The Z4 is here aaaaaand...

[anon(9408097)]

It's lighter and thinner. Just as thin as an iPhone 6. Just 6.9mm with a 2930mA battery while an iPhone could only pack an 1810mA battery in it. Z4 has a better front facing camera and better speakers. A capless usb port for charging and SD810 with 64bit architecture. Aaaaaaand that's about it if you're counting major differences between this one and the z3.

Before people start hating on Sony for not changing the design or anything. Just remember that it has only been two and a half years since the original xperia Z launched. And from then till now Sony has released 5 updates altogether. If we compare it with Apple they don't change the design for 2 years straight (4 and the 4s, 5 and the 5s). And its only the quantity and the crappy marketing Sony does which leads us to believe that they're not evolving. But in fact the xperia z4 is miiiiiiles better than the xperia z from two and a half years ago.

So what I'm saying is... Look at the positives. Xperia z3 which is already an amazing phone will get cheaper. The z2 will become a budget priced phone running lollipop with a 20.7mp and a 3300mA battery. And the z4 will remain the only water and dust proof phone with an SD card and a 2930mA battery with a 20.7 mp camera and a blazing fast software experience. All stuffed in a 6.9mm FUNCTION OVER FORM factor.

I'm not currently using Sony. I recently switched to the droid turbo. And I've used mostly all flagships from all the OEMs. And I have to say Sony is one of the best.

Just their market strategy, I won't ever understand. They don't like earning profits it seems.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[B. Diddy]

Just their market strategy, I won't ever understand. They don't like earning profits it seems.

THIS.

Sony has always made top-quality devices. They just don't know how to make lots of people want them. And then they seem to forget about the devices they introduced only a year ago.

When people ask me for advice on phones, I usually hesitate when it comes to Sony. They're excellent phones, but I just wonder when the other shoe will drop and Sony quietly exits the mobile arena.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I would be happy going for the Xperia Z3 on the cheaper.

 

[syspry]

I would be happy going for the Xperia Z3 on the cheaper.

I'm kinda leaning this way. You're not going to notice any real difference between the Z3 and this year's S6 or M9 as far as real world use is concerned, so let's look at the rest of the phone.

CPU/GPU won't beat he S6 on a benchmark score sheet but in real world use the Z3 is as fast as you're going to achieve on the Android OS. It already has 3GB or RAM too.

It has a capable camera. Not quite as good as the S6, but definitely capable, and better than the M9

Better battery performance than the S6 or M9

It's not QHD. I don't care, it's a 5" screen.

Sound quality that will carry through to anything the 2015 flagships have to offer.

Storage I'll call even. It has 16 GB built in but does offer SD.

I'd easily be happy with this for a 2 year term and right now that's a $100 savings less than the M9 and $150 less than the S6 on a two year term, which will make an easier early upgrade for next time as well.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Can it be set that apps download directly to the micro SD card? Or is that something you'lll have to manually manage (ie. download to 16GB on board, then manually move it to microSD)? Cause that would be annoying.

And how would updates to apps work? If the apps are on the microSD, will Play Store know that you own the app and have it installed, and will it know to update? And will it update automatically to the microSD?

I'm unfamiliar with how this works...

The 16GB storage is the one thing that worries me on the Z3.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I'm kinda leaning this way. You're not going to notice any real difference between the Z3 and this year's S6 or M9 as far as real world use is concerned, so let's look at the rest of the phone.

CPU/GPU won't beat he S6 on a benchmark score sheet but in real world use the Z3 is as fast as you're going to achieve on the Android OS. It already has 3GB or RAM too.

It has a capable camera. Not quite as good as the S6, but definitely capable, and better than the M9

Better battery performance than the S6 or M9

It's not QHD. I don't care, it's a 5" screen.

Sound quality that will carry through to anything the 2015 flagships have to offer.

Storage I'll call even. It has 16 GB built in but does offer SD.

I'd easily be happy with this for a 2 year term and right now that's a $100 savings less than the M9 and $150 less than the S6 on a two year term, which will make an easier early upgrade for next time as well.

Agree with a lot here.

 

[B. Diddy]

Can it be set that apps download directly to the micro SD card? Or is that something you'lll have to manually manage (ie. download to 16GB on board, then manually move it to microSD)? Cause that would be annoying.

And how would updates to apps work? If the apps are on the microSD, will Play Store know that you own the app and have it installed, and will it know to update? And will it update automatically to the microSD?

I'm unfamiliar with how this works...

The 16GB storage is the one thing that worries me on the Z3.

There's no way to have apps download and install directly to the microSD card. They have to install directly to Internal Storage, after which you can go to Setting>Apps, select the app, and tap Move to SD if the option is available. And even then, only a portion of the app is moved.

Updating an app isn't a problem, but after the update, the app might have been moved back to the Internal Storage. So you might have to go through the process of moving back to SD again.

In general, don't rely on the microSD card if you want to install lots of apps or big apps. Get the most internal storage you can afford.

 

[onthecouchagain]

There's no way to have apps download and install directly to the microSD card. They have to install directly to Internal Storage, after which you can go to Setting>Apps, select the app, and tap Move to SD if the option is available. And even then, only a portion of the app is moved.

Updating an app isn't a problem, but after the update, the app might have been moved back to the Internal Storage. So you might have to go through the process of moving back to SD again.

In general, don't rely on the microSD card if you want to install lots of apps or big apps. Get the most internal storage you can afford.

Oh my goodness, that sounds terribly annoying to have to manage.

Unfortunately, the unlocked Z3 (D6603) only comes with 16GB on board. Ugh.

How about photos? Can they be set to go directly to the microSD?

 

[B. Diddy]

That's dependent on the camera app. Some camera apps have a setting to select default storage location, other don't. I don't know about the Z4 for sure, but I would guess it'll be the same as for the Z3. Perhaps others who have a Z3 can weigh in on that.

 

[anon(9408097)]

You won't face any problems updating the apps after being moved to the SD card. It works as if nothing has changed.
And of course you can set the pictures to get stored on the SD card by default. The WhatsApp media however gets saved only in the internal memory. WhatsApp and other apps which store the content you use within.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[syspry]

The Z4 is here aaaaaand...

Is Sony working on an all-metal Xperia flagship? Multiple official concept images leak | Xperia Blog