Compact Long Lasting Powerhouse!

cormie

I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade from my current XT890 Motorola Razr I.

I'd be looking at something primarily of the same dimensions and compact size (the Razr I is perfect at Dimensions 122.5 x 60.9 x 8.3 mm (4.82 x 2.40 x 0.33 in)

and of course the amazing battery life too, it could always last a full day in most cases.

Would just like something a bit more powerful and up to date as the Razr would sometimes struggle if I had maps, music and everything else going at once.

Any feedback would be great!

corwill

cormie wrote: »

I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade from my current XT890 Motorola Razr I.

I'd be looking at something primarily of the same dimensions and compact size (the Razr I is perfect at Dimensions 122.5 x 60.9 x 8.3 mm (4.82 x 2.40 x 0.33 in)

and of course the amazing battery life too, it could always last a full day in most cases.

Would just like something a bit more powerful and up to date as the Razr would sometimes struggle if I had maps, music and everything else going at once.

Any feedback would be great!

Depending on your budget, have a look at either the Moto G in one of its 3 incarnations, or the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.

If you're happy with the heightened risk/reward stakes of Chinese brand imports, the Jiayu G5S would tick a lot of boxes for you, or their G4S, if you want a slightly bigger screen.

cormie

Thanks for the suggestions I saw the Moto G mentioned a few times before. How does the battery and dimensions compare to the Razr I do you know? I thought it was more of a budget phone than a high tech one though?

corwill

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions I saw the Moto G mentioned a few times before. How does the battery and dimensions compare to the Razr I do you know? I thought it was more of a budget phone than a high tech one though?

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6355&idPhone2=4998

It's a budget phone, but it gives a lot of bang for your buck. I got my missus one for Xmas and was surprised at just how how good it is.

If you want a truly premium phone with those dimensions, the Xperia Z1C is about it. Most other manufacturers' "minis" scale back specs to the point where I think you're mostly paying for a name.

If I was to buy any of the phones I suggested for myself, I'd probably go for the Jiayu G4S. Some of the posters on the Chinese mobiles thread have them and seem pleased. 2gb of ram, great battery, octacore, camera is meant to be good...

cormie

Cool thanks a lot for that. The GSM arena link is great, but I don't think the G is worth upgrading from the Razr I for. The Razr I is still better in a few ways. I'd definitely prefer a more known brand than going the Chinese route so will check out the Z1C, although maybe I'll need to wait and see if there'll be a Galaxy 5 mini or anything too

corwill

cormie wrote: »

Cool thanks a lot for that. The GSM arena link is great, but I don't think the G is worth upgrading from the Razr I for. The Razr I is still better in a few ways. I'd definitely prefer a more known brand than going the Chinese route so will check out the Z1C, although maybe I'll need to wait and see if there'll be a Galaxy 5 mini or anything too

Try versus.com for physical comparisons as well, their comparisons of specs are suspect, but it's nice to see how big one handset looks like side by side with others.

As for the S5 Mini - http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6252&idPhone2=6355

Can't say I'd be all that pushed about it, for UK£369 sim-free (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3520801/samsung-galaxy-s5-mini-release-date-price-specs-pre-order/), but that's just me.

cormie

Thanks again for that! Doesn't seem too outstanding compared to the XT890 either, an extra 500mb of ram and that's about it.

One big thing about the XT890 is the great battery life and I wouldn't want to downgrade from this, but I think the XT890 is one of the best phones with regards battery life so it might be hard to "upgrade" from it?!

I don't know anything about chipsets or CPU so not sure how to compare, but the z1c does look decent enough! The battery on the z1c says it has a standby time of 670 hours??

corwill

cormie wrote: »

Thanks again for that! Doesn't seem too outstanding compared to the XT890 either, an extra 500mb of ram and that's about it.

One big thing about the XT890 is the great battery life and I wouldn't want to downgrade from this, but I think the XT890 is one of the best phones with regards battery life so it might be hard to "upgrade" from it?!

I don't know anything about chipsets or CPU so not sure how to compare, but the z1c does look decent enough! The battery on the z1c says it has a standby time of 670 hours??

Can't see the point of the S5 Mini, I'd go for an S3 over it, given the prices.

The Z1C has a properly top-of-the-range processor, you're not likely to get anything quite as good in that size bracket.

As for the Razr's battery, they're rightly famed for stamina. The Z1C has an extra 300 mAh, but that could well be more than offset by the extra power needed for a higher res screen and beefier CPU. I recommend googling for a few reviews of the Z1C's battery before making any decisions.

One thing to bear in mind; a Z3 Compact is rumoured to be on it's way at the end of the year. Although I'm a great man for endlessly dithering because of what's just around the corner waiting to be released...

cormie

Thanks again for the input

Do you think the performance of the Z1C would be far better than the Razr I? Have been having a few issues with slowdown on my Razr I when running multiple applications like maps and music at the same time which is why an upgrade came to mind, but not much point if the new phone will have the same lag..?

