That would be great! ....can't wait to see what your thoughts are..........
First impressions - haven't had a lot of hands on time because the carrier rep gave us a micro sim instead of a nano...uhh.... So my gf is out getting the new sim now... I also reckon I won't get a lot of time to test this phone myself as the lady is totally in love with this thing and won't put it down lol
But anyways, from playing around with it a bit at least:
- Build quality is really top notch. For me personally the overall feel was the best I've tested after the iPhones. In a way I liked it better than the iP6 because it feels more sturdy and a bit less slippery. A bit heavier than the iP6 but I don't mind at all, it feels just right. This is a very, very nice looking phone. A clear step up from the Z2, especially the edges look nicer and more in line with the design as a whole. My gf has the copper version which looks OK in terms of color, but I also handled the white and black versions in the store and personally I thought they looked better (don't tell my gf I said that
) The white one is utterly gorgeous, probably the best looking white version of a phone I've seen...
- The screen is gorgeous. I've read that the color balance is supposed to be a bit off but it was nothing that bothered me so far. In any case the color tone can be set manually with R/G/B sliders which is nice. Max brightness on manual actually hurt my eyes! It doesn't get dim enough as I'd like for use in a totally dark room though, I would have to install the Screen Filter app on this one to go dark enough for late night reading/surfing etc.
- In terms of UI performance, this thing is laser fast and smooth. No stutters in sight and apps open very fast. Actually the camera was shockingly fast to open, pretty much instantaneous! Haven't tried any games or demanding apps yet though. But I suspect this phone won't leave anyone wanting in terms of performance, this is a full-on state of the art flagship, no doubt about that.
- When you press the multitasking button, at the bottom of the screen you get these options to open the calculator, browser and timer as little popup apps that sit on top of whatever else you do. I loved the calculator! And the browser seemed to be a version of Chrome which was cool.
- Only tried the camera very briefly but it focused very fast, and as I said it was super quick to open which is important. Also I love that the phone has a separate camera button. I wish more phones had that. I especially like being able to half-press that button to focus manually without having to tap the screen to do it. I took a few quick shots in low light and with the light source right in front of me, they looked promising. But no serious testing done yet.
- The box did not contain the OTG cable which I've read that it does in some countries, but a Sony rep is present in one of the Android forums here in Sweden and he offers to send one for free if you just ring him up and give him your IMEI number. Nice touch! This also seems promising for customer support in general.
- A pair of earbuds were in the box however. They look high quality and are supposedly noise cancelling, for which the phone has a special function. Didn't get to test them yet but I suspect that this will work well - this is Sony after all.
- The speakers are loud! Clearly the loudest phone speakers I've tested bar those on the M8. Though the bass is a lot weaker here. In any case two front facing speakers is so nice to have, I really miss this on my Note 2 and I'll miss it with the Note 4 too.
- The SIM tray is difficult to eject and very flimsy, made of this very brittle kind of plastic. I didn't like this. At first we couldn't figure out how to even get it out, we had to pry it out using a paper clip. The metal tray on my old 4S is 100% better and I can see a lot of people having grief over the one in this phone and probably it gets broken a lot. Unnecessary.
- One more exception from the overall very good build quality - the power button. This sticks out a lot and wiggles a little, and doesn't give any reassuring 'click' when pressed. I could see this breaking further down the line. Again unnecessary... But not a huge deal.
- The gaskets that sit on top of the sim tray/SD card slots are well made however, very easy to open and close again. This was a relief as I though they might be a real nuisance to fiddle with all the time.
- I asked the Sony rep in the store about a magnetic charging cable that would utilise the magnetic charging point on the side, but he says Sony will not be selling any such cables. I hope it will be possible to find a third party one - so much nicer than having to open the gasket for every charge. And using the charging dock will only be possible with a naked phone or using Sony's own special flip cover case.
So yeah, that's all I have for now. Overall first impression is very, very good. Sony have definitely sharpened the Z line design and this phone just feels so yummy. If I wasn't so hooked on larger screens, this is probably the one I would choose for myself right now. The form factor is great, a very slick and high quality feeling device, and with quite a nimble footprint given the screen size.
I'll write more if my gf lets me handle it some more...and I'll be sure to report on the battery life once we've seen how it does in that respect. But for now - I'll definitely be jealous of her until I get my Note 4!!
