The Best of Sony...for 2013

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touzeen

touzeen

Doctor Pen and Scalpel
Galvanizer
Time for a new phone!

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Was considering the LG G2 and the Xperia Z1
Had a long hands on time with both in mobile showrooms.
G2 Likes:
Amazing Screen/Bezel combination
G2 Dislikes:
Plastic build,Squeaky in places.
No external storage,only 16gb models available(11gb user accessible)
Z1 Likes:
Form Factor/Build Quality/Water resistance
Camera (after pixel peeping numerous samples online)
Good screen (not as bad as its made out to be)
Z1 Dislikes:
Low Loud Speaker volume
Fiddly SIM tray

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First Impressions:
1)Phone feels really good in the hand,even though I have smallish hands.The Alu. frame gives it a solid feel.Was able to spin/twirl it in hands/put in pocket/remove from pocket within just a few minutes of getting it.
2)The side flaps snap in very snug.Havnt tried running the phone under water yet.The SIM tray is a horrible piece if thin plastic {has the consistency of 35mm film(Some of you might be too young to know this :-P)}
3)I got the White version because the black/violet just show the finger prints very obviously.Also it looks much more like Aluminum than the others.The Buttons have a nice tactile feel and the Power button is at the place where your thumb always rests.
4)At first I was really disappointed about the screen,brightness wise,but then i discovered the "Optimised Backlight" setting and since turning it off,my phone has been at max brightness! its just so gorgeous.Its has the perfect saturation without looking like an AMOLED screen.Head on,I would say the display on the Z1 and G2 are almost same but G2 has blacker blacks.When you go off axis by about 45* (horizontal and vertical) you start to see the display fade out.But having the screen at Max brightness makes it less obvious and a bit bearable.
Another aspect of the display in favor of the G2 is the edge to edge display which creates an illusion of a bigger screen.

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5)Phone operation is very fast without any issues yet.Plenty benchmarks online.
6)The provided case(freebie) is pretty slim and functional(magnet closure,non slip lining so you can have it at an angle) even though I hate not being able to hold the phone naked in my hands.

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7)Battery life is pretty good.At 50% charge after one full day of my typical work day.2G always on,2hrs of calls,2hrs of music,about 4 hrs of WiFi web browsing/YouTube.

Also got the Sony MDR-ZX300(nothing special) a Sony 5000mah portable charger as freebies.
Thanks for reading,any Questions are welcome.
 
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I'm in the same quandary myself Z1 or G2. What was it that pushed you towards the Z1 ?

I have a concern about that free case. it uses glue strip to hold the phone right ? When the glue wears out its easy for the phone to fall or is the phone also attached to the case in some other way.
 
The built quality is what pushed me towards the Z1,the G2 REALLY feels very cheap in the hands.
The case has the glue strip as the ONY WAY to latch onto the phone,no other means.Im guessing it'll be useless once this wears out or attracted enough dirt to work effectively,unless this problem is covered under warranty and we get a free replacement :-P
 
I know,it's a funny stoy actually. Was just at the mall with parents and just checking out the phone casually and my parents made me an offer I couldn't refuse. We'd split the cost 50/50 now and I'd pay the remaining back to them over 6 months.
Turned out to a good thing as I'd actually have to save some cash from my paltry stipend instead of eat it piss it away,which I WAS doing anyway.
Anyway turned out to be a good trade off for the 2k I would have saved if ordered online...and the freebies kind of make up for it as well...
Also the mall was having a raffle. You get one ticket for every 10k you spend,we got 5 tickets.fingers crossed for some nice prizes in the draw.
 
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touzeen said:
The built quality is what pushed me towards the Z1,the G2 REALLY feels very cheap in the hands.
Click to expand...
Anything else or was that it.

touzeen said:
The case has the glue strip as the ONY WAY to latch onto the phone,no other means.Im guessing it'll be useless once this wears out or attracted enough dirt to work effectively,unless this problem is covered under warranty and we get a free replacement :p
Click to expand...
Case won't be covered as its a 'gift'. ADP is only for the phone, and its best to pretend it does not exist unless you intend to resell before it expires. You don't want to have to prove 'accident' because i suspect that will be difficult.

