Okay so I'm in a situation where I soon need to get rid of my old sh**ty Xperia Active.
My first smart phone was a Xperia X10i (Which I contributed almost all stock firmwares for, here on XDA), followed by a Nokia 800 (WP7), then a Huawei Ascend P1 which I unfortunately lost and had to go back to a backup phone which is the Xperia Active.
Now I've been looking around for a replacement and the Z1C is really attractive with the awesome design language Sony has set for their Xperia line. But I wanted to get the opinions from flashers and devs here on XDA, mainly because I usually don't stick with stock firmware for long.
So I've done some searching and found some "contenders" for my next phone.
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
Oppo Find 7a
Sony Xperia M2
OnePlus One (When available)
Google Nexus 5
I know there is loads of custom firmwares for the Nexus line of devices, and the Oppo and OnePlus devices has CyanogenMod support.
So my only "Uncertainty" is the Xperia devices.
Now I know FXP is covering a lot of Xperias but I want to know if there is other major ROM supports for the Z1C and M2 and if the release cycle is on time with CM or not too far after that.
And how stable the builds are in general with the latest official builds of Android (4.4.3 and 4.4.4).
In general how have you had it with your Z1C?
Is it easy to root?
What recoveries is available?
Is there many reports on defects/faults on the device?
How well is the developer community for this particular device?
Is Sony releasing kernel source for the device?
I appreciate all the input you can give me and hopefully I'll get a little bit back into the Xperia hacking.
arkedk said:
So I've done some searching and found some "contenders" for my next phone.
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
Oppo Find 7a
Sony Xperia M2
OnePlus One (When available)
Google Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious, why is Z1C on the list but not the Z2? I ask because I noticed that besides the Z1C (and the M2 which is just a cheaper (and larger) Z1C pretty much) all the other phones are 5" or larger. The main reason I personally picked the 4.3" Z1C is that it has flagship specs in a small package, that and that Sony are traditionally quite developer friendly. Is it an economical choice or are you just not sure on the size?
Rekoil said:
I'm curious, why is Z1C on the list but not the Z2? I ask because I noticed that besides the Z1C (and the M2 which is just a cheaper (and larger) Z1C pretty much) all the other phones are 5" or larger. The main reason I personally picked the 4.3" Z1C is that it has flagship specs in a small package, that and that Sony are traditionally quite developer friendly. Is it an economical choice or are you just not sure on the size?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly because of pricing. These devices cost from 270 to 400 euro here, and the Z2 is significantly more expensive because it's the newest flagship coming in at around 670 euro, and I wont spent that on a phone since I'm buying without contract as I'm perfectly happy with my carrier and don't want to be locked down for 6 months at a new carrier.
arkedk said:
Mostly because of pricing. These devices cost roughly the same here, and the Z2 is significantly more expensive because it's the newest flagship.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it has nothing to do with size? Because compared to other Snapdragon 800 phones, that (and waterproofing) is what the Z1C has going for it. It has a lower resolution display which means less work for the GPU, and thus better battery life and a more fluid UI.
If it's solely the price and you don't mind a larger phone then I'd probably go with a One PlusOne, but I would suggest you go and have a play with a Z1C before making a decision. See if you like the size.
Rekoil said:
So it has nothing to do with size? Because compared to other Snapdragon 800 phones, that (and waterproofing) is what the Z1C has going for it. It has a lower resolution display which means less work for the GPU, and thus better battery life and a more fluid UI.
If it's solely the price and you don't mind a larger phone then I'd probably go with a One PlusOne, but I would suggest you go and have a play with a Z1C before making a decision. See if you like the size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's not all down to price. I want a phone that has a good dev community around it, so it's possible to try new kernels, tweaked stock firmwares and custom firmwares like CM, Paranoid and other major custom ROM's. I know that Nexus has this, but the design of that phone is boring and the camera is "bleeh". So the Z1C looked like a good device with great specs, small form factor and a great camera.
arkedk said:
Well it's not all down to price. I want a phone that has a good dev community around it, so it's possible to try new kernels, tweaked stock firmwares and custom firmwares like CM, Paranoid and other major custom ROM's. I know that Nexus has this, but the design of that phone is boring and the camera is "bleeh". So the Z1C looked like a good device with great specs, small form factor and a great camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well camera is a bit iffy, but other than that CM runs smooth as hell on the Z1C, that's really all I care about hehe.
