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[-Pyromaniac-]

Honestly, stock gets old pretty quick. I don't mind some personality to the OS if OEM can keep things low profile, but just do it the right way please.

Stock doesn't get old to me because you can use any launcher you want. You get the benefit of the quickest updates + launchers. That's why it'll always beat skins. Sony's new skin they're testing looks good though. I wish Samsung/LG would follow suit.

 

[Toki767]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

64-bit chip that doesn't overheat ✔
ddr4 ✔
great camera ✔
great battery life ✔
fingerprint sensor ✔
nfc ✔
gyroscope ✔
top design ✔

By now I must look like a Sony PR. But seriously. It has it all. And you can choose from three sizes and even screen resolutions!

It's hard to care about a phone that you can't even buy.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Compact premium looks hot...will probably be available in one region like 5 months from now and never in other regions.

 

[Quasar]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

64-bit chip that doesn't overheat ✔
ddr4 ✔
great camera ✔
great battery life ✔
fingerprint sensor ✔
nfc ✔
gyroscope ✔
top design ✔

By now I must look like a Sony PR. But seriously. It has it all. And you can choose from three sizes and even screen resolutions!

Well many of those features (namely heat, battery life and camera quality) still have questions over 'em that we need to see reviews with substantial use for.

It will of course be priced way out of my budget anyway. Which bums me out.

 

[Furyous]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

64-bit chip that doesn't overheat ✔
ddr4 ✔
great camera ✔
great battery life ✔
fingerprint sensor ✔
nfc ✔
gyroscope ✔
top design ✔

By now I must look like a Sony PR. But seriously. It has it all. And you can choose from three sizes and even screen resolutions!

I'm buying this phone and hope they market it as the international unlocked version. The 4 GB of RAM and 1080p display sell me already. Something tells me they'll add IR as well. This is as close to perfection as I'll get. The S810 isn't so bad as long as it's cooled and not the first generation processor. Please don't disappoint me Sony.

 

[Ty4on]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

I don't see how a size increase and a bump to 1080p would make it better. I'd love the original if it had a calibrated screen, ran stock Android and perhaps had an S808.

One thing that I've thought about is that everyone is nagging on about battery life, but even a 4000mah battery will "just" be a 33% improvement over 3000 and we're approaching tablet sizes for the handset when we go higher. That got me thinking of the Moto G which has great battery life with a relatively small battery, but its S410 is still on 28nm LP! That's the same process used by high end devices in 2012 and since then we've had 28HPm, 20nm and now 14nm is to Qualcomm. Would anybody like to see an otherwise high end device with a theoretical S410 at 14nm? It might need a slight GPU boost to handle 1080p comfortably and the DSP is limited at 13MP and 1080p, but other than that I don't see any issues with it. The speed seems fine and when my phone is slow it's something else like storage.
I'm not sure how much, but more RAM also consumes more power so that can't just be bumped. I don't feel very limited by 2GB, but understand wanting more (I looooove a million tabs that are active and instantly available on my desktop).

 

[SirMossyBloke]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

64-bit chip that doesn't overheat ✔
ddr4 ✔
great camera ✔
great battery life ✔
fingerprint sensor ✔
nfc ✔
gyroscope ✔
top design ✔

.

I'm sorry, did you say top design? Sony has the most cookie cutter designed phones out there.

Rectangle ✔
Flat ✔
Looks like all their others and confuses people ✔
Large bezel top and bottom ✔
Uninspired ✔

It's no wonder people don't buy Sony phones in NA. Plus of course their 1995 inspired UI.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

How long has Sony used the same design language? Is it 3 years like HTC?

 

[Quasar]

I'm sorry, did you say top design? Sony has the most cookie cutter designed phones out there.

Rectangle ✔
Flat ✔

Well every smart phone is that (hell every mobile phone is that - well there is the Blackberry Passport which I think is square not rectangular). Of course I'm not sure I want say a spherical smart phone.

 

[Baroquemantic]

How long has Sony used the same design language? Is it 3 years like HTC?

Since early 2013, I think, so nearly the same amount of time.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

How long has Sony used the same design language? Is it 3 years like HTC?

