Database Users

My oppinions after 2 weeks of use: screen, sound, battery, wifi, etc

Some reviews mislead me to believe there was something wrong with this phone, I nearly regretted buying it due to the rumors of "bad" screen, low sound, bugs, performance, lag, battery life, and other concerns, but after several days of usage I must say:
1.- I am very pleased with the screen, my fears are gone. Comming from an Xperia S, this screen looks sharp, bright and the colours are beautiful. AMAZING. Viewing angles are not the best but they were OK enough to impress me and my Samsung/Apple-fanboy friends. The Barvia engine does an incredible job making pics and vids look vivid and alive. Cool. My sammy/apple-loving friends will never put me to shame again over screen quality: the screen made them drool ("is that really a Sony phone?").
- Not the "best" screen out there but at least adequate for a high-end phone, and a GREAT improvement over my previous Xperias.
2.- Bugs and lag. WiFi bug? What WiFi bug? Mine works flawlessly ( :fingers-crossed: fingers crossed). Lag? Camera does have some lag when starting, but nothing to die for (and it makes way better pics than any of my previous phones). I miss the "pinch to see al the widgets floting" screen but I apprecite the fact that Sony didn't change the new ICS/JB buttons layout and functions. I can make folders in my app drawer and many other goodies. The Album app shines and it's a plleasure to use it.
- Polished minimal Sony skin over the vanilla Android UI.
3.- Despite the bigger screen and the quad core, battery life is WAY BETTER than the Xperia S and SGSIII; no charges required during the day for me, and I am a moderate-to-heavy user. I have not messed with Stamina mode yet. My previous phones needed a charge by noon, this one goes all the way to about 6 pm.
- Nice battery life for such a big HD screen. A bigger battery would ruin the slim profile.
4.- I was very affraid of the sound level, but despite being waterproof the loudspeaker sound is OK, not as good as my Xperia S or the SGSIII but good enough, good enough for the alarm to wake me up (and that's a lot :cyclops: ) and good enough to be heard when in my pants pocket or to watch some youtube videos with my friends around in not-so-noisy environments. In-call sound is clear and it has some goodies to enhance the sound, be sure to check them in settings.
- The loudspeaker sound volume takes some sacrifices for being waterproof, but it's still enough for me. I'm not a DJ.
5.- WATERPROOF !!! (or splashproof or water resistant or whatever you want to call it). Boy I should have made some pics of my friends' faces when I submerged this baby in my glass of beer Take that SGS and Apple fanboys! Your phone is rubbish; mine is a shiny piece of waterproof polished cool looking purple glass
- Having a waterproof phone is definitively a BIG plus, especially in a rainy environment.
6.- Build quality is Sony-grade.I made a bet with my fanboy friends: let's drop your iPhone5s, your SGSIIIs, and my Xperia Z from only one foot high. They declined I did it just to show off. From two feet.
- Just what I expected from Sony: it not only looks but feels premium.
7.- Finally, the looks and cool factor. This phone is a chick magnet! They love it in purple. Ice-breaker, conversation starter (Lucky enough I'm not that kind of guy :angel: ). The WOW factor is assured with this phone, not ubiquitous but exclusive.
- I don't know if the SGS5 will come out with a rocket-fuel propelled chip or a mind-controled UI, but this phone is simply the best-looking-phone.
CONS?
Well, I found that the loudspeaker volume went very low after the phone got submerged in water.
At first I was shocked, I thought I may have forgotten to close the seals properly and I thought I could have got some water damage, but after double-checking I realized the reason was very simple: the loudspeaker gets soaked in water.
To recover full sound level I had to:
a) suck the water out of the speaker or
b) warm the phone through a charge.
Now let me put my flame-retardant suit on and let's wait for your oppinions. Your mileage may vary, but mine has been great to date. Just my oppinions. Have fun.
.

amazing phone I felt the same way with all those negative reviews and if truth be told I did cancel my order but felt like I make the biggest mistake, had bad feeling in gut when I cancelled order and found myself taking it out on mates so I called back the next day and re ordered.
I am so happy now I love the phone its amazing. all this bull crap about screen people are missing the point in having a reality display it means the most true to life experience you can get and the xperia z delivers colours are real and they are awesome.
I can see it now samdung galaxy users replacing handsets because of water damage while wishing they opted for the xperia z lol
---------- Post added at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------
to clarify I have had no issues with the phone apart for the camera everything else is great. the speaker however is another story its not as good as the sony xperia s but its definitely nothing to be worried about its adequate, but im sure there is a mod floating around that sorts it out but since that's the case then im sure sony will tweak that in next update just don't hold your breath lol

I agree.
I've had a long list of phones android blackberry and iPhone and this puts them all to shame.
Most recently I had an sgs3 4g, battery was so bad.
This phone is big but very good
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

Ta
Thanks for your clear, concise, real-word opinion. I'm getting mine today and I've read a number of the niggle this, niggle that reviews so was getting a little worried but now I'm excited all over again.
First thing I'm planning on doing is putting the camera on timer then dunking it in my beer (actually probably someone else’s, don't want to waste my pint). My first ever bubble eye view from a pint!

EXACLTY
The reviews actually scared me off this phone for a while slamming the ports, the screen the battery life and "buggy" software. I was all set to buy and HTC One and then they got delayed in my country and the price they quoted was more than the Z so I bought the Z and I do not regret the purchase.
I love the screen, way nicer than the cartoony AMOLED of my Gnex, and Battery is amazing, Stamina mode when used correctly literally means when the screen is off 0% is used. its amazing, my phone uses about 30-40% per normal day!!!
I have loaded it up with triple the amount of music that I had on my Gnex (thanks to expandable SD) and my only issue was music quality which was quickly remedied by the ACID mod but my Gnex had **** music quality and i used a mod to remedy that also.
Camera is good, better than the Gnex and better then the HTC one was going to be but i dont use cameras and I have come accross no bugs, also its hacker friendly something the S4 and the One are not
LOVE IT

Agree with all of you guys.. Great phone great materials it feels so premium, good sound and battery.. Love it
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app

I totally agree. It's the best phone I've ever had, and there isn't anything on the market that I'd rather have.
The screen is amazing. Not overly saturated like Samsung. I don't understand why anybody is complaining about the viewing angles — it's absolutely fine for me. Foreshortening becomes a problem before the "washed-out" colours do. And 5" is just the right size. It's big, but still easy to handle.
The battery life is great, even without stamina mode (which I haven't played with yet). It's better than my Xperia S, or the Samsung Galaxy R I had before that.
The sound is ample enough for me. I don't put it at 100% volume, and it's loud enough. I don't know what I would do with more...
My only complaints are minor:
1) the gray background for the navigation buttons should be black and not as high (but this is fixable with a mod, I know) and
2) the camera seems to have high-quality hardware but Sony messed up the software side with over-processing (but burst mode gives better results) — hopefully they fix this in the 4.2 update.