Trying to be helpful here (my comments in italics):
In general how have you had it with your Z1C?
I used to be LG O2X owner, and compared to my old phone Z1C even running with stock rom is fast, stable and smooth.
Is it easy to root?
Very easy. All you need to do is download a file and follow the OP here. And I can confirm that it works with the latest kitkat/4.4.4.
What recoveries is available?
TWRP, PhilZ and CWM are available. You can get them here..
Is there many reports on defects/faults on the device?
Some users report flashbleed problem with the camera (fortunately I don't have that problem).
How well is the developer community for this particular device?
I'd say quite good, judging from the number of custom ROM and kernel available for Z1C in the XDA.
Is Sony releasing kernel source for the device?
I think so, check here..
komedol said:
Is Sony releasing kernel source for the device?
I think so, check here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
arkedk said:
Is Sony releasing kernel source for the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony recently uploaded all their copyleft kernels to GitHub, below link is for current Z1C tree.
https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/kernel-copyleft/tree/14.3.A.0.xxx
Rekoil said:
Well camera is a bit iffy, but other than that CM runs smooth as hell on the Z1C, that's really all I care about hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm that's quite a big point in why I want the Z1C. The great pictures that can be taken on stock doesn't work properly on cm. Are they porting stock camera drivers and app into future FXP releases or count on getting the issues fixed?
Rekoil said:
Well camera is a bit iffy, but other than that CM runs smooth as hell on the Z1C, that's really all I care about hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do photos have a lower quality or do some things simply don't work?
mugoftee said:
Do photos have a lower quality or do some things simply don't work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Photos seem to have more noise as far as I could tell when I tested a FXP build. And currently it's not possible to have 4k and 120FPS recording on a CM based rom or at least nobody successfully tested it.
mugoftee said:
Do photos have a lower quality or do some things simply don't work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About the same quality wise in my opinion, but camera starts really slow, and you lose a lot of features and post-processing that Sonys camera app does.
People mentioned that the BIONZ image processor only works with stock roms, don't know if that's true.
Hi, i have one simple question. Should i buy XZ or Z5 Premium and why? I have Xperia Z2. Thanks
Hi,
Since you are here, on XDA. You can easily see how Sony is doing in the eye of other XDAers. So, as a Z5 Premium owner who likes the phone and thinks of holding on to it for like a year or two, I sincerely recommend you to buy a LG V20 or a Pixel XL.
This phone is not even 1.5 year old (from release date). I have used much more cheaper and older phones, which I have still got every answer for my every question and every possible customizations on XDA (HTC Sensation XE being one of them). None had this much abandonment on XDA. No development, no customization, no themes, no nothing. This phone is beautiful but it is also just "as is". If you are OK with adding and substracting absolutely nothing to the phone, then it's a good phone (then you wouldn't probably be in here XDA though).
The pros are all pyshical: the screen, sound quality, battery life, body material, camera are all a lot higher than the high standards of the flagships (though, none is the best in their categories). If there were some love from the community, at least maybe CyanogenMod (R.I.P.), FXP Blog or Lineage OS. Even Z5 is has not the previlige..
So I say, make sure to look at other options before actually deciding.
Mirzagunner said:
Hi, i have one simple question. Should i buy XZ or Z5 Premium and why? I have Xperia Z2. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go for the XZ Premium instead if the XZ, from what I'm seeing pricing is excellent this time around of $ is not a concern...
Now if you're on a budget, XZ will get more updates than Z5p as it's a newer device, I'm not a fan of the XZ look, especially the slipt material back and the plastic side frame (but they took care of that with the XZS that's about to come out.
The Z5p is a great looking phone on the other hand with the right use of proper material and with still great hardware...I'll be upgrading to a XZ Premium whenever it will be out.
