My Z3C Has Arrived - First Impressions (share yours as well)

[jhazey]

Im still working on my first impressions, but LTE is working great on my Z3c on T-Mobile in the LA area.

 

[Sango02]

How exactly do you do that? Sorry for my ignorance

First you need to download the Firmware Flash Tool, and XperiFirm. The guides on how to use them are out on XDA which I am also a member of.

 

[Sango02]

That is all that is needed. You should see the correct settings in the APN settings/list. Again, and I can't stress enough, be sure they have an ATT LTE IMEI number configured on your account. Login to your account page and look at the phone that displays for your number. That will give you a good indication. Of course your account has to have LTE service, so make sure they didn't flub that like they did mine.

Posted via the Android Central App

I forgot to quote you on my initial reply but just in case you didn't see it.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/so...pressions-share-yours-well-3.html#post3930954

I registered my IMEI for my Z2 and they were able to get the info from the phone and put me on the LTE network; This is coming from coming from the Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300).

I wonder why not with the Z3. Maybe the Tech 2's need to get involved.

 

[ktcred]

I forgot to quote you on my initial reply but just in case you didn't see it.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/so...pressions-share-yours-well-3.html#post3930954

I registered my IMEI for my Z2 and they were able to get the info from the phone and put me on the LTE network; This is coming from coming from the Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300).

I wonder why not with the Z3. Maybe the Tech 2's need to get involved.

Didn't the Z2 eventually come to the US, sold directly through Sony's site? That isn't the case with the Z3c (yet). Could that be a reason?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Sango02]

Didn't the Z2 eventually come to the US, sold directly through Sony's site? That isn't the case with the Z3c (yet). Could that be a reason?

Posted via the Android Central App

Yes it did however I gotten it before back in May before it came out to US or Canada (Canada's got theirs first before US). Mine is the HK version which I flashed the FTF to be the US Customized version.

 

[Berylo]

Great to hear that you like it

 

[DJCBS]

I use the app QuikPic instead of phones built in Gallery https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...etails?id=com.alensw.PicFolder&token=ofYKwS1H

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

Thanks! Really liked the app! I still can't do subfolders but I'll keep digging. (I assume one can do sub-folders on Android?)

 

[FSRBIKER]

Thanks! Really liked the app! I still can't do subfolders but I'll keep digging. (I assume one can do sub-folders on Android?)

You can create them with a file explorer, I use Solid Explorer. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer&token=hSk28RTz

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

 

[ktcred]

More impressions after several more days:

* I'm still loving the form factor, but the smaller typing space is leading to more typing errors than I would like...and my hands cramp up in the tight space
* I'm not happy with the volume pumped out, especially in Bluetooth audio scenarios
* Using Sony's built in calendar, I can't add people to invites from corporate contacts on the remote gmail server (i.e., contacts not in my phone/gmail address book)
* I switch to H and H+ too often. I'll look at my wife's Lumia 1020 and she will have three LTE bars while I'm on H
* I haven't looked at my camera snaps on something other than this device, but on my phone's 720p screen they are very grainy. I really hope it is the screen, as I expected better quality over my S4
* I continue to be very pleased with battery life. It has surpassed my expectations
* Still satisfied with Sony's Android implementation. The stock launcher doesn't bother me one bit

For those that have recently unboxed and got going....share some of your thoughts. I would love to know if you have had a different experience.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[DJCBS]

You can create them with a file explorer, I use Solid Explorer. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer&token=CJBXMJX3

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

Thanks!
Also...silly me! All I had to do on QuikPic was to chose "Explorer" view for the app to show me the folders as I wanted it to. Duh. lol Bare with me, I'm new to Android =P

 

[Sango02]

Here is the screenshots of the FTFs which are available if you want to change what you have.

Even thou the US/Canada one isn't out yet, the firmware for US is available (Canada uses US).

 

[DJCBS]

The Z3C is my first Android device. And my first non-Nokia phone in 15 years actually. Here are some of my thoughts on the Z3C after my first two days of use:

- I love the design. I was expecting this high level of quality from Sony, sure. But I never thought I would like the feel of the glass of the phone. Sure, I do have the feeling I'm holding a piece of jewellery instead of a phone. But it's a good feeling.

- Battery life is STELLAR. I got used to the normal 1 day of battery life I could get out of the Nokia Lumia 920, 1020 and even the 930 (whose battery drains unbelievably quick...that's what you get when you put a 5" full HD phone with a 2400mAh battery -_-).
On the Z3C, after carefully programming stamina mode, I'm getting around 4 days of predicted battery life. I'm sure I'll get 2 days in the worst case scenarios.

