Phone impression : display, hard buttons, speaker etc. - Desire HD General

Hello!
I recently switched my HTC Desire for a HTC Desire HD, because I got bored of the purple`ish AMOLED and the used battery...
Now, I find myself in deeper ****, or perhaps it's just the "trial" period I need to go through to fully accomodate with my DHD.
The screen... I didn't trust specification lists, so I went on with the assumption that it's got a S-LCD, just like the other HTC's. But no, the kick-ass DHD got an LCD. I find it very... well, the colours are so musty (sorry if this isn't the right word, just Google Translating around, trying to find the proper word). You get my point, I hope. Comparing my DHD to my girlfriend's Desire S, mine kicks ass, and, at the same time, sucks badly. How do you feel about this? Does it ever irritate your eyes/brain so much to the point that you want to throw it to the wall? I've got a hard case, I could throw it
The speaker...
I was stuck on stock GB w/ Sense until I finally decided to S-OFF, root and all that (3 days, that is). The speaker SUCKED. Not only the quality sucks (say, when you play a dubstep or something like that, the noise really gets... NOISY), but the loudness... it's just lacking! The Desire was kicking everybody's ass when it came to speaker. With that, when the phone rang, the entire subway station could hear it. Now, with the DHD, not even I hear it...
Now, I found LordMod kernels, with +20% volume on speaker. It still sucks.
The camera...
I don't know what's wrong here : me, the camera, or the screen. Doesn't look like 8 megapixels. The Desire S's 5MP camera looks so much better :/ what the hell?!
And now... the last thing... THE BUTTONS!
No, not the touch ones - they work flawlessly, no argue about that. I'm talking about the volume rocker and, more importantly, the power button.
The power button seems to be... well, stuck in. It's not like it is supposed to be. It is somewhat tilted inward the phone, making it not-so-easy to press (compared to the Desire, Desire S, Desire Z, Sensaton).
And the volume buttons... you don't even realise when you just turned the volume up to the maximum, cause it just happened in less than 1 second!
Above all, I have a MOMAX (iCase Pro) hard case, so the access to the power button is even harder, and the access to volume buttons is... well, excessive. I would press the volume buttons by mistake.
My old Desire had the worse volume rocker (had to attempt multiple times in order to actually increase/decrease the volume), but the power button.. IT WAS ORGASMIC!
So, how do you, other DHD owners, feel about all these? The display, the speaker, the hard buttons, the camera...

You're alone on the camera, try camera360 or vignette, might give you better results.

From what I believe is you have used your Desire for a long time and it will take some time for you to get used to this phone.
Yes the screen is not AMOLED but its not bad either, I love the size of screen it has and find resolution absolutely fine.
Speakers I agree I too dislike them but I find them audible when on max even in crowded and always use decent headphones for music and videos in any case.
I don't know why you feel that way for camera, maybe check the settings first and then try the other camera apps as mentioned. I have personally no problems with camera and images are sharp and focussed.
As for the power button, even mine is bit sunken but it took only about a week for me to get used to it and how to unlock and i can now even do it in my sleep without any problem. Volume keys though are something I loathe, they are too fragile and prone to failure and I use it to the minimum by using widgets for changing volume.

It's been almost 3 weeks since I got this, and now, I love it.
Even though the display isn't S-LCD, but LCD, it still rocks (just with its size). My girlfriend's Desire S seems so freaking small now, but the colours, I agree, are sharper than on the DHD, but on the other hand, everything is so small... and dark... x)
I've got a new battery now (it seems that the first one was faulty, barely holding ~50% charge). Things seem to go pretty well so far, and I haven't even calibrated the OS just yet.
On the other hand, right now, the only things that make me wanna say "F*CK YOU, HTC" are the camera, which would be outperformed by a Galaxy S and the speaker, which, too, would EASILY be outperformed by a Galaxy S.
Other than that, everything is working perfectly. I can never fear being left aside from a future OS update, since the RAM and CPU (OC`ed, of course) are MORE than enough. I like it because the screen is very responsive, and so are the capacitive buttons, as well! They are so well placed, unlike on the Desire S and Z, for example.
Only if it had a S-LCD screen...

Well, about the camera. I think the camera is ok in day light but as soon as it gets a little dark it totally sucks.

monki79 said:
Well, about the camera. I think the camera is ok in day light but as soon as it gets a little dark it totally sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is at least head-turning. People get stunned for a second when they hear it's got a 8MP module. What they don't know is that it's worse than the Galaxy S's 5MP module, or even the iPhone 4's 5MP module.
A classmate of mine has the iPhone 4S. It really is an amazing camera...
I don't get why HTC puts so crappy cameras inside their phones. I mean, why focus on the senzor, when they should work on the lens -.-
Anyway, I'm not using my camera TOO MUCH, but when I do, I wish I had more light with me...

That's sadly true
Even iPhone 4 has a better camera quality, especially in night time. I don't understand, DHD is a younger and stronger smartphone then iPhone 4, still has a worse camera.
Formhault said:
The camera is at least head-turning. People get stunned for a second when they hear it's got a 8MP module. What they don't know is that it's worse than the Galaxy S's 5MP module, or even the iPhone 4's 5MP module.
A classmate of mine has the iPhone 4S. It really is an amazing camera...
I don't get why HTC puts so crappy cameras inside their phones. I mean, why focus on the senzor, when they should work on the lens -.-
Anyway, I'm not using my camera TOO MUCH, but when I do, I wish I had more light with me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

ok so i went through two desires before switching to desire HD, which i had now for well over a year and half without feeling outdated yet
the first desire was amoled, i hated its guts, the depressing screen color tone and pentile pixel grid made me hate every bit of it, i then switched to SLCD desire which i found amazing almost matching the iphone 4 especially in view angles
when i upgraded to the DHD i found the screen a little disappointing yes its not really SLCD moderate view angles and lesser blacks, however u get used to it and u start liking eventually, also the screen has a cleaner pixels output then the sharp slcd in desire, also starting with GB the colors has imporved a lot
as for the touch buttons and multi touch, i love them a lot better then the desire and its real multi touch here, i cant stand hard buttons anymore, power buttons and volume u find them weird at first but then u start to love the flushed nature of them and the matte metal quality
The camera is a lot better then the iphone 4 in many ways u just need to learn how to use the HTC camera app, check my guide in my signature
and finally build quality! its freaking amazing the DHD is a tank, it has survived so many deadly falls with pixel sized scartches at most on the metal paint, zero damage or scartches to screen/camera, which reminds me the screen is gorilla glass and the plastics despite feeling a little weak they are not they are actually scratch resistant, my DHD has hugged rough asphalt and stones few times, still feels new from box!
check the links in my sig for camera and performance, my DHD with the stock sensation XL ER3bUS sense 3.5 ROM plus ultra smooth roise plus super charger, faster then the Sensation with official ICS firmware, locked 60 fps smooth, it has roughly the same specifications as the Sensation XL so ROMs based on XL firmware runs perfectly
i find this phone better then the newer Sensation in many ways, im still waiting for something to beat it from HTC

Youre definitely alone there
I think the screen is great and I came from an IPhone also the camera is better than my gfs 14.4 MP camera. I do agree the hard buttons aren't the best but I love this phone, I'm upgrading to the galaxy nexus next week but keep this phone for messing around with. its great!