Longer I think, plus I can't even count on my hand the amount of phones they've had with the same basic look. Z, Z1, Z2, Z3, Z5, compact variations, Aqua, E1, E2, M.

HTC went backwards though after the M7. M8/M9 looks worse.

 

[Ty4on]

Well every smart phone is that (hell every mobile phone is that). Of course I'm not sure I want say a spherical smart phone.

There's something very angular about the design on Sony's Z devices.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Since early 2013, I think, so nearly the same amount of time.

Longer I think, plus I can't even count on my hand the amount of phones they've had with the same basic look. Z, Z1, Z2, Z3, Z5, compact variations, Aqua, E1, E2, M.

HTC went backwards though after the M7. M8/M9 looks worse.

it is kind of annoying, and that outdated UI/icons. Bleh. Still like the idea of a phone like the compact premium. Wish more would do it.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

it is kind of annoying, and that outdated UI.icons. Bleh. Still like the idea of a phone like the compact premium. Wish more would do it.

I agree with the compact premium. The 5s still sells shit loads based on its size. Motorola has the right idea in that regard. They just need to tweak it a little.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I agree with the compact premium. The 5s still sells shit loads based on its size. Motorola has the right idea in that regard. They just need to tweak it a little.

You mean motorola HAD the right idea? All their phones are pretty big now. At least the flagship ones.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

You mean motorola HAD the right idea? All their phones are pretty big now. At least the flagship ones.

Yeah lol.

The Moto G is selling faster than we can resupply, which is unheard of for us. Even faster than iPhone, but it's too low level for a lot of people.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Yeah lol.

The Moto G is selling faster than we can resupply, which is unheard of for us. Even faster than iPhone, but it's too low level for a lot of people.

I'd buy one just to have as back up.

In the end, phone making isn't that hard. All should have 2 models, one normal sized and one large. Mostly same specs. Apple and Samsung are the only ones who currently have the right idea. I don't include Sony because until they can release two sized phones in all regions it's hard to make the same claim.

They can also throw in a third budget phone for the regions where those sell most. But nope. Instead we have big and bigger. Different specs both severely gimped in their own ways. Or 5 models all for different reguins with staggered release dates and wildly different designs, etc...

You'd think this was rocket science. And then the Android OEMs start spinning their heads wondering why they're all dropping like stones.

 

[……forgetit]

There's something very angular about the design on Sony's Z devices.

I really hate the angles on the Z series, just awful.

 

[Fatalah]

Anyone use a separate contacts app? If so, any recommendations?

Contacts is the most archaic thing on my phone. Google should move it to the Play Store.

 

[Reckoner]

Well many of those features (namely heat, battery life and camera quality) still have questions over 'em that we need to see reviews with substantial use for.

It will of course be priced way out of my budget anyway. Which bums me out.

Tech journos did some tests during hands on. It was common for the phones to overheat during 4k recording and that doesn't happen anymore. Battery life was great on the Z3 line, since they didn't change much on that front I expect the same here. For camera, well, there are already comparisons online, so judge for yourself.

I don't see how a size increase and a bump to 1080p would make it better. I'd love the original if it had a calibrated screen, ran stock Android and perhaps had an S808.

One thing that I've thought about is that everyone is nagging on about battery life, but even a 4000mah battery will "just" be a 33% improvement over 3000 and we're approaching tablet sizes for the handset when we go higher. That got me thinking of the Moto G which has great battery life with a relatively small battery, but its S410 is still on 28nm LP! That's the same process used by high end devices in 2012 and since then we've had 28HPm, 20nm and now 14nm is to Qualcomm. Would anybody like to see an otherwise high end device with a theoretical S410 at 14nm? It might need a slight GPU boost to handle 1080p comfortably and the DSP is limited at 13MP and 1080p, but other than that I don't see any issues with it. The speed seems fine and when my phone is slow it's something else like storage.
I'm not sure how much, but more RAM also consumes more power so that can't just be bumped. I don't feel very limited by 2GB, but understand wanting more (I looooove a million tabs that are active and instantly available on my desktop).

