[mukul32]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Let me be one of the few to bat for Sony, as a 2nd time consecutive user i.e Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro > Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. I exchanged the last one, having had absolutely no problems after 3 years. Yes I have to admit that reading reports of issues in that model did have me worried but my faith in Sony as a quality manufacturer made me go for it.
After 6 months and having washed the phone several dozen times under the tap, I can report that there is absolutely no issue so far. The camera is a class apart specially in dark lighting situations, all the updates have come over-the-air and I'm now running the latest Android (M update expected within this year). Not that I'm particular about updates but nice to know that Sony is doing a good job this time around.
Now what makes me really love this phone is the premium feel, everything about this phone screams premium, the way its made, the graphics, icons the Sony software like Walkman, Movies etc are a class apart. I honestly felt like laughing when I operated a Samsung the other day, it felt like a kiddy phone what with the cartoony graphics and all (not sure of latest models like S6). It even had an accidental drop from about 3 feet and nothing happened (without glass protector, I hate those). No offense to those owning Apple, Samsung, Moto and other Chinese models, they are all good value and quality in their own right but so far there is very little to fault a Z3 Compact for, after operating it I simply cannot even touch another phone. Useful features like double-tap to wake up, water-resistance & voice-answering machine have become a part of my daily phone operations. I use camera in manual-mode only and I get perfect shots every time. In the end this is only my experience and I cannot assure you that you will feel the same way.

I totally second you there, dark.knight. Let people think whatever they want, the truth remains that the recent Sony flagship phones are really a class apart.
What makes them really special is the well-roundedness and overall premiumness. Honestly, the Z3 - and by extension (or compression?) the Z3 compact - was the closest to the perfect high end smartphone.
They are built of premium material, have a beautiful design, are quite slim, are water and dust proof, have excellent cameras, front facing stereo speakers, expandable storage, great displays with outdoor visibility, a neat and minimalistic UI with actually useful bloatware, fantastic battery life, get good update support (the OG Xperia Z runs 5.1, remember), and have great developer support for custom ROMs as well.

The attention to detail while designing them is also fantastic. Down to the design of the round power key, to the dedicated camera button, solid camera app with useful modes, a few neat options within the settings, double tap to wake option, amazing audio quality, quick charging, the design of the on-screen buttons and what not are all amazing.
The only things I could nitpick about them are the what's new and small apps that intrude into the UI, and that older Xperias had a good looking but hugely impractical interface. But all changed with the Z series.

I have myself used a (really) humble Xperia E1 for well over a year now, which costed just 8k bucks, and the kind of quality, performance and battery life it gave me just blew me away every single time. Alright, it just had 512MB of RAM and couldn't handle anything above Temple Run and Angry Birds, but it had shockingly snappy UI overall, an amazingly accurate keyboard for a 4" display, got the KitKat update as promised, and always lasted me well into the second day of charge. It was built of rather cheap plastic, but on the upside, didn't break a sweat even after dropping it many times. It also had a really poor 3.2MP camera by modern smartphone standards, but I think it'd be better than almost all other 3MP cameras in the world.
I never took too many serious photos with it, but when I did spot a Quanto facelift mule roaming around, and happened to have only my phone camera along, it didn't disappoint. (You can still see the photos in the Quanto facelift thread). And I won a free one year Autocar subscription too!! Not bad, eh?

I plan to upgrade to a Z3 this summer, but the only thing that's confusing me is the arrival of the new Moto X and other excellent stock Android phones. Though I'm most inclined towards the Z3 due to the waterproofing, great camera, and other long list of pluses. I had thought about the Z5 with an even better camera, fingerprint scanner, and a much longer shelf life being new, but it'll be too expensive and the SD810 has serious heating issues. The Z3 will be quite old by the time I take it, but it has the really solid SD805 which doesn't boil eggs like the 810, and I'll happily live with a stock Android custom ROM till whenever I keep the phone.

Anyways, have been hearing about the rumors going on about Sony planning to exit the phone business due to huge losses recently. If that happens, it will probably be the most unfortunate incident in the smartphone industry, even ahead of Nokia in my opinion. Nokia were themselves to blame for their decline, being stuck with Symbian for too long and then making the extremely wrong move by going to Windows, but Sony unlike them always kept building excellent phones and fought hard for the success they deserved in the market. Their only big fault was of overpriced and underwhelming midrange phones, but that's it. People still kept buying Apples and Samsungs blindly because either everybody had them, or that they were cool and practical respectively. Little did they know that the Xperias were both and lots more...