Maate.. the cameras quality.. the iphones camera is cack in comparison, agreed on screen it is diff when u come from desire...
But serious.. dhd wipes the floor with the majority.
Plus sensation is a girls phone so its still winning lol
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

As stated, on a nice sunny day camera is awesome, but in a room it just plain suck, but I don't have a DHD cause of camera so that's fine
As for the hardware buttons, actually I find them pretty nice, I love the fact that they're not sticking out, especially the power, since I like tossing the phone in the car and plugging in a headphones cable, so it would end up getting started otherwise. All in all maybe not the best screen, but I love the size and durability.

Yeah amoled vs LCD is a never ending discussion I'm totally used to LCD screens so when i see a galaxy S2 i always feel like somethings wrong with the screen. It looks so unnatural and some colors like the old android market's green are just so ugly for my eyes. I really love the DesireHD screen. I even had some iphone4 users telling me that they love it and thats gotta mean something right?
I guess its all about what you're used to.
All in all i'm still very happy with my over a year old DHD. It has some amazing custom roms that make it totally smooth and give it some pretty good battery life. It runs all the apps including games and emulators perfectly and never feels outdated.
Camera is certainly ok. Not perfect, not bad. It does its job though. I'm not a camera guy so i guess i really dont care all that much about that part of the phone.
And yeah its sturdy as hell. I took mine on several vacations. At the beach, mountain climbing, city trips. It still has no scratch at all. Looks like new.
The power button is a bugger though. Solved it by applying some sticky foam on it.
I'm gonna use it happily another year until my contract runs out and i get a cheap update. Looking forward to see what HTC has in store for us next year. And i hear some rumors on Galaxy S3 as well. I really hope there will be some strong 4.3" phones though. I dont think i want anything bigger.

I agree the camera is nice on the DHD its got more enhancement than the Iphone, in my opinion, its never failed me. Why do people think its lacking?

Related

A few questions regarding N4

First off, I don't want this to turn into a "best rom" "best phone" type thread.
My HTC One X recently bit the dust, and a nexus 4 is my only option. (besides sending it in for repairs at $200, and when I paid $100 for the HOX, why not just shell out another $50 for the N4?) I was planning on buying a Nexus 4 later down the road, or a Nexus device at the next generation. Unfortunately, the time has come, a little too soon for my liking. Nonetheless, I think I will be happy with the Nexus.
Anyways, the only phones I have used have hardware buttons.. I have tried the software (navigation keys) on AOKP.
I was wondering, what are they like? Will I have a hard time getting used to them.. or do they just feel right?
If any of you have ever held an HTC One X, it feels a little weird to operate with one hand.
How does the phone feel when holding it? Is it easy to grip, or a little bulky?
Again.. Just a few simple questions, hopefully you guys understand.. We are a little unforgiving in the HOX forums towards people that ask questions about best ROMs or talk about other phones, or ask something that has been stickied, etc.
You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!
Ngo93 said:
You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course on an HTC device I would naturally run aosp ROMs. But since nexus is already aosp... Might run that for a few weeks and then look at ROMs or dev my own
If I have any other questions I'll bump this thread
Ngo93 said:
You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a matter of opinion. I personally dislike software keys, they take up valuable screen real estate. You can also set hardware keys to do whatever you want (much like the Viper rom for the One X). Why waste a portion of your screen on buttons?
That being said its still a great phone. Although it lacks the storage capacity, capacitive keys and LTE of my Optimus G...
I've also had the One X, and they're similar in terms of form factor and feel in the hand.
Mercath said:
Its a matter of opinion. I personally dislike software keys, they take up valuable screen real estate. You can also set hardware keys to do whatever you want (much like the Viper rom for the One X). Why waste a portion of your screen on buttons?
That being said its still a great phone. Although it lacks the storage capacity, capacitive keys and LTE of my Optimus G...
I've also had the One X, and they're similar in terms of form factor and feel in the hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why aren't you using LTE on N4 when you're in Canada?
i too came from a HOX and dont regret it one bit. N4 definitely feels more hefty than the HOX but only because of the materials used as oppsed to the plastic used on the hox, also in my opinion n4 feels better in hand than the hox, theres not too much of a weight difference overall is just a wayyyy better more premium feel of the n4 comparing it to HOX, not to say HOX wasnt premium, N4 is just above it.
and to your question on onscreen vs soft keys question.To be honest i never wanted to turn on the on screen keys on roms i ran with HOX, defeated the whole purpose of having the soft keys. transitioning to on screen keys didnt take much effort at all in fact i actually love it and prefer it over the soft keys of the HOX. To me it just seems to flow better with the Jellybean OS and overall look of stock android.
All is just opinion though but id definitely buy the n4 again no regrets
I came from a One XL with no regrets.
I find the on screen buttons to be a lot more responsive than the capacitive buttons on any phone i've used before, including the One X. And i actually prefer that they take up screen real estate since they make the usable part of the screen more or less 4.5" which is far more comfortable than a full 4.7" screen. Also, the extra empty space below the on screen keys means the keys are higher up and easier to reach, as opposed to the One X keys which are waaay at the bottom of the phone and tough to get to with my thumb.
Maybe its just me, but i always felt the One X was really awkward to hold. It was never really mentioned much in reviews before i bought it. The screen bezel was really thick, and on top of the weird angled frame on the sides, it made it difficult, if not uncomfortable to hold, for me at least. The N4 is about the same width, but the grippy flat sides make it a lot easier to hold. Not the most comfortable phone i've held in my hand, but a big improvement over the One X.
The only thing i miss from the One X is the better screen. It had better viewing angles, and more vibrant colours. Pretty obvious when you hold them side by side, but you get accustomed to the N4 screen after a while. The One X camera also captured more detail and took less noisy photos, but i don't miss the camera much since it always seem to get the exposure wrong, faces always looked orange when taken indoors.
The performance difference is pretty huge, especially with multitasking, even compared to AOKP and CM10 on the HOX.
All in all, its a much easier phone to handle.
My last 2 phones where HTC and what I did to adjust was set my navbar much like my HTC devices.
Home. Menu. Back. Search
It made the change from my doubleshot really easy. At first I was SO lost using nav keys and everything but after an hour I don't think I could use anything other than full touch.
Sent From a Freaked out Nexus 4
andyondroid said:
I came from a One XL with no regrets.
I find the on screen buttons to be a lot more responsive than the capacitive buttons on any phone i've used before, including the One X. And i actually prefer that they take up screen real estate since they make the usable part of the screen more or less 4.5" which is far more comfortable than a full 4.7" screen. Also, the extra empty space below the on screen keys means the keys are higher up and easier to reach, as opposed to the One X keys which are waaay at the bottom of the phone and tough to get to with my thumb.
Maybe its just me, but i always felt the One X was really awkward to hold. It was never really mentioned much in reviews before i bought it. The screen bezel was really thick, and on top of the weird angled frame on the sides, it made it difficult, if not uncomfortable to hold, for me at least. The N4 is about the same width, but the grippy flat sides make it a lot easier to hold. Not the most comfortable phone i've held in my hand, but a big improvement over the One X.
The only thing i miss from the One X is the better screen. It had better viewing angles, and more vibrant colours. Pretty obvious when you hold them side by side, but you get accustomed to the N4 screen after a while. The One X camera also captured more detail and took less noisy photos, but i don't miss the camera much since it always seem to get the exposure wrong, faces always looked orange when taken indoors.
The performance difference is pretty huge, especially with multitasking, even compared to AOKP and CM10 on the HOX.
All in all, its a much easier phone to handle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what worried me. I love the colors of the screen and the camera. (I use cm10.1, which apparently doesn't have the camera quality of sense, but I prefer it anyway.) If the camera on n4 compares to aosp ROMs for the hox, then I'm in the clear. I don't have any option though as my hox is in shambles really looking forward to the n4 though

