Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact announced at IFA

brevity

AnimalRights wrote: »

Ok after several days with this phone here are my latest thoughts (some will be ofc compared to my previous one the Samsung Galaxy 5)

Pros
- Build and really does feel a classy phone compared to the SG 5
- The UI just feels so much mature than the SG 5
- Front stereo speakers
- Bundled with decent earphones
- Faster at switching menus/screens than the SG 5 which had a small bit of lag
- Camera is very good once you spend time with it and so many bundle options of shooting
- Bloatware was pretty minimal

Cons
- Doesn't use up all it's 5.2" screen at times and yes I know a rom can sort it out but I won't root my phone
- Battery while good is still eaten up just as fast playing games (Subway surfers took 32% in 2 hours)
- Battery is far slower at charging than the SG5 which was super fast

Whats this rom that's sorts out screen size?Wouldn't mind having a look into it.

brevity

brevity wrote: »

Whats this rom that's sorts out screen size?Wouldn't mind having a look into it.

Removal of softkeys is normally a simple edit to build.prop where you add the line qemu.hw.mainkeys=1. I think there's even some apps on the play store that do it for you.

After this you can use an app like pie or ultimate dynamic navbar (or something similar) to navigate by swiping in from the edge of the screen.

Edit: Please note: This is only based on my experience from other android devices, haven't done so on this device.

Pangea

I came across this for anyone wanting to remove the 'whats new' section without rooting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53916026&postcount=20


Its says its for Z2 but Its confirmed working on Z3 by numerous commenter's on this http://www.androidcentral.com/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-review

timetogo

AnimalRights wrote: »

- Battery is far slower at charging than the SG5 which was super fast

I've noticed that the charger for the Z3 is 1.5Amps. For the Galaxy S5 it was 2Amps. Would you damage the phone by plugging it into a 2A charger?

timetogo

I've moved from a Galaxy S5 to the Z3.

Pros for me (this is in comparison to the S5)
-It does seem quite quicker than the S5. That could be because it's new and I haven't loaded it up with crap yet. There's no lag whatsoever. There was plenty of lag on the S5.
-There was bloatware on the one I bought (from Vodafone) but unusually I was able to click uninstall and most of it uninstalled. Some wouldn't so I've just disabled it.
-I like the double tap on the screen to turn the phone on.
-Camera is great. I'm not an expert. I just point and click. Starting the camera app is reasonably quick. On my S5 it was dead slow.
-I like the camera widget. It allows you to start the camera in one of 5 modes with 1 click. That's pretty cool. E.g. If I want the camera to open in 20megapixel mode or in burst mode or in 4K recording mode it's one click. I love that. Generally on the S5 it was open camera, fiddle around to get the right mode and then take the picture.
-Bluetooth response is quicker than the S5. This could be to do with my car but I noticed it this morning on the way in. With the S5 I'd have to press the buttons on the car a couple of times before the phone would respond. On the Z3 it's much more responsive with bluetooth. It's a bit weird but it's a pro.
-I like the idea of the magnetic charging port. I've ordered a couple of cheap adapters from Amazon.
-It doesn't have a fingerprint scanner that half works and it doesn't have a heartbeat monitor. These are two items on the S5 that I tried out on day one and then never used again.

Cons
-While the launcher is cleaner than Touchwiz there were still a couple of niggles that meant I moved to my default of Nova Launcher. The niggles were the wasted space at the top of the screen when you remove the Google Search Bar. The other niggle was the amount of rows for icons. The screen is huge. Having only 5 rows for icons seemed to be wasteful. Nova Launcher lets you change the grid to have 6 or 7 rows if you want. I think 6 rows looks good.
-I don't like the glass back. I'm a fan of plastic. When I'm putting this phone down I'm afraid of scratching it. I have a gel cover ordered that'll sort that.
-Long press on the home button brings up menus for Google Now & Whats New. I will never, ever use Whats New. I know Pangea posted about removing this using ADB. Will try that tonight.

Neither pro nor con.
-The screen is great. But I don't notice it being better than the S5. The screen was great on the S5 too.
-I haven't noticed the wonderful battery life other posters have mentioned. I've only had it a few days so maybe I'm using it more than usual. At the moment it seems similar to the Samsung.

