[dark.knight]

There has been a reshuffle of phones in the family and I'm now acquiring the Xperia Z5 Premium as upgrade from the Z5. Other than the weight, this phone demolishes every phone in sight be it camera, 4K resolution, appeal (first chrome chassis ever) and legacy. Cant wait to get it today. There have been some worries that its not as rigid owing to its length and slim frame but that's ok as I'm a careful user.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

There has been a reshuffle of phones in the family and I'm now acquiring the Xperia Z5 Premium as upgrade from the Z5. Other than the weight, this phone demolishes every phone in sight be it camera, 4K resolution, appeal (first chrome chassis ever) and legacy. Cant wait to get it today. There have been some worries that its not as rigid owing to its length and slim frame but that's ok as I'm a careful user.

I'd advise you to wait a bit sir. The Z5 generation is already a year old, (which actually is fine) but it also has the 810 inside it, which would be better avoided at this point.

But more importantly, there's this new Xperia flagship coming in with a thorough refresh to the design and internals. And that one sounds really interesting. If you could wait it out for a couple of months it should launch in the fall season. Sony had already clarified that the Z series isn't dead so this could be the Z6. An SD820 at least and even better optics could be stuff worth taking for granted almost.
Most major Android news websites would have reports up of the recently leaked photos of that device in hand. Please check them out. Looks delicious, in personal opinion.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Ragavsr

Your reason seems accurate and that I think explains why the Moto E with just 1 GB RAM seems to have no problems whatsoever in keeping apps running.

How do the Apple phones fare in this regard ? I know this is blasphemous posting on an Android thread.

It does exactly what Raccoon says. I could often scroll back 20+ apps and find them running exactly where I left them (games mostly).

Again, Redmi Note 3 has a similar behavior but not as good as iOS.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Most major Android news websites would have reports up of the recently leaked photos of that device in hand. Please check them out. Looks delicious, in personal opinion.

Hey, I caught your post quite early in the morning but couldn't reply as I was getting hammered with work. Thanks for the tip on the new leak.. the design is indeed gorgeous just like everything they do, a flat top and bottom with rounded off edges right? The dual LED/Xenon flash looks to be a worthy add-on, the front camera sensor also seems to be huge (13+mp).

Anyhow, that apart I really don't see Sony releasing this in 2016.. at least as far as India is concerned. The X Performance which makes the most sense for a flagship buy hasn't arrived and perhaps never will. Also its official news that Sony is slowly withdrawing their mobile division from U.S & India.. reason being that while U.S loves their products, the company finds importing to be cumbersome due to too many regulations (last I heard they'd to withdraw the fingerprint reader from Z5 due to some licensing issue). India which was a favourite market for the company has now decided to take its business elsewhere thanks to the number of Chinese manufacturers offering their products at near throw-away prices, in India pricing is KEY.. quality takes a distant backseat. I'm betting that Z5 Premium is it as far as Sony's last flagship in this land is concerned. They may continue to sell mid-low range offerings once and if they conceptualise them, if not.. farewell Xperia. They will continue to do well in the E.U region and other markets.

As for the Z5 Premium I have the box with me now, even if the new flagship arrives in 2 months I couldn't have possibly waited longer than today. I don't have much idea on processors or performance but seeing that I hardly use it other than for light browsing, video, calls and photography (no apps) I feel this phone is more than capable of that. In any case this one is an office sponsored phone (I planned on getting a Surface tablet by work funding but then found it unnecessary so switched to this), so maybe if the Z6 comes after all, I might just consider an exchange if the difference is indeed that much Thanks for the reply.

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Also its official news that Sony is slowly withdrawing their mobile division from U.S & India.. reason being that while U.S loves their products, the company finds importing to be cumbersome due to too many regulations (last I heard they'd to withdraw the fingerprint reader from Z5 due to some licensing issue). India which was a favourite market for the company has now decided to take its business elsewhere thanks to the number of Chinese manufacturers offering their products at near throw-away prices, in India pricing is KEY.. quality takes a distant backseat. I'm betting that Z5 Premium is it as far as Sony's last flagship in this land is concerned. They may continue to sell mid-low range offerings once and if they conceptualise them, if not.. farewell Xperia. They will continue to do well in the E.U region and other markets.