All I wanna say......
The smartphone I've always dreamt of. Thank you Sony for giving us this master piece!!!!
Sent from my C6602 using xda premium

Great review, I also love my Z. I Soak the phone in water to show my coworkers also and they were all amazed :laugh:.
But I don't dare to drop it like you did hahah.

gtrab said:
Some reviews mislead me to believe there was something wrong with this phone, I nearly regretted buying it due to the rumors of "bad" screen, low sound, bugs, performance, lag, battery life, and other concerns, but after several days of usage I must say:
1.- I am very pleased with the screen, my fears are gone. Comming from an Xperia S, this screen looks sharp, bright and the colours are beautiful. AMAZING. Viewing angles are not the best but they were OK enough to impress me and my Samsung/Apple-fanboy friends. The Barvia engine does an incredible job making pics and vids look vivid and alive. Cool. My sammy/apple-loving friends will never put me to shame again over screen quality: the screen made them drool ("is that really a Sony phone?").
- Not the "best" screen out there but at least adequate for a high-end phone, and a GREAT improvement over my previous Xperias.
2.- Bugs and lag. WiFi bug? What WiFi bug? Mine works flawlessly ( :fingers-crossed: fingers crossed). Lag? Camera does have some lag when starting, but nothing to die for (and it makes way better pics than any of my previous phones). I miss the "pinch to see al the widgets floting" screen but I apprecite the fact that Sony didn't change the new ICS/JB buttons layout and functions. I can make folders in my app drawer and many other goodies. The Album app shines and it's a plleasure to use it.
- Polished minimal Sony skin over the vanilla Android UI.
3.- Despite the bigger screen and the quad core, battery life is WAY BETTER than the Xperia S and SGSIII; no charges required during the day for me, and I am a moderate-to-heavy user. I have not messed with Stamina mode yet. My previous phones needed a charge by noon, this one goes all the way to about 6 pm.
- Nice battery life for such a big HD screen. A bigger battery would ruin the slim profile.
4.- I was very affraid of the sound level, but despite being waterproof the loudspeaker sound is OK, not as good as my Xperia S or the SGSIII but good enough, good enough for the alarm to wake me up (and that's a lot :cyclops: ) and good enough to be heard when in my pants pocket or to watch some youtube videos with my friends around in not-so-noisy environments. In-call sound is clear and it has some goodies to enhance the sound, be sure to check them in settings.
- The loudspeaker sound volume takes some sacrifices for being waterproof, but it's still enough for me. I'm not a DJ.
5.- WATERPROOF !!! (or splashproof or water resistant or whatever you want to call it). Boy I should have made some pics of my friends' faces when I submerged this baby in my glass of beer Take that SGS and Apple fanboys! Your phone is rubbish; mine is a shiny piece of waterproof polished cool looking purple glass
- Having a waterproof phone is definitively a BIG plus, especially in a rainy environment.
6.- Build quality is Sony-grade.I made a bet with my fanboy friends: let's drop your iPhone5s, your SGSIIIs, and my Xperia Z from only one foot high. They declined I did it just to show off. From two feet.
- Just what I expected from Sony: it not only looks but feels premium.
7.- Finally, the looks and cool factor. This phone is a chick magnet! They love it in purple. Ice-breaker, conversation starter (Lucky enough I'm not that kind of guy :angel: ). The WOW factor is assured with this phone, not ubiquitous but exclusive.
- I don't know if the SGS5 will come out with a rocket-fuel propelled chip or a mind-controled UI, but this phone is simply the best-looking-phone.
CONS?
Well, I found that the loudspeaker volume went very low after the phone got submerged in water.
At first I was shocked, I thought I may have forgotten to close the seals properly and I thought I could have got some water damage, but after double-checking I realized the reason was very simple: the loudspeaker gets soaked in water.
To recover full sound level I had to:
a) suck the water out of the speaker or
b) warm the phone through a charge.
Now let me put my flame-retardant suit on and let's wait for your oppinions. Your mileage may vary, but mine has been great to date. Just my oppinions. Have fun.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi thanks for your opinion!
Can you post wath is your device settings for optimal battery life..
I newbee in android word i've XZ from 2 days..
What i've to do?
bluetooth can still always on or is drain battery?
wifi can i use the gps option or is better to turn off manualy?
i don't use stamina because i need the led notification..
i've disable the google now..
Can you give me some tricks to expand my battery life.. thank you so much.. and excuse me for my poor english..

andrewx said:
Hi thanks for your opinion!
Can you post wath is your device settings for optimal battery life..
I newbee in android word i've XZ from 2 days..
What i've to do?
bluetooth can still always on or is drain battery?
wifi can i use the gps option or is better to turn off manualy?
i don't use stamina because i need the led notification..
i've disable the google now..
Can you give me some tricks to expand my battery life.. thank you so much.. and excuse me for my poor english..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your battery stats to see what's draining your juice. To me, it was the screen and my mail apps. I stay in 2g (EDGE) unless I want to navigate the web, and I disabled google+ auto pic upload. Also, I changed to auto bright screen. I keep GPS on. BT goes on when I'm driving (smart tag) and WiFi turns on at home & office (another smart tag).

Happy.
Yep I think it knocks the socks off my Razr i for the quality of its wi-fi and fm radio reception. Screen absolutely fine, and camera too when I get to grips with it. Little annoyances are the caps over every orifice that make it look like it's held together with string (it's actually very sturdy) and fingermarks, fingermarks, everywhere. (And I can never get the last few key-location bubbles out from under the screen protector). Unfortunately mine is on a contract with the mickey mouse Three UK's stupidly named One Plan so mobile data and phone is pretty much a waste of space, but since it seems everyone in the overpopulated UK is falling over themselves to provide wi-fi services I can live with their let-down.