HTC coming for review

Hi all
My last android phone was the onex and I have been an iPhone user ever since. ThreeUK have kindly said they will send me a HTC one for review so I was wondering if you all could let me know of your likes and dislikes in this phone. I don't think i will have the phone very long so I was hoping your insights will help in me writing a rounded review
Thanks in advance
Dave
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
edit
Great thanks
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
mobilemaduk said:
Great thanks
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a button for that.
Yep. Not spotted that on tapatalk lol
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
mobilemaduk said:
Yep. Not spotted that on tapatalk lol
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha
Cheers!
Theshawty said:
Positives:
Speakers are in the bets thinkable place - the front, and there's two of them; one at the top and one at the bottom. The speakers are incredibly loud - almost too loud sometimes but deliver suprisingly good sound and doesn't distort at even the highest volume level. The screen is gorgeous and the phone sits well in the hand. Has just the right weight and feels very premium. Sense 5 is a refreshing experience and was a job well done. It flows beautifully but has a biit too muich bloat, but then again it might be just about right for others. It's a very good phone overall.
Negatives:
It gets very hot, very quickly. Build wise, it is flawed and seriosuly hard to repair yourselves, seeing as it hasn't got many screws at all, it's mostly held up by an adhesive. It is not flush all around and it has gaps here and there. HTC were VERY sloppy on the quality control on this phone and that isn't good for a company that's already doing so bad. The camera has so far been mostly disappointing. This phone was praised far and wide for it's widended lense and the super low aperture (f/2.0) so that it could perform well in lower light conditions. However, most Ones out there have a bad camera sensor that is seriosuly badly affected by heat. Once the screen heats up, the copper casing surrounding the camera sensor heats up and affects the sensor, and then you can see color tinting on the screen. Red, blue and pink tint. Sometimes even a turqoise-ish tint. It does ok in good light, though, but it's noticeable that 4 MP (or UltraPixel, as HTC likes to call it) is a bit on the low side. It could have done with at least 8 MP to give a much better digital zoom. The pictures are, for the most part, good enough for Facebook, Instagram and other sites like those, but they aren't particularly good if you save them on your PC/Mac to watch them later because there's a lack of detail, depth.
Conclusion: It's a good phone and music wise it's the best there is. Visually stunning and feels great but the camera holds it back.
I give it a 6/10, and that's being kind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
6/10??? Lol do you have the phone? No qc problems here, camera is great although could be higher resolution, best looking/built phone on the market imo.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
husker91 said:
6/10??? Lol do you have the phone? No qc problems here, camera is great although could be higher resolution, best looking/built phone on the market imo.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Yes, I do have the phone.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Theshawty said:
Yes, I do have the phone.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I guess I'm just struggling to understand the 6/10 lol. I would give it atleast an 8-9/10.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
It's been the best phone on the market in the eyes of multiple reviewers like phonedog and the like ever since it came out. No way it deserves a 6/10. That's galaxy S4 territory
Sent from my HTC One
husker91 said:
I guess I'm just struggling to understand the 6/10 lol. I would give it atleast an 8-9/10.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Here's why I gave it 6/10:
Speakers: They are top notch, on the right side of the phone and and can be very loud. Produces great sound. 10/10
Feel/Looks: Feels great. Just the right weight and is very pleasent to look at. 10/10
Build quality: Terrible. I don't believe there is a single One that is completely flush everywhere and has no gaps. All Ones I've seen have that. HTC did a poor job on the quality control: 2/10
Temperature: It can get seriously hot when playing. Almost uncomfortably so. 2/10
Camera: This thing was all about its low light performance. Having a wide lense and f/2.0 aperture would make it perform great in lower light conditions and supposedly it should, in theory it should but in practice it doesn't. All Ones I've seen (IRL), have suffered from the tinting issues which I believe is a mix of a very sensitive camera sensor and heat. In good light it performs decent, but lacks detail and depth because of only having 4 MP (or UltraPixels): 5/10
Buttons: This phone would have been way better off with software keys, i.e. a "navbar", in my opinion. The power button is placed a bit stupidly but it's ok. 8/10
Total score: 37. Divide that by 6 categories and you get ~6.2 which I round to 6/10.
Theshawty said:
Positives:
Speakers are in the bets thinkable place - the front, and there's two of them; one at the top and one at the bottom. The speakers are incredibly loud - almost too loud sometimes but deliver suprisingly good sound and doesn't distort at even the highest volume level. The screen is gorgeous and the phone sits well in the hand. Has just the right weight and feels very premium. Sense 5 is a refreshing experience and was a job well done. It flows beautifully but has a biit too muich bloat, but then again it might be just about right for others. It's a very good phone overall.
Negatives:
It gets very hot, very quickly. Build wise, it is flawed and seriosuly hard to repair yourselves, seeing as it hasn't got many screws at all, it's mostly held up by an adhesive. It is not flush all around and it has gaps here and there. HTC were VERY sloppy on the quality control on this phone and that isn't good for a company that's already doing so bad. The camera has so far been mostly disappointing. This phone was praised far and wide for it's widended lense and the super low aperture (f/2.0) so that it could perform well in lower light conditions. However, most Ones out there have a bad camera sensor that is seriosuly badly affected by heat. Once the screen heats up, the copper casing surrounding the camera sensor heats up and affects the sensor, and then you can see color tinting on the screen. Red, blue and pink tint. Sometimes even a turqoise-ish tint. It does ok in good light, though, but it's noticeable that 4 MP (or UltraPixel, as HTC likes to call it) is a bit on the low side. It could have done with at least 8 MP to give a much better digital zoom. The pictures are, for the most part, good enough for Facebook, Instagram and other sites like those, but they aren't particularly good if you save them on your PC/Mac to watch them later because there's a lack of detail, depth.
Conclusion: It's a good phone and music wise it's the best there is. Visually stunning and feels great but the camera holds it back.
I give it a 6/10, and that's being kind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
havent you updated your phone? my phone was also getting very hot with the stock version but once I updated I never had any issues again