I don't see why Sony can't do well when companies like Samsung and Apple can continue to sell high end phones. Its more than that. They never really benchmarked against their peers on price, always considering themselves premium and their sales and service was horrendous (from personal experience).

The devices themselves were great but not greater than the competition. The premium game is a hard cookie to crack and unless your Louis Vuitton, your not going to be considered premium, regardless of what you may position yourself.

That said, I'm incredibly happy with the S7. The waterproofing is awesome, the camera is excellent and the battery life is absolutely top notch.



Would I pay 48k for all of that? Absolutely. 60k? No way.

[tbppjpr]

Semi modular Moto Z unboxing.

Good to see that the Z series is going to be an extension after X series by adding more features in the existing smart feature set of X series.

https://youtu.be/bm_Xyk75k1A

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

I don't see why Sony can't do well when companies like Samsung and Apple can continue to sell high end phones. Its more than that. They never really benchmarked against their peers on price, always considering themselves premium and their sales and service was horrendous (from personal experience).

The devices themselves were great but not greater than the competition. The premium game is a hard cookie to crack and unless your Louis Vuitton, your not going to be considered premium, regardless of what you may position yourself.

That said, I'm incredibly happy with the S7. The waterproofing is awesome, the camera is excellent and the battery life is absolutely top notch.



Would I pay 48k for all of that? Absolutely. 60k? No way.

Tell me about it. There was a time when the specs used to be close to similarly priced competition. And the difference was swallowed up by the premium feel of materials, and the design tone, which has always been beautiful.
Right now, I am hard pressed to spend 20k on the XA, when the moto x play, LGs, even the panasonic are higher specced from -50% to +25% of the sony's asking price.

[pixantz]

Anyone knows when the RN3 is gonna be back online? I need that kind of specs now and also it fits in my budget. Currently have the Killer Note and want to slightly upgrade. Also, Im considering the LeEco Le2 which seems good on paper but no really reassuring review around so dont know if I should take the plunge. It seems more enticing than the RN3 and I like the Audio Hardware part of it. Moto g4 also looks good on paper but I hate the looks. Any LeEco Le2 people on board? Some useful words are welcome. Flipkart reviews are all salt and pepper...

[pareshraheja]

Originally Posted by pixantz

Anyone knows when the RN3 is gonna be back online?

The 32GB gold color is available on Amazon as I write this reply.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by pareshraheja

The 32GB gold color is available on Amazon as I write this reply.

Thank you for this.
I took the plunge and went for it. For 12k, its fair enough, even if for just a year.

[adimicra]

Planning to buy the MI5 today or tomorrow from flipkart as they are running very good offers (discount + exchange + 5% off on credit card).

Few questions before taking the plunge -
1> How's the battery life with mobile data ON (3G/4G)? Does it last whole day without any issues?
2> Indoor lighting photo quality - I read that most reviews are complaining about the high noise in the MI5 camera in indoor/low light conditions. How bad is it? Are the images usable? I am not talking of extreme low light conditions, but normal indoor conditions which we have at our home.
3> Cellular reception - heard some complaints about frequent call drops and poor 4G connectivity. Is this true?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Planning to buy the MI5 today or tomorrow from flipkart as they are running very good offers (discount + exchange + 5% off on credit card).

Few questions before taking the plunge -
1> How's the battery life with mobile data ON (3G/4G)? Does it last whole day without any issues?
2> Indoor lighting photo quality - I read that most reviews are complaining about the high noise in the MI5 camera in indoor/low light conditions. How bad is it? Are the images usable? I am not talking of extreme low light conditions, but normal indoor conditions which we have at our home.
3> Cellular reception - heard some complaints about frequent call drops and poor 4G connectivity. Is this true?

