Xperia Z4

[jamezr]

Is this the Xperia Z4?
Looks pretty darn nice!

http://www.phonearena.com/news/This...ns-of-thousands-of-internal-Sony-docs_id68360

 

[mclld]

I thought Sony was getting out of mobile

 

[epicrayban]

Rumor says the the finger print scanner will be built into that side power button.

Thus allowing for on screen keys up front. I like that idea. A lot.

Physical home button is cumbersome and frankly, a bit annoying to have to press. You can't just tap like you would any other on-screen app or button or icon. You have to physically push down on it and have some physical resistance against it to get it to depress. Slight though it may be, it's just easier to tap an on-screen key.

Z4 will be very interesting...

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I thought Sony was getting out of mobile

If anything, I think a recent report said they're going to commit even more so to the mobile industry, no?

 

[tbayrgs]

Rumor says the the finger print scanner will be built into that side power button.

Thus allowing for on screen keys up front. I like that idea. A lot.

Physical home button is cumbersome and frankly, a bit annoying to have to press. You can't just tap like you would any other on-screen app or button or icon. You have to physically push down on it and have some physical resistance against it to get it to depress. Slight though it may be, it's just easier to tap an on-screen key.

Z4 will be very interesting

But don't you still have to wake the device somehow? I believe the Moto X and Nexus 6 active/ambient display will wake when it detects your hand over the screen but otherwise, hitting the power button or tap to wake, followed by passcode/pattern input, etc would be more cumbersome. Activating the iPhone or S6 is simply a single motion--presuming it works effectively and obviously it's not for you. My iPhone 6+ TouchID only fails if my finger is really wet or I forget and use a finger I haven't scanned --maybe fails 1 out of 50 otherwise.

Otherwise, I agree about your preference for on screen soft keys vs. capacitive hardware buttons and also with your take on having the back key on the right. My brain associates going back as the equivalent to turning back a page in a book, and that's done on the left. Of course, using customizable soft keys as many manufacturers now offer is the ideal solution to preference.

If anything, I think a recent report said they're going to commit even more so to the mobile industry, no?

I believe he's correct and that Sony is pretty much getting out of the mobile market. Rumor is the Z4 will be their last flagship.

 

[Fireblade]

Is this the Xperia Z4?
Looks pretty darn nice!

Image
http://www.phonearena.com/news/This...ns-of-thousands-of-internal-Sony-docs_id68360

Woah this thing is nothing but beautiful!

 

[jamezr]

Woah this thing is nothing but beautiful!

Yep it sure is purdy!

 

[epicrayban]

But don't you still have to wake the device somehow? I believe the Moto X and Nexus 6 active/ambient display will wake when it detects your hand over the screen but otherwise, hitting the power button or tap to wake, followed by passcode/pattern input, etc would be more cumbersome. Activating the iPhone or S6 is simply a single motion--presuming it works effectively and obviously it's not for you. My iPhone 6+ TouchID only fails if my finger is really wet or I forget and use a finger I haven't scanned --maybe fails 1 out of 50 otherwise.

Otherwise, I agree about your preference for on screen soft keys vs. capacitive hardware buttons and also with your take on having the back key on the right. My brain associates going back as the equivalent to turning back a page in a book, and that's done on the left. Of course, using customizable soft keys as many manufacturers now offer is the ideal solution to preference.



I believe he's correct and that Sony is pretty much getting out of the mobile market. Rumor is the Z4 will be their last flagship.

Double tap to wake and then putting in my pattern takes more work, but it's muscle memory now and is faster, in my opinion. The fingerprint, in theory, should indeed be better/faster, but in practice, it just isn't the case. A little work with the double tap + pattern = 100% entry rate (I mean, very rarely do I miss the pattern, it's so simple). Whereas fingerprint requires less work and is faster on its own, sure, but only when it works. And even if it fails 1 or 2 times out of 10, that's enough to be annoying. My iPhone 6 fails at about that rate. I just have to do a quick re-place and then I'm in. But the S6... forget about it. The rate at which it misses especially the first scan is unbelievable.