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by VW2010

for smaller size i cant think of a device better than S5 from older generation.

Missing something : http://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-s...view-2379.html

Originally Posted by mukul32

Though I'm most inclined towards the Z3 due to the waterproofing

Beware my friend: http://betanews.com/2015/09/11/warni...ly-waterproof/



And for that matter, majority of flagships have some short or water repellent coating and are water resistant to some extent.



Samsung Galaxy S5 keeping up nicely against Z3 in the water test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNAAtxgbylg

And if you want to see more bruit tests then follow this lady:

MotoX 2014, they claim it to have some water repellent coating but IPx ratings or whatsoever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lyOIMH9LEY

Here is LG G3, never heard of any water resistance rating for this one either but it also sustains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQlEi-W7GCE

[Rosso Corsa]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Mostly you want all in one phone at that price point. I cant see which one will satisfy all these(except an Iphone but even there battery and screen size could be an issue).

You are correct. Once upon a time, I DID get all in one phone. That was the Samsung Galaxy S2. I purchased one used (to be frank it was close to mint condition. I never felt like I was handling an 11 month old phone) for 20k back in June 2012. It had everything I could think of, and at a very decent price. The phone never lagged. Ran smooth until 2013, when it started lagging. Finally in June 2014 I stopped using it and got a 1st gen MotoG. Which has started to lag and that makes me search for a new phone.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Beware my friend: http://betanews.com/2015/09/11/warni...ly-waterproof/

Thanks a lot, @tbppjpr. For you really cared to reply actively. Not many care about others in the world these days. I was really pleased.

Actually, the thing with the Sony phones is that they may not be totally resistant to submerging inside deep waters. For all practical purposes they are still waterproof. I was really concerned reading that news first up as well, but on further research, I discovered the truth.
What happened is, people tested the waterproof capability of these phones so much that they took them underwater too long too deep. And obviously the phones couldn't survive. And Sony had to spend a lot on repairs under warranty, because they had claimed the waterproofing themselves. Even if you visit YouTube right now, you'll find really crazy tests done on these phones as they claim to be waterproof. Except for taking the phone underwater beyond a certain depth, Sony says the phones have all kind of other exposure to water well covered.
Why I was looking for a waterproof phone is mainly for rain usage, taking photos in the rain, however heavy, and maybe using the phone in the shower. That's it. I'm never gonna submerge the phone in deep water purposely or accidentally. Neither am I gonna take the phone for a swim. I only wish to be able to use it in the rains and not have to hide the phone the moment the sky turns dark. Plus, whenever the phone gets dirty, I can easily wash it under the tap.

The other pluses about the Z3 are that it has 3 gigs of RAM, an excellent display outdoors, stereo speakers at the front, and fantastic battery life. None of this is present in the S5. Or else I would've really thought hard on the S5, maybe even bought it. Further, the S5 sold in India is the Exynos version that's not as fast as the Snapdragon variant, and has some stability issues and the RAM usage is pretty high as well. Neither does the Exynos version have LTE standard. What it does give me though is a fingerprint scanner, a good bonus in the marshmallow era, but it's a swipe down one, not the most accurate. I would simply not bother with the gimmicky heart rate scanner. There's also Touchwiz to worry about, at least initially.
I'm not gonna stay on the stock firmware for too long, so updates are not gonna be an issue. I'll flash a good custom ROM once I get bored with the software. Yet, the Z3 may get another update beyond marshmallow, the S5 most certainly won't.
If the Snapdragon S5 is somehow available and serviceable here, I would really give it a thought. But as of now, the Z3 seems the perfect deal.

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Thanks a lot, @tbppjpr. For you really cared to reply actively. Not many care about others in the world these days. I was really pleased.

