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Hey guys..
For the first time i am having the opinion that finally a phone has landed in the beloved 4.3" segment which i (among many other fellow thinkers) believe can become my next purchase.
However, i have few questions which i would like others to comment upon:
1) I have always like the UI of Samsung. Currently using a Samsung phone with apex launcher and it is something i am very comfortable with.
Question is: How much close to that UI can i pull a Sony Xperia phone?
2) Can the night photography get better via future OTA updates?
Something like a patch/f.w revision?
3) I like to install good quality case on my phones. Havent seen anything for the z1 till now.
Any news on this dept? I hope the device gets good support from manufacturers like Spigen etc..
4) A bit OT, but somebody pls tell/direct me to ascertain the difference between Android Development Vs Original Android Development ?
Hi,
I don't have Sammy device but I can still answer few of your questions.
1- Sony UI is very nice indeed when I first used it but I use Apex the most as I like to personalised homescreen, icon and drawer.
2-probably YES and there already have new firmware update been approved by Sony for the Z1C. It could be anytime soon and awaiting to see what improvement it does.
http://www.xperiablog.net/2014/02/21/firmware-build-14-2-a-1-142-hits-the-xperia-z1-compact/
3-Already have quite lots of cases around. You could check CASE and SCREEN
4-No idea.
spacescreamer said:
Hey guys..
4) A bit OT, but somebody pls tell/direct me to ascertain the difference between Android Development Vs Original Android Development ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Example here:
If you take source of CyanogenMod, adjust it and build a ROM specifically for Xperia Z1 Compact, it's "Android Development".
But if you create a completely new ROM (or develop a new feature), it's "Original Android Development".
spacescreamer said:
Hey guys..
For the first time i am having the opinion that finally a phone has landed in the beloved 4.3" segment which i (among many other fellow thinkers) believe can become my next purchase.
However, i have few questions which i would like others to comment upon:
1) I have always like the UI of Samsung. Currently using a Samsung phone with apex launcher and it is something i am very comfortable with.
Question is: How much close to that UI can i pull a Sony Xperia phone?
[/B] ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven bought z1 compact, but from my usage of XS
If you use a 3rd party launcher, some of the Xperia widget would not be available? This include weather, walkman, photo gallery, notepad, quick toggle widget etc. But, you can always use 3rd party app.
spacescreamer said:
Hey guys..
For the first time i am having the opinion that finally a phone has landed in the beloved 4.3" segment which i (among many other fellow thinkers) believe can become my next purchase.
However, i have few questions which i would like others to comment upon:
1) I have always like the UI of Samsung. Currently using a Samsung phone with apex launcher and it is something i am very comfortable with.
Question is: How much close to that UI can i pull a Sony Xperia phone?
2) Can the night photography get better via future OTA updates?
Something like a patch/f.w revision?
3) I like to install good quality case on my phones. Havent seen anything for the z1 till now.
Any news on this dept? I hope the device gets good support from manufacturers like Spigen etc..
4) A bit OT, but somebody pls tell/direct me to ascertain the difference between Android Development Vs Original Android Development ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x1 compact is the great phone with great battery life,performance,water proof,smart looking
When i first saw this phone in the market then i decide to buy it and finally i bought it. Its performance is good and smooth. Its look also be good. I am happy to use this operating system.
maajstor said:
Example here:
If you take source of CyanogenMod, adjust it and build a ROM specifically for Xperia Z1 Compact, it's "Android Development".
But if you create a completely new ROM (or develop a new feature), it's "Original Android Development".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks!
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk
spacescreamer said:
Hey guys..
For the first time i am having the opinion that finally a phone has landed in the beloved 4.3" segment which i (among many other fellow thinkers) believe can become my next purchase.
However, i have few questions which i would like others to comment upon:
1) I have always like the UI of Samsung. Currently using a Samsung phone with apex launcher and it is something i am very comfortable with.
Question is: How much close to that UI can i pull a Sony Xperia phone?
