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Hi
I want to change my phone, and I simply cannot decide.
At Vodafone RO, the Arc would cost me 235eur and the Sensation 290eur.
What I want from a phone: decent battery life (I want it to last a day with web browsing); great display: I want a big and high-quality display; good looks and high quality build; decent performance: smooth web browsing, smooth UI but I don't care about gaming performance or 1080p video shooting/playback.
I played with both phones, but never had one for a few days. I noticed that the Sensation is not so fast, actually in some circumstances it's pretty slow; something bugging me at Sensation: closed all running apps and the remaining RAM was still 150mb; tried it with 3 different devices and read about this in a review. Plus, I saw that the web-browsing battery life is lower than Arc's.
What bothers me most about the Arc: the 320mb internal memory; as I know from my P500 (~150mb internal), the memory fills pretty fast...
So my question is: is the not-so-fast Sensation worth over the single-core wonderful-looking Arc? I really want objective opinions and I want to know how's the Arc in real-life, please
Hi There,
I have the Arc, when i bought i also looked at the Sensation and S2..
I use the Arc a fair bit for web browsing and instant messaging and I have to be honest and say i would struggle to get the day out of it. I usually find myself topping it up at my PC during the day. I would only imaging the Sensation is worse though. I had a HTC Desire before the Arc and it drained a lot quicker than the Arc and ran a lot hotter. A few niggles I find with the Arc -
1) Keyboard entry - for some reason its not always 100% accurate.. this improves if i clean the screen so could be down to the screen protector thats factory fitted to the Arc
2) Reboot times - no consistency with my Arc - could be 30 seconds could be 2 minutes
3) I have seem some slowdowns screen redraws slowly etc but nothing that would be put me off using the phone.
Anyway they are my negatives - there are plenty of positives but im sure you are aware of those already
Cheers,
Mick
I also looked at the sensation and desire s but after using my stepdads desire s and my brothers sensation I settled for the arc, I use it heavily for web browsing and some gaming during the day and mine lasts from about 8am til around 11pm the screen is very sharp and clear as im sure youve noticed
Sent from my LT15i using xda premium
One advantage of Xperia arc is that it is recently rooted and you will witness everything from the first succesful rom (CM7) which is coming soon to many custom roms. Basically you will witness xperia arc's developer timeline
I bought an arc in June, and afterwards I had the chance to fiddle a bit with a friend's Sensation. I have to say, I was not that impressed with the latter.
The display is not that great and the overall build quality seems much poorer than other non-HTC phones.
For example, after barely one month of use, my friend's Sensation had the colour faded on the housing at the corners, so it have off a really cheap plastic feeling. He also managed to drop it once to the floor from ~1m and it had a nice dent on the edge...
Whereas my arc still looks brand new! I also dropped it a few times but no visible marks were left.
The only thing I'm a bit disappointed in is the screen. Sony Ericsson say it's scratch resistant, but it's not Gorilla glass. A little extra care is required. Or a screen protector, for that matter.
Overall, I'm glad I got an arc. Rooted, OC'd to 1.6GHz and with v6Supercharger script running, it's lightning fast and smooth, it doesn't lag (and I'm quite a heavy multitasker) and even after ~150 uptime hours, I still have around 150MB of free RAM.
So if you're happy with a single-core, I definitely recommend the arc. If you want dual, the Galaxy S II is the best choice, in my opinion.
Hello,
You said good display, I definately reccomend Arc, I was today comparing display with Optimus 2x ( I know it's not Sensation) and image at arc got crispness and it shows ALOT better darker colours image is brighter(or got more contrast)-i dont know.
Although O2x got higher illuminated screen. And I dont think that S-LCD is better than just LCD.
About battery in Sensation I've read that HTC set battery to charge to 80% (it will show 100%) for security reasons, and more lifetime. It's possible to fix it.
Ive tried both and they both have the pros and cons but i still love the arc for what its worth. HTC just includes alot of widgets and animation. I think that is why alot of people like there phones.
Well, the fact is that I don't really want to mod my next phone. I want to buy a phone that's good as it is.
The only reason I modded my P500 is becuase it's crappy with the stock ROM.
About Sense UI: it's something I really like (although many people say it's just visual crap), we have 2 sense ROMs ported to P500 but sadly GSM doesn't work (those were the ROMs I was looking most forward to). The Arc's UI is pretty elegant but I don't like the fact that it's pretty poor in colors (I like colourful icons on black backgrounds). And I really hate the fact that it's missing smart dialling, that's a feature I use all the time. But there's no perfect device.
@crimilde: I don't want the SGS2; in my opinion, an expensive phone must have a high quality housing to justify its money and the SGS2 is made out of crappy plastic. For me the build quality is very important and I don't want to spend 1600RON on a crappy-plastic toy.
Thanks for your help, my 5 thanks per day limit kicked in on this thread )
Well I used to have a Desire and rooted and installed numerous custom roms.
My 2 penneth... with the Sensation there will soon be numerous roms and you will be able to sort out any battery issues. The screen isn't as good as the Arc BUT when app devs start to take advantage of dual core you'll see the benefits.