First, I love this Xperia!
I'm on stock 350 and rooted. Most of the time the phone works perfectly. However, 2 or 3 times already the phone gets a bit hot, and consuming a lot of juice, for instance using xda app on lte network. SetCPU identified 41 deg Celsius. I was checking battery usage and it gave me a good share for app Devices.
I was looking for info about this app (has the same icon as Movies) but nothing. I blocked it now with Titanium, will I miss it?
Sent from my Xperia Z

How to replace battery on xpwria Z???
Sent from my ST26i using xda premium

The only problem I have is Socialife.
This is unreliable software which has basic problems with fetching updates from Twitter etc.
Shame SONY! And the previous software worked like a charm (Timescape)

The phone is average at best. Already can pick one up for £270 used on ebay
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

You could get it for free and still be an awesome piece of technology, which it is!
Sent from my Xperia Z

akuma2012 said:
The phone is average at best. Already can pick one up for £270 used on ebay
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me guess, s4 will knock your socks off? Lol
Sent from my LT29i using Tapatalk 2

Obvious troll is a troll
Don't feed 'em
.
.

Why is anyone who rightly critcises a medicore device a troll? What does the z have that the n2 doesnt other than a water gimmick?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Just exchanged my LG G2 for the Z1s. Here are my first impressions

I just wanted to let you all know my first impressions of the Z1s. A bit of background, I just traded in the LG G2. Before that I had the Lumia 1020, HTC One, S3, and then before that the iPhone.
Holding the Z1s in my hand feels very nice. It has a weight to it which just feels good. A lot of the phones such as the S3 feel like a toy or like you'd break it just by touching it. The Z1s does not have this issue.
The bezels on the top and bottom are HUGE. It doesn't look so bad once you get used to it but it's still a small issue (won't stop me from liking this phone though).
The screen gets quite bright and even when I'm outside it is visible. HTC One was quite the opposite and taking it outside in direct light was a nightmare. The viewing angles are not as bad as the reviews might make you think. I was expecting the worse but it's not bad at all. (And I still have the included screen protectors on).
This thing is ZIPPY. It just glides from one screen to the next. I know the specs help but I also think the very minimal UI is also a reason. I like it, reminds me a bit of stock google. I will be putting my favorite launcher on it (action launcher) and I don't think the silky performance will be affected.
Battery life right now sucks, but that is because it's downloading my apps/settings/etc. Sucking right now is a given so I can't really comment on it.
The camera is freakin nice. Coming from the Lumia 1020 and it's 40MP sensor I have high expectations for what can be done on a phone. This camera is easily the best camera on an ANDROID device. If google would get it's head out of it's ass and allow developers to adjust the shutter delay then it'd be even better.
The one big thing I hate right now, is the locked bootloader. I'm not sure what the hell Sony/TMobile was thinking. Hopefully it gets cracked soon. I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
I'll come back and update this after a day or two then after a week or two. So far though, (even with the crappy locked bootloader) I'd suggest this phone to everyone.
Rob

You can unlock the BL if you want to.

how is the feel of the smaller screen .. 4.3" ?

Hanozy said:
You can unlock the BL if you want to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not on all Z1's. He mentioned T-Mobile, and if he got it from them he can not unlock the bootloader. At least not without a new crack developed but I don't know if that will happen anytime soon.
Edit: I realized he said Z1S which is definitely T-Mobile and definitely not unlockable.
@robamacaf - great review, thanks

robamacaf said:
I just wanted to let you all know my first impressions of the Z1s. A bit of background, I just traded in the LG G2. Before that I had the Lumia 1020, HTC One, S3, and then before that the iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the Z1s camera compare to the G2? I'm in the same boat as you, thinking about switching to the Z1s from the G2. I'm only concerned about the differences in battery life and camera quality, at least one would have to be better than the G2 for me to make the switch! Looking forward to your impressions. Thanks!

robamacaf said:
The one big thing I hate right now, is the locked bootloader. I'm not sure what the hell Sony/TMobile was thinking. Hopefully it gets cracked soon. I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, the number of Z1 cases (bumpers mainly) that I want can't be used on the Z1S because of that moved headphone jack!
I'm on the fence of getting a Z1S. It doesn't have aluminum sides like the Z1 counterpart. What's your opinion on it?

ashouhdy said:
how is the feel of the smaller screen .. 4.3" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the Z1 compact, not the Z1s

randaddy said:
How does the Z1s camera compare to the G2? I'm in the same boat as you, thinking about switching to the Z1s from the G2. I'm only concerned about the differences in battery life and camera quality, at least one would have to be better than the G2 for me to make the switch! Looking forward to your impressions. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is the reason I switched. I was hoping for good things with the G2 but after I got it I tried taking photos of my kids in the living room at night and had to take 12+ photos to get one that wasn't blurry. It was frustrating. The Z1s has bigger pixels to capture more light and a higher resolution. I'll take some night photos tonight but so far the day time photos are great. If you don't know the Z1s does the same thing as the Lumia 1020 when it comes to photos. It takes a 20MP photo and then oversamples it down to the 8MP photo to keep the size down but also provide good details of the higher photos. This also allows the lossless zooming.
I'll give updated impressions but so far I really like it. We'll see how low light shots go tonight

PcFish said:
Also, the number of Z1 cases (bumpers mainly) that I want can't be used on the Z1S because of that moved headphone jack!
I'm on the fence of getting a Z1S. It doesn't have aluminum sides like the Z1 counterpart. What's your opinion on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it looks and feels premium. After doing some research they made it plastic to get better signal. It still looks metal so I don't mind it.

One thing I don't like is the placement of the USB port. I don't mind the flap, it takes 1 second to get off plus I knew the flaps were part of the waterproof phone. So I don't have an issue with it. I just don't like the USB port in the top left corner. It feels....wrong. Makes it hard to use the phone when it's plugged in and charging. I'll get used to it, but right now it's a bit of an annoyance.

robamacaf said:
I think it looks and feels premium. After doing some research they made it plastic to get better signal. It still looks metal so I don't mind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer this one more question and I'm sold on it.
How is the camera in low light compared to the HTC One?