2) Can the night photography get better via future OTA updates?
Something like a patch/f.w revision?
3) I like to install good quality case on my phones. Havent seen anything for the z1 till now.
Any news on this dept? I hope the device gets good support from manufacturers like Spigen etc..
4) A bit OT, but somebody pls tell/direct me to ascertain the difference between Android Development Vs Original Android Development ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2) From my understanding, using manual mode with proper ISO settings and no flash takes brilliant night photos. I mean, that is generally how you take good night photos with a good camera anyways. While I understand why there is the flash bleed, the flash on a tiny smartphone, let alone a compact point and shoot isn't going to do any good anyways. Unless you have separate lighting, flash ruins anything but a tight portrait shot, and even then, this can mostly be fixed by the simple DIY thread on fixing the bleed.
Short of the Nokia 920 I had, I haven't had a phone that takes particularly good night shots ever. Yeah, some take so-so shots, but nothing has been spectacular, because no other phones have a 3-way OIS (optical image stabilization). 2-way OIS seems somewhat useless.
tohigh said:
thanks!
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please see this: http://bit.ly/1geEfBv
I see you already got a few good responses here, but i thought you might want another former Samsung-users input.
1) I have always like the UI of Samsung. Currently using a Samsung phone with apex launcher and it is something i am very comfortable with.
Question is: How much close to that UI can i pull a Sony Xperia phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use Apex Launcher, or any 3rd-party launcher, your experience will be VERY similar to that of a Samsung phone with the same launcher.
I myself prefer Themer by MyColorScreen
2) Can the night photography get better via future OTA updates?
Something like a patch/f.w revision?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sure hope it will, though i prefer slightly darker photos with low ISO noise, but that is all about personal preference. Manual settings can sort it out to some degree.
3) I like to install good quality case on my phones. Havent seen anything for the z1 till now.
Any news on this dept? I hope the device gets good support from manufacturers like Spigen etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Z1C is still considered a fairly new device, and where i live people arewaiting in line to get their phone, so as case and accesorymanufacturers see that the device is selling heaps, they will start shipping compatible accessories. I got a dirt cheap wallet-leather folding case-thingy, that i might swap out since I'd like to use the magnetic dock at some point in time.
Bottom line: I have no regrets moving from my S3, and the screensize is perfect. With my S3 i even missed my S1 on some occations because of the one-hand-operating-friendlyness of the latter.
Hope this helps
this is the best device for me. Best battery, design, powerful device
spacescreamer said:
3) I like to install good quality case on my phones. Havent seen anything for the z1 till now.
Any news on this dept? I hope the device gets good support from manufacturers like Spigen etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using the Case Mate Tough Case which I consider er "good quality case". Unifortunately Case Mate have designed it without access to the Magnetic Charging Port, but as shown in the thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2631321&page=4 you can mod the case to take care of this. All in all I am really happy about both my phone and my case although It obviously would have been preferable if Case Mate had made the cutout for the magnetic charging port themselves.
Did it happen to you ?
My phone (Z1C, rooted, locked BL, UK software loaded as described in XDA roooting procedure)
sometimes forgets settings or set them to random values.
Example:
1. Alarm clock returns sound to default.
2. I noticed that I have 3 extra alarms set, completely at random hours.
Questions:
- Did it happen to you ?
- Any idea what could cause it ?
Never happened to me though I don't use the stock alarm, I use Timely Alarm Clock ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.bitspin.timely )
First of all, apologies for the poor english and if these questions were already answered. I already read some of the things i wanted to know so but it was some months ago.. i'm hoping most have changed.
I have a moto g1 since it came out. It had Android 4.3, received update for 4.4, 5.0 and 5.1.. I never had the need for a custom rom.. the stock ones are super stable. Nowadays 1GB of ram is nothing, even for a light user like me.. i literally only have 3 or 4 light apps apart from gapps.. A custom rom will give me more features but won't make my phone (much) faster.
