Sony Z1
 

anyone got the z1? any thoughts? my htc one x is crappying out on me, i think its time to get a new phone

I wanted it, I still kind of want it but I was also considering the Nexus5 and since It's in my hands now I'm fine with sticking to it instead

why i like it over the N5 is that its water resistant/proof, microsd, nice camera and its sony

Sonys also giving away some goodies if you get the Z1

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/11/05/so...ria-z1-review/

There were a lot of things I liked about it too, but was concerned about the water resistance. It seems to rely on covers for all the ports, which might break off after moving them too much, such as the charging port cover.

There wasn't much else I thought made it better, just the appearance and water resistance. The Nexus 5's wireless charging and lower price (~$400 lower) were enough to sway me.

All I can say its a large heavy phone

I noticed this between my Nexus 5 and iPhone 4. The N5 is much larger but almost equal in weight. Glass and metal construction is nice, but plastic is clearly better on weight.

I have the Bell Z1. 1 month so far with the device.

I have noticed a few glitches in the software (phone refusing to hang up, auto-brightness fucking up, email app icon disappears or behaves weirdly, notification marker on app icons/folders in launcher don't disappear). Full of Bell/Sony apps, of which some of the Sony ones can be removed. Power button is a bit mushy but placement is ergonomic, downside is fitting it onto my car mount without hitting any of the buttons on the right. Anti-shatter film that comes on the device scratches easily, first few days I found hairline scratches. The camera is also not quite as good as it's hyped up to be. Stuck on 4.2.2. Does not seem to like Swype for whatever reason. I can't seem to find a case I like. Screen's viewing angles are absolute shit and gigantic bezel. Flaps cover every port but the headphone jack. Speaker is meh. Those should be cover everything I dislike about it.

Having all the buttons on the side makes it really easy to use. Waterproof. Lightning quick, multi-tasking between apps constantly and it keeps up without complaining about ram or taking forever to load up the app. Japanese keyboard is fucking robust. The software in general is great and doesn't give me the urge to flash stock android. That premium feel and look. Shutter button is nice to have again. Great call quality. Phone doesn't get hot like some phones (Nexus 4, One X both heated up like a bitch). Stamina mode does a great job of saving your phone's battery life. Camera viewfinder refresh rate is high and camera interface is simple and clean.

I hope the software issues are ironed out with their 4.3 and 4.4 updates. Bell hasn't released the latest firmware, I think they're dragging their heels on it seeing as it's still 4.2 they might skip it and just jump straight to 4.3 when it's out.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to think of other good and bad things about the phone.

damn... makin me reconsider, i honestly dont even know what good phones are out there? maybe the note 3, since the z1 is about the same size

seems like no one mentions this phone for awhile so how is it overall?
Also it seems like the are releasing another version in the US pretty soon.

i would still like one but since ive got the N5 im set on it so Im going to wait for a Z1 successor (hopefully in mini form too) and then i'll grab it, Z2? (hoping for a better camera)

I have a Z1. it feels more fragile than other phones. i can confirm it is indeed waterproof.

one drawback is: it is suffering from some internal scratches, like a scratch of LED under the glass and can be seen from different angles. i want to send it in for repair, but in the past, they just send you another refurb phone which may have more damage than my current one.

Are you looking for the Z1s? Sony Xperia Z1S: This Thing Could Be Really, Really Good

I got the N5 but just ordered the Z1. It looks really nice lol. It actuallys looks ok to me. Just like some reviews about the N5 screen being wash out, I find the N5 to be pretty good.

im looking foward to the z1 compact. cant wait till it arrives in canada

Almost the camera is still blegh

-_- with sony sticking full frame sensors into compact bodies in their cameras you'd think they would shove larger sensors into their phones too but nope :/ sigh will wait and see the results though maybe it will still surprise :D

got the Z1S today from t-mobile (mr.happyslip your phone was stolen)
so far so good, very intuitive... i'm no phone expert so i can't say much about it other than what i observe... no glitches so far, UI graphics are very smooth, a little big but i'll get used to it

just gotta find a nice case for it now, might be hard to find since its not so common

DHL came and no one was home so they left a notice. Went to the DHL near my house to see if I can do a pick up there...... for some strange reason my cell was sent back to Richmond O_o when I live in Burnaby and there is DHL pick up center 5mins away from my house....

Anyways did the online request to have it transfer to the dept near my house. Don't feel safe asking them to leave it at the front door......

