[Chetan_Rao]

I just checked for software updates on my stock S3. There's only a 79MB updating showing up, no 4.3 version upgrade.

[phamilyman]

I just got notification of a ~401MB download of Android 4.3 which is now being installed. Hurray! hope the endless lag on the device ends now. Else MIUI it is.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

The ZR has a few problems. I had three replacements before me and Sony decided that was enough and I got my money back. The first handset worked superbly for three months and then the Bluetooth packed up. The second wasn't waterproof and resulted in a dead phone. The third had the same Bluetooth issue.

Sad to hear this.

Originally Posted by HydroFuel

Sad to hear the problem.
My ZR is working flawless for last 4 months. I am able to connect my Bluetooth stereo handsfeee SE MW600 very easily and fast. Just tap Bluetooth icon that's it. The Same used to take More time and had to touch MW600 icon after display in my previous SE Xperia Pro.

Even I am a happy customer for ZR. Really like the phone for what all it offers. Using it now for about 6-7 months. When it was launched there was none under 27K with Quad Core (Here its 1.5G I think) and 2GB RAM. Most phones were 33K+. Now we have quite many in that range(<30K) with similar hardware specs. But still its hard to get a ZR like spec @ 26K. Not to mention a very good camera.

The main reason why it was priced low was because of the 720p screen which got the price down, while others were at 1080p AMOLED.

And I just upgraded to 4.3.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

I just got notification of a ~401MB download of Android 4.3 which is now being installed. Hurray! hope the endless lag on the device ends now. Else MIUI it is.

I installed it earlier today on my stock S3, probably the worst mistake I could've made with this phone. It looks & feels like Windows 7 on a decade-old PC.

[shahbaz.k]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I installed it earlier today on my stock S3, probably the worst mistake I could've made with this phone. It looks & feels like Windows 7 on a decade-old PC.

I agree completely with you buddy. Though resetting the phone might be of some help.

[h@r$h@l]

This may sound a little absurd. But today I was helping a friend who was desperate to get a Moto G or a Moto G spec phone ASAP. Since Moto G isn't available off the shelf and we had no one coming from US soon so Moto G was ruled out.

We went to a local store and the shop suggested we look at Xolo Q700i. This phone is priced at 10450/- and surprisingly it has same specification as Moto G. Including the chip set. The screen has slightly lower PPI but it has better camera, better battery and expandable storage. My friend picked it up right away and I can safely say the phone is pretty much at par with Moto G. It weighs a bit more than G but its acceptable.

Pros:
Expandable storage
Better battery
Better camera: front & rear
Dual Sim
Local availability and warranty.
Complete packaging.

Cons
Lower screen resolution. 960x540. 245 PPI
Slight bulky.
OS updates may not happen as good as Moto G.

This is my observation and I am not saying its the ultimate phone out there but its an acceptable Moto G category phone.
Sent from my Moto G

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

H@rshal -- second line brands like xolo, micromax, etc, and in particular Gionee Elife 4 (or 5) too has some fantastic specs. I even considered lenovo. What the non-mainstream brands don't have is good support on xda forum. That is, rooting, custom rom, etc.

Lack of a reasonably speced single SIM model too is a matter of concern.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by shahbaz.k

I agree completely with you buddy. Though resetting the phone might be of some help.

The thing I dislike most is everything looks bigger and disproportionate. I understand that this version was developed with 1080p screens in mind, but why bother rolling it out to phones with 720p screens if they can't be bothered to optimize it?

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by h@r$h@l

This may sound a little absurd. But today I was helping a friend who was desperate to get a Moto G or a Moto G spec phone ASAP. Since Moto G isn't available off the shelf and we had no one coming from US soon so Moto G was ruled out.

We went to a local store and the shop suggested we look at Xolo Q700i. This phone is priced at 10450/- and surprisingly it has same specification as Moto G. Including the chip set. The screen has slightly lower PPI but it has better camera, better battery and expandable storage. My friend picked it up right away and I can safely say the phone is pretty much at par with Moto G. It weighs a bit more than G but its acceptable.