I had my eye on this phone for a while now but there are some things that make me think twice. I have some questions for you.
-Lets start with acessories.. is there any screen protector on the market right now for the Z2 that doesn't peel on the edges of the curved glass? If you have one, can you post a pic so i can see if it stays neat?
-Is the phone receiving official updates? Are they any good? Did those stupid quirks i read about some months ago vanish?
-Is there a way of putting soft navigation buttons on the official rom (i don't care about the gestures on the fingerprint reader)?
-What's the state of the custom roms compared to the official? Not talking about having more features.. are they as stable as the original ones and does everything that works on ZUI, also works in the custom ones?
-For someone that doesn't want a phone with a screen larger than 5" (something smaller would be even greater), do you recommend this phone or have a better alternative at the same price point (~200€)? I highly value the stock android design and above all, something stable. I don't mind a phone with less ram and even lower specs than the Z2 if it meets those things i prefer on a phone..
-Are the community roms making good progress? By this i mean, do you think we can have something near 100% stable in the future or the lack of source code will never allow it?
Many thanks!
It is receiving software updates. I don't know about which "quirks" you are talking about but the updates are okay... Not perfect minor bugs in notification bar etc.
Yes you can enable soft navigation buttons. Its in settings.
You can also go for redmi 4.
But for 11000₹ this phone is a steal deal in my opinion. I bought it for 15k.
PS. I too was a moto g1 owner before this and I also have most of your doubts.
-Lets start with acessories.. is there any screen protector on the market right now for the Z2 that doesn't peel on the edges of the curved glass? If you have one, can you post a pic so i can see if it stays neat?
-> Somehow, i never put glass/screen protector for every curved glass phone i ever had including this one. Well this is personal tho..
-Is the phone receiving official updates? Are they any good? Did those stupid quirks i read about some months ago vanish?
-> Yep. Yep, they're pretty good on developing. Which one?
-Is there a way of putting soft navigation buttons on the official rom (i don't care about the gestures on the fingerprint reader)?
-> Yep, built in
-What's the state of the custom roms compared to the official? Not talking about having more features.. are they as stable as the original ones and does everything that works on ZUI, also works in the custom ones?
-> ZUI wins on Camera, so far. Porting ZUI cam status is on progress
-For someone that doesn't want a phone with a screen larger than 5" (something smaller would be even greater), do you recommend this phone or have a better alternative at the same price point (~200€)? I highly value the stock android design and above all, something stable. I don't mind a phone with less ram and even lower specs than the Z2 if it meets those things i prefer on a phone..
-> Go for it, awesome phone at its price, but dont expect too much on Cam, its 13/5..
-Are the community roms making good progress? By this i mean, do you think we can have something near 100% stable in the future or the lack of source code will never allow it?
-> Yeah, they're fookin awesome developers, lots of ROM goin Official right now.. have a try on RR or DU
Many thanks!
No Worries, cheers!
I appreciate your replies. The phone now is out of stock on gearbest (the only place i can buy so i don't pay customs).. let's see if it comes back since the brand is apparently dead now.
Hi Guys,
I've gotten a PD now which replaced my S7, apart from the battery, bigger screen and 256GB storage there is not a lot better.
1. I'd at least like to have root - I've now only found one thread where someone nearly bricked his device.
But this thread is far more than 1y old - are there any news for root?
2. Camera: While I had the S7 before - I think the double camera here does not perform any better. From what I've seen this might be also related to compression.
While the Huawei camera-app does not support to change the compression ratio / quality, is there any know camera app which utilizes the double-sensor and does perform better than the Huawei app?
Thanks and regards,
Maeffjus
Maeffjus said:
Hi Guys,
I've gotten a PD now which replaced my S7, apart from the battery, bigger screen and 256GB storage there is not a lot better.
1. I'd at least like to have root - I've now only found one thread where someone nearly bricked his device.
But this thread is far more than 1y old - are there any news for root?