Overall it's a great phone. Sony have really come along. I wouldn't have considered them at all at the start of the year. It remains to be seen how much support they'll give the phone with updates. If they give up on it like they did with other phones I'd imagine that'll outweigh a lot of the pros.

brevity

It really does take an age to charge! Debating whether or not to pick up the magnetic charger but I think a new sd card and a case is top priority first.

WayneEnterprise

BastardPrince wrote: »

i paid 419 on Meteor, was unlocked though.

Really? Didn't think it would be unlocked. Did they let you test it in CPW with another SIM before you bought it? Will pick one up at 419 if that's the case.

timetogo

Pangea wrote: »

I came across this for anyone wanting to remove the 'whats new' section without rooting
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53916026&postcount=20


Its says its for Z2 but Its confirmed working on Z3 by numerous commenter's on this http://www.androidcentral.com/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-review

Just tried it on my Z3. Works perfectly.

From that same thread you can block the small app launcher too. That's something I'll never use and just wastes space on my recent apps screen.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2689155&page=3

pm block com.sony.smallapp.app.widget
pm block com.sony.smallapp.launcher

That worked fine for me too.

Apparently pm unblock will get the apps back if you need them. I haven't tried on mine as I'm happy with them gone.

cormie

Received my case today. I've been using the same case for my Motorola XT890 Razr i which I've dropped from very respectable heights, on concrete, wooden floors, tiles etc etc numerous times and it's survived everything. It allows access to every port (other than the sim card one - but you'll hardly need regular access to that). It has a lip above the screen so should offer more protection with that, it gives moderate traction on tables etc but has good grip while holding as well as adding very little bulk to the phone itself.

I bought mine here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S-LINE-GRIP-TPU-RUBBER-SILICONE-GEL-SKIN-CASE-COVER-FOR-SONY-XPERIA-Z3-COMPACT-/381006753675?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:IE:3160


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Chardee MacDennis

WayneEnterprise wrote: »

Really? Didn't think it would be unlocked. Did they let you test it in CPW with another SIM before you bought it? Will pick one up at 419 if that's the case.

nope, i bought it on the chance it was unlocked...

brevity

Looks like I've got a fault with the microphone. Did the service test and can't hear the playback. Disappointing....would meteor or Sony be the best port of call?

Sonics2k

brevity wrote: »

Looks like I've got a fault with the microphone. Did the service test and can't hear the playback. Disappointing....would meteor or Sony be the best port of call?

Your contract is with Meteor, so they would be the first place to go to.

Chardee MacDennis

brevity wrote: »

Looks like I've got a fault with the microphone. Did the service test and can't hear the playback. Disappointing....would meteor or Sony be the best port of call?

whats happening with the mic?

any one know what the eta will be on Android L?

brevity

BastardPrince wrote: »

whats happening with the mic?

People on the other end of a call cannot hear me.

The diagnostics app seems to pick up a recording but when I dial the service menu (*#*#7378423#*#*) and test out the mic it's muffled and I can only hear the odd word on the recording.

Some people have sprayed compressed air into the mic and that seems to fix it but I'm a bit wary of doing that.

Frustrating because I really like the phone and don't want to have it sent away etc.

xerophyll

have been trying to get the white version of the z3 compact here in cork but to no avail. tried CPW, meteor/emobile, voda and the likes of them but most dont have it atm and will only be restocked in next few weeks/next month.

anyone know where else can i get it? been looking online and saw this UK shop with a not-so-bad price inc shipping; 446eu

http www mobicity.co.uk/sony-xperia-z3-compact.html

has anyone bought it from there? is the service any good?

cormie

Still no signs of CM 11 guys? I'm actually waiting for this before I start using my Z3 compact

I've only held it for about 5 minutes so far.

cormie

cormie wrote: »

Still no signs of CM 11 guys? I'm actually waiting for this before I start using my Z3 compact

I've only held it for about 5 minutes so far.

I looked in the development section of XDA and it really is a ghost town. Dunno if I'd be going for a Sony if you're after custom ROMs with decent support.

Sonics2k

Basil3 wrote: »

I looked in the development section of XDA and it really is a ghost town. Dunno if I'd be going for a Sony if you're after custom ROMs with decent support.

Sony have very good ROM support, especially over the last year. The issue with the current one is that unlocking bootloader is going to impact low light photos.

cormie

Hmm, that's worrying alright, but is it just a case of waiting for someone to crack the code of unlocking it without affecting the camera quality I wonder?