Have done a bit more reading and seems the Z has great battery life from a few comments I've ready, not sure if that's fanboy based though :pac:

I also see it has a pretty high spec camera. I might be ok to wait for the Z3c. I've never even heard of the Z3 but if you reckon it's a lot better than the Z1, maybe the C will be worth the wait!

corwill

cormie wrote: »

Thanks again for the input

Do you think the performance of the Z1C would be far better than the Razr I? Have been having a few issues with slowdown on my Razr I when running multiple applications like maps and music at the same time which is why an upgrade came to mind, but not much point if the new phone will have the same lag..?

Have done a bit more reading and seems the Z has great battery life from a few comments I've ready, not sure if that's fanboy based though :pac:

I also see it has a pretty high spec camera. I might be ok to wait for the Z3c. I've never even heard of the Z3 but if you reckon it's a lot better than the Z1, maybe the C will be worth the wait!

Double the RAM and a Snapdragon 800, it should be a flyer by comparison. I imagine that the camera would be savage as well, don't think I've heard anyone properly complaining about the snappers on the more recent Sony top-range sets, but maybe have a look for a thread on here on it.

As for the Z3C, it's just something I saw rumoured on another site. Sony apparently are on a flagship-every-6-months release cycle, so the Z3 is predicted at Xmas. There wasn't a Z2C, so I suppose keep an eye on tech news sites for Z3C. If you go for the Z1C now, I can't imagine it'll be anything other than a still very good phone 6 months from now.

EDIT - here's the link - http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3_and_z3_compact_allegedly_shown_in_leaked_images-news-8914.php

cormie

Thanks a lot for that. Might be worth waiting to see if anything new comes up, in particular the Z3. I saw this review of the Z1 C and it pointed out a few bad points, although I guess no phone is perfect:

http://youtu.be/-r7fALNOJe8

cormie

Z1 Compact can be bought in carphone warehouse for 249 which isn't so bad. They say it's "locked" but it can really work with any sim apparently.

The Z3 Compact is rumoured for the 4th quarter of 2014: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3_compact-6538.php

Might be worth waiting for although I'm sure the price will be at least double?

corwill

cormie wrote: »

Z1 Compact can be bought in carphone warehouse for 249 which isn't so bad. They say it's "locked" but it can really work with any sim apparently.

The Z3 Compact is rumoured for the 4th quarter of 2014: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3_compact-6538.php

Might be worth waiting for although I'm sure the price will be at least double?

4.6" screen? "Minis" and "Compacts" have been getting less mini/compact in recent months!

cormie

yeah, hopefully it won't be that big at all! Not much point having an inferior mini if it's almost as big as the original.

Scruff

cormie wrote: »

Z1 Compact can be bought in carphone warehouse for 249 which isn't so bad. They say it's "locked" but it can really work with any sim apparently.

link?? i can only see it on prepay for €359

cormie

No link I'm afraid, that's the price I was told in store, I asked is it definitely 249 as I thought it was more expensive and they checked again and said yup.

corwill

cormie wrote: »

No link I'm afraid, that's the price I was told in store, I asked is it definitely 249 as I thought it was more expensive and they checked again and said yup.

Savage price for the specs.

cormie

I don't really understand the specs in terms of processor speed etc, but I know when I'm using maps and navigating, playing music and I might take a call or similar, my Razr i can slow down a lot and it might take a while to open for example the calendar if all that is happening. Would the Z1C be similar or would it handle all that without any lag?

corwill

cormie wrote: »

I don't really understand the specs in terms of processor speed etc, but I know when I'm using maps and navigating, playing music and I might take a call or similar, my Razr i can slow down a lot and it might take a while to open for example the calendar if all that is happening. Would the Z1C be similar or would it handle all that without any lag?

I'm not sure which specific RAZR model you have, but I expect that you would notice a pretty good jump in performance.

cormie

It's the XT 890 I have

Scruff

cormie wrote: »

No link I'm afraid, that's the price I was told in store, I asked is it definitely 249 as I thought it was more expensive and they checked again and said yup.

Was that on prepay? if so that is a great price and very tempting indeed...
how easy is it to unlock the z1c?

cormie

Yup, pretty sure it was on prepay. You're all making me tempted to go and buy one now myself at that price, I was fine waiting until October or whatever for the Z3 compact until I saw the excitement at the Z1C price, I hope I'm not wrong now

cormie

Sorry to report guys, but I think the 249 price is on bill pay with a 24 month contract Went in today and was told the bad news, it's about 500 on payg

Scruff

thought it was too good to be true alright. Saved me a disappointing trip at the weekend at least!

cormie

Yeah, had to post back here as soon as I found out, didn't want to be given out to for people making a trip and getting let down :pac:

Looks like I'll be waiting for the Z3 Compact so I guess.

cormie

I've a chance to get a Z1 Compact for €225 from a friend, it's unused and was got from some business deal, it is locked to o2 so will probably cost about €250 in the end.