2. Camera: While I had the S7 before - I think the double camera here does not perform any better. From what I've seen this might be also related to compression.
While the Huawei camera-app does not support to change the compression ratio / quality, is there any know camera app which utilizes the double-sensor and does perform better than the Huawei app?
Thanks and regards,
Maeffjus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Congratulations on picking up the PD!
I own this and the note 8 and I can honestly say the camera on the PD outperforms the note camera by miles. Active shots, where either the camera or the subject are moving come out crisp.
The only reason I bought the note was because my banking apps kept saying the Huawei is using rooted firmware when it wasn't.
Performance is much smoother than the note and just all around the phone is better. I hope you find this as well, but as you use it more, I'm sure you will agree
Hi Charm,
Normally I had not abandoned the S7, but our GM came up one day with the brand new PD and said that this phone is for for me.
(in general: I'm using a company contract that I'm allowed to use it for all private things - so this is my only phone).
As per my opinion especially in low-light the P9Pro is a lot worse.
However, I'd like to know if there is an 3rd-party cam-app that can handle the two sensors.
And while you said that due to the root your software is complaining - do you have the PD or the "normal" one? And if it is the PD, how did you root it?
Regards,
Matthias
Maeffjus said:
Hi Charm,
Normally I had not abandoned the S7, but our GM came up one day with the brand new PD and said that this phone is for for me.
(in general: I'm using a company contract that I'm allowed to use it for all private things - so this is my only phone).
As per my opinion especially in low-light the P9Pro is a lot worse.
However, I'd like to know if there is an 3rd-party cam-app that can handle the two sensors.
And while you said that due to the root your software is complaining - do you have the PD or the "normal" one? And if it is the PD, how did you root it?
Regards,
Matthias
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well consider yourself lucky to be given such a nice phone for free haha!
I use full stock and even the phone is full stock. I have not rooted it, but the banking apps were saying it was rooted which is why I had to abandon it. So I have no idea how to root, but to be honest, I wouldn't root such an expensive phone.
charmz2k2 said:
Well consider yourself lucky to be given such a nice phone for free haha!
I use full stock and even the phone is full stock. I have not rooted it, but the banking apps were saying it was rooted which is why I had to abandon it. So I have no idea how to root, but to be honest, I wouldn't root such an expensive phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to root it because I then can use a NFC emulator and combine my companies key for the door and the fob used for "arrival" and "leave" in our time-tracking system from my phone.
What I have found out and what is annoying AF: My bluetooth turns of from time to time by itself. This is especially no fun since I drive in my car with handsfree at lest twice a day plus got a BT connected smartwatch. Any idea how to solve this?
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In reality I have not suggested any devices ?
Nokia could be a good choice for what I remember about its Zeiss Camera lenses, I could appreciate it on my Nokia Lumia which now it's gone to paradise.
I honestly am tempted to take the pixel 3a but I live in Brazil and here it is more expensive due to the importation taxes.
The K20 if I'm not wrong, is a bit strange to my eyes because it has a lifting camera jumping from the outside of the chassis.
The choice is not so easy also because the old Zuk-Z2 is working extremely well
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I can get a OnePlus 6T phone (pre-owned, 6-128, still in warranty) for about 75% of that of a new OnePlus 7's price. So, which one would be better? OnePlus 6T or 7? Or any other?
mcalistri said:
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
I would defenately go to k20 pro
niyonsv said:
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock OS as the pure Android running on a Google Pixel phone, from what I've heard have everything we need to forget about custom ROM.
Our device, thanks to its hardware is still pretty good to offer brilliant service for years to come.
The maior lacks, I IMHO can resume for Z2 are:
1 - A not superlative camera, beside its hw specs which are not the top of the market, probably has not been achieved the very best in terms of firmware and software to manage it at a better level.