Hi,
While I purchased the OP3 few days back, Im currently using the Mi5 owned by a cousin for the last 10 odd days. To answer your questions:

1. Battery life with 3G (in fact also with Wifi) is bad. Typical daily usage of Wifi connection, one email account synced, whatsapp, some music through headphones and about an hour (max) of phone calls, maybe a few minutes of Youtube watching, and the phone is gone by late evening after overnight 100% charging.
2. Indoor (or low light photos) are not very good as far as I have seen, and considerable amount of graininess often appears. OP3 fares way better in this regard.
3. Call drops are plentiful. I often am walking on the road or driving when I take calls, and in just these ten days, I can think of at least 10-12 instances when I have had to reconnect because there is bad signal dropping in otherwise solid network areas. Extremely annoying and a major grouse for me. This is on 3G. My cousin uses 4G and has the same complaint on a regular basis.

My take is to avoid and consider the OP3 instead (or any other phone for that matter). Way better product at a similar price point. And this coming from someone who was initially smitten by the Mi5.

In short, Im terribly underwhelmed and disappointed by the product as a whole. Returning the Mi5 asap and getting back my OP3

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Hi,
While I purchased the OP3 few days back, Im currently using the Mi5 owned by a cousin for the last 10 odd days. To answer your questions:

1. Battery life with 3G (in fact also with Wifi) is bad. Typical daily usage of Wifi connection, one email account synced, whatsapp, some music through headphones and about an hour (max) of phone calls, maybe a few minutes of Youtube watching, and the phone is gone by late evening after overnight 100% charging.
2. Indoor (or low light photos) are not very good as far as I have seen, and considerable amount of graininess often appears. OP3 fares way better in this regard.
3. Call drops are plentiful. I often am walking on the road or driving when I take calls, and in just these ten days, I can think of at least 10-12 instances when I have had to reconnect because there is bad signal dropping in otherwise solid network areas. Extremely annoying and a major grouse for me. This is on 3G. My cousin uses 4G and has the same complaint on a regular basis.

My take is to avoid and consider the OP3 instead (or any other phone for that matter). Way better product at a similar price point. And this coming from someone who was initially smitten by the Mi5.

In short, Im terribly underwhelmed and disappointed by the product as a whole. Returning the Mi5 asap and getting back my OP3

Thanks a lot buddy for such a quick response.
Phone is a sum of parts and lot beyond the spec sheet. Lot of phones with worse specs will keep the owners happy than high specced phones with such basic issues as call drops and poor battery life. MI5 being a 5.1" device with 3000 mah battery was supposed to give excellent battery life (GSMArena gives endurance rating of 92h) but people are saying the real life experience is not good.
Oneplus 3 is a very good phone. It is a bit over my budget though the main reason I never considered it is due to the size. I am looking for compact phones, not exceeding 5.2". Also, not to criticize, I played a bit with the OP3. The camera may be better than MI5 (both use same IMX298 sensor )but not that great in my opinion. It tries to give bright photos with low noise and in the process clips highlights, loses contrast and details but I think most people like the slightly overexposed brighter shots.Of all the phones I have tried in the 25K range, Nexus 5X has the best camera.
But, overall, it is a better device than MI5, no doubt about it.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by adimicra

1> How's the battery life with mobile data ON (3G/4G)? Does it last whole day without any issues?
2> Indoor lighting photo quality - I read that most reviews are complaining about the high noise in the MI5 camera in indoor/low light conditions. How bad is it? Are the images usable? I am not talking of extreme low light conditions, but normal indoor conditions which we have at our home.

If camera quality and battery life, these two are your priorities, Moto G4 (16mp variant) is better bet. Few of my relatives bought that phone and I found the picture quality, especially in the low light is really lives upto the claims they have made. Battery life as well as charging speed are also USP of that phone. Battery charges within one hour and very easily lasts more than a day. Only negative is that the phone doesn't have compass if that matters to you. Though GPS works all fine.

If you want a smaller size phone then Moto X 2nd gen is also an option with mediocre, but consistent battery performance.

[adimicra]

I would have bought Moto G4+ but it is too big for me.
Moto X 2nd gen is a no-no. It's pretty outdated now.

Looks like I will wait for Honor 8/new Nexus/ZUK Z2 to launch.