Xperia XZ1 Compact or Xperia Ace 2 in 2021

[Dean F]

Hi Guys,

Need to pick up another compact Xperia Seems the only choice is buying another XZ1 Compact, or the Xperia Ace 2.

Video of Ace 2 here:

The Ace 2 us a new is a budget midranger (or low ranger?), How do you guys feel it compares to a 2017 top of the range phone like the XZ1c.

Opinions please.

Regards,
Dean

 

[rejett0]

seems an interesting phone, although i fear the performance may be equal or lower than xz1c.
I've been a very happy owner of xz1c for 3 years, super cool phone paid only 273€ at the time.
Now i've switched to a zenfone 8 because my company offered to buy one. I'm trying to accustom myself to the bigger size, but it's not much larger than this ace2.

 

[echo124]

Any good? Bl unlock?

 

[mstrnemo]

They just annaunced a mark 3

https://www.gizmochina.com/2022/05/12/sony-xperia-ace-3-launched-as-sonys-most-affordable-5g-phone/

but i dont know why you would buy this over a xz1 compact which will be much more powerfull and wont be lacking to much in features witth exception of 5g which the ace mark 3 has and 120hz screen

 

[Dean F]

They just annaunced a mark 3

Yeah, I will probably buy the Ace 3 as soon as it launches. I have the Ace 2. The CPU of the Ace 2 is slow on paper, but perfectly fine in real world use. The battery of the Ace 2 is amazing. I'll get the Ace 3 because I need 5G now.

 

[mstrnemo]

Yeah, I will probably buy the Ace 3 as soon as it launches. I have the Ace 2. The CPU of the Ace 2 is slow on paper, but perfectly fine in real world use. The battery of the Ace 2 is amazing. I'll get the Ace 3 because I need 5G now.

Are you japanse ? or know how to import this phone from japan ?
do you happen to know if the bootlaoder is unlockable ?

 

[Dean F]

I imported the phone. Just bought it on ebay, new, from a Japanese seller, nothing fancy. Paid $230. It's still available on ebay now.

The bootloader cannot be unlocked, so no custom roms. The phone itself comes network unlocked though, works globally with any sim.

 

[mstrnemo]

I imported the phone. Just bought it on ebay, new, from a Japanese seller, nothing fancy. Paid $230. It's still available on ebay now.

The bootloader cannot be unlocked, so no custom roms. The phone itself comes network unlocked though, works globally with any sim.

weird why they hard lock the bootloader unlike other sony's which are all unlockable,.

i wonder if that one sketchy program that can unlock unlockable bootloaders would work on this phone or maybe it is to new ?

i would love to see some pics/screenshot of your phone and how does it compare to the xz1 compact in terms of size and feel in hand ?

supposedly the mark 3 with the snapdragon 450 would have double the power compared to the mark 2 it is just a shame it has a notch i really hate those.

i wonder what this mark 3 would be capable off with a custom rom that is better calibrated with the chipset and no gapps just microg and aurora store should reduce quite some ram usage make it more powerfull maybe even a lil overclocking would be a nice experiment in my opnion oh and perhaps a pernament black bar at the top so you never see that damn notch...

does it have english option for langue's ?

sorry for all the qeustions hahahaha

 

[Dean F]

sorry for all the qeustions hahahaha

The bootloader is locked, as this is carrier exclusive Docomo phone. Even if you could unlock the bootloader, im not sure what you would do as there are no custom roms or recoveries for this device (atleast that I am aware of.

The notch can be turned off in the settings. Actually i forget it had a notch since i haven't seen it since I changed the settings after the first boot.

As for the feel in the hand, it is at the very limit of 1 handed use. You can still use 1 hand, but you need to strech a bit at times.

btw, to correct your post, the Ace 3 is a 480 5G snap.

It has English.

Pics as you requested below.

 

[mstrnemo]

The bootloader is locked, as this is carrier exclusive Docomo phone. Even if you could unlock the bootloader, im not sure what you would do as there are no custom roms or recoveries for this device (atleast that I am aware of.

The notch can be turned off in the settings. Actually i forget it had a notch since i haven't seen it since I changed the settings after the first boot.

As for the feel in the hand, it is at the very limit of 1 handed use. You can still use 1 hand, but you need to strech a bit at times.

btw, to correct your post, the Ace 3 is a 480 5G snap.

It has English.

Pics as you requested below.

I have red about a new xz2 compact docomo you can buy with locked bootloader which you can unlock with that program so was curious if possible here aswell.
and as for custom roms i wonder if theres some place where you can make a reqeust for development for a custom rom would be cool i wouldnt mind going halves with someone buying the phone for the developer.

that is awesome i didnt know you could turn that off does it stay black even when watching a video in full screen?

Your phone looks really nice how does it hold up in day to day use and have you done anything to it? like disabling apps you dont use using adb fastboot and cant remove or getting rid of googleplaystore exchange it for aurora store and microg to reduce ram usage and save batterie life.

Anyway i am tempted and fact you can easily hide the notch just wish there was a custom rom for it i mean technically you always install a gsi but nowhere near the preformance of a custom rom.

 

[Dean F]

I have red about a new xz2 compact docomo you can buy with locked bootloader which you can unlock with that program so was curious if possible here aswell.
and as for custom roms i wonder if theres some place where you can make a reqeust for development for a custom rom would be cool i wouldnt mind going halves with someone buying the phone for the developer.

that is awesome i didnt know you could turn that off does it stay black even when watching a video in full screen?

Your phone looks really nice how does it hold up in day to day use and have you done anything to it? like disabling apps you dont use using adb fastboot and cant remove or getting rid of googleplaystore exchange it for aurora store and microg to reduce ram usage and save batterie life.

Anyway i am tempted and fact you can easily hide the notch just wish there was a custom rom for it i mean technically you always install a gsi but nowhere near the preformance of a custom rom.

When notch is turned off in setting, you will never see it. The black status bar is permanent, it will not disappear even in games or video.

For day to day use. The best feature of Ace ii is the battery is incredibly good. Getting 2 days+ is very easy.

You can use ADB to debloat as normal. I know with the XZ1compact many of us would try to debloat and do a lot of custom things to improve the battery. With the Ace ii, you will absolutely not need to do this.

The phone also has a strong plastic build, so i dont use a case... just let the phone body take the beatings from drops and whatever and its been fine. The durability without a case, and the extreme good battery life - these are the ace ii's beast features.

 

[mstrnemo]

When notch is turned off in setting, you will never see it. The black status bar is permanent, it will not disappear even in games or video.

For day to day use. The best feature of Ace ii is the battery is incredibly good. Getting 2 days+ is very easy.

You can use ADB to debloat as normal. I know with the XZ1compact many of us would try to debloat and do a lot of custom things to improve the battery. With the Ace ii, you will absolutely not need to do this.

The phone also has a strong plastic build, so i dont use a case... just let the phone body take the beatings from drops and whatever and its been fine. The durability without a case, and the extreme good battery life - these are the ace ii's beast features.

That is good to know!

Hey when you get the mark 3 be sure to drop a review here in this thread about that phone would be interested reading about it.