PcFish said:
Answer this one more question and I'm sold on it.
How is the camera in low light compared to the HTC One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will let you know tonight. This was the big thing that I loved with the HTC One and Lumia 1020. The HTC One ROCKED in low light but the low details because of the low MP really hurt the phone. I'd go back to HTC One or HTC One Two in a heart beat if they raised the MP. I switched off of the LG G2 because the low light wasn't impressive at all. I'll post back in about 5-6 hours with pictures. I'll take some outside when the sun is going down, when the sun is gone, indoors and out.

Just wanted to give you a heads up. I traded in my Z1 back to Tmobile. While I can do with bad screen angles and such one thing I can't deal with is a bad battery that is non-removable. When I heard the Z1s had a 3000 battery I figured it'd be great because that is a pretty huge battery. My LG G2 was the same size and could easily go 1-2 days between charges. My Z1s was dropping 8-12% an hour with everything turned off.
I never bothered looking to see if the battery was ok before I bought it because everything said it was 3000mhz. Which is is. But after researching it after the fact I found out the Z1/Z1s has some of the worst battery life out of any major phone released in the last year. That coupled with the fact it has a locked bootloader made me return it. A great camera is only good if the phone has juice.

robamacaf said:
Just wanted to give you a heads up. I traded in my Z1 back to Tmobile. While I can do with bad screen angles and such one thing I can't deal with is a bad battery that is non-removable. When I heard the Z1s had a 3000 battery I figured it'd be great because that is a pretty huge battery. My LG G2 was the same size and could easily go 1-2 days between charges. My Z1s was dropping 8-12% an hour with everything turned off.
I never bothered looking to see if the battery was ok before I bought it because everything said it was 3000mhz. Which is is. But after researching it after the fact I found out the Z1/Z1s has some of the worst battery life out of any major phone released in the last year. That coupled with the fact it has a locked bootloader made me return it. A great camera is only good if the phone has juice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do know that a phone's battery is worst when hyou first get it, because it starts off low and the phone is trying to reinstall all your apps and services, contacts, media, etc? You really only get a truly good read on a battery after all that is complete and the battery has gone through several full charging cycles.

My Z1 drops 1% in 6-10 hours and has one of the best battery life of any phone, especially in standby.
It once didn't even drop 1% after 10 hours, at that point I already thought the screen was frozen because the battery percentage didn't move, but the standby was just so good.
Screen on time is also great, just recently I reached 3 days (73 hours) with 4.5 hours of screen on.
Many threads around here prove the phone's great battery life.
And don't blame the phone or Sony for having an unlockable bootloader. Blame t-mobile as they probably demanded this.
I agree with the non removable battery, I don't like it.

jmwils3 said:
you do know that a phone's battery is worst when hyou first get it, because it starts off low and the phone is trying to reinstall all your apps and services, contacts, media, etc? You really only get a truly good read on a battery after all that is complete and the battery has gone through several full charging cycles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything was already installed/synced/etc. I have had many phones over the months and no phone came close to sucking as bad as this did in the battery department right out of the gate. I can also give you sources if you'd like of reports on battery life where z1 came close to last on every one. In fact, I searched the interwebs for almost 2 hours and not a single battery report actually gave the Z1/z1s anywhere above average. They were all below average if not the worst around compared to modern phones

Definately sounds like something was wrong in your case here. My Z1 easily lasts two days of medium use, with an hour of screen time, a few snapshots with the camera, gmail and exchange sync on and a little RunKeeper.
You should have used a wake lock detector to see what was eating your power. My guess is that google plus or Dropbox was running haywire. Has happened to me a few times on new handsets.
-KJ

robamacaf said:
Everything was already installed/synced/etc. I have had many phones over the months and no phone came close to sucking as bad as this did in the battery department right out of the gate. I can also give you sources if you'd like of reports on battery life where z1 came close to last on every one. In fact, I searched the interwebs for almost 2 hours and not a single battery report actually gave the Z1/z1s anywhere above average. They were all below average if not the worst around compared to modern phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that IS quite odd, because every single review I read on the Z1s gave high marks for the battery, saying it lasted at least a day of moderate use, though each person's mileage will vary depending on usage. I too picked up a z1s today, and while my battery hasnt been phenomenal yet, its been better than my HTC One was, and should only improve over the next few days and weeks. Did you tinker at all with Sony's built in power saving settings?

robamacaf said:
I'm a tweaker, the kind of guy that will try a different rom every week until I find the perfect one for me. Even knowing it is locked, I love this phone. SOMEONE will crack it open... I hope.
I'll come back and update this after a day or two then after a week or two. So far though, (even with the crappy locked bootloader) I'd suggest this phone to everyone.
Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would advise to check this thread before you start heavy ROM flashing. Would be sad if your Z1 enjoyment finishes in couple days.

jmwils3 said:
that IS quite odd, because every single review I read on the Z1s gave high marks for the battery, saying it lasted at least a day of moderate use, though each person's mileage will vary depending on usage. I too picked up a z1s today, and while my battery hasnt been phenomenal yet, its been better than my HTC One was, and should only improve over the next few days and weeks. Did you tinker at all with Sony's built in power saving settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, and while I appreciate it having Stamina mode, etc. Other phones do not offer that and still get better life. On the Note III and LG G2 (both have 3000-3200 batteries) I don't have to make it turn stuff off for the battery to last. I appreciate what Sony was going for but it just didn't work for me. Maybe with the Z2 they are supposed to be announcing soon they will have fixed things like the battery draw/viewing angles, etc.
I think the Z1 line could be a beast. But Sony needs to make some tweaks to make it better in the long run.