Phone slipping out of that case and falling on the ground is what i fear about that case. Lousy design. if i decide to go for Z1, i'd like them to deduct the cost of it from the unit, fat chance i'll get that though.
 
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@distro why would I take offence? You are fully entitled to your opinion.
@blr_p you don't need to worry about the phone slipping out as the hold is pretty strong and takes a bit of conscious effort to separate it manually.only way the glue can loose effectiveness is if pocket lint/dust get stuck to the COMPLETE length of the glue but then anyone would have the common sense to know that it's not usable...so basically,the glue hold is very assuring.and yeah,just the build quality for the G2
 
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You see any need for a gadget shieldz protector just for the screen. That shatter proof film tends to get scratched easily. Though in a folio case chances of this happening are less if not impossible.

folios i find are nice to protect the phone but make it slightly less acessible than say just a bumper or back case only. Its early days still, more choice in case styles are yet to appear on the market. Can only get the best ones from abroad.
 
touzeen said:
4)At first I was really disappointed about the screen,brightness wise,but then i discovered the "Optimised Backlight" setting and since turning it off,my phone has been at max brightness! its just so gorgeous.Its has the perfect saturation without looking like an AMOLED screen.Head on,I would say the display on the Z1 and G2 are almost same but G2 has blacker blacks.When you go off axis by about 45* (horizontal and vertical) you start to see the display fade out.But having the screen at Max brightness makes it less obvious and a bit bearable.
Click to expand...
I read that in the latest .257 update that the 'optmised backlight' cannot be unset and is default enabled. You might want to take that into account. Suggest you search the sony forum and xda about that backlight thing, i've seen some complaints about it, lockups etc which why i think it was disabled in the .257 update. Which fw are you on btw ?

Is viewabilty really a problem. 45 degrees means the phone is on a desk about 2-3 feet away from you.
 
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blr_p said:
I read that in the latest .257 update that the 'optmised backlight' cannot be unset and is default enabled. You might want to take that into account. Suggest you search the sony forum and xda about that backlight thing, i've seen some complaints about it, lockups etc which why i think it was disabled in the .257 update. Which fw are you on btw ?
Is viewabilty really a problem. 45 degrees means the phone is on a desk about 2-3 feet away from you.
Click to expand...

I updated to .257 last night,and the "Optimized Backlight" option has been removed.Its a bit tricky to explain.
With Optimized Backlight On(old fw):
The "Adapt to light Conditions" option is always on,even if you turn it off,hence even if you turn the brightness to max its still taking reading from the ambient sensor and keeping the brightness low in dark environments and increasing in environment areas.
With Omtimized backlight Off/Unavailable(new fw):
The the "Adapt to Light Conditions" option works they way its supposed ie: if off,it keeps the max brightness at dark environments too.If on,it adjusts the brightness according to ambient light.
Donno if that explained it.

About viewing angles,45* means you eyes are at an angle of 45* from the screen. The 2nd pic in this thread is 0* viewing angle and the 3rd pic is 45* viewing angle.

You should try out the phone in person.Would help you decide better.
 
Nice pics and great writeup. Im really impressed with the case though, it looks amazing on the phone. I recently got an SP and was quite annoyed with my cover which doesn't feel that good and (flip-cover) doesn't even close shut properly. Congrats.
 
iAuto seems to do well outdoors with .257, drops iso low to 50 for minimum noise, automatically sets scn mode to landscape but its slightly overexposed though for first & last shot. see the histograms for first

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and last

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drop exposure compensation by one notch (0.3) and should be good.

The last one has 3.03 x zoom and comes out fairly clear. Try not to exceed 2x for zoom.

Now lets see some low light pics :)
 
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Its not a DSLR but it will give you far more opportunities to take photos than you could ever hope to get with a DSLR.

Didn't pixel peep, just checked exposure. Superior auto isn't mature yet, sony requires another month or two to get it right. This is the thing with sony, they take 3+ months after launch to get the camera fw right whereas samsung, lg & apple get it right more or less at the get go.

If you're using manual and taking outdoor shots a little -EV correction will get you more detail and less blown highlights. When you're taking night shots you'll have to boost EV.

The camera is capable if you make better use of it.
 
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IAuto Low Light
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The Manual image is 8mb...Imageshack isnt allowing me to upload files bigger than 5mb...any alternatives?
 
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