cuyo11 said:
havent you updated your phone? my phone was also getting very hot with the stock version but once I updated I never had any issues again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have. I'm on InsertCoin with the 3.61.401.1 base. (Sense 5.5 with Android 4.3) and I have been on unrooted stock 4.3 as well.
Hmm that's funny. My One has no gaps in it's construction. It has the camera issue but the rest is solid. Don't have a heat issue either but I also dont game on it.
Sent from my HTC One
croppz said:
Hmm that's funny. My One has no gaps in it's construction. It has the camera issue but the rest is solid. Don't have a heat issue either but I also dont game on it.
Sent from my HTC One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine doesn't heat up if I don't game either but when I do play a game, it gets really hot. I kind of understand it tho since it's in all metal but still. Mine has minor gaps and is unflush.
Even I think that 6/10 is harsh. I would honestly give it a solid 8/10. Build quality is great, QC isn't. Doesn't deny the fact that it still trumps most flagships
---------- Post added at 08:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 AM ----------
Design - 8/10: The phone is beautiful and feels it too. I always get a "what phone is that" from family members and friends who aren't too clued in on phones. The design does have a flaw, which is that the metal makes the phone very hot during intense sessions. Mainly gaming, but then again I haven't heard of a phone that doesn't get hot when gaming especially when you consider gaming beats like Modern Combat 4, Dead Trigger 2 and Asphalt 8
display - 10/10: I have yet to see a display on a phone as sharp with realistic colours. Better yet, I prefer that the display is LCD. I don't have to worry myself about using dark backgrounds or worrying about blue leds burning in quickly which is the case with AMOLED screens. Viewing angles are better than average. The screen is nice and bright too
cameras - 4/10: EASILY THE WORST PART ABOUT THIS PHONE. During the first few months the camera was fine. I mainly upload to Facebook and Instagram (and more recently G+) and I would've given the camera a steady 7/10. Video recordings are still good whilst the audio captured is great. Once the red tint issue cropped up however...................eugh, it's awful. However in good light the shots are very good. I certainly don't have issues with photos if I go to the beach and I'm sure holiday photo's would be the same. Front facing camera is clear, but doesn't capture as much light as my girlfriends iPhone 4s, which is a bit off putting if I'm honest
reception / call quality 8/10: Calls are nice, clear and loud. Noise cancellation could be a bit better though, still the device is pleasant to talk on and I have no issue talking to people hours on end without problem. If I've ever had a dropped call its always been due to my network provider. Reception has been great, almost constantly sitting on 5 bars unless my networks coverage in a specific area is low
performance 9/10: Gets a 9 and not a 10 because for starters it still isn't as smooth as an iPhone (5 & 5s) and is still behind stock Android. Part of this is easily because it is an OEM skin, but its definitely the fastest OEM skin I've used so far. One can probably say that the G2 or possibly the Note 3 in some cases might load things up a bit quicker, but they are running S800's. If HTC continue optimising Sense like they have done then it will easily be the smoothest Android skin widely available.
software - 8/10: Sense is fast and beautiful, can't really say anything negative about it apart from the recent removal of certain things in Sense 5.5. Misses being a 9 or a 10 due to things they could have added themselves such as dual camera mode (which may be coming). The choice to disable full screen brightness when using the camera. Having native quick pin unlock.
audio - 10/10: The speakers are amazing and outclass any phone at this moment in time. Some phones might be a dB louder but none have the loudness and the clarity of the One. Audio via the headphone jack is nice and clean as well. Loudness is not a problem here. Audio via the headset can get dangerously loud. I for one have never needed to crank the volume up. Beats of course isn't the greatest thing ever but then again this phone with Beats sounds better than the S4 I demoed and the S3 I had.
battery life - 7/10: I can get through the day with this phone if all I'm doing is browsing the web, listening to music between journeys and sending some texts/bbms/whatsapp messages. Pull out the camera and the battery drains pretty fast, mainly so because opening the camera forces 100% brightness, which is a nice feature but isn't always necessary and I believe is what heavily contributed to damaging the camera sensor
Final Score: 8/10 - Once my camera gets replaced I can bump this up to a 9/10
Some points may be lost if YOUR specific device has quality control problems. On the other hand, people who don't have the tint issue will probably rate the camera higher than I have. It's all relative to personal opinion at the end of the day, but one must always judge against other phones in the market
No gaps or build quality issues here and no tint camera issues, anybody suffering from this needs to send the device for repair A 9/10 from me and the best phone I have ever owned.
I agree the camera could do with being a higher resoolution, a 8MP f/2.0 would have been ideal.
Theshawty said:
Buttons: This phone would have been way better off with software keys, i.e. a "navbar", in my opinion. The power button is placed a bit stupidly but it's ok. 8/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true.
Being right handed, my phone is usually in my left hand and it's hard to control the volume rocker using my left index finger or hitting the power button with my thumb. It just feels awkward.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
I have no quality build issue's with my One. The Phone feels rock solid and i like the metal casing compared to plastic.
I cant say to much about the camera as im not trying to get studio quality photo's from my Phone anyway but for my occasional pictures it is good enough (compared to the call quality of my Canon EOS it's awsome)
Phones are compact devices and the cpu's are getting faster and faster so i expect a Phone to get hot when you run heavy games on them.
Button layout? You should check out the location of the power button on Nokia Lumia 900... Then you will be pretty happy having the power button on the top.
The button themselves feel solid as you expect from a premium Phone.
The display is great really. never had a Phone coming close to it.
Battery life is allso pretty good for me and i do use the Phone regular but i'm not having it im my hand 24/7. I use something like 50% of the battery on a day.
Overall this Phone makes me pretty happy.
I'm running the Phone unlocked but with STOCK software like you buy it from the store!
Theshawty said:
Positives:
Conclusion: It's a good phone and music wise it's the best there is. Visually stunning and feels great but the camera holds it back.
I give it a 6/10, and that's being kind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I think that is an excellent summary from Theshawty, spot-on.
I'll just add that on my device the GooglePlayEdition version, I have none of the known camera issues, and I'm satisfied with the quality of stills and video. All the rest, what Theshawty says.