Regarding the general camera quality, how are you guys finding it?

My girlfriend told me the other day that she wanted to give her Z3C back. She looked back through loads of photos she took of her daughter before her debs, and wasn't happy with them at all. Admittedly, it was in average indoor lighting conditions, with some of the photos using a light source behind the subject....but even so, I can see they were average. She reckons her iPhone 5 took better pictures, and I know my M8 takes even better pics than that in those conditions.

Still don't know why she didn't use my DSLR that was right there in the cupboard, anyway.

MuppetCheck

cormie wrote: »

Hmm, that's worrying alright, but is it just a case of waiting for someone to crack the code of unlocking it without affecting the camera quality I wonder?

It was all in the link last week I put up. Sony has their camera software locked down to stop others using it with different roms/being used by other manufacturers.

I think you're mad leaving the phone sitting waiting on CM. I had it on my last phone because touchwiz was so sh1t. The downside was the terrible camera. But with the Z3 the skin is relatively close to stock android and I'd be more than happy to stick on it.

Is there any particular reason you're waiting for cm?

Sonics2k

cormie wrote: »

Hmm, that's worrying alright, but is it just a case of waiting for someone to crack the code of unlocking it without affecting the camera quality I wonder?

To be honest the current Sony look isn't nearly as dire as the previous ones. I've never had a spat of lag on my current Z2, and I can always change it up with a different launcher.

I get the appeal of CM, I used it on both my HTC One M7 and SIII and it's grand, but not exactly brilliant.

cormie

I thought the Z1/Z2/Z3 had one of the best phone cameras going?

savemejebus

It has a great camera but i think it's supposed to take some getting used too. Part of the reason it's great are the proprietary algorithms that get deleted when the bootloader is unlocked. Looking at the state of CM on the Z1 i'd doubt that camera functionality will be restored in CM 11.

cormie

I thought CM11 on the Z1 was meant to be a pretty perfect adoption of stock Android??? Jaysus don't tell me it wasn't even good?

timetogo

I've got the Z3. The launcher that comes with it is pretty clean
But I made a couple of changes that make it great (I think).

I put on Nova Launcher (the paid version, costs about €3).
In Novas settings you can change the size of the desktop grid (amount of icons going across vs amount of icons going down). I've set mine to 5 X 4.

Then in this thread there are instructions on how to remove the What's New Sony button and how to get rid of the widget launcher
(http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=92584913&postcount=405).

Finally most bloatware can be uninstalled or disabled easily enough.
All this can be done without rooting or romming.

The end result is a very Google looking launcher that flies along.

savemejebus

cormie wrote: »

I thought CM11 on the Z1 was meant to be a pretty perfect adoption of stock Android??? Jaysus don't tell me it wasn't even good?

afaik it's fine, but the camera app can't take full advantage of the camera hardware. Don't think Sony's version of android is too intrusive these days.

DHYNZY

Has anybody picked up the copper finish Z3 sim free anywhere reliable? or does someone recommend any particular store for great prices?

I was going back and forth between buying an S5 and a Z3 but I've made up my mind to go with the Z3, being swayed by what a lot of you guys have said here!

xerophyll

for those with the z3c phones, any recommendation for good screen protectors? e.g tempered glass for both front and back

Pangea

This might be useful.

Member Scottland of OcUK forums has given a great tip on how to get the Sony camera app to remember to launch in manual mode. Simply create a shortcut on your launcher or homescreen to the camera application and launch the camera via that. It seems that launching the camera from the hardware button or the lockscreen soft button results in it starting up in Superior Auto mode all the time.
http://www.neowin.net/news/sony-xperia-z3-and-official-magnetic-dock-review

brevity

Back in action with a new phone and working microphone Props to Meteor on Patricks St who replaced it straight away.

Wish I backed my stuff better though, have loads of apps to download and setup correctly.

Pangea

Still sitting on the fence as to whether to get the Z3 or the compact. Does anyone regret getting the bigger Z3 version at all?
Think I would appreciate the handiness of the compact but the bigger screen for browsing on the Z3 is tempting too.

The CPW store I went to didn't even have them in display and even when I asked to see the phones, they were reluctant and finally took it out for me to see it but not to touch, you would think if i'm going to hand over 400euro + that I should be able to touch and see it via display models. Bare in mind my round journey was 2 hours to get to the store :mad:
Probably they want to flog off the Z2s first.

