For Z1 Compact owners: any regrets?

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maajstor

Senior Member
Jan 12, 2011
120
36
London
Where I come from there's a saying "every Gipsy praises his horse".
Having that in mind, I'm asking you, Xperia Z1 Compact owners, to reply here honestly, if you have any regrets and remorses for buying this phone.

It's a serious money for me, and I plan to have my next phone for at least next two years (I've had Motorola Atrix for three years), so please, serious answers only.
 

thermalboyz

Senior Member
May 1, 2008
662
583
NoWhere
Honestly for the Specs and Size. Its a "YES" for me. I had HTC One X for 2 years but the thing I don't like is the Battery life. Was thinking about Nexus 5 or Moto X which has very similar specs but i go for the "size", "battery" and IP57.

Z1C last me average 2.5 Days with 4 hrs screen time. (For normal usage)

Regrets on Z1C was only the screen had ASF (Thin layer of film to prevent glass shutter) which easily get scratch. (Solution - Get a good screen protector, prefer a Glass with 9H)

Liking - Battery, Water Resistant, Power, SD Card Slot, Camera and a slick design.

Not talking about the software side but I read that Sony quite reliable on updating their software + Firmware. Currently on 4.3 and likely to get 4.4 kitkat (Hopefully the battery will get better then).

Hope this helps!
 

stevo_125

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2009
167
91
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!

  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
  • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
  • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
  • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
  • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
  • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
  • proximity sensor issue: 1-2 second delay in screen switching back on if it was switched off by proximity sensor. i.e when you make/receive a call, you have to wait to hang-up the call. minor inconvenience really.

And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!

oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)
 
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Darkimmortal

Senior Member
Sep 21, 2010
257
198
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!

  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
  • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
  • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
  • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
  • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
  • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
  • ???

And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!

oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)

I've only experienced the walkman issue

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
 

Riyal

Senior Member
Dec 16, 2011
3,038
1,770
Iloilo City
  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
  • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app <-- Well the equalizer was polished for walkman. This is the same even on my HTC One except for beats audio at least.
  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
  • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo <-- Ok for a smartphone camera though... It's meant for average users for average results. Hence why manual mode is added. If superior auto was the best of everything then what would be the use of manual mode then.
  • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode <-- Well stamina mode is stamina mode. It's doing its job. I would have been disappointed if it can't control system apps though... Android is all about customization. Would defeat the purpose if we can't control system apps here. If you want it to work with stamina mode then add it on the whitelist.
  • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing <-- Never encountered this yet.
  • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers <-- Like? Been using Opera and firefox here since I disabled chrome because of the first issue you mentioned.
  • ???
 

Funkym0nkey

Senior Member
Jul 10, 2007
916
355
Moving around in the ancient land
@Riyal the speakerphone big didn't go away by removing or freezing chrome here. It popped up again even after switching to boat browser.
But I have learnt to work around this by changing the way I swipe to unlock.

The real regret is camera. Nothing else. Everything else has solution so far. Camera is weirdo. Very inconsistent.
And no, that is not acceptable for today's high end smartphone camera. Nexus 5 trakes better and consistent photos indoors at the moment.using its tiny sensor. Sony should be ashamed of this.

From my Xperia Z1 Compact, in your face!
 

stevo_125

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2009
167
91
Comments inline, excuse the lousy formatting and typos, I wrote this one my z1c :)

  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
    Wasn't aware of this, thanks for the tip
  • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app <-- Well the equalizer was polished for walkman. This is the same even on my HTC One except for beats audio at least.
    Would be fine if 3rd party equalisers worked, but they don't.
  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
    My network does support fast dormancy, but there is still an issue with it. FD works for a short while after a factory reset (can see FD working), then at some point it stops functioning. (connection stays as "H" not falling back to "3g" and the wake locks start. Have replicated this 3 times.
  • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo <-- Ok for a smartphone camera though... It's meant for average users for average results. Hence why manual mode is added. If superior auto was the best of everything then what would be the use of manual mode then.
    I'm more than happy to use the manual mode, and that works fairly well. One annoying "feature" is that the lock screen shortcut and camera key launch the camera in superior mode.... No good.
  • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode <-- Well stamina mode is stamina mode. It's doing its job. I would have been disappointed if it can't control system apps though... Android is all about customization. Would defeat the purpose if we can't control system apps here. If you want it to work with stamina mode then add it on the whitelist.
    Again, a replicatable issue with notifications coming through delayed. You can sometimes get a notification for a text message or something whilst already reading it! (if you so happened to check the app just before it arrives - Verified on two Z1c's as my friend also bought one after playing with mine.
  • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing <-- Never encountered this yet. only happened to me a couple of times, and it has been mentioned on sony forum by someone else. It seems there is a timeout or something and the phone pops up with a warning message and reduces the volume automatically. If using speakers or high impedance headphones, this is not useful!
  • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers <-- Like? Been using Opera and firefox here since I disabled chrome because of the first issue you mentioned. I've seen reports of others having lag/stability issues with other browsers. Not tried one myself. Was trying to give a complete list of possible issues here
  • ???

Overall, I'm happy with the phone, it's just extremely frustrating to *have* to start rooting and flashing custom roms because Sony couldn't get it right..... We'll see what they fix.
 
Last edited:

ajbattaglia83

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2010
147
64
I love it!! I had a Z and a Z1 before so I new what I was getting into software wise I just hope kitkat gets here soon. Love the size and performance of this thing

The Z2 is tempting but I remember not liking the Z1 because it was too big

Sent from my D5503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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Darkfall231

Member
Jun 1, 2013
22
2
No regrets here.