I ultimately went for the Arc as the screen is fantastic, battery life is pretty good (of course you should use auto screen brightness as well as oother power tweaks to get more than 1 days usage - I can get more than I could with my desire)
For those talking about keyboard accuracy, just install the gingerbread keyboard from the market and your accuracy probs will be sorted.
Ultimately my advice, go for the Arc, looks great, is fast enough and the screen is brilliant (oh and audio is good too)
Hope this helps!
Sent from my LT15i using XDA App
micks_address said:
Hi There,
I have the Arc, when i bought i also looked at the Sensation and S2..
I use the Arc a fair bit for web browsing and instant messaging and I have to be honest and say i would struggle to get the day out of it. I usually find myself topping it up at my PC during the day. I would only imaging the Sensation is worse though. I had a HTC Desire before the Arc and it drained a lot quicker than the Arc and ran a lot hotter. A few niggles I find with the Arc -
1) Keyboard entry - for some reason its not always 100% accurate.. this improves if i clean the screen so could be down to the screen protector thats factory fitted to the Arc
2) Reboot times - no consistency with my Arc - could be 30 seconds could be 2 minutes
3) I have seem some slowdowns screen redraws slowly etc but nothing that would be put me off using the phone.
Anyway they are my negatives - there are plenty of positives but im sure you are aware of those already
Cheers,
Mick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
keyboard entry was a problem from x10, i think they have fixed it for the arc(x12). so far it seems to be fine. try update to the latest fw.
i apply another screen protection on top of the factory default screen protector. it doesn't bother me with the input at all.
i recommend to put another screen protection, couse the factory default screen protector is a little bit tricky to replace.
about batery life, it improves a lot after around 10 full-cycle charges. when i first bought it, it rarely past 24 hour. updated to the latest fw, deleted unwanted bloadware, and optimize batery setting (brightness, timeout time, etc) and now :
it can past 48 hours with normal use (texting, little gaming and wifi)
it can past 24 hours with moderate use (fare gaming and wifi)
it can past 12 hours with heavy use (lots of gaming and wifi)
ps. i use live wallpaper all the time, couse static wallpaper is boring
22VIN said:
Well, the fact is that I don't really want to mod my next phone. I want to buy a phone that's good as it is.
The only reason I modded my P500 is becuase it's crappy with the stock ROM.
@crimilde: I don't want the SGS2; in my opinion, an expensive phone must have a high quality housing to justify its money and the SGS2 is made out of crappy plastic. For me the build quality is very important and I don't want to spend 1600RON on a crappy-plastic toy.
Thanks for your help, my 5 thanks per day limit kicked in on this thread )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i still haven't mod my arc, still impressed with the oficial fw updates by SE
yeah, i've tried arc and S2, playing around with them before finally diceded arc is better suited for me.
reasons :
- the scroling animation seems to be faster, and it was still with 2.3.2 fw.
- the design.. arc owns s2. s2 is big, fat, and box like. arc is more sexy
- it's a sony, they have good camera reputation, i previously own a k750i
Also id like to add.
The first batch of xperia Arcs are not so great build quality.
I had one, since April, the back made noises, and the buttons got stuck. Camera button was really stiff.
Now that could just of been a one off.
But i recently got a replacement and i have to say this handset feels alot better.
All the problems are gone which i had before.
I actually really enjoy this phone.
It's really nice to hold. I find it fast for my needs.
Which is mostly, emailing, calls, texts and Internet.
A few games which all run smoothly.
Even the more top end games like galaxy on fire 2 runs fine.
I use SwiftKey, which I don't think I could live without now.
It's a amazing keyboard.
I used to like sense, had it on my htc hero.
Looking back at it now, it looks and feels bad.
I used to love it.
They are so much more home screen replacements that do things better.
I don't use the default sonyericsson home.. Why,,, well I don't like it.
What I'm saying is if there is something that you don't like. I'm sure they are a replacement in the market to fill your needs.
I also think htc phones all look the same, boring design in my eyes.
As for battery life all depends on screen brightness, down to how much you use it.
Mine lasts easy a whole day at work.
Also have to hand it to sonyericsson they have keep the updates coming for this device. It's a real treat to receive so many improvements.
You should choose the ARC. With the latest 2.3.3 FW (Generic UK) the phone is fastest, battery life is the best. After about 5 charges (my phone) with moderate use battery lasts abour 40 hours; Heavy use - 10-12 hours; constant use - I managed to get about 5 hours with Wi-Fi, BT, GPS, Auto-Sync on at 75% Brightness. As for internal memory... there is included app2sd with the phone. Any phone has bloatware, things you don't want, you don't need... so root is not actualy modding. I'm also from Romania, Bucharest, I have an Arc and i'm very happy with my choice. Hope you will be with yours. Cheers
22VIN said:
Well, the fact is that I don't really want to mod my next phone. I want to buy a phone that's good as it is.
The only reason I modded my P500 is becuase it's crappy with the stock ROM.
