Database Users

Build Quality Questions..

Hi everyone, I very recently purchased my brand new Desire Z. So far, I am really impressed with the software and general likability of the phone.
Although, having read too much about the Z hinge, it really makes me paranoid sometimes while handling the phone.
A few obervations and questions, which if someone with a few months of experience could respond to would put me at ease,
1. The Z hinge is surely loose, but doesn't worry me in general use. Although, I am scared it will get further loose with time, is that so?
2. The cable / ribbon running along with the hinge is not protected, is the wear and tear comparitively higher because of having no protection? Should I be budgeting in changing the ribbon every couple months?
3. Because of the hinge being loose and possiblity of the keyboard opening on a fall seems almost definite. Doesn't that put much more at stake on a fall comparitively? Fortuunately, mine hasn't fallen yet, but what's the experience you all have had with your devices falling on hard surfaces? Other than the scratches, that's not a problem. I am worried, the device will break in pieces if it falls!
4. For a little more peace of mind, are the hinges metal or plastic? I have read both on reviews and I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this one.
Thank you for taking out the time to read and respond with your experiences.
Sent from my HTC Vision

I've had mine since January and I've dropped it plenty of times. I have never had any problems with the keyboard, hinge, or ribbon cable.

After dropping my phone a few times my phone speaker went down... Had to replace them
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

So it does seem like it is a sturdy device, or at least as sturdy as the other devices.
Any idea about the hinges, if its plastic or metal?
Thanks!
Sent from my HTC Vision

Fairly certain they're metal. I've dropped my caseless G2 several times but it's only dinged with no other damage.
Sent from my G2

don't know about the hinges if they are plastic or metal...
but i got it 5 months ago... dropped it plenty of times... and nothing happened... not even a scratch
these kind of phones are sturdy... unlike samsung phones (believe me, i had one)... it breaks into pieces...
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sent from a phone... 'nuf said
btw... justin bieber sucks
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don't worry about the hinge

d_gkal said:
don't worry about the hinge
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Click to collapse
+1, I dont get it, lot of discussion on this, but never I never had any problem with the hinge...

I know, lots of discussions on the hinge, but I guess its the placebo based on the early hands on the device. Although, I am getting much much more comfortable and relaxed about it.
In a nutshell, its a great device. Thanks everyone for endorsing it for me!
Sent from my HTC Vision

The G2/Desire-Z is one of the most rugged phones ever made, the only knock is that some people find that the hinge spring action gets loose (mine never has) - but if yours ever does, and you are comfortable taking your phone apart, you can replace the stock hinge spring in about 30 minutes, start to finish. - The part costs about $5 - Then it will be tight as hell like when new! (possibly tighter than new)
There is a great thread on this here on XDA complete with an HD video showing you an exact POV of the procedure being done in it's entirety!

The phone is quite sturdy overall. I had a stone thrown at my screen and no change whatsover.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

First half fall and its scratchless
Why I call it a half fall is, it didn't fall but it it lost my hand and hung from the charger and hit the side of the bed pretty harshly. The keyboard did open up though but luckily all's good - gave me a little more confidence on the device build.
Sent from my HTC Vision

Dropped mine a few times - the battery cover always seems to fall off when that happens. Few dents and scratches but nothing serious.
As for my opinion about build quality, personally I think it's pretty crap, due to the design of the hinge. I changed my first DZ for another, since the first one had a ridiculously loose hinge. The second one developed the same problem in 24hrs. It's not that that bothered me so much, but the fact the two halves were not held snug together by the spring, so touching or pressing on the touchscreen caused the top half of the phone to tap annoyingly on the bottom half.
Eventually I bodged this by sticking layers of electrical tape between the two halves. It's not visible in normal use, but I'm pretty annoyed that I had to do this to my (then brand new) phone. Good job nothing better with a keyboard has come out yet, cos if I tried to sell this thing then I'd get literally nothing for it.
The lacquer on my battery door started falling off after a couple of weeks. My physical camera button only works intermittently, but I won't send it away for repair because I don't know what software it will come back with - it's over a year since I rooted this thing, and I don't feel like researching the latest methods, or finding out that HTC have closed all current ways to root.
This phone does not have good build quality, in my opinion.

setspeed said:
Dropped mine a few times - the battery cover always seems to fall off when that happens. Few dents and scratches but nothing serious.
As for my opinion about build quality, personally I think it's pretty crap, due to the design of the hinge. I changed my first DZ for another, since the first one had a ridiculously loose hinge. The second one developed the same problem in 24hrs. It's not that that bothered me so much, but the fact the two halves were not held snug together by the spring, so touching or pressing on the touchscreen caused the top half of the phone to tap annoyingly on the bottom half.
Eventually I bodged this by sticking layers of electrical tape between the two halves. It's not visible in normal use, but I'm pretty annoyed that I had to do this to my (then brand new) phone. Good job nothing better with a keyboard has come out yet, cos if I tried to sell this thing then I'd get literally nothing for it.
The lacquer on my battery door started falling off after a couple of weeks. My physical camera button only works intermittently, but I won't send it away for repair because I don't know what software it will come back with - it's over a year since I rooted this thing, and I don't feel like researching the latest methods, or finding out that HTC have closed all current ways to root.
This phone does not have good build quality, in my opinion.
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Click to collapse
A better hinge would have surely made the phone much more sturdy. That's what has always scared me so far, but now that the phone is 2 months old now I have started to get more comfortable around it.
Milestone 3 or MyTouch Slide could be good contenders, I think.
Sent from my HTC Vision