Pros:

Yes, very good choice in my opinion if you are looking for the Moto G. Some of these smaller companies make great phones and I might have gone for this if I'd planned for the Moto G. Dual SIM and expandable internal memory are certainly big Pluses!

[h@r$h@l]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

H@rshal -- second line brands like xolo, micromax, etc, and in particular Gionee Elife 4 (or 5) too has some fantastic specs. I even considered lenovo. What the non-mainstream brands don't have is good support on xda forum. That is, rooting, custom rom, etc.

Lack of a reasonably speced single SIM model too is a matter of concern.

Hi,

While I agree with you about the xda support. But if we look around I am sure more than 50% android users don't even bother about the rooting, custom Roms etc. Just like most car users they use their phones as Stock as it came from the company.

All they add is apps. Xolo has a mediatek processor which has thin chances of getting Kitkat 4.4 but again there is a segment of users who hardly even care as long as they are getting a " touchscreen smart phone". One prime eg is my friend who bought the Xolo Q700i. His criteria is emails, calls, social media, browsing, whatsapp, subway surfers, candy crush etc.

For such set of users it hardly matters if its Mediatek or Qualcomm or any XYZ.

This is just my personal opinion and observation.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by h@r$h@l

For such set of users it hardly matters if its Mediatek or Qualcomm or any XYZ.

+1. In fact the guys who go inside out are a minority. Along with the feature set add another item to be check-marked : Branding. That plays a big big part.


Basic requirement are : 5-6 accounts (office mail, gmail, FB, G+ etc) seamlessly integrated and they should not be chocking the phone. Add to it a lag free touch interface, good camera and voice quality. Many a times Xolo and Micromax like brands are not considered thanks to the branding aspect. For some camera is a main priority. So that also plays its part.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by h@r$h@l

Hi,

While I agree with you about the xda support. But if we look around I am sure more than 50% android users don't even bother about the rooting, custom Roms etc. Just like most car users they use their phones as Stock as it came from the company.

Yeah true that. Most people aren't bothered and don't need rooting and custom ROMs. But that was why I moved from the Micromax A110. Very good phone and served me really well for a year but I've given it away since even after 1 year, there are no proper custom ROMs for it. And the internal memory was killing me. But the Nexus 4 - though more than a year old has amazing custom ROMs, kernels what not. And the 2 GB internal memory is awesome.

Will soon root it and start hacking.

[ontheroad]

Youtube or any other streaming video sites doesn't work in my Nexus4. Though I updated to latest version some weeks back, I am experiencing this issue recently. Any pointers to solve this issue?

[jaysmokesleaves]

I just got the 4.3 update for my S3.
Multi window function is gone and the UI for the gallery is not good. Once you open any album in your gallery the pics scroll one after the other as big thumbnails compared to the multiple thumbnails per page earlier. So if you have many pics in an album and are looking for a pic somewhere inbetween , say pic 75 out of 110, then happy scrolling.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

I just got the 4.3 update for my S3.
Multi window function is gone and the UI for the gallery is not good. Once you open any album in your gallery the pics scroll one after the other as big thumbnails compared to the multiple thumbnails per page earlier. So if you have many pics in an album and are looking for a pic somewhere inbetween , say pic 75 out of 110, then happy scrolling.

I upgraded my stock S3 to 4.3 a few days ago. Multi-window support is still there. There's a toggle on the upgraded notification panel. Check if yours is turned off.

The Gallery still has multiple view options (Album, All, Time, Locations, People, Favorites & Spiral). Opening any album on my phone's gallery takes me to a scroll-able list view (same as before), another tap taking me to full-screen, single-thumbnail scroll view.

Try this: Once you've reached the 'single big thumbnail' mode in a gallery album, tapping on the screen once bring up the toolbar on the top, and a scroll-able list of pics in that album at the bottom, which is what you seem to be referring to if I understood right.