks. This honest review will definitely help
FatManYelling said:
The Speaker of this phone is pure cancer. My old Galaxy s6 and my business(forced) Iphone SE were way better. I'm not even able to hear Music while cooking etc. IT just fu*** the ears. This is without a doubt the worst phone I've ever bought. I really should have bought the honor 7x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an Honor 8 for six months. It was awful. Just didn't like it. Camera, interface, sound... The U Ultra is a far superior phone for a similar price.
You Sir should do phone reviews. very detailed, objective and honest review!
Thank you!
Hello, I own a Moto G4 Plus and I'm going to replace it very soon. Your review helped very much, as I can't decide between a HTC U Ultra and a Moto G6 Plus, as they both retail for the exact same price currently, at least here, in Romania. On one hand, the U Ultra is closer quality to a flagship, has a nice screen, good processor (maybe a bit old, I'll admit it) and a very good camera, at least when compared to competitors from the same year. On the other hand, the G6 Plus has near stock Android, treble support, a very easy to unlock bootloader, and still has a nice screen and decent camera and processor. I really cannot decide between those, as I am looking at the U Ultra's shortcomings as potential deal breakers. What would be your recommendations? Thanks!
For me its no brain picking the right phone.I would allways buy older flagship instead of similar placed midranger.
Yeah Ultra have some bad things battery is short-ish but all other things are beter.Build quality,sound on headphones is awesome,phone is fast no lags,slowdownds or anything like that.Camera is good and screen is ok for me.
But ur the one who needs to pick.
Only thing questionable now is Android Pie.
Thank you for this review. I ordered HTC U Ultra yesterday. Price was pretty cool - 200€. Can't wait to test it!
So as the title suggests, let's hear about your current daily driver, how do you like it so far? What kinds of features do you appreciate most? What do you think is missing?
Also, let's talk about your least favorite devices as an added hono bonus.
Might as well get it started, my current daily driver is an LG V30, H933 to be exact. It's a very well rounded phone, and for up to 90% of the tasks, it's managed to replace my laptop. Battery life is more than enough for me, even with brightness set on auto and screen resolution on 2880 x 1440, the cameras are real nice, and the wide angle shooter is just addictive to mess with, great stock camera app too. Audio quality is superb, I just love the HiFi quad DAC and even the speaker is well above average imho. Finally as expected from any flagship, performance is great, and while activating battery saver mode does introduce a difference, for most tasks you still don't notice much lag.
I'm gonna say I appreciate the ip68 rating and the ruggedness of the phone, it's already taken a small drop and survived no problem, but that was enough motivation for me to get a UAG plasma case. I also put a screen protector on it initially, but dust kept accumulating around the edges and eventually making its way under the protector I got fed up and removed it. As long as you have a decent case that has raised lips both the front and rear glass should be fine, but now I never keep the phone in the same pocket as coin or keys.
Also it turns out that in case you damage the glass, it's quite cheap to replace (15 dollars from what I've heard).
As for phones I never see myself using as daily drivers, the latest iPhones certainly make the list. On top of almost complete lack of customizability and control over the phone, lackluster stock camera apps for (a photographer like me at least), and ridiculous pricing, Apple's desperation to sell their phones (or rather force them down your throat) is becoming pathetic. The 8 and 8 plus are rather fragile, and the iPhone X, while admittedly better, isn't better by much, and the worst part is that if you crack the glass on any of these phones, it'll cost so much to replace if you don't have apple care, you might as well just get a new device, which, in all likelihood, is exactly what Apple wants you to do. Between that, and introducing OS updates that intentionally throttle the performance of their older phones, whatever little appeal Apple's devices had, is now imho gone.
Another phone I would avoid is the Motorola moto z2 force/play, the plastic screen not only feels cheap, but is also very prone to scratches. The moto G5s plus is a better budget device than the play of you ask me.