Don't get me wrong, there is no other phone I'd rather have at this moment in time - but that's due to a lack of qwerty phones on the market, as opposed to the DZ/G2 being some sort of amazing quality :-/
The Droid 4 looks proper nice though, hopefully it'll get released worldwide. And Motorola won't lock it down like they have with every other phone they've released since the OG Droid... but the chances of that are basically zero.

setspeed said:
Don't get me wrong, there is no other phone I'd rather have at this moment in time - but that's due to a lack of qwerty phones on the market, as opposed to the DZ/G2 being some sort of amazing quality :-/
The Droid 4 looks proper nice though, hopefully it'll get released worldwide. And Motorola won't lock it down like they have with every other phone they've released since the OG Droid... but the chances of that are basically zero.
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Click to collapse
I totally hear you there.
So, all the current Motorola droids are locked and can't be upgraded to cm or other custom roms? Really!!
Sent from my HTC Vision

I have been VERY careless of my phone, dropped it probably close to 100 times some of them being quite bad, and the most I can see is a couple corners have SMALL little dents, often the keyboard does open when dropped but nothing happens after that... I'd be more worried if dropped WHILE open but chances are if the keyboard is open you're typing (and therefore have two hands on it) My spring is still as sturdy as when I first got it as far as I can tell.

setspeed said:
Dropped mine a few times - the battery cover always seems to fall off when that happens. Few dents and scratches but nothing serious.
As for my opinion about build quality, personally I think it's pretty crap, due to the design of the hinge. I changed my first DZ for another, since the first one had a ridiculously loose hinge. The second one developed the same problem in 24hrs. It's not that that bothered me so much, but the fact the two halves were not held snug together by the spring, so touching or pressing on the touchscreen caused the top half of the phone to tap annoyingly on the bottom half.
Eventually I bodged this by sticking layers of electrical tape between the two halves. It's not visible in normal use, but I'm pretty annoyed that I had to do this to my (then brand new) phone. Good job nothing better with a keyboard has come out yet, cos if I tried to sell this thing then I'd get literally nothing for it.
The lacquer on my battery door started falling off after a couple of weeks. My physical camera button only works intermittently, but I won't send it away for repair because I don't know what software it will come back with - it's over a year since I rooted this thing, and I don't feel like researching the latest methods, or finding out that HTC have closed all current ways to root.
This phone does not have good build quality, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol and that's why I got the slide, I hate the hinge with a passion. I luckily got the slide and gave the G2 to my mom. The slide has an awesome build quality dispite the not so appealing look the quality is great.
I have dropped the G2 a couple of times but it had the rubber case on so nothing happen to it. Haven't dropped my slide so I can't compare
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium

I had this since summer 2011. I did get a case (stays attached to the phone) for this phone and found the hinge very weak, it will slide out if I held it in at an angle. Then recently I removed the case and there was no problems with the hinge since, able to hold it at many angles without worrying it slip out.
Having put my phone with keys.etc all in one pocket I found there are scratches on the back of the case. I have dropped my phone a few times but no problems.
Ribbon is good, the hinges I believe is metal (perhaps, alloy or some sort).
I wouldn't worry about the hinge too much unless you plan to keep using the same phone for more than 3 years. HTC does also have a global 2 year guarantee (from day of purchase).
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

disappointed

The Razr HD series has been out for quite some time now. There was a lot of hype prior to launch of the phone. One of the biggest hypes was the phones construction, I have owned 3 smart phones before this and never used a case, and prior to owning the razr HD never cracked a screen. I have cracked 2 screens on this phone already. The first was 17 days after purchase the phone feel off my desk on to a shelf, it was a 1.5 foot drop, in the middle of the night the inside LCD cracked, had to go through insurance. The second time I place my phone on a flat surface and the inside LCD cracked again, The warranty was honored that time. There has to be something clearly wrong with the construction of the phone for the inside screen to crack so easily neither time was there any damage to the gorilla glass exterior. My second beef is the plastic around the bezel of the phone. The plastic sticks out higher than the screen and is a prime target for scratches and dents and is not by any means scratch or dent resistant. I'm not an engineer but when I looked at the phone before I bought it my gut told me that the plastic around the bezel was going to get messed up easily, motorola could have done a better job with that design and from a practical stand point the raised plastic is ergonomically uncomfortable. Aside from that the phone lacks accessories, I do not care for the cases offered and many of the companies I would be interested in getting a case from do not manufacture accessories for the razr hd series. Motorola themselves do not offer a dock for the phone and if they do I can not find it anywhere. Lastly the phone itself runs glitchy even with jellybeen and "butter" or whatever they call, rooting did not solve glitches nor should you be required to change a device from stock to get it to run at an acceptable level when it is sold for $700 plus. I have skipped frame rates hangs and freezes all the time. When using HDMI to my phone the screen gets cut off, why include if it doesn't work properly. The only thing on the phone that has lived up to expectations is the battery, however the battery takes FOREVER to charge, I never have the time to completely charge it and I do not like charging overnight.