Yeah, I really really do not get the back button being on the lower right. This is another win for on-screen software keys. Left handed? You can change back button to the right. Right handed? Leave it on the left. But here, you're just stuck, and it sucks.

The S6 is almost definitely going back. Big promises. Small delivery.

Back to point... if this is Sony's last flagship, what the heck... why would anyone get it? Would they still support it well? That's not very reassuring if the company is trying to get out of the mobile game. :T And here I am hoping for a Nexus Xperia phone one day.

 

[tbayrgs]

The S6 is almost definitely going back. Big promises. Small delivery.

Back to point... if this is Sony's last flagship, what the heck... why would anyone get it? Would they still support it well? That's not very reassuring if the company is trying to get out of the mobile game. :T And here I am hoping for a Nexus Xperia phone one day.

Sorry to hear the S6 has been less than stellar but based on what we've learned about your preference, can't say I'm surprised. Samsung's Achilles heal has always been their software, whether its lack of optimization, overwhelming size and scope, or design and layout. Unfortunately this had meant a brute force technique with their hardware, necessitating tons of raw horsepower in their CPU and RAM and a substantial sized battery. I think in this case they have not yet improved Touchwiz sufficiently and also fallen pray to the perceived need to 'keep up with Apple,' forsaking more battery for a thinner design. And using a QHD display can't help. Yes it may be the most efficient QHD smartphone display yet but no matter how you slice it, 1080 HD would use less resources.

Its a real shame too, because there's no denying these latest Galaxy variants are stunning pieces of hardware, Samsung's best yet, IMO. The camera appears to be the best ever available on a flagship smartphone, the design and build materials are exceptional, and though I find it overkill, the display is beautiful. But as usual, any weaknesses or flaws are attributed its software. I'm not saying is a bad phone--it's still obviously quite good in areas, but think how good it could be if Samsung could actually get their crap together and develop some truly optimized and efficient software. It's exactly why some of us would love a GPE version of this phone, a version not hampered by Samsung's deficiencies.

Regarding Sony, my only experience with their smart phones was with a Z1 Compact for a few months. The hardware was nice--solid build, good camera, great battery performance. The display however was just OK and I didn't like Sony's skin. A GPE version would have been nice but I wasn't blown away.

Can't believe I'm going to say this but you know who should make the next Nexus? Samsung.

 

[gotluck]

Yes Samsung nexus please!

Sony nexus would be great too,

 

[tbayrgs]

Yes Samsung nexus please!

Sony nexus would be great too,

A Samsung Nexus based on the S6--go ahead and take my money right now!!

 

[epicrayban]

Sorry to hear the S6 has been less than stellar but based on what we've learned about your preference, can't say I'm surprised. Samsung's Achilles heal has always been their software, whether its lack of optimization, overwhelming size and scope, or design and layout. Unfortunately this had meant a brute force technique with their hardware, necessitating tons of raw horsepower in their CPU and RAM and a substantial sized battery. I think in this case they have not yet improved Touchwiz sufficiently and also fallen pray to the perceived need to 'keep up with Apple,' forsaking more battery for a thinner design. And using a QHD display can't help. Yes it may be the most efficient QHD smartphone display yet but no matter how you slice it, 1080 HD would use less resources.

Its a real shame too, because there's no denying these latest Galaxy variants are stunning pieces of hardware, Samsung's best yet, IMO. The camera appears to be the best ever available on a flagship smartphone, the design and build materials are exceptional, and though I find it overkill, the display is beautiful. But as usual, any weaknesses or flaws are attributed its software. I'm not saying is a bad phone--it's still obviously quite good in areas, but think how good it could be if Samsung could actually get their crap together and develop some truly optimized and efficient software. It's exactly why some of us would love a GPE version of this phone, a version not hampered by Samsung's deficiencies.