I'm usually very vocal about the bullshit that are bad calibrated screens on Android. The Z2 was good on that front, but they messed up with it on the Z3 for whatever reason. I expect it to be better this time. Xperia OS is now very close to Android, and Sony is already testing an even closer to stock version that you can try it yourself if you have a Z3.

Why do you want the 808? It performs worse than the 810. Remember that Sony fixed the overheating issues with some heatpipes and thermal paste.

it is kind of annoying, and that outdated UI/icons. Bleh. Still like the idea of a phone like the compact premium. Wish more would do it.

Unfortunately, it will only be released in Japan. It should be the standard version for everyone, though. Sony should have just released the Compact Premium and the Premium. It would be good enough. No need for the mid version at all. Even the Z5C that they're going to release over here... it still bugs me a bit. I would

Spoiler

/will

definitely buy it if I wasn't so set on going the iWay this time.

 

[SimleuqiR]

https://youtu.be/U97X6HaLITU

Android Pay demo.

 

[kami_sama]

The perfection of the Z5 Compact Premium (exclusive to Japan) being completely overlooked in this thread. Makes me sad. But I understand why. Sony Mobile refuses success.

64-bit chip that doesn't overheat ✔
ddr4 ✔
great camera ✔
great battery life ✔
fingerprint sensor ✔
nfc ✔
gyroscope ✔
top design ✔

By now I must look like a Sony PR. But seriously. It has it all. And you can choose from three sizes and even screen resolutions!

Yes, it is a perfect phone. But call me when it is available outside Japan. Also, I don't know if I want to pay $1000 for a phone right now.

 

[EatinOlives]

Switching from iPhone and I'm having a pretty hard time picking out a damn Android phone. My biggest thing is battery life, also looking for decent storage (e.g., not 16 GB for base, microSD very much preferred). I also want a high-end phone in terms of construction/design.

Moto X Pure looks good but reviews don't really peg it as a high-end phone, which is something I'm looking for.
XPeria Z5 looks great but Sony seems to be twiddling their thumbs on a US release? That and I don't like the idea of a proprietary overlay, I want my first Android experience to be "pure" Android, and it's "rumored" to be ~$1000. I mean I'm all for high-end...but that's a little too high-end a price.
LG G4 looks great with its removable battery and microSD card but I don't know about durability and there's apparently rumors of a new G4 Pro in October.
Nothing really to know about the new Nexus phones other than "wait for announcement".
OnePlus Two makes me wary after all the negative talk re: durability/customer service from OnePlus One. Really doesn't strike me as a high-end phone.

Is there anything I'm missing? Since the market of Android phones is so huge it always feels like I'm not getting the full story in terms of available/upcoming phones.

 

[kami_sama]

Switching from iPhone and I'm having a pretty hard time picking out a damn Android phone. My biggest thing is battery life, also looking for decent storage (e.g., not 16 GB for base, microSD very much preferred). I also want a high-end phone in terms of construction/design.

Moto X Pure looks good but reviews don't really peg it as a high-end phone, which is something I'm looking for.
XPeria Z5 looks great but Sony seems to be twiddling their thumbs on a US release? That and I don't like the idea of a proprietary overlay, I want my first Android experience to be "pure" Android, and it's "rumored" to be ~$1000. I mean I'm all for high-end...but that's a little too high-end a price.
LG G4 looks great with its removable battery and microSD card but I don't know about durability and there's apparently rumors of a new G4 Pro in October.
Nothing really to know about the new Nexus phones other than "wait for announcement".
OnePlus Two makes me wary after all the negative talk re: durability/customer service from OnePlus One. Really doesn't strike me as a high-end phone.

Is there anything I'm missing? Since the market of Android phones is so huge it always feels like I'm not getting the full story in terms of available/upcoming phones.

In the new sony phones, android is mostly unchanged. A lot better than their last ones.
Right now your options are buying now a Pure or waiting till october, when they announce the Nexus phones.

 

[Jzero]

https://youtu.be/U97X6HaLITU

Android Pay demo.

So it's the same thing as Google Wallet?

 

[EatinOlives]

In the new sony phones, android is mostly unchanged. A lot better than their last ones.
Right now your options are buying now a Pure or waiting till october, when they announce the Nexus phones.