I feel your pain man... well not tjat deep cause i havent cracked my phone but i am dissapointed at the HDMI resolution on YouTube and Vevo... plus the lack dock sucks 00===D - - MOTOROLA

Some unbelievable points raised here.... And please if you want people to respond learn proper grammar and paragraphing...
OK, first off, the cracked screen - you've made a fairly big assumption that because you've broken it twice, there must be something wrong with the construction of the phone. I'd be interested to see if others have any issues with it.
Your second issue, the raised plastic doesn't seem to be too big of an issue to me. I'm an electrician, and have my phone in my pocket all day (with no cover/case) and have no such issues around the raised plastic. I'm taking a real close look at it now, and there are no scratches on the edges, not too much dirt, no problems at all really. I think you're picking at straws looking for problems with your phone on the physical side of things...
I for one love the size of the phone, and how rigid it feels in my hand. Coming from an SGS2 (which back felt like soft plastic - because it was!) the solid feel of the phone is a godsend to me.
Motorola do offer a dock for the phone it's directly there on their website. (http://www.motorola.com.au/consumers/MOTOROLA-ESP-PEDESTAL-WITH-SMART-CHARGER/169654,en_AU,pd.html)
I did find the phone glitchy to begin with, but I also found my telstra SGS2 glitchy when it had bloatware on it. Remove the bloatware, remove the glitchiness. Rooting alone doesn't change any hardware/software characteristics of a phone...
I haven't used the HDMI out yet, but was interested in the ability to output video while also charging the phone.
Why wouldn't you want to charge a phone overnight? That sort of complaint is one of the more ridiculous ones I've ever read...

Working fine for me.
Just kidding. Just wanted to be the jerk who says that . I have gripes about it as well. Not many of them are the same as stated because of how I use the phone, and because I haven't had the internal or external glass crack, don't use the hdmi, and charge overnight, but it has been both nice to have and its had its dissapointments. The "project butter", which I think is just marketing BS to be honest, and the screen stutter is especially annoying. The camera was a huge let down as well. I wish I had researched the camera quality before buying, however that said I've made the best of it and have it syncing with the home server that cleans up the photos. When I first bought it, my biggest irritation was that there were no pull down toggles and as my first Motorola phone, its baffling that it wouldn't be included regardless of a dedicated screen on the default launcher. I didn't even know that there were toggle apps on the market and just assumed that they were part of Android so I was really happy to find them. As for the plastic being raised above the screen, and touching on accessories, I found it next to impossible to even find a case and screen cover and had to go online and of the local stores found 3 cases. One looked like crap and I bought the other two. One didn't fit properly and luckily the last one fit very well while offering good protection and improved grip and doesn't add much bulk to the phone. I haven't had the time to scratch the plastic up because I found cases. Selection did suck. I reckoned, though, when I saw it that a raised plastic around the glass might serve to help stop it from breaking if it falls as it wouldn't land directly on the glass. The phone is heavy and glass breaks regardless of how you make it (glass is glass at the end of the day).
I'm also dissapointed.
On the plus side, the stock build with a better launcher is, on my carrier which is Telstra, anyway, is somewhat bloat free in comparision to a lot of other manufactures and I find that once its set up to my liking, my only real gripe left is the camera, the lack of community and development, here on XDA, with the phone, and indeed the lack of accessories. If I had the cracing problem that you did I'd be pissed the hell off though.
I came to this phone from the galaxy s2 and if I had to make a recommendation between the two I'd tell people to get the galaxy s2 (older and probably now very affordable) along with the Samsung extendable battery and then to find a custom Samsung based ROM that suits them and is stripped down of bloatware. The only saving thing about the phone now is that I'm used to it; battery life is really good, and the galaxys2 display does look old now that I haven't used it in a while. The processor is noticably faster but it doesn't stop the wacky launcher jitters that turn up and I've been messing around with the values of a couple of governors recently because just knowing that the phone does crazy scaling when just sitting there looking at it drives me nuts.
One last thing I forgot is "No Goggle Wallet? What the FREAKING HELL is nfc even for then?"

Downgrade to ICS and solve all your lag and hdmi issues. The thing is, your phone might have come deffective but that doesn't mean ours are. Mine works great and I feel proud of Motorola.
Verizon's OTA this week solved most of the issues including hdmi and lag.
Cases like yours happen all the time to everyone with every phone. It's not the manufacturer's problem. It's a combination of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My recommendation is to charge the phone with a stock charger. It took hours for me with an old motorola charger and using the stock one solved this. Go to ICS if U want real hdmi and less lag.