I bought this phone today and have some feedback for any one on the fence...

I got this phone because I've been waiting for a smaller Android device that doesn't treat you like a second class citizen. This is really the first one out there that does this, I found it for £360 on sale which is only £30 more than the 32gb Nexus 5 and tbh since it has a micro SD slot, I think it is a really great deal,, especially seeing as the specs are like a main flagship device.
So some thoughts...
- Really well made, feels like an iPhone 5/5s for Android.
- I've been with my Mum today and she had a go on it and said it is the first Android mobile she'd ever think about upgrading to because of the small size.
- When I put it side by side with the iPhone 5, it really isn't much bigger, just a tad wider which is better since my biggest complaint with the 5 is the screen is so narrow
- I can easily use the phone one handed and use the whole screen, I've got average sized hands and I've found all these 5inch Android phones to have just gotten too big, especially my old HTC One, I hand to slide the phone up and down my hand to use the power button.
- Power button is great, the volume rocker is slightly too small as is the camera button, but they're minor flaws.
- The Sim tray and Micro SD slot I found to be really tricky to use, the Sim especially seems rather fiddly and I doubt the average user would work it out without possibly breaking the tray.
- I love the led charging light by the top speaker, I'm not sure if it doubles up as a notification light, but I hope it does.
- The loud speaker is not great, it's serviceable, will get you by, but you wont want to be listening to music or video out of it. That said I never wanted to do that from my HTC One and always used an external speaker or headphones any ways as no small speaker is that good in a phone. However if you walk the dog up the fields like me and don't like using headphones as you want to hear what is going on around you, the loud speaker isn't going to cut it, I struggled to hear it sometimes.
- The Magnetic charging is a cool touch, it really is needed as having to open that flap all the time would be so annoying. I mean I bought a Micro USB to Magnetic charge adapter for a few quid on Amazon, I'd suggest you all do the same as it is pretty necessary, I don't understand why one isn't sold with it as standard.
- Comes with a nice usb adapter so you can do stuff like plugging in your PS3 controller to play games. Maybe this would compliment screen mirroring or Chromecast gaming? I dunno, I haven't tried it, but just a nice little bonus.
- The X reality engine is ****, it just ruins the picture, usually just makes a picture too bright like it has been over exposed. The phone comes with it on by default... turn it off.
- The screen is a mixed bag for me, resolution and pixel density wise, I cannot fault it, looks as crisp as an iPhone and tbh I don't get why people care about having 440PPI when I cannot see a pixel at 340PPI, you never look at a screen under a magnifying glass. Again it is 720p, but for the size screen I just turn browse text to large and everything looks crisp and great, I really do not miss having the 1080p screen of my HTC One. Maybe if I was using a 4.7 inch+ screen again I'd want 1080p, but for this small screen 720p works, Apple have proved this as no one cares abut the iPhones resolution, which is like 640?
That said though I can see the digitizer when the sun glances off the phone, it is a downer as I never saw it on my last phone (Nokia 1020) or my HTC One before that. Though screens are a lottery it seems as they're all made from different companies, my friend got a HTC One and could see his badly.
The black levels aren't that great, neither are the viewing angles, I'm being picky here as they're totally fine, just I'm used to an OLED screen now and it is hard to go back. Black levels on OLED screens aren't perfect, they do have light bleed and a weird effect as the pixels go from colour to black, but... it is hard to adjust back to seeing more of a grey if you're in a dark room.
The colours seem fine to me, the white seems fine, I don't notice any tints, though maybe if I compared it side by side to other phones I would. However I wouldn't let this bother you as you'll never do that in real life, as long as the whites aren't so far off they're obvious.
I'm am struggling however with brightness levels, there doesn't seem to be much control like other phones. I wish there were more brightness presets, I can turn it down to the lowest on the slider and it still seems too bright, I could really make my other phones go quite dark. I dunno if it is brightness or if it is just washing out light colours in particular, but the x reality engine makes it worse... like way worse!
Overall though the screen is good, it isn't the best, but it is still a great screen that I've personally been picky on as I've owned a lot of different phones.
- The software is good, Sony don't mess around with it too much, it is a non offensive Android Skin. My only problem is I'm on 4.3 and that seems a bit weird, you'd have thought it would have a newer version by now. Some things are nice with the software as well, Sony have added some good apps of theirs and the battery stuff is cool. Everything is so fast, faster than any other phone I've used, including HTC One, iPhone 5 and Nokia 1020, omg just SO FAST! The 720p screen also probably helps it too over 1080p screens.
- On to battery, it is amazing, I don't get how they can cram so much life into such a small phone, I can say it is definitely a major step up from the 1020 and the horrible life I seemed to get from Windows Phone. It seems a step up from my HTC One as well and it performs better than my Mum's iPhone 5, though that is a year old now so the battery is probably less efficient at this point. I find it amazing how fast it charges over USB alone on my PC and through the magnetic charge, way faster than anything I've used before. Also though I was playing some games on it earlier and the battery didn't seem to go down much at all.
- The phone doesn't heat up that much, I was expecting worse since it is so small and light, but while I noticed it get hot, it wasn't bad like my Nokia 1020 and obviously since it is a plastic back it doesn't act like the HTC One, which got hot like a radiator... series that was the worst! Never get a mobile with a metal back and that isn't made by Apple, not a good idea.
- I find the speaker position just fine, I kept hearing how it was easy to cover up... with my usage, I haven't experienced that, even when gaming and most likely you'll get a case any ways.
- The camera is a mixed bag and sadly a bit of a downer I'm afraid, I was expecting better from a phone with a larger sensor than the Nokia 1520. Auto mode seems worse than useless, every picture just looks plain bad and I have a feeling it is restricting the pictures to 8mp and there is no way to increase it. Manual mode is really the only viable way to take pictures, sadly though there is no higher res 16:9 option. Every picture though seemed to be different, I could never take the same picture twice and I ended up taking several just so I would get a good one. The good news is when the software did it's job the quality did look good, not as good as I was expecting, but I have been using a 1020 until recently, so maybe that is why it is such a shock.
My main problem with the camera though was the screen never really reflected on what the final picture would look like. Your screen would be out of focus and blurred, yet when the picture comes from, it looks fine, also all the colours and lighting would change, I could never get it to accurately display what I was going to take.
The good news though is the camera is fast and I think it uses oversampling like Nokia's Pureview when it is in 8mp auto mode. Though I'm sick of smart phones today and how they all over saturate everything, the Z1 compact is no different, even the 1020 did this, but at least with the 1020 I could use a .DNG file and open it in lightroom to get natural colours, no such raw files on this phone exist, so you have to live with it.
The Mic performance on recording video is great, unlike with most Android Phones I've had in the past (including the S4) you're able to record loud noises like a concert. I turned up my sound system pretty high with the sub woofer going and it coped as well as Nokia which was amazing for concerts.
The video quality is fine too, the software stabilization works fine, I'm not a fan of OIS is mobiles, I never thought it worked well in the 1020 or HTC One, it always made the image into a watery or dreamy effect and recording on my bicycle was impossible as a result. Yes it is a bit less stable, but tbh so was my 1020, OIS worked poorly on it, though the HTC One it actually worked ok. I'm not missing OIS, all I'm saying, yes it works on dedicated cameras, you can shake them all you like and they cope, but no mobile has managed to perfect it yet.
So the camera is a mixed bag, I'm sure it can all be fixed with software, but I dunno how well Sony do on updates?
My only question really goes out to how well the screen protector Sony put on as designed hold up. It is THE major flaw really and I can see it frustrating a lot of people who do not know it comes with it as it scratches so easily. That reason alone is why I couldn't recommend it to women who shove their phone in their handbag, the phone wouldn't hold up. If you put a screen protector over it (one comes free with in the box) then it is fine, but I just think it is stupid to put a screen protector over a screen protector. There is no protective coating on the glass under either... which means you cannot simply just take it off.
Conclusion...
I love it, looks so premium, feels so premium, has the functionality of a 5inch + screened Android phone, it is the fastest phone I've ever used, Sony's software isn't bad or intrusive like TouchWiz or some other Android skins and the camera is potentially really good but needs a firmware update to fix auto mode.
I have pointed out bad points, but I could do that with any phone, I mean I couldn't stand Windows Phone and how it has no apps and no functionality. With this Z1 Compact I've mirror'd my phone to my TV effortlessly and without chromecast, I can just screen mirror and it works every time. This hasn't happened with any other phone I've used, I could never get it to work with my HTC which had it built in either.
I really think it is THE best iPhone alternative for people who don't want IOS and I think it is finally THE handset to buy for Android if you want a smaller device without all the internals being downgraded.
My favourite Android mobile ever!
I love the colour I chose too, it reminds me of the colour of an old Adidas watch I had in the 90s...
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh316/SkyForce6/Adidaswatch.jpg
The Yellowing Green one.
http://s15.postimg.org/c6ttrs2ij/IMG_7694.jpg
+ I've never liked Sony before, it is my first Sony experience when it comes to mobiles.
Added this to the resource thread!
Great review!
I want to add that the LED light on the camera bleeds into the pictures, so it is pretty much worthless, though I've never used led flash on a mobile for anything other than a torch, Xenon is the only thing worth it.
This is probably a hardware design fault tbh, maybe fixed with a replacement back that doesn't have a see-through layer that lets the light bounce to the side? I dunno.
I used semi-permanent marker fix around the rim of the camera and it stopped the light bleed into it from the LED. My guess is Sony will do a hardware refresh on this, so maybe hold out until they've done that.
I didn't realise the rear cover was the problem until I searched fro fixes, I guess I was right about the clear part leaking light from the LED into the camera.