About Sense UI: it's something I really like (although many people say it's just visual crap), we have 2 sense ROMs ported to P500 but sadly GSM doesn't work (those were the ROMs I was looking most forward to). The Arc's UI is pretty elegant but I don't like the fact that it's pretty poor in colors (I like colourful icons on black backgrounds). And I really hate the fact that it's missing smart dialling, that's a feature I use all the time. But there's no perfect device.
@crimilde: I don't want the SGS2; in my opinion, an expensive phone must have a high quality housing to justify its money and the SGS2 is made out of crappy plastic. For me the build quality is very important and I don't want to spend 1600RON on a crappy-plastic toy.
Thanks for your help, my 5 thanks per day limit kicked in on this thread )
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Click to collapse
What and the Arc's plastic is high quality, the crack problem would seem to put that in doubt. Speaking as an Arc owner I do not expect the front fascia to crack after only about three months, especially for the money paid. The GS2 plastic is pretty darn tough & at least I haven't read reports of it cracking.
I think I'll buy the Sensation afterall. I'm gonna get a bigger contract because I need more traffic and I'll get the Sensation for 210eur. Or I'll change my mind again, I can never know )
Thanks very much for your help
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
I hope you are prepared for this kind of problems in HTC Sensation
but i think if you are going to get HTC Sensation XE, these problems are fixed
Goodluck!
The Xperia Arc is definitely better than the sensation in my opinion..
the sensation has a dualcore yeah and the arc just a single-core, but there is no OS out there that supports dualcore yet. so i would go for the xperia arc when it comes to user experience!
Well I got the Sensation afterall
About the display issue: a friend has the Sensation and he has but problems, phones in shop displays don't have problems, in fact I never met anybody with display issues. If it happens to me, well, tough luck
The deathgrip issues don't bother me, I never hold my phone that way.
Yes, I know that for now there's no real support for dual-core phones, but there will be starting with ICS and I bought this phone to keep it for at least 1 year and dual-core is the future. I was afraid that single core phones will soon be left behind...
In a way I regret the Arc, it's an awesome phone and a classy device but in another way I don't, for now I love this phone. And if I don't like it I can always exchange it with another phone, this is a pretty expensive device, so I have many options.
Thanks again very much for all your help!
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
You might wanna wait for Sensation XE with Beats Audio the death grip issues are resolved in that model .. It has much better audio performance and speed,
Edit: Oops you already got it. Congrats Mate.
I think the latest Android Revolution HD ROM has all the features from the new Sensation including "overclock" to 1.5GHz.
Sensation's CPU is a 1.5GHz dualcore but HTC downclocked it to 1.2GHz from what I've heart.
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App
Flo95 said:
I think the latest Android Revolution HD ROM has all the features from the new Sensation including "overclock" to 1.5GHz.
Sensation's CPU is a 1.5GHz dualcore but HTC downclocked it to 1.2GHz from what I've heart.
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's true, it's underclocked. But HTC will release an update which brings 1.5ghz. Btw, I played a YouTube 1080p clip and it worked very nice (after the 2.3.4 update and flash player update).
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Currently owner of Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, however I feel the phone is too small for me with its 3.2 inch screen.
I went to look for a phone with bigger screen, not in a way-too-high price class. Xperia Arc S got my attention there. It's performance is a bit better with the processor, firmware is the same(4.0.4) as my LWW etc.
Xperia S was also an idea, but the price is also a lot higher. Xperia U has really limited storage. And I really would prefer Android.
How is the screen in sunlight? Quality of the screen and sound(headphones and loudspeaker)? The actual performance? Camera quality(dark, light)? Battery life on stock firmware? Are there any known bugs/problems with the phone/firmware?
My question is - Would you recommend Arc S or are there any other phones in this price class, that are better?
If Arc S, then which color suits the best for it?
EDIT: Also, forgot to mention, that the shop where I am going to buy a new phone from, has quite limited selection, so post more ideas for other phones, incase it is needed.
First...what is the price of the arc s at ur country? At my country it cost about ~RM1100, which is around ~USD320
If its kinda this price, i recomend looking for a phone with 1gb of ram with the almost near price...
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium
maliceomalice said:
First...what is the price of the arc s at ur country? At my country it cost about ~RM1100, which is around ~USD320
If its kinda this price, i recomend looking for a phone with 1gb of ram with the almost near price...
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
329 euros, Estonia.
I didn't notice any phones with 1GB RAM in that price class.
screen under sunlight is good..if u have some screen guard on then only u might face lil problem..but for me its good visibility under the Mighty Sun
Screen is sharp and with lil sound enhancement pack, audio quality will be damn good on earphones.
Camera quality of our arc s is just awesome ..i have SGS2 and i can say it is better than that
Arc s price has dropped alot and at this price i think it is a very good deal..only problem is the RAM
arpith.fbi said:
screen under sunlight is good..if u have some screen guard on then only u might face lil problem..but for me its good visibility under the Mighty Sun
Screen is sharp and with lil sound enhancement pack, audio quality will be damn good on earphones.