mtvdeo said:
Downgrade to ICS and solve all your lag and hdmi issues. The thing is, your phone might have come deffective but that doesn't mean ours are. Mine works great and I feel proud of Motorola.
Verizon's OTA this week solved most of the issues including hdmi and lag.
Cases like yours happen all the time to everyone with every phone. It's not the manufacturer's problem. It's a combination of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My recommendation is to charge the phone with a stock charger. It took hours for me with an old motorola charger and using the stock one solved this. Go to ICS if U want real hdmi and less lag.
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HDMI works perfect on ICS 4.0.4 but stay on ICS Really? Then i wont have any custom roms because everyone is going to work with JellyBean... im just going to pray that these heavenly devs figure out how to fix this in the future and the mean time im going to still use my OG Razr maxx which just got JB 4.1.2 also

razzrmaxx said:
HDMI works perfect on ICS 4.0.4 but stay on ICS Really? Then i wont have any custom roms because everyone is going to work with JellyBean... im just going to pray that these heavenly devs figure out how to fix this in the future and the mean time im going to still use my OG Razr maxx which just got JB 4.1.2 also
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Verizon fixed hdmi resolution on jelly bean 4.1.2

mtvdeo said:
Verizon fixed hdmi resolution on jelly bean 4.1.2
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Click to collapse
Ok thats aaaaall i needed to know thank you... updating!

My opinion ... don't buy the Nexus 4 !
:laugh:

Except for the glass, I have the same issues. Plastic bezel is really fragile. SIM tray seems to start to oxidize. I acidentally dropped a coin on the bezel and it dented. Both performance and battery were affected after jelly bean update. I have the phone for less than 4 months. At first I though the phone was incredible and strongly suggested my gf to buy it. Now I'm really disappointed. Motorola didn't managed to cover all the bases.

Apparently all phones are different cause I've had the phone a month or so with the Otter Box Defender and the phone is in mint condition after being in my destructive hands Still runs smooth as ever with lots of apps and music on it. Only complaint would be speaker volume.
Droid RAZR HD (current)
LG Optimus One P-504 (For Sale)

vctrrl said:
Except for the glass, I have the same issues. Plastic bezel is really fragile. SIM tray seems to start to oxidize. I acidentally dropped a coin on the bezel and it dented. Both performance and battery were affected after jelly bean update. I have the phone for less than 4 months. At first I though the phone was incredible and strongly suggested my gf to buy it. Now I'm really disappointed. Motorola didn't managed to cover all the bases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as i was reading this post i dropped my cell about 3 1/2 feet high and it landed on a custom made computer with a metal cover because my 1 1/2 yr old son tripped me... i it landed face 1st halfway on the edge then to the ground... no scratch

I dropped my phone from about five feet onto concrete (the one time I didn't have an Otterbox on it!), some scratches near the top by the battery - but the phone is in perfect working condition.

I am rough with phones and have had the razr HD for 4 months without a cracked screen or any scratches. The bevelled plastic lip on the out side of the screen is a great idea, it means you can lay the phone flat on its screen without getting any surface scratches.
The razr HD is a great phone, the best available handset on any plan in Australia at the moment. Amazing battery life, the o.s is smooth and lite, 4G is fast and the handset feels strong & it looks great. The only complaint I have is sometimes switching wireless on can be buggy, but my previous phone (htc desire) had this same issue so it maybe an android issue..

krucifix85 said:
Some unbelievable points raised here.... And please if you want people to respond learn proper grammar and paragraphing...
OK, first off, the cracked screen - you've made a fairly big assumption that because you've broken it twice, there must be something wrong with the construction of the phone. I'd be interested to see if others have any issues with it.
Your second issue, the raised plastic doesn't seem to be too big of an issue to me. I'm an electrician, and have my phone in my pocket all day (with no cover/case) and have no such issues around the raised plastic. I'm taking a real close look at it now, and there are no scratches on the edges, not too much dirt, no problems at all really. I think you're picking at straws looking for problems with your phone on the physical side of things...
I for one love the size of the phone, and how rigid it feels in my hand. Coming from an SGS2 (which back felt like soft plastic - because it was!) the solid feel of the phone is a godsend to me.
Motorola do offer a dock for the phone it's directly there on their website. (http://www.motorola.com.au/consumers/MOTOROLA-ESP-PEDESTAL-WITH-SMART-CHARGER/169654,en_AU,pd.html)
I did find the phone glitchy to begin with, but I also found my telstra SGS2 glitchy when it had bloatware on it. Remove the bloatware, remove the glitchiness. Rooting alone doesn't change any hardware/software characteristics of a phone...
I haven't used the HDMI out yet, but was interested in the ability to output video while also charging the phone.
Why wouldn't you want to charge a phone overnight? That sort of complaint is one of the more ridiculous ones I've ever read...
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Click to collapse
I'm not looking for issues I am just simply calling them as I see them. I have thrown phones across the room, droid incredible, droid charge and have never broken my screen. I do not baby my phone. As for the plastic bezel my complaint stems from the replacement phone I have received. Less than 2 days after receiving it and not abusing or dropping it at all my phone has a nice mystery dent on the top. I'm glad that you love the phone and have not had any of the same issues as me. I went to link that you have provided and I didn't find a dock there. I did see a $40 plastic stand thats sold by motorola that will work with any phone or tablet. I am looking for a real dock that has male HDMI and charger plugs fitted for the RAZR HD series, Motorola seems to have docks for every phone they make with the exception of the Razr HD series. When I rooted my phone and froze all the bloatware with TI backup I didn't see much improvement over stock at all. If you think I am uneducated because of my grammar you are ignorent, there are topics other english in higher education, I choose to study math because I don't care for grammar. If you can read english I think you will understand me relatively well, I'm not Robert Frost but you can get my point. To the rest I apologize for my none use of paragraphs.

o2qc418 said:
My opinion ... don't buy the Nexus 4 !
:laugh:
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Click to collapse
amen
I have the SIII now and it's POS. Went back to my RAZR MAXX and fixing to buy the HD soon.