_delice_doluca_ said:
Hi,
Since you are here, on XDA. You can easily see how Sony is doing in the eye of other XDAers. So, as a Z5 Premium owner who likes the phone and thinks of holding on to it for like a year or two, I sincerely recommend you to buy a LG V20 or a Pixel XL.
This phone is not even 1.5 year old (from release date). I have used much more cheaper and older phones, which I have still got every answer for my every question and every possible customizations on XDA (HTC Sensation XE being one of them). None had this much abandonment on XDA. No development, no customization, no themes, no nothing. This phone is beautiful but it is also just "as is". If you are OK with adding and substracting absolutely nothing to the phone, then it's a good phone (then you wouldn't probably be in here XDA though).
The pros are all pyshical: the screen, sound quality, battery life, body material, camera are all a lot higher than the high standards of the flagships (though, none is the best in their categories). If there were some love from the community, at least maybe CyanogenMod (R.I.P.), FXP Blog or Lineage OS. Even Z5 is has not the previlige..
So I say, make sure to look at other options before actually deciding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like more people went for the Z5 than the Z5p, just by looking how the other forum is more active than this one here and most rom available for the Z5 are also flashable on our Z5p... Lineage is also out recently, I haven't tried it though as I'm waiting Xposed to be compatible with sdk24, so I'm still on MM (RomAur)...nowadays as long as you can get a good optimized custom/stock rom and custom kernel (Zach's Kernel do wonders by the way), you can do pretty much all the UI cosmetics add-ons with Xposed yourself...
Hello guys,
I want to switch from Honor 8 to Xperia XZ2 Compact, but I fear from a serious issue: the lack of custom ROM support. I haven't seen any ROMs specifically developed for the XZ2 Compact in the development thread yet, but there are always AOSP, Lineage OS, Resurrection Remix or Carbon ROM GSIs on the rescue, but I'm not sure if everything works fine. Can I install them as my daily driver OS or just stick with the factory Sony ROM to avoid issues with the OS?
ThePS4Gamer said:
Hello guys,
I want to switch from Honor 8 to Xperia XZ2 Compact, but I fear from a serious issue: the lack of custom ROM support. I haven't seen any ROMs specifically developed for the XZ2 Compact in the development thread yet, but there are always AOSP, Lineage OS, Resurrection Remix or Carbon ROM GSIs on the rescue, but I'm not sure if everything works fine. Can I install them as my daily driver OS or just stick with the factory Sony ROM to avoid issues with the OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
atm you can only stay with stock, no roms for this phone yet because to root you need to unlock the bl and lose camera functionality. i used to be a flashaolic, but i like stock Sony fw and can stay with it, only miss root.. if you want custom roms and root, get another phone. or wait until someone will develop a drm fix for this phone
Maybe me
I'm contemplating getting one of these phones. It's a bit pricy compared to the low end devices I usually work on, lacks a headphone jack, and the camera DRM is a bit annoying. However, it's the only good small device on the market. Traditionally I've been a Motorola guy, but modern Motorola phones are just too huge for me.
Here's an offer: I will buy an XZ2 Compact and bring official LineageOS to the device if the community donates a total of $300 to me as an expression of interest and support.
squid2 said:
I'm contemplating getting one of these phones. It's a bit pricy compared to the low end devices I usually work on, lacks a headphone jack, and the camera DRM is a bit annoying. However, it's the only good small device on the market. Traditionally I've been a Motorola guy, but modern Motorola phones are just too huge for me.
Here's an offer: I will buy an XZ2 Compact and bring official LineageOS to the device if the community donates a total of $300 to me as an expression of interest and support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that offer!
Without wanting to be disrespectful, but how do we know, that you really buy the device after we donate (if there are only lets say $200 at all)?
I mean, i have no problem to donate $20 (and i donated for Insert Coin Rom more than once), but usually the developers at least already had the device and were working on the rom.
And we doesn't even have a recovery...
squid2 said:
I'm contemplating getting one of these phones. It's a bit pricy compared to the low end devices I usually work on, lacks a headphone jack, and the camera DRM is a bit annoying. However, it's the only good small device on the market. Traditionally I've been a Motorola guy, but modern Motorola phones are just too huge for me.