*groooan* but I want a phone now! Instant gratification, etc.! Good to hear about the Xperia phones, though. If only we'd get a straight answer regarding price and US release I'd be considering it more.

Fine, I guess I can lug a charger around for my current iPhone wherever I go. At this rate I'm lucky to get 2 hours of active use before it starts crying to be fed like a baby.

 

[kami_sama]

*groooan* but I want a phone now! Instant gratification, etc.! Good to hear about the Xperia phones, though. If only we'd get a straight answer regarding price and US release I'd be considering it more.

Fine, I guess I can lug a charger around for my current iPhone wherever I go. At this rate I'm lucky to get 2 hours of active use before it starts crying to be fed like a baby.

Well, if you need it right NOW, you could buy a Note, but as you've already said, no skins

 

[Reckoner]

*groooan* but I want a phone now! Instant gratification, etc.! Good to hear about the Xperia phones, though. If only we'd get a straight answer regarding price and US release I'd be considering it more.

Fine, I guess I can lug a charger around for my current iPhone wherever I go. At this rate I'm lucky to get 2 hours of active use before it starts crying to be fed like a baby.

The Xperias are only coming October. If they were already out I probably wouldn't resist until next week lol. If you really need one now, the Moto is an option, but I come from two (the X and N6) and the build quality isn't on top with Samsung's or Sony's premium feel. Also the battery life seems to, once again, be quite disappointing. You should get better SoT on it than on your current phone easily, though.

 

[Bboy AJ]

That Nexus 62 hump can't be real, guys. Pls

 

[Groof]

That Nexus 62 hump can't be real, guys. Pls

the denial is real

 

[tzare]

I don't see how a size increase and a bump to 1080p would make it better. I'd love the original if it had a calibrated screen, ran stock Android and perhaps had an S808.

One thing that I've thought about is that everyone is nagging on about battery life, but even a 4000mah battery will "just" be a 33% improvement over 3000 and we're approaching tablet sizes for the handset when we go higher. That got me thinking of the Moto G which has great battery life with a relatively small battery, but its S410 is still on 28nm LP! That's the same process used by high end devices in 2012 and since then we've had 28HPm, 20nm and now 14nm is to Qualcomm. Would anybody like to see an otherwise high end device with a theoretical S410 at 14nm? It might need a slight GPU boost to handle 1080p comfortably and the DSP is limited at 13MP and 1080p, but other than that I don't see any issues with it. The speed seems fine and when my phone is slow it's something else like storage.
I'm not sure how much, but more RAM also consumes more power so that can't just be bumped. I don't feel very limited by 2GB, but understand wanting more (I looooove a million tabs that are active and instantly available on my desktop).

That should've been the 615, but qualcomm fucked it as with the 810. Since it is a relatively low speed SoC it gets the job done,but, while it is a little more powerful than the 410 to handle 720p comfortably,it also is more hungry. I had an Xperia m2 aqua SD400 2300mAh battery and now own a M4 aqua SD615 2400mh battery. The M2 destroys the M4, when idle the m2 almost did 12 days, the m4 dies in a week. Same settings. Maybe lollipop is a factor though (m2 still on Kk) but too much difference and m4 gets really hot too.

At that price the nexus6 is a much better deal than moto play and even the pure. Unless your interested in the camera.

Btw any test that measures battery life vs camera usage?

 

[tzare]

Switching from iPhone and I'm having a pretty hard time picking out a damn Android phone. My biggest thing is battery life, also looking for decent storage (e.g., not 16 GB for base, microSD very much preferred). I also want a high-end phone in terms of construction/design.

Moto X Pure looks good but reviews don't really peg it as a high-end phone, which is something I'm looking for.
XPeria Z5 looks great but Sony seems to be twiddling their thumbs on a US release? That and I don't like the idea of a proprietary overlay, I want my first Android experience to be "pure" Android, and it's "rumored" to be ~$1000. I mean I'm all for high-end...but that's a little too high-end a price.
LG G4 looks great with its removable battery and microSD card but I don't know about durability and there's apparently rumors of a new G4 Pro in October.
Nothing really to know about the new Nexus phones other than "wait for announcement".
OnePlus Two makes me wary after all the negative talk re: durability/customer service from OnePlus One. Really doesn't strike me as a high-end phone.