2 - A not superlative sound in terms of loudness
Regards,
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh:
-Deleted-
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I used my Z2 bro. It has a unique design (all phones where curved then) and it always stayed different from others. But there's one thing that I changed thrice and it was a bit more costly - battery. Also my phone is becoming slow and slow each day. Tried different ROMs, reduced number of apps. The phone is not performing well too. It is taking ages to click a photo. Also the earpiece speaker now started distorting, I've to use headset always for talking. There are other reasons here and there, so I think it is better to change my phone. That's why I asked for suggestion.
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
P650SE said:
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
niyonsv said:
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
niyonsv said:
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know why you had to replace your battery trice, I think it is a very seldom occurrence, nor I can say it happened due your usage, most likely it could be due you purchased a defective device.
About slowing down after time, I agree about the SSD consideration made by our buddy participating to this discussion because I recently red something about SSD since I'm going to replace my laptop HDD but also this kind of issue I believe it's happening seldom in smartphones.
I won't to cause frustrations writing that I've not noticed any slowness on my Zuk Z2 so far, just a little bit when I flashed Nameless kernel which was an EAS kernel.
Now on AEX 6.7 I'm using the default kernel which is giving to the Z2 an extremely fast responsiveness and smooth usability too.
I think I will try to run the SSD performance test suggested by our buddy (sorry I didn't wrote your name to mention it but you sent interesting comments indeed).
I'm sure that there are not many users affected by problems you are facing about slowness and battery, or better, it would be interesting to make a survey here on XDA to know how many people have such problems on their ZukZ2.
Best regards,
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
P650SE said:
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much interesting comments!
I think I will try to run the SSD benchmark but before I would like to ask you why you say that your results are bad?
Did you compared with another ZukZ2 user running similar environment?
About the battery we also have to take in account the adjustment we could have done to applications (running in background or not) the screen stby after X seconds, the charger we use, in fact there are plenty of chargers around that are not good for our battery but that are being used normally.
In any case your SOT looks very normal to me.
Regards,
P650SE said:
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
mcalistri said:
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, the result of my benchmark is not visible externally so I'm attaching the screenshot here.
Regards,
I have had my ZTE Axon 30 for about 3 weeks I think, maybe more like 2. I like it a lot. The only two quirks I've noticed is that the screen is not as responsive as I would like (might be the screen protector as I put it on before even powering the phone on, since I cracked my last screen), and sometimes the Facebook app will be jerky until I close it and restart the app. Haven't seen that on any of my last 5+ phones. My last phone was a Moto Edge S (G100) which was a pretty good phone, but a little smaller than I like. The battery life is pretty good on this phone, I usually get through a day of usage, but it's around 15% or less if I wait until bed time to actually plug it in. I'm overall happy with this phone, though the quick settings options in the notifications dropdown has certain parts not customizable like I want them to be (wifi calling and mobile data are permanent, huge buttons, and I would much prefer other options like airplane mode or bluetooth). The performance is very good, maybe a little lower than the Edge S, but still not bad. It's a good phone and I'm happy with it.
Sidenote: if anyone knows about a bug causing Facebook to be laggy sometimes until restarted and you know how to fix it, please let me know?
Here is my experience so far after a week of use. I don't care about cameras on a phone. So no feedback from me there.
It's pretty big but it's not bad to hold since it's not wide, just tall.
Performance is fast enough for me. I can watch and scroll through 5.7k 360 videos on the Insta360 app without lag at all.
The screen is pretty pretty good. Would have liked it to have higher nits for outside use. But won't complain much since 99.9% of the phones on the market have punch holes and notches....
The fingerprint sensor is very accurate and fast. Finally got a phone where it is actually useable. My previous 2 phones' fingerprint sensors were trash.
Smart Lock Trusted Places! How I missed this feature on the Mi 9T which only supported Bluetooth unlock and only with Xiaomi Bluetooth devices...
Related to the previous point, I wish there was an option to remove the 'Swipe screen to unlock' when the phone is unlocked with Smart Lock. The Mi 9T has this option in the Developer options but didn't find it on this one. It's just an annoyance having to swipe.