Ivefoundgod

Its not just Carphone warehouse, all of the irish phone shops are awful at displaying their phones. Any other country I've been there's a working display model of all the phones they sell and you can play around with them, similar to an Apple store. In Ireland its usually a piece of crap dummy model or occasionally you get a phone in a demo loop. Can't understand it, puts me off buying a phone if I hadn't had a chance to have a little time using it.

Pangea

Pangea wrote: »

Still sitting on the fence as to whether to get the Z3 or the compact. Does anyone regret getting the bigger Z3 version at all?
Think I would appreciate the handiness of the compact but the bigger screen for browsing on the Z3 is tempting too.

The CPW store I went to didn't even have them in display and even when I asked to see the phones, they were reluctant and finally took it out for me to see it but not to touch, you would think if i'm going to hand over 400euro + that I should be able to touch and see it via display models. Bare in mind my round journey was 2 hours to get to the store :mad:
Probably they want to flog off the Z2s first.

My local Vodafone had working Z3 and Z3C on display. You might want to try looking at Vodafone....since they have exclusivity on the white Z3C, there's a better chance of them having it out on display.

MuppetCheck

It depends what you're coming from. I came from a 5s and s5 and have no regrets with the larger Z3. If you're using a smaller phone and prefer that then go with the Z3 compact. The larger phone is sizable when wrapped in a case.

timetogo

Pangea wrote: »

This might be useful.

Member Scottland of OcUK forums has given a great tip on how to get the Sony camera app to remember to launch in manual mode. Simply create a shortcut on your launcher or homescreen to the camera application and launch the camera via that. It seems that launching the camera from the hardware button or the lockscreen soft button results in it starting up in Superior Auto mode all the time.
http://www.neowin.net/news/sony-xperia-z3-and-official-magnetic-dock-review

I use the widget. You can have 4 different modes and one press of the widget starts the camera in the mode you want.

I've 1 for manual, auto, 4k video and burst.

Pangea

MuppetCheck wrote: »

It depends what you're coming from. I came from a 5s and s5 and have no regrets with the larger Z3. If you're using a smaller phone and prefer that then go with the Z3 compact. The larger phone is sizable when wrapped in a case.

I am coming from a Xperia X8 3 inch screen. 5.2 inch would be quite a step up!

MuppetCheck

Pangea wrote: »

I am coming from a Xperia X8 3 inch screen. 5.2 inch would be quite a step up!

If you're happy with that size phone it will be a big change but you get used to phone sizes in no time. If you plan on using it for emails/work/videos then the bigger screen is great. For casual usage the compact is still a good upgrade.

My dad got the Z1 compact recently and it's a great little yoke and while it's small it's not annoyingly so.

Pangea

MuppetCheck wrote: »

If you're happy with that size phone it will be a big change but you get used to phone sizes in no time. If you plan on using it for emails/work/videos then the bigger screen is great. For casual usage the compact is still a good upgrade.

My dad got the Z1 compact recently and it's a great little yoke and while it's small it's not annoyingly so.

Thanks My X8 seems so small now compared to all these new phones so Il be glad to take a step up. I mainly use my phone for surfing the net and apps e.g. Twitter, sky sports etc. I use it for writing notes aswell. Wouldnt do a whole lot of texting or calls.
Is the Z3 too big for one handed use?

By the way everyone look away now
Z4 leaks :pac:
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z4_specs_reportedly_leak_z3x_might_not_exist-news-9969.php

brasher

Has anyone gotten one yet? And what route did you take? I have one sitting in Parcelmotel from Amazon, total came in at 430 euro's for a compact.

MuppetCheck

Pangea wrote: »

Thanks My X8 seems so small now compared to all these new phones so Il be glad to take a step up. I mainly use my phone for surfing the net and apps e.g. Twitter, sky sports etc. I use it for writing notes aswell. Wouldnt do a whole lot of texting or calls.
Is the Z3 too big for one handed use?

By the way everyone look away now
Z4 leaks :pac:
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z4_specs_reportedly_leak_z3x_might_not_exist-news-9969.php

It's not too big but if you reach too far you can loose grip on it a little. I'd have average sized hands and have no issues with it.