Camera quality of our arc s is just awesome ..i have SGS2 and i can say it is better than that
Arc s price has dropped alot and at this price i think it is a very good deal..only problem is the RAM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My LWW has currently also 512MB of RAM, multitasking was not very good, however with the newest 4.0.4 update, that I recently got, it is not that bad and feels fine for my regular usage.
I have rooted my phone's stock firmware and threw out some unneeded stuff, so that firmware would be running clean. I do not think, that the difference between these 2 phones' firmware would be too high.
How is the audio quality via loudspeaker? My LWW has 2 loudspeakers, quality is great and volume is just loud, phone and it's screen is a bit too small, probably gonna miss these speakers
audio output is good...well not as good as walkman..but it is very good..it doesnt shout with high volume which results in high pitch sound..all i can say is it is good ..
u need to hear it out urself only..we cant describe it
arpith.fbi said:
audio output is good...well not as good as walkman..but it is very good..it doesnt shout with high volume which results in high pitch sound..all i can say is it is good ..
u need to hear it out urself only..we cant describe it
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I will go to a nearby shop when I have time, just to try out the Arc S, how big it really feels etc.
I also saw quite a nice selection of custom stuff for it
Oh, and battery life, how long can you make with regular usage? Any of you using extended batteries?
Someguyfromhell said:
I will go to a nearby shop when I have time, just to try out the Arc S, how big it really feels etc.
I also saw quite a nice selection of custom stuff for it
Oh, and battery life, how long can you make with regular usage? Any of you using extended batteries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's difficult to answer your question about battery life. It depends on ROM/Kernel/Baseband...
As for me, battery life of Arc S is awesome!
thuanngotau said:
It's difficult to answer your question about battery life. It depends on ROM/Kernel/Baseband...
As for me, battery life of Arc S is awesome!
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Click to collapse
Which ROM/kernel/BB are you using and how long you get?
i get 3 days easily with normal usage with Arconium ICS.. normal usage means texting,few calls and lil 3G data thats all..i am sure with lil more usage you may get atleast 40 hrs
That's a lot better than my Live with Walkman, it has 1200 mAh, but with my usage I can barely get 1,5 days from it. Maximum with no usage was for me 2 days.
Seems like Arc S is a great choice so far, neither could I find any other phones from the shop website, either less phones on the website than in shop or really not so much to choose from. Need to sell my Live with Walkman now first.
u can also consider xperia P as the price of xperia p and arc s is almost same..xperia P has 1Gb of RAM..well screen is lil small but manageable
arpith.fbi said:
u can also consider xperia P as the price of xperia p and arc s is almost same..xperia P has 1Gb of RAM..well screen is lil small but manageable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
0.2 inch difference with screen isn't that bad.
Xperia P seems great, however the battery is quite weak.
Try reading in the xperia s forum regarding xperia p. I read that the battery is not bad..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1656649
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium
maliceomalice said:
Try reading in the xperia s forum regarding xperia p. I read that the battery is not bad..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1656649
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see quite a lot of different answers and opinions about battery, some say with heavy usage it is in 2 hours empty, others say they can get 1,5 days with it with normal usage.
Some say, that they can't get more than 12 hours out of it, some say they can get same as Arc...
If I only could try it myself for some time...
Samsung galaxy s advance got better specs than arc s but with 5 MP camera but rest are pretty cool and its same price as arc s maybe less cheaper
I reckon you can get a better phone for the price right now, perhaps a second hand SGS2 would be good for you. Arc S is really starting to get laggy except if you flash an AOKP/CM9 ROM ( My opinion ) and the specs in terms of processor + ram is outdated
However, beautiful design, really nice in the hand, really nice screen (amazing what sony did with it). Fairly large and a great camera
better go for xperia P man...i know it is fat..but it is faster..our sexy arc is still sexy but had become old
dinesh690 said:
I reckon you can get a better phone for the price right now, perhaps a second hand SGS2 would be good for you. Arc S is really starting to get laggy except if you flash an AOKP/CM9 ROM ( My opinion ) and the specs in terms of processor + ram is outdated
However, beautiful design, really nice in the hand, really nice screen (amazing what sony did with it). Fairly large and a great camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is, that I am able to get a phone a lot cheaper from a certain shop, that is the only reason why I want to get one with bigger screen.
arpith.fbi said:
better go for xperia P man...i know it is fat..but it is faster..our sexy arc is still sexy but had become old
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will take a look, if it is really available in the shop and if it inside the max price I am able to pay. It is great phone indeed.
One advantage of sony smartphones is the well structured GUI. It looks simple and clear but I think a Galaxy S II/III/Nexus is better in user experience.
My arc (overclocked to 1.6 GHz, CM9 ICS) is slow and gets overextended in e.g. multi-tasking. every time i have to wait several seconds (or minutes ) until it finished loading. maybe you think "i don't care" but after several times you just go crazy. Furthermore, the internal storage isn't so large. Just install some no-app2sd-apps and you'll have a problem...