Here's an offer: I will buy an XZ2 Compact and bring official LineageOS to the device if the community donates a total of $300 to me as an expression of interest and support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same reason why i bought this phone, is the only good one available in the market not huge like all others, can't stand them. i could donate no problem, let's see how many could be interested.. you assure you can give us some custom ROMs without lacking good working camera?
I understand your concern @old.splatterhand. I mainly just wanted to gauge how many people are seriously interested, and I’m not really in great need of the money.
Here’s another offer that’s better for everyone involved: I will buy the phone and put in a best effort to bring charter-compliant (fully functional) LineageOS and recovery if 25 or more people pledge to donate something (any amount) once I meet the goal. You don’t have to specify an actual amount - just say you’d donate.
This is better for you because you have no risk of losing money, and you maintain an incentive for me to complete the project. This is better for me because I would not feel compelled or guilty if I fail to meet my goal for unforeseen reasons (technical or personal), and I don't want to be in a situation where I feel morally obligated to do a lot of work for not much money.
@FcukBloat Regarding camera - hopefully Sony will sort that out soon, since the camera is supposed to continue working (without fancy noise reduction) when the bootloader is unlocked. If Sony fail to live up to their own standards, we’ll see. The first step would be to just build Sony's own AOSP, and since nobody has done that yet, we don't know if AOSP camera does or does not work.
to be honest i am enjoying my new non-flashaolic life with this phone, what i really miss is just root but keeping working camera, nevertheless i promise to donate if you'll bring some development for this phone that, even if not me, some other could enjoy. I've always donated for dev work i used with my phones so it won't be a problem at all to do that also in this case even if in the end i won't use your roms
you could maybe unify the quest for this section and regular xz2 also? this would bring more willing donators i think, and shouldn't be too much additional work for you?(i think to support regular xz2 also you'd just need to make two kernels with small differences from each other?)
squid2 said:
Here’s another offer that’s better for everyone involved: I will buy the phone and put in a best effort to bring charter-compliant (fully functional) LineageOS and recovery if 25 or more people pledge to donate something (any amount) once I meet the goal. You don’t have to specify an actual amount - just say you’d donate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a fair deal! So, count on me, i'm in and donate :good:
FcukBloat said:
to be honest i am enjoying my new non-flashaolic life with this phone, what i really miss is just root but keeping working camera, nevertheless i promise to donate if you'll bring some development for this phone that, even if not me, some other could enjoy. I've always donated for dev work i used with my phones so it won't be a problem at all to do that also in this case even if in the end i won't use your roms
you could maybe unify the quest for this section and regular xz2 also? this would bring more willing donators i think, and shouldn't be too much additional work for you?(i think to support regular xz2 also you'd just need to make two kernels with small differences from each other?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’d use the same kernel for both, and would probably use a commonized device tree structure (Sony already does that in their AOSP trees on GitHub). Thus, supporting the regular XZ2 shouldn’t be difficult, and it would certainly increase the number of people interested. I can’t justify buying a second high end phone myself, but I can make builds for users to test.
squid2 said:
Thus, supporting the regular XZ2 shouldn’t be difficult, and it would certainly increase the number of people interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure thats true
I think i'll leave the 2 most interesting threads from xz2 here for people who are interested in:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...recovery-twrp-3-2-2-0-touch-recovery-t3821597
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xz2/help/happen-unlock-bootloader-t3769726
for who is willing to help, why don't making a new thread about this "donators hunt" in this phone's discussion section, and then making another thread also in xz2's discussion section, linking to original one? there we could collect donators also for other xz2(c) devs like @MartinX3 @serajr etc
FcukBloat said:
for who is willing to help, why don't making a new thread about this "donators hunt" in this phone's discussion section, and then making another thread also in xz2's discussion section, linking to original one? there we could collect donators also for other xz2(c) devs like @MartinX3 @serajr etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like a good idea. I’m personally debating between them XZ2 compact and the (upcoming) Pixel 3. Assuming rumours are correct and the Pixel 3 is similar in dimensions to the Pixel 2, the device wouldn’t be too huge, though still a bit larger than I’d prefer. However, the Pixel would have several benefits over the XZ2 compact: OLED display, better camera, no infuriating camera DRM, better developer support from the OEM, android verified boot (allows locking BL to your own keys), and a much larger community of developers and custom ROM users. For the Pixel 3, I could also just sit back and have others with more time and enthusiasm do all the development for me If the Pixel 3 (non-XL) is indeed reasonably sized, I’ll probably buy one of those when they come out.
