Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
- m
- mac
- QHk
- 29 Sep 2016
Review of device after using it for 1 week -
Model - E5803 (US Version, Unlocked, Yellow)
Price - $379 (B&H Photo Video, No Tax :) )
Background - I was using Moto X Pure Edition since Dec 2015. I wanted to move to a smaller/compact phone because I was tired of carrying around the Moto X Pure with it's huge 5.7 inch display. Plus its battery had started showing age, I had to charge it twice a day and sometimes even more just to keep it going on (I am an average user. I do not play games on mobile)
Review
PROS
- Excellent feel in hand. It is very well built and the frosted glass back in yellow color looks very classy.
- Display is very good, with bright and vivid colors. My only complain here is that blacks/black level is not as good as I had hoped. If this phone had an AMOLED display it would be perfect but I am fine with it as there is no light bleed in display edges and blacks are not as bad as other LCD displays. My Moto X Pure had terrible black color reproduction and heavy light bleeding from edge of display.
- Camera is good if you have ample sunlight / light in room. It does suffer in low light. There is no way to sugercoat it. I mean it may be better than other phones out there in lowlight performance but my wife's S7 Edge shreds Z5 Compact to million pieces when it comes to Low Light performance. And yes I have tried with all possible settings in the manual mode and not just the Superior Auto mode that comes activated by default.
- Same feedback for the selfie cam. It is very good when the conditions are optimal. Other times it is just meh.
- Everything is fast and snappy. Apps load quickly and browser performance and page load times are better than my Moto X pure even though Z5 Compact has lesser RAM.
- Battery life is amazing. It lasts me one full day. 100% at 8 AM and I am left with 25-30% at 9 PM consistently. This was my main objective of buying the phone, a good battery life and it delivers! My usage includes browsing Facebook, Instagram, 9GAG, surfing the web and listening to music. I rarely watch videos during the day on my data plan
- One disclaimer though, I keep LTE off throughout the day and my phone catches 3G speeds (H+). I do that because where I work, the ATT network sucks and the phone drains a lot of battery searching for LTE. I switch LTE back on in the evening after work. I love the fact that SONY gives you the option to selectively turn off LTE and save tons of battery life. My Moto X Pure had that feature but it was locked in settings and if LTE was even faintly available, it won't let me switch to 3G or 2G if I wish to.
CONS
- When you are in camera app and open up the screen which gives you all the various filters and camera modes, the phone starts getting HOT then. I think it is because it tries to readily load preview of every filter that is on the phone. This is the ONLY time the phone gets HOT in regular use. I have not seen it getting hot in any other condition / any other app/game.
- The camera app is really slow. And it takes almost 2-3 seconds for it to save a photo and get ready to take the next photo. It is just terrible. My Moto X Pure took photos with lightning speed.
- Since this is an older phone (Oct 2015 I guess) and I got it now in Sep 2016, there are a ton of software updates that happen when you first switch on the phone. In all I had like 4-5 major+minor software updates in the first 3 hours of switching on the phone. I know I could have deferred the updates for a later time but I wanted it to be updated to latest 6.0.1 Marshmallow before I started using it. PS: The phone gets HOT during the initial setup and when it tries to download and update all your apps at once.
All in all I am very happy with my purchase because I got it at a discounted price and in my favorite color plus the battery life is amazing which was my first criteria to buy a new phone.
- j
- joban
- rAV
- 27 Sep 2016
Very good phone its fast and good for playing games
- d
- dinny
- 9xk
- 26 Sep 2016
I thought the phone was the best but I first struggled with its camera and secondly cracked the screen and now its not switching on ,its dead.
- ?
- Anonymous
- nEQ
- 24 Sep 2016
its smooth and fast
- C
- Chaos X 1982
- IWN
- 24 Sep 2016
AnonD-481725, 23 Sep 2016Xperia x compact is much better, in everything, both camera... moreX Compact is not water proof, Z5 Compact is.
- D
- AnonD-588757
- n2m
- 23 Sep 2016
Stay away from this phone !!!! bought it a year ago "2015".. Stopped charging after a year..because its not charging at all ..When I opened it i saw Humidity everywhere inside... on the battery and all stuff inside was Humidity and some water. All this without a reason... "be careful its looks like no waterproof or waterresist"
camera is just fine not very good like the Galaxy s7 especially in the dark.. battery is very good!! gets very hot when use.. the phone is not fast stuck sometimes without a reason..