However, go to your next electrical retailer and "play" with some smartphones. Take a closer look on multitasking performance, smoothness of the GUI and loading time when you start a game (I recommend to test: Galaxy S II/III/Nexus, Xperia S/P). you'll know if you find your smartphone .
I'm really torn.
I currently have the HTC One S and really love the form factor and build.
The issues that really make me want to upgrade include: No expandable memory or removable battery, smallish screen, mediocre screen res and pentile (although it is bright and has good coloration), outdated resources - especially the 1 GB Ram, and useless notification light.
The other piece of info is that I am using Simple Mobile.
The ZL seems to take care of all of the above (except the battery), but does it do it by enough to justify a full price purchase?
1) While it can take an sd card, (I think) it is is limited to 32GB and has only 16 GB built in. The HTC One Dev Ed has 64 GB (best) and the S4 has 16 or 32 and can take a 64.
2) While the ZL has a 5" 1080p, it loses some real estate from the onscreen buttons and the washout at angles (I saw it firsthand at the Sony Store), while the One & S4 seem to have amazing screens (each in their own way - super lcd vs amoled)
3) In the resource department, the 600 or Octa don't seem to be significant upgrades to the S4 Pro and all 3 blow away the One s. (Antutu: One S = 10,644, ZL = 20,743. The One & S4 are 2-4k higher).
4) Notification Light - ZL by far.
And yet, it just seems like Sony did a lot of things mediocre on the ZL (by current flagship standards).
The screen already mentioned.
Battery Life.
The reviews are hard on the ZL's camera also. One interesting negative I came across is that it only takes 1 mp stills during video.
I'm not crazy about the onscreen buttons. Are there mods to make more use of them i.e. NavBar/NavRings? Has anyone tried using an app like Swipe Pad with them?
Can the toggles in the Notification Panel be removed? I'd rather use something like Elixir or Widgetzoid.
What I really like:
The price! I'm seeing the 6502 as low $515 no tax and 6506 $540, while the S4 or One would be more like $700 or more after tax.
The Power Button placement and the physical camera button (the One's placement on top is really unacceptable).
Lack of Carrier bloatware and yet fully compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile.
The sound and screen enhancements and tweakability (Bravia, White Balance, xLoud, etc.)
And some more questions:
How is the rear speaker for music and in calls compared to the S4? The Note 2? By it's placement and the way the camera comes out a little it looks like it might have the "N8 effect" on a hard surface.
How is call quality on T-mobile?
Will the camera work better/differently on CM or in stock using something like Camera Zoom fx?
Thanks a lot in advance. I've spent many hours doing research, saw all the phones in person at the stores, etc. but it's such a large purchase so I'd really appreciate the feedback!
ymmp said:
I'm really torn.
I currently have the HTC One S and really love the form factor and build.
The issues that really make me want to upgrade include: No expandable memory or removable battery, smallish screen, mediocre screen res and pentile (although it is bright and has good coloration), outdated resources - especially the 1 GB Ram, and useless notification light.
The other piece of info is that I am using Simple Mobile.
The ZL seems to take care of all of the above (except the battery), but does it do it by enough to justify a full price purchase?
1) While it can take an sd card, (I think) it is is limited to 32GB and has only 16 GB built in. The HTC One Dev Ed has 64 GB (best) and the S4 has 16 or 32 and can take a 64.
2) While the ZL has a 5" 1080p, it loses some real estate from the onscreen buttons and the washout at angles (I saw it firsthand at the Sony Store), while the One & S4 seem to have amazing screens (each in their own way - super lcd vs amoled)
3) In the resource department, the 600 or Octa don't seem to be significant upgrades to the S4 Pro and all 3 blow away the One s. (Antutu: One S = 10,644, ZL = 20,743. The One & S4 are 2-4k higher).
4) Notification Light - ZL by far.
And yet, it just seems like Sony did a lot of things mediocre on the ZL (by current flagship standards).
The screen already mentioned.
Battery Life.
The reviews are hard on the ZL's camera also. One interesting negative I came across is that it only takes 1 mp stills during video.
I'm not crazy about the onscreen buttons. Are there mods to make more use of them i.e. NavBar/NavRings? Has anyone tried using an app like Swipe Pad with them?
Can the toggles in the Notification Panel be removed? I'd rather use something like Elixir or Widgetzoid.
What I really like:
The price! I'm seeing the 6502 as low $515 no tax and 6506 $540, while the S4 or One would be more like $700 or more after tax.
The Power Button placement and the physical camera button (the One's placement on top is really unacceptable).
Lack of Carrier bloatware and yet fully compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile.
The sound and screen enhancements and tweakability (Bravia, White Balance, xLoud, etc.)
And some more questions:
How is the rear speaker for music and in calls compared to the S4? The Note 2? By it's placement and the way the camera comes out a little it looks like it might have the "N8 effect" on a hard surface.
How is call quality on T-mobile?
Will the camera work better/differently on CM or in stock using something like Camera Zoom fx?
