Flashback: a decade of Sony Xperia displays

03 July 2022
From the first ever 4K smartphone display to the pocket friendly Compacts, we have a look at the Sony Xperia story through some of the most interesting displays.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • Lkg
  • 03 Jul 2022

Kangal, 03 Jul 2022Here, have $1 for your dumb comment. Sony started pulling ... moreAnd were the issues with z3? Everyone who had it said battery would easily last near 2 days. Not even counting Z3 Compact.

You do not understand business. It is pointless to keep trying to sell in some location when sales there do not cover the costs to be there.
This was the mistake done by LG. Could not make phones as cheap as chinese OEMs, but tried to survive basically selling K series when G and V had much low sales.

Samsung for years had mono speaker while Vivo, Htc, Sony, Motorola has stereo. The cheapest build possible, small batteries for 5-5,1" screens, awful exynos (that got good only with S7) , extremely poor optimized UI that easily could drag performance down.
But somehow glorified by media ...

    I never owned an Xperia phone and I don't think I really missed out on anything. They were always overpriced. The Xperia XZ design from 2016 was a ripoff of the Xiaomi Mi 3 released at the end of 2013.

    There were a few Xperias that did interest me...
    Xperia X1
    Xperia Play
    Xperia ZR
    Xperia Z3 / Z3 Compact
    Xperia XZ1 Compact
    Xperia XA2

    But each time I'm ready to pull the trigger getting one from eBay, I back out. There is just nothing it did that really differentiated itself. Maybe the Compact series but that's it. It didn't really excel with cameras or software support. HTC did better in audio. And its availability in USA was next to nil unless you wanted to buy the unlocked one for $800+.

    Sony produces PlayStation which is my favorite brand of products of all-time but their smartphones never really appealed to the mass market. Would love to see them make a flip phone. Then I'll heavily consider it if it came with headphone jack and microSD slot.

      [deleted post]Who’s jealous of what now, who are you even talking too?….

      If anyone wants to purchase a Sony product, they will. Your childish ‘jealously’ line only has any hope of being applicable if there is some barrier to that purchase.

      4K is all but pointless on a 32inch screen let alone a 6-7inch smartphone display. But it gives the likes of you something to try to act all smug and post silly comments about so there is that I suppose……

        • D
        • AnonD-731363
        • SH3
        • 03 Jul 2022

        [deleted post]2160p
        4k screen
        600ppi
        Oled

        Man you can have even a milion k screen.
        On a 6 inch display it makes zero sense no human spot any kind of differences on a 6 inch screen. 720 or 1080 is good enough.
        4K is good for real cinema which is 10-50 or even 100 meters wide not for a tiny phone.

        This makes zero sense.
        Like everything on this site
        https://www.boredpanda.com/most-pointless-useless-things/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

          • D
          • AnonD-731363
          • SH3
          • 03 Jul 2022

          Anonymous, 03 Jul 20221 iv has sam width of z5. How can it be remove control? Man please can you explain your self i dont understand even a tiny bit from what you said.

            Anonymous, 03 Jul 2022Let's fix some dumb stuff here: 1) xperia has been... moreHere, have $1 for your dumb comment.
            Sony started pulling out of major markets after their Z5 lineup. They were hard to get around 2017 era, which is bad for business growth. And even when I personally wanted to buy one, I could not justify paying those Luxury Prices to get something without Warranty (grey market).

            The early Xperia Z1/Z2 had some advantages, but they started slipping with the Z3 and beyond. Don't just look at battery, look at everything. Just compare their history against the Samsung Galaxy-S flagships. There was a clear trend there, sporadically they would get better, but a trend nonetheless.

            Obviously, you have some reading disability if you cannot see the clear trend put there for the Camera Sensor size increases. Not sure the emojis did you any favours.

            The IP67 was welcomed, but Sony were found guilty and paid tens-millions in fines for their misleading advertisements. And their own warranty did not cover water damage. Their front-firing stereo loudspeakers were a genius move... BUT... they used speakers that weren't very loud. Glass is a very cheap material, nothing worth bragging over. Plastic makes more sense on a device that tends to crack. So your point is moot. On the other hand, if you said something like Crystal Sapphire, Military-grade Kevlar, Titanium compound, Aerospace Magnesium Alloy, or scratch-resistant 7000-series Aluminium unibody... then you would have a point.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • Lkg
              • 03 Jul 2022

              blue, 03 Jul 2022So since 2018 you can't get Xperia in most markets. Th... moreAlmost whole Europe Union area.
              Stop lying.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Lkg
                • 03 Jul 2022

                blue, 03 Jul 2022So since 2018 you can't get Xperia in most markets. Th... moreLG would still be around if selling in no more than Europe/America/South Korea.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • rWv
                  • 03 Jul 2022

                  YUKI93, 03 Jul 2022I am impressed with what Sony did with the Xperia 1 screen,... moreThat is why I've gone for the Xperia 5. 1080p is still more than good enough for a smartphone display.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • Lkg
                    • 03 Jul 2022

                    blue, 03 Jul 2022So since 2018 you can't get Xperia in most markets. Th... morePlaces xperia is sold :

                    USA, Spain, France, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Danmark, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, China, Japan, HK, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia.

                    * Russia too, but not at the momment, for obvious reasons.

                    "Very hard" to get in Europe.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • rN7
                      • 03 Jul 2022

                      blue, 03 Jul 2022Which phone can match Xperia 1 for a third of its price? Th... moreThey didn't say the xperia 1. You said that. But even then yes most phones cost less compared to it yet were ahead in most aspects.
                      Let alone compared to the $1400-$2500 ones available now which pertain to the current conversation and yes....at that point you can find phones for less than half that cost that excelled far ahead in most aspects.

                        • b
                        • blue
                        • nrH
                        • 03 Jul 2022

                        Anonymous, 03 Jul 2022Let's fix some dumb stuff here: 1) xperia has been... moreSo since 2018 you can't get Xperia in most markets. Therefore he was right and you are wrong.
                        Nowadays it is problem to get Sony phones even in some European countries. And if they come there, usually much later. Sony only aims at high profit markets.
                        You get a $1 for your own comment...

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • rN7
                          • 03 Jul 2022

                          Anonymous, 03 Jul 2022I think I‘ve never seen a 2013 OLED phone that did not had ... moreThen you barely ever saw any

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • rN7
                            • 03 Jul 2022

                            Anonymous, 03 Jul 2022Let's fix some dumb stuff here: 1) xperia has been... moreOmg you have absolutely zero clue what you are saying.

                            Yes availability is a huge issue. Yes back in the day they were a little more available. But for the last decade they are not. Sure you can go online and just buy it. But other than that they are not available. They are not marketed, they are released much later, and not locally available through stores or carriers except for many those specific areas.
                            People are just supposed to know they exist and go online and pay full price.
                            When the reality is most people don't even know Sony makes phones and they go into their local carrier to get phones on better deals.

                            Again. At that moment but not for the better part of the last decade they didn't have comparable specs. And even with that 3000mah they were not excelling at batteries. And actually the z initially had only 2300mah where as others had like 2600. Fans always cried oh battery optimization but it never showed in reality.

                            Their sensor size didn't matter cause their camera optimizing then was just plain poor the z-z3 is had really poor photos compared to other devices in 90% of situations. Noisy and soft, lacking hdr, and poor exposure. Not great in lower lighting either. Yet had larger sensor and brighter lens. Even under manual setting photos just were not great compared to others.
                            And they've hardly improved as far as trying to match or beat the competition.

                            And again. Especially back then you talk about speakers is poor. Sure not every phone had stereo speakers but most still had louder fuller speakers even with just one.
                            Oh it was metal and glass while others were plastic. Boohoo. And again. That was a small piece of the last decade. Where the better part is everything else was at that point or further ahead.
                            And metal and glass were just as much cheap recyclable materials as plastic. While polycarbonate is not bad. So try again.
                            Not mention their glass that was so weak it was considered self cracking. And that it was so bad if there was a hair on the screen that the screen thought was a crack the touch would just stop working.