With that said, if enough people pledge interest in me doing work on the XZ2 compact, I’d buy one too. If 25+ XZ2 compact users pledge support, I’ll buy an XZ2 compact and bring LineageOS to it, regardless of whether or not I buy a Pixel. If 40+ users of XZ2 and XZ2 compact combined pledge support, I’ll try to bring LineageOS to both. If someone else wants to help, I’d appreciate that too.
@FcukBloat @serajr @squid2 @old.splatterhand
I am also interessted in LineageOS for this device and making a donation. Could you mention me, when you start developing LineageOS?
There shouldn't be much difference between the XZ2 compact, XZ2 and XZ2 Premium expect the driver (vendor/oem) partition and maybe some parts of the kernel.
And the LineageOS Treble image and the Sony Xperia AOSP Project is very helpful, if you want to get a LineageOS maintainer.
After the bootloader update for the XZ2 compact, XZ2 and XZ2 Premium, I will update my device files and compile TWRP again.
First for the XZ2 and if that works, for the XZ2 compact and XZ2 Premium, too.
They are very similiar. As example, the XZ2 and the XZ2 Compact sharing the same fstab file.
So there is a high chance, that the XZ2 Premium is similiar, too.
You can view the progress here!
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...ecovery-twrp-3-2-2-0-touch-recovery-t3821597/
squid2 said:
That sounds like a good idea. I’m personally debating between them XZ2 compact and the (upcoming) Pixel 3. Assuming rumours are correct and the Pixel 3 is similar in dimensions to the Pixel 2, the device wouldn’t be too huge, though still a bit larger than I’d prefer. However, the Pixel would have several benefits over the XZ2 compact: OLED display, better camera, no infuriating camera DRM, better developer support from the OEM, android verified boot (allows locking BL to your own keys), and a much larger community of developers and custom ROM users. For the Pixel 3, I could also just sit back and have others with more time and enthusiasm do all the development for me If the Pixel 3 (non-XL) is indeed reasonably sized, I’ll probably buy one of those when they come out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was evaluating pixel 3 also, it is 1cm taller than xz2c, so bigger but not that much (and still smaller than all other damned huge phones released nowadays) plus luckily it won't have that awful notch... so will see and if it will be really better than xz2c (not easy as this is a great phone!) I may get one and sell the sony.. from pixel 3 I like always on display, flat back, probably reduced weight, and yes as you say probable easy root wihout loosing (cam) performances... but I have to carefully check P3 battery life which I care a lot...
I personally don't care about the display, I find this IPS very good and even better than some OLED panels I tried (S7) and also camera is great for me in this phone (even in low light) but yes probably because of the SW alghoritms in pixel 3 will be better...
squid2 said:
I understand your concern @old.splatterhand. I mainly just wanted to gauge how many people are seriously interested, and I’m not really in great need of the money.
Here’s another offer that’s better for everyone involved: I will buy the phone and put in a best effort to bring charter-compliant (fully functional) LineageOS and recovery if 25 or more people pledge to donate something (any amount) once I meet the goal. You don’t have to specify an actual amount - just say you’d donate.
This is better for you because you have no risk of losing money, and you maintain an incentive for me to complete the project. This is better for me because I would not feel compelled or guilty if I fail to meet my goal for unforeseen reasons (technical or personal), and I don't want to be in a situation where I feel morally obligated to do a lot of work for not much money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest you will never reach 25 people ready to donate.
The Sony community is used to get everything for free, they nearly never thanks and even less give donations.