I bought galaxy s7 after 1 year and its Better in everything
except that the Battery runs out faster and its weigh more and bigger
- D
- AnonD-481725
- X1I
- 23 Sep 2016
Xperia x compact is much better, in everything, both cameras, display design, no overheat... Battery life, yes i say battery life, once gsm make the new battery test with 200nits brightness for this phone, the endurance rating will drop very much then you will see. The only con is the lack of water resistance, everything else it is much better.
- J
- Jaime
- v0q
- 23 Sep 2016
Anonymous, 19 Sep 2016Z5 is also a water proof??It is only water resistant.
- D
- AnonD-588293
- B{Y
- 22 Sep 2016
I loved it for so long but since moving to Marshmallow the battery life is a joke, I use it to listen music, check chrome and whatsapp while work and the battery lasts from 9 am till maximum 5-6 pm, it's not worth it
- D
- AnonD-588261
- whi
- 22 Sep 2016
This phone gets veeery hot when using certain apps. Will be so hot that eventually the glass back will crack, like mine did.
The crack happened in my hands after 10 months of use, with no apparent reason other than material fatigue from everyday dilation/contraction caused by heat.
It's not covered by warranty. You will get a cracked back phone that's no more water proof.
For me? Time to change the phone maker.
- Z
- Z
- Hk{
- 21 Sep 2016
Varners, 16 Sep 2016My WiFi switches of and aeroplane mode comes on automatical... moreYou probably plunge it into water.. Its water resistant not water proof..
- J
- Jaime
- 7Xh
- 20 Sep 2016
Anonymous, 19 Sep 2016Z5 is also a water proof??It is only water resistant.
- ?
- Anonymous
- X{H
- 19 Sep 2016
Z5 is also a water proof??
- R
- Raghu
- 3J5
- 18 Sep 2016
Anonymous, 19 Aug 2016Sony xperia z5c or samsung s6 edge??z5c is the best. Look at the price, the features at that price, the camera quality and battery life. Z5C beats Iphone on all these fronts.
- L
- Lalu
- 3J5
- 18 Sep 2016
noob, 20 Aug 2016which better, Sony Z5C or Iphone 5S? I really want to chang... moreI used Iphone 5S. And it is so much irritating. The options button is hard to find, the OS is horribly designed. Android is much user friendly. Poor camera quality. Battery time is absolutely horrible. If i use the iphone a bit more during the day, then i have to recharge it around 9 pm before the juice runs out each day. The positive of Iphone 5s is the slim metallic body and no jerks.
- V
- Varners
- 9A0
- 16 Sep 2016
My WiFi switches of and aeroplane mode comes on automatically for no reason. Can anyone explain this?
- J
- Jaime
- 7Xh
- 16 Sep 2016
the phone is excellent, but the screen and camera lens can be scratched easily, unlike the CG before, just installed tempered glass and camera lens protector last night and noticed the disappointing marks :( should've put tempered glassed when its still brand new.
Never doubted to purchase 2nd z5c for my GF :)
- D
- AnonD-585519
- s5j
- 16 Sep 2016
Anonymous, 14 Sep 2016I have had this phone for about six months now. I would hav... moreHi, would you recommend getting a glass protector for the back as well. Thanks in advance.
- A
- Andy Belfast
- n5G
- 15 Sep 2016
Im a former iphone user (3g to 6 models) aswell as former sony z3 owner so fair experience. The z5 compact is up there with the best. Pretty heavy user, music, video etc and have always found the z5c able to cope. Occasionally the phone will get quite warm if i am multitasking and has once or twice reset itself - this is a year of usage. Battery is good and the phone is very quick. After using samsung, motorola etc android versions i also have found Sonys customisation of android IMO the easiest to use.
- ?
- Anonymous
- bf2
- 14 Sep 2016
I have had this phone for about six months now. I would have thought by now that Sony would have released a successor and that I would be experiencing some FOMO. This, however, is not the case with the X Compact getting the 650 SoC instead of the 820. Therefore, hands down, this is still the best compact phone on the market. There are a lot of stupid comments on here complaining about how hot the phone gets. GET RID OF THE BULKY CASE and BUY A TEMPERED GLASS SCREEN PROTECTOR. This will not only solve a lot of the overheating issues but will look great too!
Also, do yourself a favor and buy an unlocked version. It really is worth it. The software updates are much faster (if your carrier even pushes one at all). I have been running Android 6.0.1 for a while now. And Sony has already announced the Z5c will get Nougat, so this phone is still a flagship device despite being a year old.