Thinking about exchanging my HTC M8 for a Samsung S5

I really do like my HTC One. The build quality is fantastic, Sense 6.0 is actually useful without being annoying, and without slowing down the phone. I came from an iPhone 5, which only downside I can think of is the screen size. Something about the HTC One just leaves me wanting more... like, the only downsides I can see is the camera, and the lack of physical buttons.
I really like S5's camera, the fingerprint scanner, the fact that it is IP67 waterproof and dust proof is nice. I also heard it is easier to hold in the hand since it's not as tall. It having a removable back is also nice to be able to swap out the battery. I feel like it being plastic doesn't matter because either phone is gonna be inside of a case anyways.
I'm kinda on the border of what to do. Part of me wants to keep the M8 but the camera is just so terrible.. I love everything else but the camera. The S5, is kinda scary because I am on AT&T and it coming with a locked boot loader irritates me.
Thoughts?
I think you've made you choice.
My wife has the S5. It's pretty good.
HTC UltimEight ??
I was in the same situation before going with the HTC ONE. I feel the M8's camera will be good enough for the average consumer who just post pictures to instagram, facebook etc. I had the same aurgument too (I am just going to put it into a case). what really puts me over to the M8 is sense; I just can not deal with touchwiz I do not like the colors the use and the mass aray of features I will not use. The fingerprint scanner is hit or miss at this time, and is really hard to use with one hand. KNOX may (not sure) affect rooting and unlocking the bootloader.
I feel that from a hardware and design standpoint I can go either way S5 or M8 but its the software for me that takes me over.
I'm in the same boat, love the phone hate the camera. I personally wouldn't go samsung, but everyone is different.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Typing on the S5 is atrocious. The keyboard lags, the Google Keyboard lags. It sucks. So annoying. Sense is unbelievably faster than TouchWiz.
MilesEvans said:
I really do like my HTC One. The build quality is fantastic, Sense 6.0 is actually useful without being annoying, and without slowing down the phone. I came from an iPhone 5, which only downside I can think of is the screen size. Something about the HTC One just leaves me wanting more... like, the only downsides I can see is the camera, and the lack of physical buttons.
I really like S5's camera, the fingerprint scanner, the fact that it is IP67 waterproof and dust proof is nice. I also heard it is easier to hold in the hand since it's not as tall. It having a removable back is also nice to be able to swap out the battery. I feel like it being plastic doesn't matter because either phone is gonna be inside of a case anyways.
I'm kinda on the border of what to do. Part of me wants to keep the M8 but the camera is just so terrible.. I love everything else but the camera. The S5, is kinda scary because I am on AT&T and it coming with a locked boot loader irritates me.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both right now and I cant decide which one I want to keep.
As far your concerns go,
1. I used the fingerprint scanner for 1 day and disabled it because it would hardly ever work the first time for me.
2. IP67 is great and all but I'm to scared to throw it in water. For the spills though, the htc has an ipx3 rating mean it most likely wont get damaged. Theres a video on youtube of an htc m8 working perfectly fine after being submerged in water for 90 minutes.
The glass on the s5 is a piece of crap. I carry both phones with me but s5 already has a bunch of light scratches after 3 days while my htc one has zero.
3. The camera is a mixed bag. For indoor shots in which a bright light source (like a window) is in the viewfinder, the s5 wins. The M8 overexposed the light way too much. Everywhere else inside, the M8 takes a better picture with and without flash. Outdoor day time shots both look great. Zooming is also fine on the m8 unless your trying to read what a sign says in the far background of the picture. Outdoor night shots, look great on both but the m8 capture more scenery. Both have incredibly fast focus and shutter speeds. Camera UI is way nicer and more intuitive on the htc than the s5. The s5, depsite its many modes, does not allow for a whole a lot of control with image quality.
I attached a pair of indoor night time shots from both phones. First one is m8
4. Build quality, both feel great. HTC is little easier too hold for me since its narrower but its also more slippery than the s5. I hate the damn charigng port flap on the s5 and dislike the power button on top of the m8 (dislike instead of hate because the double tap feature makes up for it)
5. I hate the onscreen buttons on the m8. Its a waste of space and it raises the damn keyboard. Love the button layout on the s5 and the keyboard is awesome.
6. I personally am not really worried about the removable battery since change phones every year
Thread closed,
Phone comparison threads are against forum rules.
Ghost