Z4s on my shopping list anyway when it comes:D

Pangea

I bought the Z3C today Looks very slick, just charging it up now. Looking forward to using it, it will be a massive step up for me.
I was surprised by the Z3 itself, nice to hold, not enormous at all but coming from 3 inch screen I thought I would get the compact.

Pangea

Just made a hames of my screen protector, it said front so thought that was for the front of the phone, and thought the back was for the back of the phone but of course that was too obvious lol
Turns out they are both for the front of the phone! not sure what to do with it now, Dont see any tutorials online on how to do it.
One side says front side and other says back side and I had already stuck the front side on, and have it back now adjoined to the original back side, not sure if its facing right way.

Pangea

Panic over, had to google youtube videos to understand it, would never have guessed that I had to do it the way it said.

Pangea

One thing I do notice about the ZC3 compact is the vibration when I was listening to music on youtube at a decent volume. Is this on the Z3?

Daith

Gah,

Anybody have issues with the flap covering the microsd/usb slot coming loose? It never seems to stay flush with the phone like the sim slot flap.

Pangea

Pangea wrote: »

One thing I do notice about the ZC3 compact is the vibration when I was listening to music on youtube at a decent volume. Is this on the Z3?

Yeah, Z3C doesn't sound good with the volume turned right up.

Daith wrote: »

Gah,

Anybody have issues with the flap covering the microsd/usb slot coming loose? It never seems to stay flush with the phone like the sim slot flap.

It's not coming loose yet on my girlfriend's, but I've bought her a couple of these so she doesn't have to keep pulling the flap on and off. A dock wouldn't really work for her as she uses a cheap flip cover.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/261613516312?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Edit: The micro USB to magnetic charger adapters arrived this morning. They're OK, bit of a technique needed to make them work for charging. Don't know whether it's more convenient than messing with the flap or not.....will see if she moans about it!

cormie

Basil3 wrote: »

Yeah, Z3C doesn't sound good with the volume turned right up.



It's not coming loose yet on my girlfriend's, but I've bought her a couple of these so she doesn't have to keep pulling the flap on and off. A dock wouldn't really work for her as she uses a cheap flip cover.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/261613516312?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Edit: The micro USB to magnetic charger adapters arrived this morning. They're OK, bit of a technique needed to make them work for charging. Don't know whether it's more convenient than messing with the flap or not.....will see if she moans about it!

Looked into similar on amazon and they aren't getting great reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vktech-Magnetic-Charging-Female-Adapter/dp/B00L0VNJFQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793915&sr=8-7&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile%C2%AE-Magnetic-Adapter-Compact-magnetic/dp/B00LC9OFUY/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793998&sr=8-19&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Magnetic-Charger-Adapter-Xperia/dp/B00GNUGDCK/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793998&sr=8-20&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic


I'd be buying them for use in vans and cars so would need something pretty reliable and that won't fall off with every speed bump.

timetogo

cormie wrote: »

I'd be buying them for use in vans and cars so would need something pretty reliable and that won't fall off with every speed bump.

I got one from Amazon (this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H2EE5ZS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It was basically to save wear on the USB flap.
While it works I'd be quicker opening the flap and plugging in the USB.
Definitely (the one I got anyway) wouldn't be suitable for a car. Mine is on a bedside locker and once I get the beep to say it's charging I have to back away slowly or it'll disconnect.

cormie

cormie wrote: »

Looked into similar on amazon and they aren't getting great reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vktech-Magnetic-Charging-Female-Adapter/dp/B00L0VNJFQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793915&sr=8-7&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile%C2%AE-Magnetic-Adapter-Compact-magnetic/dp/B00LC9OFUY/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793998&sr=8-19&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Magnetic-Charger-Adapter-Xperia/dp/B00GNUGDCK/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1413793998&sr=8-20&keywords=micro+usb+to+magnetic


I'd be buying them for use in vans and cars so would need something pretty reliable and that won't fall off with every speed bump.

timetogo wrote: »

I got one from Amazon (this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H2EE5ZS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It was basically to save wear on the USB flap.
While it works I'd be quicker opening the flap and plugging in the USB.
Definitely (the one I got anyway) wouldn't be suitable for a car. Mine is on a bedside locker and once I get the beep to say it's charging I have to back away slowly or it'll disconnect.

Hmmm. The one I have actually has a good strong connection once connected.....it's just getting that initial connection that is the hard bit!