Sony Xperia Z5 Compact reviews

Reviews have started to surface.
Three day battery life? I'm up for that!
http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ria-z5-compact-review-best-smaller-smartphone
I'll update as I find more.
http://gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z5_compact-review-1318.php

I'm so used to plugging in my Droid MAXX once every 3-4 days that when I saw this review I thought, "Ok, maybe it's about time I consider a new device..." and so far the Z5C looks to have everything that I want in a smartphone these days, including a 1280x720 display. Call me "behind the times" or something but, I just don't give a damn about super high resolution displays on small handheld devices anymore. I wouldn't mind 1920x1080 either but, 1280x720 just works for me and I know for a fact it most definitely contributes to massive battery life on the Z5C - the MAXX I have uses an AMOLED panel so that helps considerably on mine as well.
I could just get a new battery for it and I'd be getting a solid 4 days of battery life like I did when I first got it almost 2 years ago now but, the Z5C is currently sitting at the top of my "That's worth buying because I could actually use it" list.
Can't wait to see more reviews and hands on testing, as well as seeing the potential for custom ROMs as time passes. Definitely a device I intend to keep an eye on.

supercakefish said:
Reviews have started to surface.
Three day battery life? I'm up for that!
http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ria-z5-compact-review-best-smaller-smartphone
I'll update as I find more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of battery life (didn't read the review) it's pretty much correct. They said the same thing about the z3c and it was pretty much correct, got the phone for a year now and the battery life is still awesome!
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app

Dsteppa said:
In terms of battery life (didn't read the review) it's pretty much correct. They said the same thing about the z3c and it was pretty much correct, got the phone for a year now and the battery life is still awesome!
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just happy that the Snapdragon 810 hasn't severely impacted battery life as some people feared it might.

supercakefish said:
I'm just happy that the Snapdragon 810 hasn't severely impacted battery life as some people feared it might.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, many people just quote everything they read, without some real evidence. It might use more energy, but just like the gains against its predecessor the changes are pretty much marginal.
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app

I remember Sony boasting about the new display tech in the Z5's that turns the CPU off when a static image is shown on screen. Looks like it's compensated for the more power hungry SOC quite nicely!

I have the same opinion as @br0adband. I'm perfectly fine with "just" HD display, especially if it means much better battery life. Around 320 ppi is enough to get sharp images. For me the most important things in smartphone are: camera, battery life, design and pocket size. All these things Z5C have so it's perfect for me. The only thing I whish Z5C had, is metal frame, but I'm ok with plastic, because it's matte, that looks so elegant.
I also found this Spanish test:
http://www.xataka.com/analisis/sony-xperia-z5-compact-analisis
there are some good looking camera samples.

Another review http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/09/21/sony-xperia-z5-compact-unboxing/

cioce said:
Another review http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/09/21/sony-xperia-z5-compact-unboxing/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice little video there, nothing really new but it's cool to see what all comes in the box. That of course is not necessarily what we here in the US might find because of the provider but if I could manage to afford it I'd most likely buy direct and get the yellow one, I have this thing about yellow and black color combinations. I kinda like the boxy quality about the Z5C, it's just different and that's fine with me.
One thing that always irked me about Xperia models is the placement of the buttons - if I didn't know better I'd think that Sony believes it lives in a world full or right-handed people 'cause the overwhelming majority of people I know that use smartphones are left-handed and they hold it in their left hand so, having the side buttons on the right side of the phone is somewhat odd - that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Yes, my Droid MAXX has the buttons right-mounted but they're up in the top half of the right side, not the lower half which is what just seems so odd.
The hardware camera button is awesome, however. So far so good, Sony, I'm liking it more and more all the time.

There is no reason not to use it left handed
Just use an other finger than the thumb...?
The device is small enough, to grap around.
I think to remember guy in a video hands-on did so.... Right hand people tend to film with right and act with left for some reasons...
While mounted in the dash holder (car) or resting on the table people naturly use other fingers than the right hand thumb to unlock....

another review
https://www.androidpit.com/sony-xperia-z5-compact-review

Kinda messed up when they consider a 1280x720 display a negative in today's world, it really is. Nobody NEEDS more than that, I truly believe that's a nearly perfect resolution for most any purpose but that's just my opinion I guess. Super-duper high resolution screens, pretty much pointless in the palm of our hands.
On a wall as a high definition display, or a desk as a high resolution computer monitor, sure, that makes a lot more sense but, extreme resolution in a handheld device, I'll never understand that one.

br0adband said:
Kinda messed up when they consider a 1280x720 display a negative in today's world, it really is. Nobody NEEDS more than that, I truly believe that's a nearly perfect resolution for most any purpose but that's just my opinion I guess. Super-duper high resolution screens, pretty much pointless in the palm of our hands.
On a wall as a high definition display, or a desk as a high resolution computer monitor, sure, that makes a lot more sense but, extreme resolution in a handheld device, I'll never understand that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, 720p is the perfect resolution for this phone.
I'd consider it as a "PRO", something like:
"Has the optimal resolution for its screen size".
Some reviewers say this is a "contra". But this resolution saves a lot of battery power in all sense:
CPU power / GPU power / Screen's Power / Baseband/modem Power (lower DPI phones requires less internet bandwidth) (And lower resolution too, YouTube needs 720 instead of 1080).

I found another review and it's also a camera comparison against the S6 Edge+ (Y)

alexfrias said:
I found another review and it's also a camera comparison against the S6 Edge+ (Y)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty good review! The best so far.

Added this to the camera thread as well.
Z5 series has the best mobile phone camera tested by DxOMark (beating S6):
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Sony-Xperia-Z5-Mobile-review-Best-mobile-photo-video-scores-to-date

The best camera ever!!
Hi all XDAer's, just got my Z5 compact today from carphonewarehouse and I love it. Dumped my Galaxy S6 for this.
Another review..
http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/09/30/dxomark-rates-xperia-z5-as-best-of-the-best-sits-atop-rankings/

milesg said:
Added this to the camera thread as well.
Z5 series has the best mobile phone camera tested by DxOMark (beating S6):
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Sony-Xperia-Z5-Mobile-review-Best-mobile-photo-video-scores-to-date
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
excuse my ignorance. so the z5 premium, the z5 and the z5 compact. all 3 have identical lens and camera features?

alpha beta gaga said:
excuse my ignorance. so the z5 premium, the z5 and the z5 compact. all 3 have identical lens and camera features?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep!

http://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z5_compact-review-1318.php
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Why I'm not selling my U11

Figured I'd start a thread for every one keeping their phone since there's a few about selling them. Share your thoughts.
I love this dang thing!!
I originally bought it even tho my M10 wasn't paid off figuring how much better could it be? Well the 10 is in a drawer.
Lots of storage over my 10. I can now store my flac files on the internal instead of having to get an SD card.
Share your thoughts, keepers of the HTC market share.
Sent from my HTC U11 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

jtommyj said:
Figured I'd start a thread for every one keeping their phone since there's a few about selling them. Share your thoughts.
I love this dang thing!!
I originally bought it even tho my M10 wasn't paid off figuring how much better could it be? Well the 10 is in a drawer.
Lots of storage over my 10. I can now store my flac files on the internal instead of having to get an SD card.
Share your thoughts, keepers of the HTC market share.
Sent from my HTC U11 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same for me, I'm past my first year with the HTC 10 and still have til next May to pay it off lol. Although I still use my HTC 10 for when I am flashing or updating a ROM, I have to have a phone at all times for work. Have you rooted it yet?