24 Hours with my New XZ Premium REVIEW

***UPDATED AGAIN****
This is my first time posting a review for phone, because I am that impressed.
A little background so you have an idea of where I am coming from. I have literally purchased every flagship phone a company has had to offer since 2009 (Very expensive vice) from Blackberry 10 devices, Windows devices, iPhones to Android devices. I have an absolute love for gadgets and phones, I hold no loyalty to any company period and never will, just because you have 2-3 products that were solid from the company doesn't mean its not going to create a turd every once in awhile. Loyalty with hardware generally in my opinion garners tunnel vision for someone and the user tends to ignore the downsides or errors with a product. Samsung built Note's 1-7 and the S series, you think all of them were great? No, but big publications I notice seem to think so and its not just Samsung, its all manufacturers for phones. Your decision to buy a phone should be based not only what speaks to you personally but can do what it needs to do for you, not what is "cool" or what everyone else has. Every individual is born with their own preference on things and people should use it.
Parts I am covering, if I left something out and you want me to add it or just ask a question please feel free.
*Overall Build Quality
*Screen Quality
*OS overall functionality and speed
*Sound Quality with HD Bluetooth (LDAC) / Reception
*Camera
*Battery Life
*Summary (Praise and Gripes)
Build Quality
The second you take this phone out of the box and peel off the plastic covering it, you know you are holding top quality piece of hardware, you will find yourself looking all over it from top to bottom for a couple of minutes easy. It's edges are smooth, you don't feel any sharp points while holding the phone, it is a bit slippery (I use a case on every phone no matter what) so I would suggest a skin if you don't like cases. I don't have the brass to walk around with 800 dollars possibly slipping out of my hands and into the wind. Even the speaker grills to the USB-C port cutouts are top notch. I LOVE where they placed the fingerprint sensor, right on the side where my thumb is, this should be the location for every phone ever built in my opinion. I've been using the Blackberry Keyone for a week now and one of the big things I love about a Blackberry is the build of almost all their phones (Priv was garbage) and you will hear a lot of people just say the Keyone is a solid built brick and they are right. This guy is right there with it except glass, it has some nice heft in your hand when you hold it. I would rate the build of this phone without a doubt the 2nd best built quality wise across all platforms of phones so cheers to Sony for that.
Screen Quality
So I put this guy up against the the S8 Plus, and the iPhone 7 Plus. The reason I put the iPhone 7 Plus in here is because its only 1080p and the Sony shows 1080p until you are actually running 4k so its not always in 4k mode FYI and there is not an option to change this (Stupid!) So I was running content side by side against these 2 guys and weather its in 1080p or 4k, theres no comparison, the detail is just stupid. The blacks are amazing and the fact that this phone is an IPS display out-doing an AMOLED is crazy talk. This is the king of displays hands down no contest not even up for debate.
OS overall functionality and speed
Ok so some of you are familiar with Google's Nexus phones and the latest being the Google Pixel and know that since you are getting everything Google intended the user experience on Android to be, for the people that are new or aren't familiar with these Android devices, lets just say you should really try one out, they are bloat free and extremely fast phones. So for the last year or so, the Google Pixel was the fastest Android phone period, it really blew people away at how fast opening and closing applications to having a ton run in the background just wouldn't slow the thing down. So I have always said the there's fast, then there's Google Phone fast...... until now. I dont even know where to begin on how stupidly fast this phone is anything you do or throw at it, and you can say "well it has the Snapdragon 835 in it", yeah that's true but if phones were purely off a spec sheet, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Plus would run at the same speed, software implementation with hardware is extremely important. In no way shape or form is the Galaxy S8 or Plus even in the same solar system as this thing. You can lookup on Youtube there are posts of people running tests this guy and it's quite embarrassing how much faster this Sony is and the one thing I never see reviewers do is show how actually using all the applications while have all of those open at the same, time. This phone does....not....slow....down. Run 10-12 apps on my S8 Plus, lagasaurus rears its ugly head, micro shudders you know what I am talking about. People that claim that theirs never does that is a liar. There are only a few phones on Android that I would say are free of Lag and Micro Stutters, Google Pixel, HTC M8, talk about butter...mmmm...butter.... There could be the argument "who needs that many apps open", well believe it or not when you are busy sometimes, you don't always close everything down and really you shouldn't have to in this day in age with tech. The ease of use navigation using Sony's launcher and the Settings is so simple it doesn't need a spotlight to be hones, its clean and straight forward and you aren't digging for options unlike some out there.
Sound Quality
(Speakers)
There are 2 front facing stereo on this guy, and I do and I know a lot of people love the fact they are facing you and not facing down so when you are cupping the phone it blocks the sound. Its a huge plus for this phone, the sound quality out of the speakers are not amazing but solid, games or Youtube or speakerphone on a call is loud enough that you can hear what is going on even if your surroundings are not so quiet. Quality wise I wouldn't say its going to win awards nor would I say its going to blow you away like some of HTC's boom sound on previous phones or like the Blackberry Passport. But all in all its right where it needs to be and if you need louder speakers I suggest getting some headphones.
(Headphones)
So I own quite a few headsets ranging from Blue Headsets, Sony MDR-1000X, Sennheiser HD 800s just for example, Plugging any one of these guys and listening to all sorts of music sounds just awesome, not just good but actually awesome. I'm not going to go any further into it because this is a very very subjective category given some people are audio files and some are not, some people can actually hear certain sounds and some actually physically cannot (yes you can actually go see a doctor to see which frequencies you can actually hear).
(Reception/ Call Quality)
So this is just my experience with AT&T, I can't give claim to other carriers. The calls are clear and precise and people say they can hear me just fine, no echos. I can hear people with no issue at all same goes for putting the call on speaker as mentioned before. I have 0 complaints in this department.
Camera
Alright sorry about the long delay for the Camera review. Now I will state from the start I am not a pro photographer and nor am I skilled with manually adjusting camera's. I will keep this short and sweet because you can find a ton of pictures from this phone online in forums or YouTube for reference. I did a comparison between the S8+ the iPhone 7 Plus and the Google Pixel. I personally prefer the natural colors that come from the iPhone and the Sony and the Pixel, popping colors from the Samsung might be yours so I believe it to be personal preference. So what I was looking at purely on these phones was, how clear are the pictures and is the shutter lag bad? For a simple user, that's all you care about. I immediately ignore low light references because they are null, who the heck takes pictures in the dark? Majority people send pictures of things or family/friends during the day, if you need low light go buy a DSLR. Back to the camera. The selfie camera I can barely tell the difference between all of them, they are all clear and I would say the Pixel is a little less detailed. I can distinguish what is what as clear as day in all of the front facing cameras. The rear camera, like I mentioned before, the S8+ is the only one that has extremely high saturation, but quality overall, I cant really tell the difference they all look fantastic in my opinion and maybe on some pictures some look more sharp than others but all of them are extremely fast to take a photo and it looks great. As far as the slow motion, its not very easy to use nor can I think of many places or instances I will use it. As far as the few I have seen with camera issues, I am sorry to hear that I would get the phone replaced because the photo quality is right up there with the best and if you are getting any different that is substantially noticeable, then that means there is something wrong.
Battery Life
So this might be premature but usually with phones battery life is horrible at the start because it needs to break-in and a phones software needs to settle in. Well I for one can say since day one its like the rules of everything we know don't apply here, I would consider myself to be a heavy phone user. I watch YouTube, Funimation shows, Wifi is on all day, I really don't cut things out or turn things off on phones just to save battery because I am either too lazy, or it cuts out to much functionality. I take the phone off the charger at 630AM every morning, then at lunch I'm always at 75% or more. I plug it in and let it charge, I don't while I clear out some emails and work and by the time I pick it up again its at 100% and I don't have to plug it in until bed time which is 11PM roughly, and when I am ready at 11PM, its at 65%. I have never got this thing down below 60%. I have no complaints here for battery life.
Summary
As you noticed I haven't spoken about the bezels, and I am not going to because its irrelevant, they are there because of the speakers and Sony's choice, if it bothers or you don't like it that's fine go buy another phone. There are quite a few other phones out there that are worth your hard earned money, and the more you spend I believe you should get more. "When I spend more money I want less" said NO ONE EVER! Sony does not disappoint in this regard yet in the past, I would highly beg to differ. If you look at everything you are getting with this phone, its really hard to think of anything that they left out. HD Bluetooth Sound, LDAC, Headphone Jack, 4k Screen, Stero Speakers, Front Facing Speakers, Amazing Camera, Awesome build quality, Rapid 3.0 Charging, USB-C, Fingerprint Sensor, Notification Light I mean the list goes on the only thing its missing is Cake. My only real negative things I can say so far right now is that the US version of this phone has a disabled fingerprint sensor, I purchased the UK variant to get around this. Also I actually like the Sony launcher a lot, I always use Nova or Action Launcher 3, been toying with Evie another great launcher, you can change the Grid Size and Icons to whatever you like too. Theres no option to change the screen resolution which does bother me, I am not saying my phone needs to be in 4k all the time because of obvious reasons but at least 2k. But other than that, this phone deserves a lot more attention that it will actually get.