Regarding Sony, my only experience with their smart phones was with a Z1 Compact for a few months. The hardware was nice--solid build, good camera, great battery performance. The display however was just OK and I didn't like Sony's skin. A GPE version would have been nice but I wasn't blown away.

Can't believe I'm going to say this but you know who should make the next Nexus? Samsung.

Can't disagree.

 

[epicrayban]

Any xperia z3 owners here? How's the micro SD thing? the big deal with the galaxy S6 going all on board storage was to avoid slow down or lag apparently from using micro SD cards. Is that true in the xperia z3 when using micro sd?

 

[mclld]

Body reminds me of the Lumia 920

 

[Robstevo]

I think the problem with Sony is that they don't market their devices much at all. I have hardly seen any adverts with Sony devices in years. Where as apple and Samsung and even htc all have bus stop adverts , television adverts etc that I see multiple times as week. The only adverts I have seen of Sony mobile devices is if I actual search them up on YouTube.

In Australia lollipop is only just coming out right now for the latest flag shop phones as well, it's been ages since Google released lollipop.... Again not good enough.

The devices themselves though have a build quality on par with apple IMO. And the water proof feature I think every flag ship phone should have.

 

[JunBringer]

Any xperia z3 owners here? How's the micro SD thing? the big deal with the galaxy S6 going all on board storage was to avoid slow down or lag apparently from using micro SD cards. Is that true in the xperia z3 when using micro sd?

I've only ever used micro sd for storing things, such as music, so I've never had an issue.

 

[epicrayban]

Isn't there supposed to be an announcement of sorts on Monday.

Z4?

 

[MRU]

Any xperia z3 owners here? How's the micro SD thing? the big deal with the galaxy S6 going all on board storage was to avoid slow down or lag apparently from using micro SD cards. Is that true in the xperia z3 when using micro sd?

No that is just a mixture of Samsung spin and uninformed internet nonsense.

At no point is your phone moving data as quickly as a pro-cam recording HD video - and yet professional grade video cameras have been using SDXC cards for sometime now without issues.

Likewise many other android handsets have SD card support and don't suffer lag.

Indeed Samsung's own galaxy S4 Google Play Edition is super fast and never lags. Yet its touchwiz version is a typical TW mess.

So no..... MicroSD does not contribute to lag. Especially when majority of system and OS content HAS to be stored on internal storage therefore nullifying the argument further

Sony flagship phones don't suffer from as much lag as prior TW devices and likewise HTC M7,M8,M9 are not laggy at all.

Don't believe the spin. I have been saying that for quite some time now...

Samsung went for internal storage not for speed (improved access speed is just an accidental benefit) but because they are going for maximising their profits as their margins have been suffering serious ill winds for some time. Now they are making serious profit on that expanded internal storage that was previously potential profit passed onto SD Card manufacturers.

At the end of the day you got faster internal storage, great.... But it was always, always just about the money....

 

[Savor]

I am interested in it because my top wishlist is actually a PS4. But I won't get a PS4 until they make it into a better media player with the ability to play our media through its hard drive and once the back catalog for PS3 games get better. I missed out on the PS3 era anyway to not really care of backwards compatibility. Also a nice price drop and add of Wi-Fi ac in future revisions...

The Z4 looks great and hopefully the rumors are true and they ditch the glass design for metal. Not a huge fan of metal but still nicer and sturdier than glass cobwebs. My only concern is Snapdragon 810. Qualcomm kinda let me down this year and who knows if it will affect battery like it did on M9.

Just a year ago, I was all praises with Qualcomm releasing a quality SoC like the 801 which were power efficient like the 800 before it. Then Qualcomm got LAZY like a fat cat only to watch Samsung out-engineer them. This is why I would like to see other OEM's to start creating their own custom SoC and not depend solely on a different manufacturer. Samsung, LG, and Huawei are doing it now.