HDMI works

My girlfriends phone was 35 days old, never dropped, in a case from day 1. Screen cracked while it was just sitting there on the kitchen table. Brand new Razr HD.

SquireSCA said:
My girlfriends phone was 35 days old, never dropped, in a case from day 1. Screen cracked while it was just sitting there on the kitchen table. Brand new Razr HD.
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I only see this happening if one were to take the phone from one extremity to another... Ae: hot to cold or cold to hot. Other than that I would guess the case is too tight on the phone?
Droid RAZR HD (current)
LG Optimus One P-504 (For Sale)

Very dissapointed myself. At first I loved this phone...no more.
The raised bezel is dented and scratched. I don't care about scratches since I refuse to use cases and it comes with the territory but the straight up gouges and dents are disconcerting.
Lag lag lag...not sure what project butter is cuz I've never seen this! Constantly redraws when going to home screen, browsers are slow sometimes, graphics stutter.
On top of that it doesn't function properly in my car for Bluetooth.
There are things I love about it, but its phones like this that give android the perception of being laggy and glitchy.
Its also disconcerting that moto put out an update and it still stutters same as always.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using xda app-developers app

Want this phone but am scared about the cracks

I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.

I've dropped mine from waist height twice now and had it fall in the crevices of my car seats. No screen protector, phone is still mint.
Sent from my D5803

HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjDE8z-_bHU&noredirect=1
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/193035-galaxy-s3-cracked-screen-defective-not-dropped.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-ii/132590-galaxy-s2-cracked-screen-normal.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1257090
http://bobmckay.com/life/case-samsung-galaxy-s4-screen-crack
http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/38170?tstart=0
Never buy another smartphone then since they all "have screens break for no reason".

Statistically the chance that yours will crack spontaneously is still very very small. These communities are really very misleading in trying to get a global image of how common a problem is. As I mentioned in another topic, if you were to walk into a hosptal, and make your conclusion about the human species purely based on what you saw in the hospital, you would conclude humans are very sick and crippled species. But once you leave the hospital, you see only healthy people everywhere you look.

My suggestion (also what I am planning on doing)... Wait until after November 3rd, for everyone to get their American Z3 Compact. check this forum a week after to see if the topics about the screen sporadically cracking jump substantially in activity.
If not, I will order by 11.10.14.

HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true and do not believe everything you hear and read about this subject. The handling of these machines have to be prudent. If you drop a laptop on the floor for sure nonitor breaks.right.

dropped mine once
been a month approx. no crack nothing. im pretty careful tho..most of the time.
also, no case.

Just a suggestion, can everyone with such issues (or worry, like here) post in one of the dozen threads that already exist on that topic?
Guess that would help to keep the forum somewhat cleaner, thus more readable...

Our forum is a bit "undermoderated"

I'd say the chance of getting a spontaneous crack is about 1:1000 or even less. That would assume 0.1% of phones have the issue. That a far less chance than you going to prison this year (1:200) so I'd say don't worry about it.

HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary

gazzawazza said:
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.

degraaff said:
When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response @degraaff
Regarding the survey - I get your point but the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic that, say, typical forum posts, where complaints and problems are more likely to be documented than positive experiences .
My personal experience regarding heat is that the phone has been pretty cool for the vast majority of the time but did experience some noticeable localised heat last night, for no apparent reason - phone had powered up but I had no additional elements active (i.e. wireless, GPS, data, etc, weren't active). I'd expect a relationship between component activity and heat generated. Also, it was noticeable because I'd not noticed it previously.
Regarding the design, I'm sorry but using thin glass on something that is likely to experience impact damage is bad or at very least highly unrealistic design. There's no need to use glass on the rear of a phone, certainly not for visual requirements (i.e. it's not a display). It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
I rang Sony about an hour ago and they gave me a ballpark figure of £40 for repairing the back. This was based on the rep's experience with the cost of replacing a Z2 rear panel. Still a very costly lesson and I think Sony or resellers need to warn customers about the benefits of case protection, given the materials used in construction. I know I'll get flak for saying this (ridiculously unrealistic) but I'd like to think that a retailer (or Sony, if they had the balls to do this) saying "for god's sake, get a protective case for this phone as it's literally made of glass" would lead to more customers respecting them. After all, Sony chose to use glass in the main panel construction. They could even charge a wee bit more and just bundle a case in with the phone. That would potentially cover them and give end-users a choice about protecting their phone from first use.
Cheers,
Gary

gazzawazza said:
It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.