Is there anything I'm missing? Since the market of Android phones is so huge it always feels like I'm not getting the full story in terms of available/upcoming phones.

If size is not a problem, note 4. You mentioned stock android, but LG is not. Stock only options are nexus, moto and sony is almost there
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sony...stock-Lollipop-with-popular-Sony-apps_id71830

 

[Nikodemos]

That should've been the 615, but qualcomm fucked it as with the 810. Since is a relatively low speed SoC it gets the job done but while is that little more powerful than the 410 to handle 720p comfortably it is more hungry. I had an Xperia m2 aqua SD400 2300mAh battery and now own a M4 aqua SD615 2400mh battery. The M2 destroys the M4, when idle the m2 almost did 12 days, the m4 dies in a week. Same settings. Maybe lollipop is a factor thoug (m2 still on Kk) but too muxh difference and m4 gets really hot too.

Yeah, it's no surprise that Sony went MediaTek for the M5. People are aware that the SD810 was a fuckup, but not that several other designs were botched as well. The SD800 had uneven performance caused by yield quality and the 615 is power-hungry and has a rather weak GPU. Right now Qualcomm doesn't have a competitive mid-range SoC and won't until the 618/620 come online.

 

[Bboy AJ]

the denial is real

It's worse than the N5-2's design of Casper at a glory hole.

 

[Maiar_m]

It's worse than the N5-2's design of Casper at a glory hole.

Stop, I was sold on it before but now I can't even wait.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Man I hope the battery life is good. It's the only thing that matters to me in a smartphone at this point. All the publications that said OPO's battery was good lied to me.

 

[thuway]

Is Nexus 6-2 confirmed to be using OLED?

 

[asdad123]

I received a OnePlus 2 invite... but I don't know if I want to buy it lol. I was figuring on sticking with the iPhone since I have an Apple Watch.

Anyone here have one? Hows the LTE band issue with ATT?

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

I installed Cyanogenmod 12.1 on my Galaxy tab Pro 8.4 in an attempt to get more battery life of of it, and stop chrome reloading every tab when I'm browsing.

Bye bye warranty, let's hope is worth it....

 

[Groof]

Is Nexus 6-2 confirmed to be using OLED?

nothing is confirmed

 

[……forgetit]

I received a OnePlus 2 invite... but I don't know if I want to buy it lol. I was figuring on sticking with the iPhone since I have an Apple Watch.

Anyone here have one? Hows the LTE band issue with ATT?

You could always sell the invite.

 

[gcubed]

So it's the same thing as Google Wallet?

You mean Apple pay. That's a huge improvement over Google wallet

 

[Pachimari]

My LG G3 got really slow a few days ago. Should I restore from factory settings?

 

[……forgetit]

My LG G3 got really slow a few days ago. Should I restore from factory settings?

Yes? I mean why not? Just back up your stuff.

 

[Mindwipe]

There's something very angular about the design on Sony's Z devices.

The lack of soft crappy corners that make the phone not lie properly and no shitty camera wart are the best things about Sony's design.

 

[Aticos]

Why is everybody saying Z5 premium over priced? It cost about same as iPhone 6+ but with bigger storage.
iPhone 6+ 16gb = £619
Xperia Z5 premium 32gb = £629

 

[……forgetit]

Why is everybody saying Z5 premium over priced? It cost about same as iPhone 6+ but with bigger storage.
iPhone 6+ 16gb = £619
Xperia Z5 premium 32gb = £629

Because of the perception that people don't buy expensive Android phones.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Because of the perception that people don't buy expensive Android phones.

I don't think it's a perception

The only one selling a notable amount is samsung and they've been sinking for years

 

[Jazzy Network]

Why is everybody saying Z5 premium over priced? It cost about same as iPhone 6+ but with bigger storage.
iPhone 6+ 16gb = £619
Xperia Z5 premium 32gb = £629

Because Apple can charge a lot and get away with it while Sony can't sell any of their phones and still price them so high?

 

[giga]

You mean Apple pay. That's a huge improvement over Google wallet

What's the difference?