- Android. It's kind of weird. I'm so used to Windows Phone that I find myself trying to use gestures on the phone that I did on WP. But I think I'm finding a balance, finally. Everything else is as I expected it to be with the addition of being able to change what I don't like in the way the OS looks. And that's the thing I really like on Android (and that utterly disappointed me on Windows Phone). Customization!
Don't like something? Change it. Simple as that. You would think that the mobile platform of the company that made Windows would work the same way, wouldn't you? Yeah. No.
Thank God for Google stepping on Microsoft's feet.
I'm just not going further with customization because at this point I don't want to root the phone.


- Apps. It's funny...folks on Windows Phone always complain about the quality of the WP apps (and it's almost always true, apps like Instagram are months behind). But let me tell you something: I'd give anything for Android to have the Windows Phone versions of Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook app annoys the heck out of me with the lack of "most recent" as the first thing I see when I open up the app.
And the Twitter app lacks the "Dark Theme" that Twitter made as an option on WP.
I'm still missing a couple of apps I have on WP, namely the apps by Rudy Huyn, the best thing that happened to WP after Nokia. But apart from those very very specific ones, there's not a single app I want I haven't found on the Play Store (if you had come from a WP, you'd probably appreciate that even more lol).

- I will be firing up the camera tomorrow and doing a direct comparison between the 20.7mp camera of the Z3C and the 20mp camera of the Lumia 930. If anyone is interested, I can then post that on a thread here.

- Currently I'm testing the Nokia Z Launcher (yeah, surprise surprise lol) so I'm not rooting my device. But once the Alpha is done, the Launcher is out and support is added for rooted devices, I'm so rooting it to get rid of the plethora of useless apps...I mean, sure, Lifelog is great if you use a smartband and I'm sure a ton of people use Google+ (ok, maybe not that many lol). But if I don't use them, I should be able to just uninstall them easily.

And I'm eager to see what Nokia will bring to Android in the future. Who knows...maybe a Camera app? I would love to see what Nokia can do with the camera hardware on the Z3C and their algorithms.

My only complain so far concerns Google...and their very.stupid.decision. of removing the app-to-SD support. They better bring that back on Android L. Because I *can* move apps and games to an SD card on WP8.1...that Google removed a feature like that precisely when the competition added it, is just plain stupid. Specially if Google intends to compete for the low end market. Low end phones never have a lot of on board storage. If they don't throw in an SD card and the ability to move apps and games there, they're shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[ktcred]

.

- Apps. It's funny...folks on Windows Phone always complain about the quality of the WP apps (and it's almost always true, apps like Instagram are months behind). But let me tell you something: I'd give anything for Android to have the Windows Phone versions of Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook app annoys the heck out of me with the lack of "most recent" as the first thing I see when I open up the app.
And the Twitter app lacks the "Dark Theme" that Twitter made as an option on WP.
I'm still missing a couple of apps I have on WP, namely the apps by Rudy Huyn, the best thing that happened to WP after Nokia. But apart from those very very specific ones, there's not a single app I want I haven't found on the Play Store (if you had come from a WP, you'd probably appreciate that even more lol).

.

I miss the dark Twitter theme as well. (Owner of Samsuf Focus, Lumia 820, 925, 1020) I enjoy dark backgrounds much more overall. That is the first thing I configure on apps such as Textra, etc..

As for "most recent" with Facebook, I believe there is a buried setting that allows you to change the sort. Facebook made an algorithm change to the default sort that just hasn't made its way to WP8 yet.

Enjoy the new phone.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[DJCBS]

I miss the dark Twitter theme as well. (Owner of Samsuf Focus, Lumia 820, 925, 1020) I enjoy dark backgrounds much more overall. That is the first thing I configure on apps such as Textra, etc..

As for "most recent" with Facebook, I believe there is a buried setting that allows you to change the sort. Facebook made an algorithm change to the default sort that just hasn't made its way to WP8 yet.

Yeah I did the same on every app that offered the option of a Dark Theme.

We can get the "Most Recent" on the Facebook app, but we have to go to our own page, scroll down almost to the bottom and there is the "Most Recent" on the "Feeds" section. Still...annoying! Then again...Facebook has been committed to be annoying for some time now.