kopsis said:
Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @kopsis
thanks for the input mate.
Just for assistance to others, my manufacture was 14w37 (might have mentioned that earlier) but just for reference.
Not sure that early production comment makes me feel better #labrat :crying: Obviously understand what you mean though.
Have to say z3 compact does feel good in the hand. Really like the way Sony have somehow made the edges (not sides) grippy without being sharp. Pretty easy to hold phone and I reckon the size is just right for one-handed use, although I do have to re-grip with hand to reach farthest corner (top left, as I'm right handed) of screen.
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
Cheers,
Gary

gazzawazza said:
the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.

gazzawazza said:
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division

Iruwen said:
That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this really relevant?
I simply felt that rather than having a survey chock full of negativity, the fact that we had a strong majority of responses which DIDN'T cite problems was indicative that perhaps the survey was more rounded than one might have anticipated.
I would accept on reflection that we don't know whether the distribution of answers is a true reflection of total owners' experiences. Obviously a bigger sample would make the stats more credible.
---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 PM ----------
kopsis said:
The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. Btw Mr VP Sony Mobile division, perhaps encourage your designers to NOT use glass too Ty very much

HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have same question... and still investigate from many Forum Post... I hope I got better answer to pick this phone or not...

worry not dear friends, apparently the guys at another thread has managed to get the people at evolutive labs to make the rhino shield crash guard bumper for the xperia z3 compact!
evolutive labs did one for iphone previously and it got so many backers/pledgers for it....hopefully we can do the same for this one..so come and join in the fun peeps! they need to get 1400 pre-orders before they can start production of this wonderful thing
(sorry you have to edit the link as i could not post url)
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for iPhone: https www kickstarter.com/projects/1081571316/rhinosheild-crash-guard-slim-impact-bumper-for-iph
PRE-ORDER HERE:
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for Z3 Compact: http www evolutivelabs.com/pages/crashguard-sony-z3-compact

Thoughts on Z3 after a couple months of use

This is the most expensive phone I ever bought and I'm pretty satisfied with it, and also the one I have the least amount of gripes with, but it's not perfect unfortunately. My previous phone was the Galaxy S4 which I absolutely loathed from day one (made me wish I never exchanged my Xperia S for it), and the Z3 was a huge jump in quality compared to it.
Things I like a lot about the phone:
Stereo speakers sound pretty good (and by that I mean you can actually listen to it without wanting to tear your ears off), I actually like to listen to stuff using them, on the S4 and XperiaS the sound quality from speakers was unbearable.
Screen is nice, compared to S4 it's a bit less saturated but it seems much more neutral and accurate, white is actually white and not yellowish like on the S4, but black depth is obviously not absolute, but still pretty good. I think I prefer this screen to the AMOLED on S4 and AMOLEDs in general.
The phone is extremely fast and smooth, I'm a smoothness freak and I couldn't stand how laggy the S4 was.
The waterproofing is nice to have, makes you worry a little less about rain and water spills when using the phone near the shower or stuff like that.
Battery life is great, it lasts 3x what my S4 used to last. I still can't get a full day when I do extra heavy usage with hours of google maps.
Camera is pretty good, I don't know why everyone complains about it, it's not the best on the market but it's still in the top 3 best phone cameras available from waht I can tell. I'm more interested in videos on a phone since I have a decent compact camera, and I think the Z3 makes the best videos.
The phone does not overheat, the S4 was often worryingly hot and it also suffered from CPU throttling that basically cut performance in half.
Things I don't like about the phone:
I had a dead pixel on the first one I bought, brought it back and got it replaced, I examined the replacement for dead pixels and couldn't find any, too bad 2 weeks later I noticed a dead green subpixel but it was too late to exchange it (as it isn't covered by the store's warranty, previous one was replaced under customer satisfaction program). I absolutely hate dead pixels but this one is near the bottom and harder to notice.
The device seems extremely fragile and I am getting paranoid after reading a ton of reports from people who had bent phones, cracked glass, failed waterproofing, and all sorts of other breakage. Right now I have one micro scratch on the front glass that I have no idea how it happened, but it's extremely faint and only viewable in a certain angle, at which the touch grid also becomes visible so it's not really a big deal. Other than that I also found a minor scratch on the power button that is noticeable if you look at it closely.
I don't like the new Lollipop firmware, the colors are especially crappy and there doesn't seem to be any way to customize them properly. I'd like to have dark blue accents but there's no way to do so, and even if I select the blue theme, many accents are orange and I don't like it. I still think the Sony interface was at its best on the XperiaS and the original Z.
The SCR24 cover is absolutely worthless. I really can't find any positive qualities in it other than the fact that it saves the back glass from scratches. A cheap ass cover with cheap glitchy software. Except it costs 40€.
Stock keyboard is very nice and fast but I keep running into a glitch while typing in chrome where the stuff I delete using the backspace key keeps coming back. Another glitch that ruins my workflow is the email app which no longer autocompletes addresses in Lollipop and drives me nuts. Hopefully they'll fix these issues.
It happened twice already, out of nowhere I found my phone pretty much unusable as apps kept crashing all over the place (mostly com.android.phone, "enterprise service" and google play service) and I had to reboot. It happened once on Kitkat and once on Lollipop. On Lollipop I also had a random reboot. Did a factory reset and everything seems fine, but I wonder why these android phones keep having issues after OS updates until you factory reset. I had similar issues with the S4, except much worse (something like 3 reboots per day).
Lollipop multiuser mode is worthless, since gues users can also mess up your phone and access the SD card. There should be a way to limit usage only to certain apps, disable installing of apps, and stuff like that. I miss the baby mode from the S4, which came in handy when I wanted to let my little sis or someone try out my phone without having to worry about them accessing stuff I don't want them to.
Another thing I miss from the S4 is dual app multitasking, it was very limited and slowed the already laggy phone to a crawl, but it was great to play youtube in the background or use WhatsApp while doing something else at the same time. SmallApps are nowhere near as useful.
Soft Keys are awful and they make the screen feel smaller than the one on S4. This is noticeable only in some apps, for example Chrome or certain games that are not optimized to hide soft keys.
Overall I'm satisfied with it but I have major worries the phone will break and sometimes I dust off my S4 when I do something risky such as rollerblading, I can already imagine my Z3 shattering as soon as I fall once (which happens very rarely but is obviously still a risk). Not sure it was worth 565€ but so far it has worked better than any other phone I ever had. The dead pixel is also a cause of minor buyer's remorse every time I notice it.