Speaking of Bluetooth, no issues so far. Did file transfers and use Sennheiser MW2 to listen to music. No disconnections at all.
The Always On Display does not work for me at all. Nada. Not a big deal for me since I don't use it but it should be fixed.
As HopelesRomantc91 mentioned, not all of the notifications icons are customisable. Torch, Bluetooth, Data and Wifi are big buttons that cannot be removed. The rest can be added, removed and re-ordered
It comes preloaded with some bloatware but it can be easily removed using ADB.
Since nobody mentions this in a phone review, although it also depends on the carrier, I had no problems with calls and also use dual SIM.
I wish it had the feature of applying dark mode for all apps like MIUI. The next best thing this offers is Read Mode which you can turn globally or per app. I use the latter to turn Apps that don't have a dark theme into greyscale. Helps a bit.
The touch sensitivity on the edge of the screen seems to be a bit 'rough'. When using the keyboard and pressing on the letters/buttons at the edge, most of the the time there is a delay with registering the touch. This has probably to do with the screen-edge mistouch prevention. I changed it to 0 but it still occurs. Maybe this can be fixed in a firmware update. I don't have any issues with the phone registering unintended touches when holding it even at 0.
Regarding gestures & motions, they all seem to work pretty well. I mostly use double tap to wake.
For some reason, the Z-POP feature in the settings under Feature is also named Mi-Pop in the Notification icon. I don't find it that useful.
No headphone jack sucks but it comes with the adaptor. I just leave the earbuds attached to it since I only use them for the phone. So it's just a straight plug in for me.
Last but not least is the battery/optimisation. It's pretty pretty good! I judge the battery by screen off time. I charged it to 90%, went to bed and left the phone on. Just DnD on. No power saver. 8 hours later it was still 90%! After that, I only used the phone every now and then since I was busy working. Around 3 hours later, this thing was still at 90%. Compared to the Mi 9T, the Axon 30 doesn't seem to suffer from constant wakelocks so when the screen is off, it is majority of the time in deep sleep. Pretty optimised. I checked with BetterBatteryStats. I don't use 5G. Oh and the charging speed is fast! From 20% to 90% in ~27min.
Overall I am satisfied with the phone.
That's it for now. If I remember something else or encounter anything else of interest, will post it here.
Google Play store does not automatically update the apps and doesn't show the notifications. Both settings are on. So I have to remember once in a while to open the Play Store and install the pending updates manually. Not sure if this is specific to this device or if it's a Google Play store bug but I never had this problem on previous devices.
New update; 11.0.17_A2322G_EEA. Always on display is fixed. Automatic Play Store app updates and notifications still not working.
Hi guys...
I'm thinking of buying this phone. I was wondering, do you still get updates from time to time? Any word on some major ones, like Android 12?
Would you recomende it for about 375 EUR / 395 USD it costs at local retailer right now?
Dzombache said:
Hi guys...
I'm thinking of buying this phone. I was wondering, do you still get updates from time to time? Any word on some major ones, like Android 12?
Would you recomende it for about 375 EUR / 395 USD it costs at local retailer right now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last update was the one I posted in my last post so Security update is the one from December... I contacted ZTE support about a possible upgrade to Android 12 or at least more security updates. Their reply was that they don't have any information but that it might receive future updates because it is a newly launched phone.... Almost a year old.
MaCk0y7 said:
Last update was the one I posted in my last post so Security update is the one from December... I contacted ZTE support about a possible upgrade to Android 12 or at least more security updates. Their reply was that they don't have any information but that it might receive future updates because it is a newly launched phone.... Almost a year old.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the phone in the meantime.
Had 2 updates after starting it, curently I'm on 11.0.8 Global version with security update from February.
Dzombache said:
I bought the phone in the meantime.
Had 2 updates after starting it, curently I'm on 11.0.8 Global version with security update from February.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the EEA version has been abandoned earlier.