However, I see the Z3 has been officially announced and was in action at a Berlin show:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/03/sony-xperia-z3-compact-hands-on/


I'm guessing this is going to be at least €500 out of a contract so I'm wondering, is it anywhere near double the phone for double the price?

All the processor figures and the likes don't make much sense to me so curious how they compare.

corwill

cormie wrote: »

I've a chance to get a Z1 Compact for €225 from a friend, it's unused and was got from some business deal, it is locked to o2 so will probably cost about €250 in the end.

However, I see the Z3 has been officially announced and was in action at a Berlin show:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/03/sony-xperia-z3-compact-hands-on/


I'm guessing this is going to be at least €500 out of a contract so I'm wondering, is it anywhere near double the phone for double the price?

All the processor figures and the likes don't make much sense to me so curious how they compare.

At twice the price, is a slightly bigger screen worth it? If it was me, I'd go for your mate's z1c.

www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6538&idPhone2=5753

You'll notice the slightly bigger screen day to day, but all of the other improvements are so incremental, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. The faster processor might make a difference on graphics heavy gaming, but if you're a gamer, you probably want a bigger phone anyway. Most of the increase in battery size will be accounted for by the beefed up screen and processor.

cormie

Thank you again corwill!

That's interesting alright, I don't play any games at all but have experienced lag quite regularly with my XT890 Razr i, mostly when I'm using Google Maps navigation, listening to music, then I might receive a phone call and while on the phone have to check things like the calendar and the likes, yeah the music stops, but I guess it's still running in the background as it starts again when the phone call ends, but it can hang for what seems like a long time (probably it's only a few seconds) when I've a customer on the phone waiting to see if I'm free a particular day when I'm checking the calendar.

That would be the height of load I'd be putting on my phone. I might try out the Z1 compact for a while, could probably sell it on again for not too much of a loss.

cormie

Just had a proper look at the spec comparison. Doesn't seem tooo much of an improvement but of course, if both were the same price the Z3 would be the clear choice. Interesting video features of the Z3 too (1080@60fps and 720@120fps) but again I don't want to be swayed by fancy features at such a higher expense.

beno619

Battery life on the Z3C will be better thats about it.

54kroc

That's a bargain price, you should grab it.

cormie

Hmm decisions decisions. The Z3 compact is now out and it's actually a lot cheaper than expected and only going to cost me about €80 more than buying the z1 off my friend (since I can claim the VAT back on the Z3).

One thing I want, on whatever phone I go for, is the stock rom/ Cyagenmod 11. How long do these ports usually take to happen? If it's going to be 6 months to a year before CM11 appears on the Z3 and is stable, I might just go for the Z1, but if it'll be out in a few weeks, I think I'd go for the Z3 and let my friend sell his Z1 elsewhere..

MuppetCheck

cormie wrote: »

Hmm decisions decisions. The Z3 compact is now out and it's actually a lot cheaper than expected and only going to cost me about €80 more than buying the z1 off my friend (since I can claim the VAT back on the Z3).

One thing I want, on whatever phone I go for, is the stock rom/ Cyagenmod 11. How long do these ports usually take to happen? If it's going to be 6 months to a year before CM11 appears on the Z3 and is stable, I might just go for the Z1, but if it'll be out in a few weeks, I think I'd go for the Z3 and let my friend sell his Z1 elsewhere..

I'd be slow to put CM11 on it if you value your camera quality.

http://pocketnow.com/2014/10/02/xperia-z3-camera

cormie

Wow that's interesting, but I'm curious now, if the camera used to take the one on the left was from the Z1, does that mean the Z1 uses the same camera/algorithms they are protecting/lens etc and keeps the quality after a bootloader unlock?

MuppetCheck

cormie wrote: »

Wow that's interesting, but I'm curious now, if the camera used to take the one on the left was from the Z1, does that mean the Z1 uses the same camera/algorithms they are protecting/lens etc and keeps the quality after a bootloader unlock?

I think the better pic is from the older model but is better quality than the unlocked newer model which should give better quality than the older one all as a result of the root.

cormie

Should they not be the same quality since they both have the exact same camera by the spec sheet comparison? It's weird that the older model can be unlocked but the Z3 can't

cormie

Looks like CM11 support could be coming to the Z3 Compact soon I'm surprised it's so quickly underway already! http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/help/custom-roms-kernels-cm-t2878611/page3

So I think I'll be biting the bullet and going to grab a Z3 compact soon then and I'll hold off using it as my proper phone until CM 11 gets support. I don't think it will drop in price any time soon and the sooner I get it, maybe the more likely it will be unlocked to any network, unless there's a way to unlock it through the rooting/bootloader unlocking process (I don't even know if bootloader unlocking is the same as network unlocking actually?).