Actually, the thing with the Sony phones is that they may not be totally resistant to submerging inside deep waters. For all practical purposes they are still waterproof. I was really concerned reading that news first up as well, but on further research, I discovered the truth.
What happened is, people tested the waterproof capability of these phones so much that they took them underwater too long too deep. And obviously the phones couldn't survive. And Sony had to spend a lot on repairs under warranty, because they had claimed the waterproofing themselves. Even if you visit YouTube right now, you'll find really crazy tests done on these phones as they claim to be waterproof. Except for taking the phone underwater beyond a certain depth, Sony says the phones have all kind of other exposure to water well covered.
Why I was looking for a waterproof phone is mainly for rain usage, taking photos in the rain, however heavy, and maybe using the phone in the shower. That's it. I'm never gonna submerge the phone in deep water purposely or accidentally. Neither am I gonna take the phone for a swim. I only wish to be able to use it in the rains and not have to hide the phone the moment the sky turns dark. Plus, whenever the phone gets dirty, I can easily wash it under the tap.

The other pluses about the Z3 are that it has 3 gigs of RAM, an excellent display outdoors, stereo speakers at the front, and fantastic battery life. None of this is present in the S5. Or else I would've really thought hard on the S5, maybe even bought it..

Mukul, when my Xperia z3 compact died, I decided to get the s5 (exynos) and I'm pleased I did. The camera is superb, the build quality is robust beyond expectations (my girlfriend knocks it off the bedside at least once a night), the expandable memory is super and lastly, the removable battery is a boon (I have the Unu 5800 mah battery installed).

The downside, as you rightly mentioned, is the phone is laggy and even reboots don't help. The consolation is that I've installed a custom rom that strips down TouchWiz to bare minimum. And now it's perfect. I'll stick with this one for a while.

Ps Sony called today to say my handset is ready, 5 months after I gave it in for repair. Superb service no?

[VW2010]

The downside, as you rightly mentioned, is the phone is laggy and even reboots don't help. The consolation is that I've installed a custom rom that strips down TouchWiz to bare minimum. And now it's perfect. I'll stick with this one for a while.

what i did with S5 is didnt allow it to update to lollipop. This made sure the phone is as good as it was from day 1.

And i have Titanium back up and basically disabled all nonsense including AT&T rubbish.

I get a days life for sure with GPS, BT, WIFI usuage. And with 64gig SD card i have FLAC songs completely loaded into the phone.

My phone screen is cracked and i simply covered it with a screen protector and the phone has been going well for last six months like that. Cost of screen repair is ridiculous and i decided to keep it that way

Try disabling all sorts of apps that eat your RAM. Its simply RAM management that makes the device faster or thats what i think and feel(like a placebo)

[Speed.Demon]

Originally Posted by mukul32

If the Snapdragon S5 is somehow available and serviceable here, I would really give it a thought. But as of now, the Z3 seems the perfect deal.

I do believe the 4G enabled Snapdragon 801 equipped S5 was launched in India, just a few months after the 3G model. Do check for the S5 with model number SM-G900l

PS: Normally, I would advise people to stay as far away from Samsung as possible, but for the sort of price its available for now,the S5 really does make a case for itself.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Thanks a lot, @tbppjpr. For you really cared to reply actively. Not many care about others in the world these days. I was really pleased.

When I bought the ZR I was actually very happy. Because during its days, the camera was very good and that was one of my prime reasons for its purchase. Trouble only started when it went down after 2.5 years of use. Till then I was very satisfied. The service really is bad. But the phone was decent for usage. Also its a known thing, Sony does not update OS very fast.

And also these days, many other brands have started integrating good camera systems. So that kind of liberates me from a single brand.

As regards to Moto, I do agree with what @tbppjpr says regarding X vs play. But inspite of that I chose to go with Play. For an average user like me, who just needs to sync 5-6 accounts (office, google, linkedin, facebook twitter etc) Play for 20K seems good value. Especially since its camera is the same as the Style edition. It was this logic which made me go for play. And I am happy with that choice.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by ampere

As regards to Moto, I do agree with what @tbppjpr says regarding X vs play. But inspite of that I chose to go with Play. For an average user like me, who just needs to sync 5-6 accounts (office, google, linkedin, facebook twitter etc) Play for 20K seems good value. Especially since its camera is the same as the Style edition. It was this logic which made me go for play. And I am happy with that choice.

Play is rather much wiser choice for that kind of usage where internet syncing related tasks are more important which may leads into faster battery drain even during phone is in standby. Play's FHD screen coupled with less power hungry processor and more powerful battery makes it more suitable for that kind of usage.