I'd agree with most of that.
I bought a Ringke Fusion case from Amazon for mine, as the phone is obviously made of the worlds slippiest material! I got a clear one, as I like showing off the copper colour of my Z3. I think the phone may be tougher that it looks. I've dropped mine on a tiled floor, and had it slip off a bathroom shelf into an empty porcelain sink without any damage whatsoever.
I also bought a 9H tempered glass screen protector. Best buy ever. I always thought they were an unnecessary luxury, but it makes the screen a pleasure to touch when compared to a "normal" screen protector. Cuts down on fingerprints too.
I'd invest in a magnetic dock too. Saves wear and tear on the flap for the micro USB, which if it's anything like my original Z, will work loose after a few months.
The couple of things I'd add would be that the camera shutter is too close to the end of the phone, and that the lens itself is too far into the top corner. I keep putting my finger over the lens when I hold it landscape!

warface said:
I'd agree with most of that.
<snip>
I'd invest in a magnetic dock too. Saves wear and tear on the flap for the micro USB, which if it's anything like my original Z, will work loose after a few months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regards the mentioned flaps, XZ and X3, what are your thoughts on it after some time on them compared with the XZ? Are they designed better and more robust? I've replaced an XZ one before, but it failed already unbeknown to me and it got wet and is dead now. So I'm in the market for a phone...

[q] looking for an android smartwatch for swimming/surfing

Hi everyone,
As said on tittle, I'm looking for a smart watch with the following requisites:
- Android complete 4.2 or higher
- Cell phone itself (gsm/wcdma)
- IP68?
I need it for swimming/surfing/similar, due to my work, I need to be contactable (calls/email) everytime, and sometimes I go swimming/surfing.
I bought an Imacwear M7, but the people said it's not ip67 and that it will die if I use it on the sea.
Does anyone tried this? Any other smartwatch? Any other options?
I'm a little bit lost, need your opinion and/or experience
Thanks a lot

none of the standalone (phone) watches will be fully water proof, because of microphone/speaker, if ever there will be one
some of them might claim water resistance but i wouldn't wear them not in shallow water, let alone the sea
the Sony Smartwatch 2 for example, claims to be ip57, but can't survive a shower. that watch doesn't even have a microphone or speaker
might be build quality related though

Swimming and surfing plus speaker and mic? That's 1 ATM (10m/30ft) rating at a minimum. No such creature exists, yet. It is possible to do, but companies would rather sell fashion smartwatches with laughable IP ratings instead.

Send it away and have it Liquipelled. http://www.liquipel.com/

SerialKilla said:
Send it away and have it Liquipelled. http://www.liquipel.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't waste your money. Tried that on three smartwatches, as well as a fourth project smartwatch of my own. It doesn't work. The treatment wears off when it comes in contact with pretty much anything. Oil deposits in the air from cooking, your skin, cloth, sand, dirt.

airtemisa said:
Hi everyone,
As said on tittle, I'm looking for a smart watch with the following requisites:
- Android complete 4.2 or higher
- Cell phone itself (gsm/wcdma)
- IP68?
I need it for swimming/surfing/similar, due to my work, I need to be contactable (calls/email) everytime, and sometimes I go swimming/surfing.
I bought an Imacwear M7, but the people said it's not ip67 and that it will die if I use it on the sea.
Does anyone tried this? Any other smartwatch? Any other options?
I'm a little bit lost, need your opinion and/or experience
Thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Tempo Trainer Pro watch. U can find it here http://www.proswimwear.co.uk/ . It's includes a clip for dry land exercise. I am sure you will find it better then apple watch or Garmin.

I still havent found what im looking for...

Like I said before, no such creature exists. The best you can hope for is a regular smartwatch and then have somebody like me mod it to get it to a 1ATM (33ft) WR rating.