Thanks a lot in advance. I've spent many hours doing research, saw all the phones in person at the stores, etc. but it's such a large purchase so I'd really appreciate the feedback!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the ZL and am using a 64GB SD card with no problems being recognized. Also I've had an iphone 5, htc one for a week and the ZL's battery is better, way better than the htc one and a little better than the iphone 5. Actually really impressed with battery life for a 5" screen that is 1080P. As far as the screen being washed out at an angle that's true but useless criticism as far as i'm concerned. The only time I can see it washed out is when it is at an angle i would NEVER use it. Looking right at the screen for normal use it's as good as any phone out there, HTC one included. As far as the onscreen buttons, I wouldn't have it any other way, its the way android was designed anyway. When I had the htc one for a week the buttons on there just sucked (and why they went from 3 to 2 buttons i have no idea, stupid decision). It takes 2-4 presses usually to get them to work, not that way with the onscreen buttons. I have no regrets on getting this phone.
All I can say, coming from a droid 3:
- The screen is awesome.. personally the viewing angles dont bother me at all since I use it from front angle
- Yes the screen uses a lot of power, but it also did on my droid 3 and that screen sucked major ass. Also, the idle time is the best I've seen on any recent smartphone. With wifi I can stay a fixed percentage for 2 hours easy. When you use it it will drop reasonably fast but it's OK because you still have 95% when you start watching a movie I always can go through 1 day.
- It's super fast. 2GB is awesome
- The camera is supposedly getting better with every update
DoubleYouPee said:
All I can say, coming from a droid 3:
- The screen is awesome.. personally the viewing angles dont bother me at all since I use it from front angle
- Yes the screen uses a lot of power, but it also did on my droid 3 and that screen sucked major ass. Also, the idle time is the best I've seen on any recent smartphone. With wifi I can stay a fixed percentage for 2 hours easy. When you use it it will drop reasonably fast but it's OK because you still have 95% when you start watching a movie I always can go through 1 day.
- It's super fast. 2GB is awesome
- The camera is supposedly getting better with every update
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Click to collapse
The thing I like, I have a Galaxy S2-i9100 and use it with a otterbox case, the ZL with a simple clear case is as 'small' as my S2 in the otterbox.
and it feels real solid. I still have to hack it. but all in all it seems to be a very good phone...
Make sure you switch on the Stamina mode for the battery...
Video on this is crystal clear... have not toyed with the camera...
I hope Sony comes with AOSP for the ZL...
Ans 64GB SD should work... on most devices... folks prefer to format it exFAT which may not be supported on some custom roms but factory images definitely support it.
G
Hey guys, I recently posted a link where the Carphonewharehouse were offering the P6 for £239.95 which is a steal! it was on sale for no longer then 2 weeks and it went up too £309.95, to me this seems like a lot of money for a phone that is in a mid range market, you can get the Galaxy S3 for £290 brand new
I know its made out of aluminum and its thin and beautiful, but it doesnt compete with the likes of the Galaxy S3 in benchmarks ( I do prefer the P6 though, due to its smooth UI and thin body )
I then noticed you can get some of todays top flagship phones for around the same price
HTC One - £290-£360 depending on condition
Xperia Z £265 - £300 depending on condition
Galaxy S4 - £300 - £360 depending on conditon
What do you guys think? There processors, Displays and build quality are all better and are this years specs where as the P6's are last years.
Im debating weather or not to get the Xperia Z or HTC One over the P6 just because they have 1080p displays and better processors, but then the P6 calls to me because of the smooth UI and thinness
Jack
JackHanAnLG said:
Hey guys, I recently posted a link where the Carphonewharehouse were offering the P6 for £239.95 which is a steal! it was on sale for no longer then 2 weeks and it went up too £309.95, to me this seems like a lot of money for a phone that is in a mid range market, you can get the Galaxy S3 for £290 brand new
I know its made out of aluminum and its thin and beautiful, but it doesnt compete with the likes of the Galaxy S3 in benchmarks ( I do prefer the P6 though, due to its smooth UI and thin body )
I then noticed you can get some of todays top flagship phones for around the same price
HTC One - £290-£360 depending on condition
Xperia Z £265 - £300 depending on condition
Galaxy S4 - £300 - £360 depending on conditon
What do you guys think? There processors, Displays and build quality are all better and are this years specs where as the P6's are last years.
Im debating weather or not to get the Xperia Z or HTC One over the P6 just because they have 1080p displays and better processors, but then the P6 calls to me because of the smooth UI and thinness
Jack
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From personal experience Ascend P6 > Xperia Z, except if you want the LTE and the water-restance on your phone.
purplexed9 said:
From personal experience Ascend P6 > Xperia Z, except if you want the LTE and the water-restance on your phone.
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Click to collapse
The xperia z definitely got better specs, but its huge! p6 is more one hand and pocket friendly
I have my P6 since 2 weeks, before I had a galaxy s2. After the P6, my old Galaxy S2 feels so cheap.
At first I want a HTC one, but the feeling of it wasnt so nice as the P6.
Personally I think benchmark are not representative about the Perfomence of the Device. I choose the P6 because I dont play huge games like Real Racing or Modern Combat, I play games like Temple Run or Hill Climp Racing. The P6 runs very smooth, and the Battery life is awesome.