 

[anon(464338)]

I'm very happy overall so far. After dealing with morons at At&t I finally got a tech guy that knew exactly what to do. Took me 4 people to go through. Anyway I get the same h+ signal on and off. I wonder if a US releases version would be any better. I'm sure a carrier version would be but we should find out soon with the announcement . I will say that a have yet to drop a call and even get crazy fast loading even on h. Weird. I'm also having problems with the speakers, not with music but with voice calls. Sounds pretty bad on my end. And people say I'm a bit muffled while talking. BUT, this was shortly after testing it's water tightness.. Hehe,which Btw is cool as hell! so it could be that there was water on the speakers for a while. That would be dumb though if that was the case. The size, build quality are Awesome. I don't see why some say it's thick.. I find it very thin and comfortable in hand. The phone is fast and smooth. Even more than my Moto x 2013 which is impressive to me. The knock on feature works flawless and is convenient. The camera seems very good coming from the Moto X. But honestly most would. Lol. But really if I take my time with a shot, I don't see the grainy look at all. Im no expert but it looks crystal clear to me. Battery is a breath of fresh air. I am a heavy user and I have plenty of battery at the end of the day. I did install Nova Launcher because I think it's the smoothest and we'll.. I'm just use to it. Sony ui is ok but not really something I was going to keep. Notification light is really small. I can still see it good but in bright light it's difficult. Not sure why they didn't make it bigger. I really need a charging dock because I'm getting ocd about wearing out the flap to charge it. That's all for now

 

[Sango02]

...
I wonder if a US releases version would be any better. I'm sure a carrier version would be but we should find out soon with the announcement .
...

Doesn't look like there is a carrier version as per my earlier post.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/so...pressions-share-yours-well-4.html#post3933100

If you want, you could switch to the US Customized firmware on your phone, depending on which version you got.

 

[FSRBIKER]

I just ordered 2 of Micro USB to Magnetic Charging adapters, no reason to open the flap anymore. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JE...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3933277

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

 

[jhazey]

Now that I have been using the phone for a few days, here are my impressions:


Size: coming from a Nexus 4, I was surprised at how small in the hand the Compact feels. Given the screen to bezel ratio, I can't help but think a 4.8 size phone would have been the sweet spot for Sony. With the jump in size up to the Z3 proper and the other flagships, I still feel like I made the right choice.


Screen: I am more than satisfied with this screen. Colors really pop compared to the Nexus 4 and the brightness is great. I would say it gets just as bright as my Nexus 7. The contrast is almost AMOLED like. Even photos taken on older devices look great!

UI: I think Sony has done a great job in showing restraint on the customization front. Everything is functional and shares an aesthetic cohesion. I have been using the Google Now launcher (I preach at the church of the Google Now pane) and I have yet to see a hiccup.

Camera: haven't really had a chance to use it, but it looks extremely full featured.

Battery Life: this was one of my main factors in getting this device. So far has not disappointed. Been getting through 12 hour work days with 70% life remaining. I'm gonna start seeing if I can make it through 2 days without charging rather than my usual charge every night. I like my chances!

Connectivity: using the Z3c on T-Mobile. I am getting a solid LTE connection. On this phone, 4G icon = LTE. I was concerned at first whether or not I was actually on LTE and not HSPA+, but a Speedtest put that to bed!

Overall: Very happy. I do wish the device was a little bigger, but with no other high end competition in the sub 5.2 category, this is as good as it gets.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[StutterStep]

So the Z3c looks on paper and some reviews as THE replacement for the Moto X.

It does not replace the Moto X for me if it does not have something touchless control(ok google now with screen off) and active display (screen turns on when pulled out of pocket). You have to remember what made the Moto X special was not specs; it was the addition of convenient features on top of stock android which summarized is basically automation. These are just smart features that are handy to me that aren't just spec sheet eye candy. The battery life and camera are sure to be far better but the ergonomics and the previously mentioned key features are still keeping me with the Moto X.

 

[FSRBIKER]

It does not replace the Moto X for me if it does not have something touchless control(ok google now with screen off) and active display (screen turns on when pulled out of pocket). You have to remember what made the Moto X special was not specs; it was the addition of convenient features on top of stock android which summarized is basically automation. These are just smart features that are handy to me that aren't just spec sheet eye candy. The battery life and camera are sure to be far better but the ergonomics and the previously mentioned key features are still keeping me with the Moto X.

I rarely use Touchless control with the screen off on my Moto X. Active Display is awesome and I will be using an app that mimics these features like https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...details?id=com.achep.acdisplay&token=BODHGrev

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk