I have been using a Sony Xperia Z (C6602, 2013 Flagship) for the past few months now since I slipped on ice and cracked the screen on my Samsung S4 (also another great phone). Overall, I have enjoyed my second ever android phone. Below is The Good, Bad & Ugly areas of the phone.
The Good:
- The freedom of Android OS
- Waterproof (up to 1 meter/3.2 ft for 30mins) and DustProof
- Candy bar shape (solid feel and works well with PopSockets
, use Code “PopnShip” for free shipping!)
The Bad:
- The freedom of Android OS
- For a 13-megapixel camera the pictures don’t come out as good as friends with iPhone 5’s. Interestingly, the iPhone 6 is rumored to have the same Sony made camera sensor expected to appear on the Sony Xperia Z3 (more info here).
The Ugly:
- The freedom of Android OS
- Some weird software bugs likely due to the distance between Google’s Android team and Sony Hardware/Software team and because this was generation one of the phone line
Two specific bugs:
- Ridiculous Battery drain from Android KitKat 4.4.2 caused by Google Play Services (for more info and Sony’s Statement)… after trying a whole bunch of fixes posted on blogs with no success I just dealt with the fact I would have to charge my phone 2-3 times a day. Finally, yesterday, I found this awesome GServiceFix app to that has seemingly worked to mitigate the ludicrous 85% Google Play Services battery drain.
- Second Bug has yet to be publicly addressed nor fixed; In any application when I spell a word wrong and have a red squiggly line under the word and I tap the word and choose the proper spelling it immediately crashes that app and I have to start that message over from scratch. I have learned to just not tap on the word nor click the proper spelling but it is still rather annoying. I think Sony may have temporarily or permanently forgotten about it’s Xperia Z generation one customers.