I had the same debate before buying. But i wasn't into S3 which my dad uses and i simply don't like Samsung UI anymore, nor the size. And i don't like the Xperia Z either in terms of size. My contender was with the Xperia ZR. But for several personal reasons i didn't go for it :
1) although i found it for lesser price in many online shops, yet on the ground market in my place, it was way higher by 140$. So not really an immediate buy.
2) The phone doesn't feel or look as great or premium as the p6
3) I got no use with those bravia engines or gaming performance because i don't really watch movies or play powerful games on the mobile. (there is talk that gaming problems are because of optimization and can be fixed)
4) I have used the Sony interface on other mobiles and also my brothers new xperia z ultra and to me it was like the same old empty-ish Sony interface with some very minute changes, hence i felt i would be quickly bored by it. While the P6 instead has a difference experience with plenty of simple but smart features, at least for me.
At the end of the day, it all depends upon what exactly would you use your phone most for. Both has it pros and cons and you'd have to make the choice depending on what cons you would be able to tolerate.
warea said:
I had the same debate before buying. But i wasn't into S3 which my dad uses and i simply don't like Samsung UI anymore, nor the size. And i don't like the Xperia Z either in terms of size. My contender was with the Xperia ZR. But for several personal reasons i didn't go for it :
1) although i found it for lesser price in many online shops, yet on the ground market in my place, it was way higher by 140$. So not really an immediate buy.
2) The phone doesn't feel or look as great or premium as the p6
3) I got no use with those bravia engines or gaming performance because i don't really watch movies or play powerful games on the mobile. (there is talk that gaming problems are because of optimization and can be fixed)
4) I have used the Sony interface on other mobiles and also my brothers new xperia z ultra and to me it was like the same old empty-ish Sony interface with some very minute changes, hence i felt i would be quickly bored by it. While the P6 instead has a difference experience with plenty of simple but smart features, at least for me.
At the end of the day, it all depends upon what exactly would you use your phone most for. Both has it pros and cons and you'd have to make the choice depending on what cons you would be able to tolerate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have to go with the P6, Ive watched so many videos of the smooth and customizable UI, it just has everything that my Galaxy S3 doesnt, especially the build quality, metal over plastic anyday for me.
I just cant get over the price £309.95 when it was £239.95, you could argue and get a Nexus 4 with change to spare. I might just have to buy a pre owned P6 just to get over that price tag
p6 all the way .. that thickness.. mmm very slim .. can be smartphone be even slimmer?
GalaxySIIII said:
p6 all the way .. that thickness.. mmm very slim .. can be smartphone be even slimmer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei said that they could have made it thinner but the 3.5mm headphone jack is a industry standard and thats why that cant make it thinner, although they could make a 2.55mm headphone jack and make specific earphones that are included to have a smaller pin?
Or make an adapter thats smaller ?
to be fair i like how slim it is now, i wouldnt want it any slimmer
JackHanAnLG said:
Huawei said that they could have made it thinner but the 3.5mm headphone jack is a industry standard and thats why that cant make it thinner, although they could make a 2.55mm headphone jack and make specific earphones that are included to have a smaller pin?
Or make an adapter thats smaller ?
to be fair i like how slim it is now, i wouldnt want it any slimmer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aah alright .. i think android requires that 3.5 yes .. there are jacks even smaller yes but android industry prob wont allow that..
there are even bigger audio jacks for 2.5 , 3.5 and 6.36 for guitars or guitar speakers etc.. theoretically they COULD use 2.5 mm jack hmm .. we could find out..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Photo-audiojacks.jpg
I had (still have) a Sony Xperia Z, but didn't much care for it. No specific reason, it just failed to inspire me. The P6 I think is superb. Best 'phone I've had since my HTC HD Mini.
Long before the HD Mini, I had a Samsung XGH-X820, then classed as the world's thinnest 'phone (there is a theme here) being only 6.9mm at it's narrowest and it had a long connector for the headphones that might have doubled for the charging socket. I presume Samsung fitted this to enable them to make the 'phone thinner. Of course, to use anything other than the supplied headphones, you needed an adaptor. As the 'phone only had around 80Mb of memory and getting media on and off was a nightmare, this never became much of a problem.
I really like the XA1 look, but is there a reason I should buy this phone over the X Performance? The XP is older, but has better specs and is about the same price. Add the XZ to the list too. It's $449. XA1 Ultra is $399 usd.
The gorgeous big screen?
And it's the best looking phone i have ever seen, and build quality is high. The shape makes it like your holding a piece of solit brick/plank, love this.
I mean if you want your phone to look good this is it.
I am getting a case for it. Thw material they used to make this is very good. I have the white one.
Also be aware that the sound is gonna be low from the headphones you might get upset if you like your music loud. As i said the screen is very beautiful. It rekinded me og Galaxy s8 screen. The blacks are superb. I work in a electronics shop and pretty much used every phone in existance. Camera is good but i dont know much about that other phone.