Hope this helps anyone looking to get a phone or just plain curious about this guy and what it has to offer. Cheers!:fingers-crossed:
*audiophile
Nice! I will get mine tomorrow !
Shnig said:
*audiophile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Language flame as first reply. Thank you Internet, faith restored.
ukemochi said:
This is my first time posting a review for phone, because I am that impressed.
A little background so you have an idea of where I am coming from. I have literally purch...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an option settings to change the display scaling or alternatively in developer settings to change the dpi or smallest width?
I always find Sony and Samsung to be scaled like a child's play phone.
Thanks
You can change icons size and grid settings on homescreen and app list.
Are the Volume and Camera buttons made out of metal? or are they the same as the side?
Lazaros_K said:
Are the Volume and Camera buttons made out of metal? or are they the same as the side?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the buttons on the phone are of the same material and it seems like a hard plastic, its not cheap feeling at all.
FartyParty said:
Nice! I will get mine tomorrow !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be impressed, enjoy.
I am thinking about this phone to replace my Sony Z3 compact but $800 isn't an easy pill to take.
I am also thinking about the HTC U11. I am going to make a choice in the next few days as the screen on my Z3 compact is failing due to the seal failing. I know a dud can happen but I have had two Z3 compacts fail me so I am on the fence.
Just got mine today and boy does it feel premium
Amazing quality bloody hell!!
Also fired up the 4khdr demo video amd was blown away
sfex3best said:
Just got mine today and boy does it feel premium
Amazing quality bloody hell!!
Also fired up the 4khdr demo video amd was blown away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enjoy it!
4ktvs said:
I am thinking about this phone to replace my Sony Z3 compact but $800 isn't an easy pill to take.
I am also thinking about the HTC U11. I am going to make a choice in the next few days as the screen on my Z3 compact is failing due to the seal failing. I know a dud can happen but I have had two Z3 compacts fail me so I am on the fence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope this helps, I dont know where you live but if you are in the US, order from the UK from Clove Tech, you pay the EX-VAT price which is huge savings. They sell it for 540 pounds which is 697 dollars, and their variant unlocked version has the fingerprint scanner, where as if you wait for the US to get it you will pay 800 dollars and thats not including tax and you DONT get a finger print scanner.
Im sorry about your Z3 bud, I bought one for the wife quite awhile back and hers is still plugging away. Best of luck.
Great review, roll on camera pictures and review. Oh and battery life
Just to share my 2 cents.
Received mine this morning.
Pros -
Build quality is incredible, ts like a piece of jewelry or an expensive watch. Fit and finish is superb.
The colour choice "Midnight Black" is awesome
Performance is very good, smooth and snappy
Photos compared to my s7 edge are actually very very good. Better in some.
Video recording is also very very good.
On the fence -
Whilst the screen is very very good, i personally still prefer the look of amoled panels. Even with a 4k HDR beast the s8 in my opinion still has a better screen. Its a good screen, a very good screen just not the best.
The bezels are a little large and considering the speakers aren't very powerful i'm not sure what the trade off is.
Cons -
Speakers even being stereo are not particularly loud but if you have had a Sony phone in the past then you are probably used to this.
Bloat - There is a bit of bloatware pre installed, it can be disabled but not uninstalled.
Screen - If you're going to give us a 4k screen give the user the option to choose 4k resolution at all times. Its my choice to sacrifice battery life if i choose to.
A couple of bits that i'm not sure are specific to my unit, the vibration motor isn't very powerful and there is a faint click sound occasionally when it is buzzing. Nothing that would make me believe it has a fault but i can hear it.
Also my screen has missed a couple of inputs, it may be me just getting used to it.
jms.flynn said:
Just to share my 2 cents.
Received mine this morning.
Pros -
Build quality is incredible, ts like a piece of jewelry or an expensive watch. Fit and finish is superb.
The colour choice "Midnight Black" is awesome
Performance is very good, smooth and snappy
Photos compared to my s7 edge are actually very very good. Better in some.
Video recording is also very very good.
On the fence -
Whilst the screen is very very good, i personally still prefer the look of amoled panels. Even with a 4k HDR beast the s8 in my opinion still has a better screen. Its a good screen, a very good screen just not the best.
The bezels are a little large and considering the speakers aren't very powerful i'm not sure what the trade off is.
Cons -
Speakers even being stereo are not particularly loud but if you have had a Sony phone in the past then you are probably used to this.
Bloat - There is a bit of bloatware pre installed, it can be disabled but not uninstalled.
Screen - If you're going to give us a 4k screen give the user the option to choose 4k resolution at all times. Its my choice to sacrifice battery life if i choose to.
A couple of bits that i'm not sure are specific to my unit, the vibration motor isn't very powerful and there is a faint click sound occasionally when it is buzzing. Nothing that would make me believe it has a fault but i can hear it.
Also my screen has missed a couple of inputs, it may be me just getting used to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have one in hand. I think the color is Deep Sea Black but who cares, right? :silly:
The large bezels help when you need to hold the phone in landscape mode. I too think it would be nice if the speakers were a little louder but I think it is a result of the waterproofing. If they were to boost the volume signal then they would probably distort too much and then we would complain about that. Can't win.
My vibration is a little soft also, but then again the only phone I know of with a strong vibration is the Moto X Pure. The wife has a brand new one because she smashed the screen in the one I gave her and she loves it (as do I) and the vibration on that thing will knock the fillings from your teeth. Not sure if it has to do with the amount of power being sent to the motor, or the motor itself. I just know that every phone I have ever owned except the Pure has a relatively weak vibration.
I am OK with the screen being at the default of 1080. Plenty good enough for a 5.5 in screen. I have an Amoled phone and comparing the two screens it's hard to tell which is which. The XZ Premium screen looks great in bright sunlight so no problem there. So far I love it. I do wish that Sony would unlink the ringtone volume from the notification volume. I know it can be done because I have another phone running Nougat 7.1.1 and they are not linked. What I did was use a ringtone creator app to artificially lower the volume of the sound I use for notifications (texts) and that way when the volume is on full for the ringtone the notification volume appears to be about half as loud... just the way I like it.
I would recommend this phone to anyone! :good:
figo_rulz11 said:
Great review, roll on camera pictures and review. Oh and battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, and as far as the camera and battery life added into the review, I will do it at the end of the week so the battery is broken in and I have some time to really play with the camera in all aspects, I should have something up by Saturday.
jms.flynn said:
Just to share my 2 cents.
Received mine this morning.
Pros -
Build quality is incredible, ts like a piece of jewelry or an expensive watch. Fit and finish is superb.
The colour choice "Midnight Black" is awesome
Performance is very good, smooth and snappy
Photos compared to my s7 edge are actually very very good. Better in some.
Video recording is also very very good.
On the fence -
Whilst the screen is very very good, i personally still prefer the look of amoled panels. Even with a 4k HDR beast the s8 in my opinion still has a better screen. Its a good screen, a very good screen just not the best.
The bezels are a little large and considering the speakers aren't very powerful i'm not sure what the trade off is.
Cons -
Speakers even being stereo are not particularly loud but if you have had a Sony phone in the past then you are probably used to this.
Bloat - There is a bit of bloatware pre installed, it can be disabled but not uninstalled.
Screen - If you're going to give us a 4k screen give the user the option to choose 4k resolution at all times. Its my choice to sacrifice battery life if i choose to.
A couple of bits that i'm not sure are specific to my unit, the vibration motor isn't very powerful and there is a faint click sound occasionally when it is buzzing. Nothing that would make me believe it has a fault but i can hear it.
Also my screen has missed a couple of inputs, it may be me just getting used to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd would keep on eye on that click sound, you and the guy that posted just right after you mentioned that the vibration isn't that strong, but mine vibrates pretty strong and actually manages to scare the crap out of me at work because I'll have it on the desk and it goes off (co-workers will always make dirty jokes in reference to the sound) but that's something I will keep my ear open for on that click sound, so far nada.
ukemochi said:
I'd would keep on eye on that click sound, you and the guy that posted just right after you mentioned that the vibration isn't that strong, but mine vibrates pretty strong and actually manages to scare the crap out of me at work because I'll have it on the desk and it goes off (co-workers will always make dirty jokes in reference to the sound) but that's something I will keep my ear open for on that click sound, so far nada.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not clicking the duration of when the vibration motor is active which makes me believe it isn't a fault. As an example if i get a call and my phone is on vibrate i don't hear it at all. Its only when i have vibrate on screen tap and use the soft keys. It's like the faintest of clicks when the vibration motor is initializing. Again nothing to make me think its faulty but i noticed it straight away.
jms.flynn said:
Is there an option settings to change the display scaling or alternatively in developer settings to change the dpi or smallest width?
I always find Sony and Samsung to be scaled like a child's play phone.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you can change it in the developer settings best setting to ever come to android for none rooted users anyways

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