                            And soon after everyone was glass and metal and their didn't have self cracking screens that the touch stopped working from a tiny hair line crack.
                            For years at that time Sony was also plagued with sudden death motherboard issues that support refused to recognize as a defect or issue. And not only would they not admit it was a defect plaguing many devices with endless threads of users with the issue but they wouldn't even offer repair services for a cost. You would just be told go online and buy parts.
                            So even their customer support was awful on top of all the other issues.

                            Not to mention at that point they barely were ever available anywhere. And of the couple that even were you had ones like the z3v through Verizon which ended up sneakily being a rebranded z2. Which unfortunately thats what the z3 was. Up until the z4 they were basically the same phone with miniscule changes. However at least from the z2 to the z3 there was an uplift in screen and speakers. Which the z3v missleadingly missed out on.

                            And after that it all just went down. With them barely releasing it. Half the time having older chip. And just being behind in terms of results from brightness, battery, speakers, and camera.
                            To the point where now they cost more than anything else yet can't even compare to flagships of recent in many aspects.
                            The pro cost $2500 and had the brightness of an 8 year old phone, last gen soc, smaller battery with poor life, average rear camera, weak outdated front camera, poor speakers, weak 5G despite its extra antenna claims, and the screen brightness of the S4 makes its supposed intended use of "professional" 4k monitor pointless in average to bright situations.
                            Then the 1 iii barely changed anything expect taking the brightness up from the s4 to the s5 and current soc. And was only $1800 instead $2500!!! What a deal🙄

                            So if I had a $1 for every blind Sony knight like yourself make posts that even made ifone users of the past seem like chumps I truly would have a huge pile of money.

                              • b
                              • blue
                              • nrH
                              • 03 Jul 2022

                              AnonD-731363, 03 Jul 2022Best price yes best specs dont think so. For half the pri... moreWhich phone can match Xperia 1 for a third of its price? There's nothing like that, not even for 3/4 of its price.

                                Sony was early to the HRR display. Just not officially. If I recall correctly it was the first phone with HRR and it was the Xperia X series. Only available when you put in a Custom ROM to enable 120hz.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • rN7
                                  • 03 Jul 2022

                                  There is so much wrong with this article.
                                  First off a premium is a premium and a compact is a compact. When those came out that's exactly what they were regardless of how things are now.

                                  Next the z ultra was not the first 4k. It didn't have 4k. Yes when you click on the link it takes you to the z5 premium but lists the ultra. But then to make things worse the ultra is otherwise not mentioned besides the charts.
                                  The size of it was impressive. Though many flaws plagued Sony quality control at that time.

                                  Also they only say decade so the don't even cover phones like the 2008 erricison x1 that was the first phone to have over 300 ppi. Which years later cr apple coined as retina

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • gDe
                                    • 03 Jul 2022

                                    when i saw a sony phone for the first time (it was a 1 mark II), i was shocked. first,you think they are large because of 6.5" screen diagonal, but their 21:9 aspect ratio makes them pretty small. i don't know what the 4k resolution is necessary for in such a small screen, QHD would be enough. and the camera promises a lot too but is extremely inferior to other brands.

                                    Sony produces phones with exaggerated specs that don't have any advantage.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • Lkg
                                      • 03 Jul 2022

                                      Kangal, 03 Jul 2022Sony had a lot of good things going for them: - Good QC (n... moreLet's fix some dumb stuff here:

                                      1) xperia has been available in too many places during 2008-2018, most of markets. I wonder where you get Japan/UK/USA only.

                                      2) lesser specs, less ram, less battery: Z1, Z2 and Z3 all had at least 3000 mAh while most of flagships were using 2700 or below. Also Z2 was first phone with 3GB ram.

                                      You wanted the 2014 phones to have 1/2.8" camera and 2015 phones to use 1/2.5" when they all had 1/2.3" ? 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

                                      Even funnier you wanted lower prices when xperia was using glass body, atereo speakers, metal frames, IP rating while,other were cheap plastic (worse than plastic used to make bowls and buckets), mono audio and no IP. 😂🤣😂🤣

                                      I wish I was granted US$1 per dumb comment I read here.

                                        I miss the compacts.
                                        Still using my XA1 from 4 years ago, get me through the day on a regular usage when working.
                                        The same with my M4 Aqua still alive even if it was submerged in water after losing its waterproofing.

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