Of the previous listed 'weaknesses' the only one I regularly encounter would be the superiour auto mode in camera, but manual mode is quite fun to play with.
My main grip with auto is that it's limited to 8mp, to get 20 (yeah mp isn't everything, but it is nice to have) you need manual mode.

Sony are generally very nice with updates, so optimistic for 4.4 and beyond support.
 
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i_have_a_bike

New member
Dec 19, 2013
4
1
Couple of quirks, like intermittent sound distortion (almost only on GEL launcher, only happened once on stock launcher), occasional battery drain (but my 13 N7 is even worse the last couple of days so i aint even mad),

But other than that that the build quality, form factor, and general benefits far outweigh those few quirks, im quite smitten with it.

just waiting on kitkat now. Not even gonna bother rooting till there's a simple super-noob friendly method.

edit: i should add that after a weeks use my phones still completely scratch free. only precaution i take is to make sure it gets a pocket to iteself whenever i put it in my pants/jacket. Thats pretty much it.

Also, people have been mentioning its a lint / fingerprint magnet....so get the white one. The black store demo model i saw looked like it had been dipped in room temp bacon grease and covered in lint. The white one hides those kind of blemishes ALOT more compared to the black one.
 
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tania247260

Senior Member
Apr 10, 2013
770
175
Visby sweden
I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!

  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
  • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
  • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
  • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
  • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
  • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
  • ???

And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!

oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)



Most of your information are very very wrong.You do not have the real idea or knowledge about xperia z1 compact.

---------- Post added at 04:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 AM ----------

I think some people have not enough idea or knowledge about this phone and just trying to find out some complain that most of the user never face such problem
 
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jewelkobayashi

Senior Member
Oct 23, 2007
242
34
Hanoi, Vietnam
  • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
    My phone sometimes does this too. Very occasionally, and the trend I have noticed is when I receive calls from telephone numbers not in my address book. Maybe my idea was just coincidental. Anyway, can you ELABORATE on this idea that it is the chrome browser? How can they be related?

  • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
    So our phones are turned on by default? Can you be kind and tell us, if you know, how to turn it off?

thanks,
And I have no regret about buying this phone, just to answer the OP...
There seems to be nothing that is critically problematic, hardware wise, so future updates can address most problems.
 
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  • 9
    I would not recommend buying a Z1c at the moment, not until it is seen if Sony bother to fix issues in the phone software. Unless you are happy to unlock + root, then go ahead.
    The stock Sony software has so many quirks at the moment its driving me nuts!

    • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes
    • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app
    • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain
    • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo
    • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode
    • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing
    • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers
    • proximity sensor issue: 1-2 second delay in screen switching back on if it was switched off by proximity sensor. i.e when you make/receive a call, you have to wait to hang-up the call. minor inconvenience really.

    And as already mentioned, the plastic ASF on front and back glass is very, very delicate. Leave the phone wrapped in cotton wool until you have protectors on front and back!

    oh, and buy a dock or magnetic charging cable too, otherwise the USB flap comes loose (mine has after 3 weeks)
    8
    • calls answer to speaker phone sometimes <-- This is an issue with chrome browser not Xperia Z1 Compact.
    • sound enhancements/ equalizer only works for walkman app <-- Well the equalizer was polished for walkman. This is the same even on my HTC One except for beats audio at least.
    • fast dormancy is broken, causes high battery drain <-- It's not broken it's on by default unlike other devices which is off by default and just customized by network operators or depending on variant. Fast dormancy would really kill your battery if it's on and your network provider doesn't support it as it will keep on enforcing fast dormancy even if it's not available.
    • "superior auto" on the camera is a disaster in low light/ flash photo <-- Ok for a smartphone camera though... It's meant for average users for average results. Hence why manual mode is added. If superior auto was the best of everything then what would be the use of manual mode then.
    • Some intermittent weirdness with notifications and LED caused by stamina mode <-- Well stamina mode is stamina mode. It's doing its job. I would have been disappointed if it can't control system apps though... Android is all about customization. Would defeat the purpose if we can't control system apps here. If you want it to work with stamina mode then add it on the whitelist.
    • volume randomly reducing itself and volume warning sporadically appearing <-- Never encountered this yet.
    • Some compatibility issues with 3rd party browsers <-- Like? Been using Opera and firefox here since I disabled chrome because of the first issue you mentioned.
    • ???
    3
    Where I come from there's a saying "every Gipsy praises his horse".
    Having that in mind, I'm asking you, Xperia Z1 Compact owners, to reply here honestly, if you have any regrets and remorses for buying this phone.

    It's a serious money for me, and I plan to have my next phone for at least next two years (I've had Motorola Atrix for three years), so please, serious answers only.
    3
    I have regrets buying it at launch lol! In my country right now the phone had dropped it's price for like almost 1/4 already. Could have saved some money if only I had waited a week or so.
    3
    Honestly for the Specs and Size. Its a "YES" for me. I had HTC One X for 2 years but the thing I don't like is the Battery life. Was thinking about Nexus 5 or Moto X which has very similar specs but i go for the "size", "battery" and IP57.

    Z1C last me average 2.5 Days with 4 hrs screen time. (For normal usage)

    Regrets on Z1C was only the screen had ASF (Thin layer of film to prevent glass shutter) which easily get scratch. (Solution - Get a good screen protector, prefer a Glass with 9H)

    Liking - Battery, Water Resistant, Power, SD Card Slot, Camera and a slick design.

    Not talking about the software side but I read that Sony quite reliable on updating their software + Firmware. Currently on 4.3 and likely to get 4.4 kitkat (Hopefully the battery will get better then).

    Hope this helps!