Z4 has my interest but so does S6 edge as well. I might just sit it out until next year though. I will be back in Cali again by then.

 

[Ffosse]

I thought Sony was getting out of mobile

They're in the world's top 10 best selling manufacturers and 3rd in Europe so I doubt it.

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Any xperia z3 owners here? How's the micro SD thing? the big deal with the galaxy S6 going all on board storage was to avoid slow down or lag apparently from using micro SD cards. Is that true in the xperia z3 when using micro sd?

My Z3 Compact shows no lag whatsoever with a 128GB microSD.

 

[mattopotamus]

I thought Sony was getting out of mobile

not out, just not making as many phones.

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They're in the world's top 10 best selling

yes, but they were losing a ton of money in the mobile division.

 

[epicrayban]

No that is just a mixture of Samsung spin and uninformed internet nonsense.

At no point is your phone moving data as quickly as a pro-cam recording HD video - and yet professional grade video cameras have been using SDXC cards for sometime now without issues.

Likewise many other android handsets have SD card support and don't suffer lag.

Indeed Samsung's own galaxy S4 Google Play Edition is super fast and never lags. Yet its touchwiz version is a typical TW mess.

So no..... MicroSD does not contribute to lag. Especially when majority of system and OS content HAS to be stored on internal storage therefore nullifying the argument further

Sony flagship phones don't suffer from as much lag as prior TW devices and likewise HTC M7,M8,M9 are not laggy at all.

Don't believe the spin. I have been saying that for quite some time now...

Samsung went for internal storage not for speed (improved access speed is just an accidental benefit) but because they are going for maximising their profits as their margins have been suffering serious ill winds for some time. Now they are making serious profit on that expanded internal storage that was previously potential profit passed onto SD Card manufacturers.

At the end of the day you got faster internal storage, great.... But it was always, always just about the money....

Very good info. Thanks MRU. that makes me want to consider the z3. I'll see what gets announced in the coming days.

If there's anything that I've discovered about myself through the s6 it's that I want a smaller device (vs my one plus).

 

[MRU]

So the Z4 has been unveiled and looks nearly indistinguishable from the Z3. Heck even the Z2. Sony needs to do more with its Z range other than just internal spec boost to make it standout from the crowd.

No compact version announced despite the Z3 compact actually being the bigger seller between the two Z3's last year.

 

[aced411]

So the Z4 has been unveiled and looks nearly indistinguishable from the Z3. Heck even the Z2. Sony needs to do more with its Z range other than just internal spec boost to make it standout from the crowd.

No compact version announced despite the Z3 compact actually being the bigger seller between the two Z3's last year.

Image

I love the look of the Z3. It's modern yet conservative. I was waiting for the iPhone 6S but If the Z4 comes to the US in the compact edition I think I might just pull the trigger.

 

[jamezr]

So the Z4 has been unveiled and looks nearly indistinguishable from the Z3. Heck even the Z2. Sony needs to do more with its Z range other than just internal spec boost to make it standout from the crowd.

No compact version announced despite the Z3 compact actually being the bigger seller between the two Z3's last year.

Image

Thanks MRU...did they give a release date or what carriers they will be on?
I have never had a Sony phone and want to try one. But it has to be a Verizon phone.

 

[tbayrgs]

Thanks MRU...did they give a release date or what carriers they will be on?
I have never had a Sony phone and want to try one. But it has to be a Verizon phone.

Only said expected release in Japan this summer. My guess would be released in Europe sometime in the fall. North America? Who knows if we'll even see it.

It certainly looks like a very mild update to the Z3 but if someone values expandable memory and wants a waterprood device, this is certainly an option. The camera is pretty good and the last few Xperia Z models have shown very good battery performance, although like he S6, this model has a smaller battery compared to its predecessor thanks to Sony slimming it down even further. Supposedly it will have a waterproof USB port so no pain in the ass flap to deal with.