Even if you build a few rom like lineage or carbon, the camera will always give bad results and low quality which is a deal breaker for many.
That's why I'm working only on stock rom and add all custom features and interesting commits from custom rom like lineage, resurrection remix, slim... I can have a fully working rom without any bugs without hundreds of new options.
Just my 2 cent but you shouldn't buy a Sony phone at all.
niaboc79 said:
To be honest you will never reach 25 people ready to donate.
The Sony community is used to get everything for free, they nearly never thanks and even less give donations.
Even if you build a few rom like lineage or carbon, the camera will always give bad results and low quality which is a deal breaker for many.
That's why I'm working only on stock rom and add all custom features and interesting commits from custom rom like lineage, resurrection remix, slim... I can have a fully working rom without any bugs without hundreds of new options.
Just my 2 cent but you shouldn't buy a Sony phone at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand you.
But I did choose the XZ2, because I get regular updates, Sony pay and support the AOSP development for their devices and the XZ2 has a high durability and is water proofed.
Like a high-speed outdoor smartphone.
Is the cam quality really as worse as you say, when you use the DRM fix, camera API 2 and a gcam port for your chipset?
niaboc79 said:
To be honest you will never reach 25 people ready to donate.
The Sony community is used to get everything for free, they nearly never thanks and even less give donations.
Even if you build a few rom like lineage or carbon, the camera will always give bad results and low quality which is a deal breaker for many.
That's why I'm working only on stock rom and add all custom features and interesting commits from custom rom like lineage, resurrection remix, slim... I can have a fully working rom without any bugs without hundreds of new options.
Just my 2 cent but you shouldn't buy a Sony phone at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you going to prepare a stock based rom also for xz2c maybe? I'd only need few features from custom ROMs :fingers-crossed:
MartinX3 said:
I understand you.
But I did choose the XZ2, because I get regular updates, Sony pay and support the AOSP development for their devices and the XZ2 has a high durability and is water proofed.
Like a high-speed outdoor smartphone.
Is the cam quality really as worse as you say, when you use the DRM fix, camera API 2 and a gcam port for your chipset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I choose the xz2 because I like it, that's all. For me it's a great device, great look and fast.
For me Sony doesn't really support developers, they allow a small amount of devs to share source of AOSP that's all, Sony doesn't share what's needed to build perfect AOSP. If the camera works since Oreo it's only because AOSP devs and some guys here on xda worked hard.
Also if they support developers why so much things linked to drm. Why so much issues when unlocking bootloader. They should allow us to unlock bootloader without loosing anything and like that we could come back to stock rom without issue or stupid message at boot.
I like Sony, all I buy is made by them. But the main developers, not the aosp one doesn't like us and are doing all they can to discourage us to go ahead in development. I can understand them, they loose also many things with years, all what they are allowed to do is build stock with 5 Sony options, they lost what made Sony's stock rom amazing, the difference, the innovation.
Finally, since the Xperia Z I've never seen a good camera on aosp or custom rom, neither than a fully functional phone, I mean fingerprint reader, battery charging, automatic brightness, camera, noise canceling, battery life.
Envoyé de mon H8266 en utilisant Tapatalk
FcukBloat said:
are you going to prepare a stock based rom also for xz2c maybe? I'd only need few features from custom ROMs :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As soon as a working recovery, drm fix on official Android P will be available, I will build my eXistenZ rom on XZ2 and XZ2 compact family [emoji6]
Envoyé de mon H8266 en utilisant Tapatalk
niaboc79 said:
As soon as a working recovery, drm fix on official Android P will be available, I will build my eXistenZ rom on XZ2 and XZ2 compact family [emoji6]
Envoyé de mon H8266 en utilisant Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the theory the DRM fix is finished.
But we need twrp to test it.
And to get a working twrp, Sony need to release the next bootloader update and to announce the XZ2 as part of the open source program.
And don't ask for an ETA.
They only know the words soon and ASAP. :silly:
But they added the tama akari apollo defconfigs and a kernel build script to the asop sources this week.
Maybe the release is now really soon.