EDIT:
After playing with the Z1 for a few hours I am going to have to say the Nexus 5 is a better phone overall.
While the Z1 looks very nice it is a fingerprint magnet. If you want the phone to look nice you will have to wipe it very very often. It is a big bigger and heavier than the Nexus 5 (doesn't bother me much)I really like the shape of it. Buttons layout takes a bit getting use to (I came from an iphone and Nexus 5) but I like how clean the layout looks and also having a button for the camera is good. The Nexus 5 feels more secure in my hand while the Sony Z1 I have to be more careful in case I drop it.

Screen looks decent and bright. Auto brightness is excellent (at least is not like the Nexus 5 where auto brightness is super bright). Color does tend to be a bit wash out if looking at it sideways. I would said overall if looking right at center both Song Z1 and Nexus 5 screen are about the same.

The Nexus 5 seems to load apps faster and doesn't have any lag. On the Z1 I notice there were some lag and also because of all the apps that sony install it tens to use a lot of RAM. Another factor could be the Nexus 5 is on 4.4.2 while Sony Z1 is still on 4.2.2 Overall I feel the Nexus 5 is a lot snapper than Sony Z1.

One important factor to keep in mind is that with the Nexus5 there is wireless charging. I have a Neo hybird case on my Nexus 5 and I can still use the wireless charger from the google store with no issue (although you have to position it since the magnet won't suck the phone on). With the Z1 there is the USB rarter charger, however because of the design you have the slide the phone into it so if you have a case on you won't be able to use it. So that means you will have to not use a case or use the USB plug into the phone (which is very annoying since you have to open the flop that covers it).

In terms on Camera I find the z1 a little better but not much by much. Maybe because the N5 camera is just really bad and I don't like camera app on stock much. I find the taking pics in HDR + on the N5 takes ages. On the Z1 it seems much more faster and the apps is easier to use.

Overall I would say for the price and ease of use N5 wins. The only thing I wish the N5 have is the walkman apps from the Z1 and a SD card slot would be nice.

Hopefully this will give a better idea to people on RS when deciding between the N5, Z1 or Z1S because from I read the Z1 and Z1s is almost the simliar.

After using for a day I notice that the LTE networks is not as good as on my N5. It tens to jump to HPSA 3g a lot (could be the fact that my Z1 was an intertional version and I had to manually put the APN in). Alos the notification audio and the vibrate isn't as good as the N5. Audio seems to be on the low end and vibrate not as strong as the N5.

Battery seems to be around the same but it could be due to the fact I turn off some features on the N5(Google location, set GPS location to battery saving, etc etc....).

One thing I notice is what with the Z1 auto correct or dictionary is not as accurate as the N5. Using swipe/google keyboard with flow is much much smoother with the N5. for example typing the word "any" for some reason on the Z1 always came up as captlize, other words when using flow doesn't seem to come up or have any suggestions at all. I try changing language setting as well as the display language on the Z1 and still doesn't help. So using flow typing on the z1 prove to be a lot harder.

after a week of use, the one major drawback on the Z1S i've found is the battery life

absolute shit compared to the S4... at the end of a typical day on S4 i'd be around 65%, this one is at 20%

which is sorta surprising considering it has 3000mAH batt

hmm strange.... my is off battery from 6:40am till now (1:15am) and I still have 58% battery left..... I usually text, what's app through out the day, music to and from work (about 1hour) checks E-mails a few times a day and fb here and there.....

Battery life seems fine to me.

u prob have background running apps

yeah i checked background apps and Canucks app was drawing 59% of the usage for some reason, must be a bug or sth

anyway, uninstalled it today and will see how batt holds up tmr

I'd try to get a google play store version of the phone if possible - its supposed to be a clean install with no crapware.

Not sure if they have the ge though. I know they have the z1 ultra which is a 6.7 inch screen

i like the Z1 very much and ive used both phones. youll be very happy with the z1 in terms of battery life. heavy usage with lte and all that jazz on and youll still have battery when you go home 12 hours later. the n5 youll have to worry about the battery a bit. the nexus 5 is a pure android device after all and its a breeze to use. the z1 had a lot of bloated sony software just like samsung phones and i was sorta annoyed with the layouts and all but downloaded a new launcher quickly solved that problem. build quality the sony is better by miles. it may be heavy but you wont notice it over time. the nexus feels better in the hands but you do get a cheap body, washed out lcd screen, very grainy camera (in low light) and it doesnt feel like a phone that will last more than one and a half years. if on a contract i would take the z1. if buying the phone outright i would go for the nexus.

to give you an idea of how good the battery life is on the stock rom here are some screenies of when i had the phone. thats a gig of data used!