This is a good phone but.. There's not much standing for it, good camera but slow in comparison to other phones, speakers are a bit better than on the s8 but they're not that special, display is good but not up there with the best and the minimum brightness is still bright for dark environments, edge sense is a gimmick, the water proofing on this phone isnt that good and ive seen people having problems with their phone due to water damage and basically i wouldn't trust to put this phone in water on purpose and i treat it as a non waterproof phone, the battery is pretty good but not that great for me, The bezels are big, there's no option to lower the brightness in camera app and no option to turn off capacitive key light, htc sense is ok but it has bloatware that you cant install and no useful features.. Nothing special aboit it and i guess the only thing good about it is that its close to stock android and the performance on it is great. Basically this is a good phone but the pixel xl 2 will have better camera, performance, battery, maybe speakers too, design and display, software and more support. Maybe also better waterproofing

adi.97 said:
This is a good phone but.. There's not much standing for it, good camera but slow in comparison to other phones, speakers are a bit better than on the s8 but they're not that special, display is good but not up there with the best and the minimum brightness is still bright for dark environments, edge sense is a gimmick, the water proofing on this phone isnt that good and ive seen people having problems with their phone due to water damage and basically i wouldn't trust to put this phone in water on purpose and i treat it as a non waterproof phone, the battery is pretty good but not that great for me, The bezels are big, there's no option to lower the brightness in camera app and no option to turn off capacitive key light, htc sense is ok but it has bloatware that you cant install and no useful features.. Nothing special aboit it and i guess the only thing good about it is that its close to stock android and the performance on it is great. Basically this is a good phone but the pixel xl 2 will have better camera, performance, battery, maybe speakers too, design and display, software and more support. Maybe also better waterproofing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're the one who started the ufs2.1 thread right?
you're contributing really well to the purpose of the thread....

riggsandroid said:
you're the one who started the ufs2.1 thread right?
you're contributing really well to the purpose of the thread....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol yeah i am xD

adi.97 said:
This is a good phone but.. There's not much standing for it, good camera but slow in comparison to other phones, speakers are a bit better than on the s8 but they're not that special, display is good but not up there with the best and the minimum brightness is still bright for dark environments, edge sense is a gimmick, the water proofing on this phone isnt that good and ive seen people having problems with their phone due to water damage and basically i wouldn't trust to put this phone in water on purpose and i treat it as a non waterproof phone, the battery is pretty good but not that great for me, The bezels are big, there's no option to lower the brightness in camera app and no option to turn off capacitive key light, htc sense is ok but it has bloatware that you cant install and no useful features.. Nothing special aboit it and i guess the only thing good about it is that its close to stock android and the performance on it is great. Basically this is a good phone but the pixel xl 2 will have better camera, performance, battery, maybe speakers too, design and display, software and more support. Maybe also better waterproofing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you like to hang with other Samsung junkies and parrot everything they say. You all are so worried we might have a better phone that you always have to come here to snoop and see whats going on, taking notes for all the talking points against HTC. My capacitive keys lights are off. What is this bloat you speak of? HTC allows us to disable and hide any bloat if there is any. Bezels are not even noticeable when using this beauty and at least our fingerprint scanner is in the right spot and has been proven to be much more reliable. Edge Sense is by no means a gimmick, I think we are well past that talking point. Any reasonable person knows not to intentionally drown your phone, and if you do you are supposed to dry it first before using. HTC specifically states this. The battery has already shown to beat the competition. The mics beat all of the competition, 3d audio recording. There really isn't much to complain about this phone some people just can't stand that something might be better than their beloved, super almighty Samsung giant. It's like it's their mission to make sure no one wants to experience it. "LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY!" LMAO
adi.97 said:
This is a good phone but..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOOK AWAY I'M HIDEOUS!
---------- Post added at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------
Frank Drebin IS HTC

LibertyMonger said:
[...] My capacitive keys lights are off. [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sharing how you managed to disable capacitive keys lights? Thanks!

Giocarro said:
Would you mind sharing how you managed to disable capacitive keys lights? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's on the Viper ROM in buttons and gestures settings

That's the beauty of HTC, almost anything is possible. Quietly Brilliant!

LibertyMonger said:
It's on the Viper ROM in buttons and gestures settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i know that you can disable them but you have to root your u11 first and i don't want to do that

adi.97 said:
Well i know that you can disable them but you have to root your u11 first and i don't want to do that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I didn't want to either with this beast. It really isn't needed but there are a few things that make it worth it and the main thing that always draws me back to HTC, the freedom of having an unlocked bootloader. Just a few minor things I enjoy like all black theme and apps that require root like the new edge sense plus. To say there isn't anything special about the U11 is just not true. There isn't much you can't do with it especially after the next update.

adi.97 said:
This is a good phone but..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did u even read the title of the thread?
Reasons why I'm keeping
1. Solar Red looks AWESOME.
2. Smooth smooth smooth. No stutter unlike my previous s8+ exynos that stutters quite often after 2 weeks of use
3. Edge sense is not a gimmick. It's useful especially after using the edges sense plus app (waiting for the huge official update promised tho)
4. Camera is awesome. Id rather have one lens phone that excels in image quality than a dual camera phone that is only mediocre or even good
5. Battery life is good enough for me. Dual sim, all day mobile data 4g, 6+ screen on time, 20 hours of total standby time. What I did was disable all bloat especially news republic.
6. Did I say solar Red is AWESOME?
7. That speaker.. Really love watching videos on it, good enough for listening music when I don't have my bt speaker around. The included noise canceling earphone is also very very very good. Haven't been using many bundled earphones for previous phones. But this one is a keeper.
8. Never had any problems with waterproofing. Then again I will never believe in waterproofing on a phone since I had incidents with z1 compact, Z3 compact, s5.
9. Fingerprint sensor is EXCELLENT. I have greasy fingers which usually problematic when using fp sensors. Had problems with p10+, s8+, Pixel xl, xzp. 99% of the time it works with this phone.
10. The fact that overall this phone bests everything on the market. I don't have premonitions on phones that comes next. But as things stand this phone is the best bet.