Hi lokifish Marz.... I´ve been thinking about doing that in my M7 smartwatch, but finally never tried it.
If finally doesnt appear that desired model, i will try to mod it for submersing

The M7 is like the Omate and is a serious pain to get IP67, much less anything better than that. About the only sort of easy way to get past a useless IP rating is fill the entire case with RTV silicone sealant, otherwise you are looking at a complete teardown and machine work.

I've been trying with liquid neoprene. It seals perfectly, very fluid, very good handling and also cheap!
Now I need to identify all the holes of the watch and work then properly.... It should work!

List of ingress points that need to be addressed to reach a minimum of 1 ATM water resistance needed for swimming/surfing;
Case back (requires complete redesign of seals or permanent sealing of back to case)
Case back screws and screw holes (requires complete redesign of seals or permanent sealing of screws into the case)
Buttons (requires complete redesign of button seals)
Camera (requires removal and filling of camera housing of replacement of housing glass)
Speaker (requires secondary sealing layer between speaker and outside)
Mic (requires secondary sealing layer between MIC and outside)
SIM Slot Door (requires sealing of screw holes and better gasket)
Charging contacts (requires the contact assembly in the case back be remounted and sealed using marine epoxy)
Display (requires the case be redesigned or pressure injecting sealant or marine epoxy from the backside)
Antenna ports (requires the bands be removed, the ports cleaned out. The bands then need remounting and a stiff silicone sealant be injected into the ports)
MIC and speaker secondary seal will negatively affect audio performance. This is however required as MIC and speaker damage will occur otherwise.
Display sealing issues are due to the lack of a large enough lip for the display to be mounted on to provide a proper seal
*Alternative approach (Untested)
Completely seal the display,PCB, SD Card, SIM Card, and battery in one solid block of silicone or some other water resistant material. Drawback is this seriously affects usability of the buttons, camera, MIC, and speaker. This also makes SIM, SDCard and battery swapping impossible.
(I've had over two years to think about this as well as attempt to get the TS and it's clones to pass a proper 24hr immersion test at 10m/33ft/1ATM. To date, I have not succeeded.)

Uffff.... so... you need to do a master.... its a marathon!
Thanks Lokifish... i think maybe i wont try...

i95,android 4.3,ip65,dial/answer phone call,you can know more from tinydeal.but i think Lokifish is right,no smartwatch can survive after a long time in the sea.

jack5847 said:
i think Lokifish is right,no smartwatch can survive after a long time in the sea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly true. If he wanted a companion smartwatch it's not the hard at all. The issue is with him wanting to be able to do that with a standalone, or otherwise known as a watchphone. That requires far more engineering. The closest he could get to any out of the box solution would be the massive Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ and all that would give him is something similar to SMS texts and that's it. The other option is a decently made standalone then seal it completely with a SIM inside. He would lose the mic and speaker function but would at least be able to send/receive texts and know who's trying to call him. Not a pretty solution but it would work.

I think i´ve got it!
Doodgee S1.
I dont link to any shop, but you can find it very easy. I´m waiting for some reviews...

airtemisa said:
I think i´ve got it!
Doodgee S1.
I dont link to any shop, but you can find it very easy. I´m waiting for some reviews...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, ignore any IP67 rated. IP67 is 1m/3ft immersion with absolutely no moving allowed.

I agree with Lokifish - I don't think that animal exists. I just bought the No 1 A10 to evaluate it for workouts, including swimming...
http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_286212.html
...and am looking at the D5 for "office wear". I have to admit that I'm more attracted to the idea of "one watch to rule them all" - but - I'm also looking at $56 for the A10 (I bought it when it was on sale) and $130 or so for the D5 (or similar) so for the total outlay it's a pretty compelling use case. I was an original Omate TrueSmart backer and was profoundly disappointed. After spending $360++ for a watch that *wasn't* waterproof I went the "dedicated exercise computer as a watch" route - in the form of the Polar V800. I had to wait another year or so for smart notifications to show up (for Android) and Polar *still* hasn't done some basic data integration with 3rd parties like MyFitnessPal and the like. That was another $500+ and it *still* doesn't collect accurate heart rate data in the water. So - there's that... and of course there's no *real* smartwatch functionality to speak of.
I had considered the Garmin fenix 3 - and the recent addition of on-device HRM is interesting - but I'm mostly a swimmer so I'm going to be using a chest-worn device if I go that route. But *if* I did that it would be another $600-800 plus the cost of their data-recording HRM strap. As it stands now - I'm done with dropping multiple C-notes onto one-off projects and half baked tech from "the big companies". I'm going to nickel-and-dime my way through and figure out a way to make it work with multiple devices (with a LOT of help from my friends at XDA). I have the Bragi Dash coming in (sometime in February at last count) which I'm hoping will give me accurate HRM/oximetry data while swimming - and I'll be working to merge that data with the stroke/SWOLF data I gather from the wrist-worn device.
Side note: One of the advantages of the dual-device theory just occurred to me - in that I *can* carry a portable battery-pack charger and have one on charge when the other is on my wrist. So there's some element of continuity/back-up, should something go sideways with one device or another. When my TrueSmart would go dead I felt pretty naked, when it worked and was relatively performant from a battery perspective.
Anyway, I think this class of device will take some time to sort out as the companies figure out what the market(s) will bear in terms of durability and cost.