Software wise it holds up pretty well, its snappy considering it doesnt have stock android. Heck my previous phone that has stock android, i bought for $35, and is snapier/faster, that tells you something. Its not horrible like Samsung's touchwiz.
Yeap all about the screen. Just picked up a ultra in white today and I am glad to have a 6inch screen again. Will have to wait and see if I continue to like it though. My p10 plus battery is horrible, u11 is damn nice but sometimes I want a headphone jack. G6 is great but wish the camera was faster
id3alistic said:
I really like the XA1 look, but is there a reason I should buy this phone over the X Performance? The XP is older, but has better specs and is about the same price. Add the XZ to the list too. It's $449. XA1 Ultra is $399 usd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spec isn't everything, especially when constrained by battery life. For someone who plays like only 2d game, or Asphalt/Riptide game, the XA1 Ultra will play fine for most.
The XA1 ultra battery even tho small, it can do better than expected. I'm not sure how Sony can pull this (as i can imagine screen will eat the battery more than a CPU fabrication factor), but that's the fact.
hansip87 said:
Spec isn't everything, especially when constrained by battery life. For someone who plays like only 2d game, or Asphalt/Riptide game, the XA1 Ultra will play fine for most.
The XA1 ultra battery even tho small, it can do better than expected. I'm not sure how Sony can pull this (as i can imagine screen will eat the battery more than a CPU fabrication factor), but that's the fact.
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Click to collapse
Battery life depends on how much you use the GPS, data etc. I've noticed that while I have unnecessary pre-installed apps disabled, and active WiFi scan off the battery seems to do well. But, if I use any social media apps (which I never do) the battery life goes pretty quick. Google now is also a battery killer ( nothing new) I'm debating rooting this device as I've yet to see what the custom ROMs have in the way of privacy guard and app control
I use social media pretty heavily, plus streaming the news almost all day long + Spotify... still get killer batt time. Also I charge it whenever I get into the car. Managed to get close to 100% after using the phone since 4AM till 3:30PM even throwing a 25-min Facebook Live, being in the car maybe for an hour all in all.
id3alistic said:
I really like the XA1 look, but is there a reason I should buy this phone over the X Performance? The XP is older, but has better specs and is about the same price. Add the XZ to the list too. It's $449. XA1 Ultra is $399 usd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think my biggest mistake was going for the Xperia X as at the time didn't know there was an X Performance ? lol but I've just upgraded from the X to the XA1 Ultra purely for the big screen and borderless display, putting it next to the X belittles it a lot but the colours on the X's display are much much more vibrant and colourful. The colours on the XA1 Ultra look a lot more dull but overall performance for me is great, the selfie camera can be rather laggy at times but it's a bonus having front flash (that also interested me) in my opinion.
Also, my other downpoint with the X was tempered glass screen protectors not having full coverage and leaving a thick bubble around the edge, I've just got some full coverage protectors for the XA1 Ultra and they're absolutely awesome.
LevsOG said:
The colours on the XA1 Ultra look a lot more dull.
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Click to collapse
Very strange, I've seen and used around three different XA1 Ultra's and the screen is fantastic, being even better and more colourful than my own 50'' 4K screen!
All reviews even say the screen on the XA1 is far better than other Sony flagships including the XZ Premium. I strongly agree.
Issue is the white balance may need calibrating as mine did. After calibration, WOW.
Try these settings and let me know if you see any improvement.
Red - 179
Green - 0
Blue - 58
kanej2006 said:
Very strange, I've seen and used around three different XA1 Ultra's and the screen is fantastic, being even better and more colourful than my own 50'' 4K screen!
All reviews even say the screen on the XA1 is far better than other Sony flagships including the XZ Premium. I strongly agree.
Issue is the white balance may need calibrating as mine did. After calibration, WOW.
Try these settings and let me know if you see any improvement.
Red - 179
Green - 0
Blue - 58
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
White balance isn't the issue for me, I've fiddled around with it and it doesn't make a dramatic difference.
What I'm trying to get across is that when I have the devices side by side (both of them un-edited white balance, and super vivid mode on) you can really see more colour within the Xperia X screen and quite a few friends/family have also agreed with me. I thought it was just my screen so went to a local shop and put my X & XA1 U next to their XA1 U and it looked exactly the same.
I'm not trying to slate the device, I'm just simply stating that the colours on my X are MUCH more vibrant but I still love the XA1 U. Maybe it's just change getting at me lol.
Also, Xperia X has 441ppi (1920x1080) whereas the XA1 Ultra has 367 ppi (1920x1080).
This is one of my favorite phones of all time, and I'm. The type that has a new phone every year. Great display and an amazing battery for a 6 inch screen. I'm also a flashaholic and even though we don't have a custom ROM yet I am seriously loving even the stock experience. Sony did it right with this phone, get it you won't regret it. Heck I'm turning my gaming computer and turning it into a development system just because I love this phone so much... Give it two weeks and I'll be making my first rom(in the middle of moving or it would be sooner)
lovely thread. Very informative. Keep it up. Just one question: Are we getting Android O(reo)?