Allesa said:
Did u even read the title of the thread?
Reasons why I'm keeping
1. Solar Red looks AWESOME.
2. Smooth smooth smooth. No stutter unlike my previous s8+ exynos that stutters quite often after 2 weeks of use
3. Edge sense is not a gimmick. It's useful especially after using the edges sense plus app (waiting for the huge official update promised tho)
4. Camera is awesome. Id rather have one lens phone that excels in image quality than a dual camera phone that is only mediocre or even good
5. Battery life is good enough for me. Dual sim, all day mobile data 4g, 6+ screen on time, 20 hours of total standby time. What I did was disable all bloat especially news republic.
6. Did I say solar Red is AWESOME?
7. That speaker.. Really love watching videos on it, good enough for listening music when I don't have my bt speaker around. The included noise canceling earphone is also very very very good. Haven't been using many bundled earphones for previous phones. But this one is a keeper.
8. Never had any problems with waterproofing. Then again I will never believe in waterproofing on a phone since I had incidents with z1 compact, Z3 compact, s5.
9. Fingerprint sensor is EXCELLENT. I have greasy fingers which usually problematic when using fp sensors. Had problems with p10+, s8+, Pixel xl, xzp. 99% of the time it works with this phone.
10. The fact that overall this phone bests everything on the market. I don't have premonitions on phones that comes next. But as things stand this phone is the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's a troll lol lol

I'm the captive lights are off on my. Phone not even rooted

Am I crazy to return my note 8 for a u11?

Allesa said:
Did u even read the title of the thread?
Reasons why I'm keeping
1. Solar Red looks AWESOME.
2. Smooth smooth smooth. No stutter unlike my previous s8+ exynos that stutters quite often after 2 weeks of use
3. Edge sense is not a gimmick. It's useful especially after using the edges sense plus app (waiting for the huge official update promised tho)
4. Camera is awesome. Id rather have one lens phone that excels in image quality than a dual camera phone that is only mediocre or even good
5. Battery life is good enough for me. Dual sim, all day mobile data 4g, 6+ screen on time, 20 hours of total standby time. What I did was disable all bloat especially news republic.
6. Did I say solar Red is AWESOME?
7. That speaker.. Really love watching videos on it, good enough for listening music when I don't have my bt speaker around. The included noise canceling earphone is also very very very good. Haven't been using many bundled earphones for previous phones. But this one is a keeper.
8. Never had any problems with waterproofing. Then again I will never believe in waterproofing on a phone since I had incidents with z1 compact, Z3 compact, s5.
9. Fingerprint sensor is EXCELLENT. I have greasy fingers which usually problematic when using fp sensors. Had problems with p10+, s8+, Pixel xl, xzp. 99% of the time it works with this phone.
10. The fact that overall this phone bests everything on the market. I don't have premonitions on phones that comes next. But as things stand this phone is the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll sure drink to this list. The phone is a real pleasure to use and fiddle with.

I've been unlocked and rooted the phone, pretty much I'll stick with it for some periods. That's no perfect phone on Earth when you switched to others you'll find some other problems eventually.
What I don't like is the camera noise though the details is great but it got too much really and do need some more denoise. The size is a bit big for 5.5" too.

masri1987 said:
Am I crazy to return my note 8 for a u11?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what answer would you expect in the U11 forums? Of course not!

AarSyl said:
And what answer would you expect in the U11 forums? Of course not!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the answer should be yes?

TheEndHK said:
I guess the answer should be yes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's for you to decide, but here's my honest opinion. If i was supposed to use any Samsung phone, it would be the Note 8, and that's because of the 6gb of RAM, along with the refinements that are included in Samsun's 7.1 rom. The Note is DEFINITELY more fun that the U11, and that's coming from a diehard HTC lover.
However...I still don't feel that Samsung touches HTC when it comes to optimization and performance over time. I highly anticipate that the U11 will be pushing through the bits and bytes much more gracefully than the Note 1yr from now. Samsung ages horribly, and I'm talking from experience. My wife always gets the equivalent Samsung device when I get my new HTC...EVO vs Epic 4g, EVO LTE vs S3, M8 vs S5, S7 and S7 (got it with a BOGO...regrets....), and U11 vs S8. My phone always comes out on top for a longer period of time. So, I'm not simply blowing hot air when I say that HTC has much more consistent performance than Samsung.
Well, Samsungs are consistently inconsistent with performance...so my statement isn't completely accurate.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the , all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

it's what mi9 should have been, in everything except the CPU. It's too bad they used 710 instead of 712 due to the mi9 se. However, the cc9 is still probably the most "well rounded" package from the entire xiaomi line. High quality, great design, great cameras front and back, large battery, light weight, OLED, etc. Just love it. It's something I wanted out of a Mi9 but was let down with that battery. wish there's going to be more community support though, which looks a bit thin right now.

seities said:
it's what mi9 should have been, in everything except the CPU. It's too bad they used 710 instead of 712 due to the mi9 se. However, the cc9 is still probably the most "well rounded" package from the entire xiaomi line. High quality, great design, great cameras front and back, large battery, light weight, OLED, etc. Just love it. It's something I wanted out of a Mi9 but was let down with that battery. wish there's going to be more community support though, which looks a bit thin right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely, completely ditto. The only thing holding this phone back is the lacking developer community behind it. Even so, the only thing that's keeping me from using the excellent Android 10 GSI linked in the guides is the lackluster camera performances. Honestly, that wouldn't have been a problem if I still had my Whyred since that phone's camera was "meh" at best, but not enjoying this camera to the fullest feels like a sin!

I'm liking mine a lot, screen is nice, as is the fingerprint scanner. Photos are fine, now that I've removed the watermark. Seriously, who WANTS to brand their photos with a manufacturer's watermark?
I can even cope with the notch, which did concern me. The IR blaster is a nice thing, but would be a lot better if it had an Xbox media remote profile added.
I've ones minor irritation. And it's really bothering me. There's a chime that sounds every now and then that I can't switch off. It's a descending sequence of beeps, like when a usb stick is unplugged.
No visual notification, but it can happen in quick succession, and even happens when watching something on Netflix over bluetooth headphones.
It usually comes when the screen is switched on.
Any ideas? Is there a system log file for audio?
Sorted it! It was the NFC talking to my debit cards. NFC off, and annoying MIUI chime noise gone.
Now to figure out Google pay.