MaCk0y7 said:
I guess the EEA version has been abandoned earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know, but interesting that EEA has higher nominal version number (11.0.17), but older Android patch level...
Still hoping for Android 12, read somewhere it can be expected till the end of August. Now, is it info for CN or Global version, I don't know.
Btw, I feel like they didn't sell many units of this one globaly, although they marketed it decently and it got attention because of the under display cam and stuff. Seems like even on tech forums nobody has this model...
Dzombache said:
Don't know, but interesting that EEA has higher nominal version number (11.0.17), but older Android patch level...
Still hoping for Android 12, read somewhere it can be expected till the end of August. Now, is it info for CN or Global version, I don't know.
Btw, I feel like they didn't sell many units of this one globaly, although they marketed it decently and it got attention because of the under display cam and stuff. Seems like even on tech forums nobody has this model...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you're here, do Play Store apps update automatically for you and get notifications?
MaCk0y7 said:
Since you're here, do Play Store apps update automatically for you and get notifications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried because I actualy prefer to update them manualy.
I can turn the options on, test and let you know...
Update: seems it doesn't work - I can see updates as waiting, but no update and/or notifications took place.
A thing I'm curios about...
One of the things I was happy about when I bought the phone was a 65W charger. The brick is quite compact but heavy (as the 65W probably should be), cable is USB-C to USB-C. Perfect for a universal charger.
But when I tried to charge my Lenovo laptop with it, nothing happened. The laptop also came with 65W charger (of course, much bulkier and with a longer cable).
I was really hoping I could use the ZTE brick on the laptop, mainly because I used my previous phone charger (Poco X3) and it worked although that one could deliver just 33W.
Any ideo why this happens?
Dzombache said:
A thing I'm curios about...
One of the things I was happy about when I bought the phone was a 65W charger. The brick is quite compact but heavy (as the 65W probably should be), cable is USB-C to USB-C. Perfect for a universal charger.
But when I tried to charge my Lenovo laptop with it, nothing happened. The laptop also came with 65W charger (of course, much bulkier and with a longer cable).
I was really hoping I could use the ZTE brick on the laptop, mainly because I used my previous phone charger (Poco X3) and it worked although that one could deliver just 33W.
Any ideo why this happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So when you plugin the ZTE charger in the laptop, it's not detected at all? Or is it detected, not discharging just not charging? Maybe it doesn't support any of the Output voltages/amps of the charger? Not really that knowledgeable in electricity. What output voltages/amps does it show on the Lenovo charger?
It's not detected at all.
Both of them show 20V - 3.25A - 65W.
For the 15V, 9V and 5V they have different A and W values.
Edit: just tried on my co-worker's laptop (also Lenovo, but different model), and it charges at full speed. His also came with a 65W charger originaly. So it seems to be some compitability issue, maybe USB-C port or something. Quite strange.
New update! I guess EEA version is not abandoned yet. 11.0.20 with June security update. Maybe we get Android 12 end of next year when Android 14 is out.
Good news. I'm still hoping for the end of August...
Now, playing with the settings, I saw a strangely named "tiny screen display" setting under "Display" options. I must admit, took me a few minutes to realize it's about UDC (under display camera) area.
How did you set yours (if you changed it at all)? I tweaked mine so it is hardly visible on white, but then again it is still quite noticable on other colors.
Haha never knew what that setting was and never tried it.
Yeah, I think I got it after the last update. Quite sure it wasn't there when I got the phone.
Here's how it looks...
MaCk0y7 said:
New update! I guess EEA version is not abandoned yet. 11.0.20 with June security update. Maybe we get Android 12 end of next year when Android 14 is out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Global just got 11.0.9 with June security patch.
MyOS12.0.16_A2322 (with Android 12 I believe) was rolled out for the Chinese version Axon 30 5G on 2022-08-02 according to this support page: https://www.ztedevices.com/cn/supports/zte-axon-30-5g/
Not sure how long it will take to hit the other markets...