What you loose is only the Gyroscope which I don't think many people use unless they are heavy multimedia users. This is usually required for virtual reality apps, games or while shooting photo spheres using Google camera. Another feature missing is chop twice to open the torch. I wonder why they didn't include it in the Play when they could manage to incorporate it in Moto G3!

About the camera, I saw full resolution samples from both the variants and I felt the low priced 'Play' clicks much-much detailed pictures than the Moto X Style which enforces the weird post processing similar like the Galaxy S5, S6, LG and Sony flagships (except Z3) and Apple to make the pictures look noise-free which are not of my liking. But looks like majority of people prefer the pictures that way and get more happy by seeing pseudo noise-free images instead of more detailed ones, so let it be like that.

[VW2010]

@tbppjpr

The newer Samsung, LG ones have Raw option. Which dont apply the nasty conversion logic and you can probably use custom editing software.I think apple does a decent job for low light, but LG G4 is stunning in that department because of its flexibility to use manual settings.

S6 to an extent, i still think LG G4 has the best camera.The age old Note 4 is still a great bargain for its camera. One of the best.

To me i actually dont mind the artifacts, what i need is speed and responsiveness. The centre button double click on the S6 series is such a boon for taking a picture and not losing a moment.Its almost like using the pro series DSLRs knowing its always there to shoot.Even Iphone is fast, but takes that extra step to unlock and use the camera. This is where i fell for S6. The quality of pictures in daylight is fantastic and video quailty is alos praise worthy. AF is fast and the ability to shoot something like the one below makes it a great deal at the end of the day.

But as someone else said here, best ever phone i used is/was/will be is the S2 and nokia 1100.

[tbppjpr]

Moto X Style launched in India

16GB @ Rs 29,999/-
32GB @ Rs 31,999/-

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/159897...-rs-29999.html

Originally Posted by VW2010

The centre button double click on the S6 series is such a boon for taking a picture and not losing a moment.Its almost like using the pro series DSLRs knowing its always there to shoot.Even Iphone is fast, but takes that extra step to unlock and use the camera.

Here is how camera launches in the MotoX series with twist wrist gesture, no need to unlock, touch or click anything:




Or how to open the torch with double chop:




Moto display feature, some flavor has been introduced in stock Android Lollipop as well:



Also not to forget wave to wake-up, touch-free drive mode and full touchless voice control abilities with custom launch phrase without need of unlocking the phone.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

You are correct. Once upon a time, I DID get all in one phone. That was the Samsung Galaxy S2. I purchased one used (to be frank it was close to mint condition. I never felt like I was handling an 11 month old phone) for 20k back in June 2012. It had everything I could think of, and at a very decent price. The phone never lagged. Ran smooth until 2013, when it started lagging. Finally in June 2014 I stopped using it and got a 1st gen MotoG. Which has started to lag and that makes me search for a new phone.

I bought the S2 (new) for 27k in 2012 and still use it. Lost count of the number of times I have rooted and pushed custom ROM. Now it is back to the stock OS however it is starting to lag now. The best part of the S2 is, its looks and perfect size (not too big and not small either)

Guess it is time to seek another one. I am torn between the LG3 / 5S...

[Lij]

One way to lure customers towards the old OnePlus One -

http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analy...ru-284093.html

In a new promotion campaign, OnePlus has tied up with Blowhorn, a Bengaluru based marketplace. Users in Bengaluru who wish to buy a new OnePlus One smartphone, now have an opportunity to grab their hands on their favourite device within an hour. If the delivery is delayed, users would get it, for free. Just like a pizza!

[VW2010]

Here is how camera launches in the MotoX series with twist wrist gesture, no need to unlock, touch or click anything:

Thats a nice feature.The s6 for instance dont even have that delay. But i think MOTO is master of all trades in that sense with sensible pricing as well.I am picking the Moto X Pure today and will keep this thread posted about the phone.

Living in the states gives you options to pick phones at really low price.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by VW2010

I am picking the Moto X Pure today and will keep this thread posted about the phone.

Living in the states gives you options to pick phones at really low price.

You are in US? Then you have bonus advantage of buying the MotoX through MotoMaker with unlimited customization possibilities. Do have a look at Moto Make website for different material combinations.