That's odd. No equaliser when using Bluetooth ear buds.
Any workarounds? I could do with a bit more bass on the t-elf buds.
Or, do I need to get into ROMs? Haven't flashed a phone in years!

Wildefalcon said:
I can even cope with the notch, which did concern me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is ”the notch”? Do you have protective glass? I'm worried that fingerprint scanner won't work well over protective glass... How's MIUI 11? Does Revolut work on this phone?
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------
iuliusdeblobbis said:
Absolutely, completely ditto. The only thing holding this phone back is the lacking developer community behind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was considering Redmi Note 8 Pro but gave up that because MTK processor, no drivers which means very small developing community. That's why I choose Mi 9 Lite and now you say that there will not much developing for this phone...

axlina said:
What is ”the notch”? Do you have protective glass? I'm worried that fingerprint scanner won't work well over protective glass... How's MIUI 11? Does Revolut work on this phone?
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------
I was considering Redmi Note 8 Pro but gave up that because MTK processor, no drivers which means very small developing community. That's why I choose Mi 9 Lite and now you say that there will not much developing for this phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying that there won't be a development community to back this phone. I'm saying that right now this phone doesn't have the support that other Xiaomi devices, like the RN5 or RN7, have.
I'm sure that, as time goes on, the community will get up to speed. In the mean time, @gringo80 has been mantaining a functional and frequently updated build of LineageOS, and even if that isn't your ROM of choice most GSIs works very well.

The notch is the "cut out" for the front facing camera.
I've a glass screen protector on the front, and the fingerprint scanner still works, but I think that is not as good as it was without the protector. I'm not taking it off, mind, as my phones have a hard life.

Wildefalcon said:
The notch is the "cut out" for the front facing camera.
I've a glass screen protector on the front, and the fingerprint scanner still works, but I think that is not as good as it was without the protector. I'm not taking it off, mind, as my phones have a hard life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems that screen protector is slowing response of scanner a little. However when I had added fingerprints again with protector in place seems fine again. Maybe split-second difference
Sent from my Mi 9 Lite using Tapatalk

I FREAKING LOVE THIS PHONE! period! There is nothing out there for around 200 bucks which can compete!

Battery drain, some bug on MIUI 11

franave said:
Battery drain, some bug on MIUI 11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im on MIUI 11 currently and i have no problem getting 3 days uptime and 10h SOT, dont think it's too bad for 4000mAh battery.

The phone arrives today.
I was googleing, trying to find way to root phone without unlocking bootloader. can anyone pplease help, post a link to a thread or anything. I will unlock bootloader but getting approved is a process and i want to root in right out of the box.
If rooted and with unlocked bootloader, can anyone confirm that Revolut works or doesn't work?
Wish you all the best in a New Year.

k3lcior said:
Im on MIUI 11 currently and i have no problem getting 3 days uptime and 10h SOT, dont think it's too bad for 4000mAh battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you. I'm really disappointed about the battery life.

Hi all,
Coming from Samsung S and Note lines, I decided to move because the flagships are now so expensive.
So I looked for a similar device. My main points were :
- Affordable
- Gorilla glass 5 at least
- Amoled
- Metal frame
- Non mediatek chipset
- Good battery life
- Recent
I had not a large choice according to the availability in the country (Madagascar). Official resellers prices are too high so I had to manage with some unofficial business which have not so much stocks.
A lot of Xiaomi available but not enough for me : mediatek chipset, gorilla 3 one side, plastic frame and back... Until I saw a Mi 9 Lite ad, and after having check the specs, that was what I looked for, matching my needs.
So here I am... Bought the 02/06/2020
Good packaging, but it misses headset.
I loooove it so much

Welcome to Xiaomi family!

I bought a Mi 9 Lite earlier this month when my veteran Oneplus X finally vibrated itself off the kitchen counter and its mortal coil after enduring ~4 years of abuse. As someone who doesn't care about all the bells and whistles and just wants a solid phone that won't break the bank, here is my mini review:
1) Design and build quality: Top notch. If I was handed this phone without any prior knowledge and told it costs 700€, I wouldn't question it for a second. Every single other phone I've found in this price range has an ugly chin bezel and plastic frame/back. The phone industry had pretty much abandoned plastic in favor of more premium materials on all but the cheapest phones, but for some reason plastic became acceptable again early last year. Glad to see Xiaomi sticking to aluminium and glass on its midrangers.
2) The screen is just stunning. It's sharp, color accurate and immersive with relatively tiny bezels. I'd pretty much sworn off LCDs after my first AMOLED phone, and I'm glad I didn't compromise this time either. The advantages are too great compared to the shortcomings of the technology.
3) The hardware: 6GB RAM is pretty hard to find on most midrange phones, let alone those that cost less than 250€. I'm not into mobile gaming so I've never really pushed the CPU and GPU to its limits, but for day to day use the Snapdragon 710 is absolutely powerful enough. Everything from web browsing to scrolling through social media or watching videos feels snappy and stutter-free. The battery is massive and I can easily go 2 days without recharging, and when I do need to recharge the battery fills up pretty fast.
4) The camera. I'm not really a shutterbug, so the camera specs aren't a top priority for me when shopping for a smartphone, but the photos seem sharp enough and color representation is fine. Video stabilization leaves a bit to be desired, however.
5) Last but certainly not least, the software. I can't really say I'm a fan of MIUI. Maybe I'm too accustomed to lighter ROMs like Oxygen OS and Lineage OS, but the MIUI interface just feels like it's trying too hard to be IOS. Thankfully the launcher recieved an update recently that brings back the familiar app drawer. Some of the bloatware can be uninstalled, while most of it can't. Also, the ads. Pretty much every preinstalled app serves you ads (fullscreen and banner). I get that ads are fundamental to Xiaomi's business model, and I appreciate that they can be (somewhat) completely removed, but I cringe when I think of all the less tech savvy people using their Xiaomi phones and getting bombarded with ads every time they want to listen to music or watch a video.
All in all, this is a from me. The Mi 9 Lite isn't perfect, but it's better than any other phone at this price point. The only thing holding it slightly back for me is the software, but that's subjective so not something I'm going to knock a star off over. Besides, there's always custom ROMs ?.