**** Sony Xperia Z3 ****

Okay, after using the phone as audio source in my car, for headphones on my bike, and in the gym, I am highly disappointed the the sound output of the phone ?

Is there some kind of software or even hardware mod to boost the current from the 3.5mm jack plug ? Simply boosting everything to maximum in the equalizer doesn't boost total volume, using the bass boost more actually completely ruins the mid and high tones...

The phone is insufficient for driving good headphones ( Eg. Sennheiser HD595's), and my car volume doesn't go as loud as it did before. I also think the earplug type headphones ( Various, original ones with the phone, original Samsung ones, ~30 euro TDK's, ~100€ Goldrings, el cheapo 5 € Grundig ones ) sound worse on this phone than my old S4.

I have played with both the equalizer and the ''ClearAudio'' thing, Clearaudio makes it sound worse imho ( and much more silent), while the equalizer on ''rock'' settings sounds best to me. But still, I want it a bit more boomy and a bit more tone, if I increase those frequencies manually a bit more I lose total volume though :S. Also a ''loudness'' similar effect is something I'd like at low volumes. Personally on a classic stereo I have loudness enabled and both tone and bass a little bit boosted.

Can something like this be achieved without using an external amplifier, I am positive these 3.5mm jack plugs keep outputting less and less current every generation of phones, and I'm sick of it, I want more volume, not less. The ''on board'' speakers are also more silent than my last phone, which makes conversations on speaker in cars without BT annoyingly silent, but my main problem is the rubbish output of the 3.5mm jack plug.

With Sony advertising its walkman stuff, I thought the Z3 would be a better choice for audio than Samsung or HTC, ( or the Nexus 6 for that part) but in the past 2 gens, I have not come across any phone with a decent sound output since the HTC One. The Sony Z3 sounds worse than my old S4. So, is there any mod to boost the jack plug's output :p ?

2 months in my USB cap also doesn't close properly any more, it slightly sticks out on one side and refuses to go in all the way. I don't dare to use my phone in the shower any more, and that's the main reason I picked the Z3 :(. Been to a service center from my provider but they want to send the phone to Sony ( ugh!).
The screen glass is to thin, as you can see the LCD being ''pushed in'' when you press it hard ( Why do I press it hard ? I just do when playing games on it: GBA emulator and stuff), I never had this problem on my previous phones. Finally some software is starting to act up sometimes, at times, about once per 3 weeks, the screen will ''lock'', I can't do anything app wise, only the ''shutdown/restart/screenshot/etc'' menu works, and the on/off button, and I have to reboot the phone, very annoying.

I am about 2 months in now, and quite disappointed in the build quality and features of this phone, the only 2 positive things are the looks and the battery life, but otherwise, it feels like a step back actually from my S4 :(. I am thinking I should have gone Note 4, Nexus 6, or S5/6. :( Tempted to flog it and get an S5 tbh ( which despite the worse IP water rating, I know from friends who have em is still fine waterproofed after a year). Hell, I have an old S3 from work with a crack in the screen I keep with me now, and I kind of prefer that phone to my Z3 ( not speed wise, but the screen is nicer, and it feels more solid, not material wise but '' it will still work when I drop it a few times'' wise).

//what started as a request for extra volume on the jack plug, resulted in a mini rant on the Z3.
 
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I need to have a check but certainly I wouldn't want to listen to the Z3 on full volume on ear phones (I have sound magic and just got the Sony noise cancelling ones, not amazing but reasonable). I use a Bluetooth to wifi transmitter in my car every day and again I would never have that on full volume. I have a 3.5mm aux connection in the wife's car that we use so I need to check that out (wasn't aware it was an issue but I can review)

To clarify the volume, am I correct that when you connect your phone to the car you set the volume at Max then use the car volume to tune?

Build wise I use a magnetic charger so whilst the cover does come off regularly though its not daily.but then again I have had the phone 6 months and the cover is fine.

I don't see the issues you get with locking, not sure what os ver you have but certainly sounds like a fault. Is factory reset and if you still got the issues report to Sony whose warranty is good.. Then flog it as it sounds like a different phone would be better for you
 
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From what I've read the Z3 has great sound quality but the whole "its too quiet " thing does seem to pop up quite regularly. You can boost it with xaudiofx but it needs to be rooted unfortunately.
 
tals said:
I need to have a check but certainly I wouldn't want to listen to the Z3 on full volume on ear phones. I use a Bluetooth to wifi transmitter in my car every day and again I would never have that on full volume. I have a 3.5mm aux connection in the wife's car that we use so I need to check that out (wasn't aware it was an issue but I can review)

To clarify the volume, am I correct that when you connect your phone to the car you set the volume at Max then use the car volume to tune?
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Yes, but I like to listen at loud volumes, and by loud I mean cans shake off my desk or you can hear me coming from a mile away and feel the bass if I stand next to you at the traffic lights :p. My point is mainly, this phone is more silent than I want, it's worse than my old S4, and I want it louder.
Build wise I use a magnetic charger so whilst the cover does come off regularly though its not daily.but then again I have had the phone 6 months and the cover is fine.
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Just from a consumer standpoint: Why should I have to buy something else that doesn't comply to standards ( micro usb), HTC can make waterproof micro usb, why can't Sony? It'd be impractical anyhow, as my bumper case covers the magnetic charging port. ( And I charge the phone every 2 days at best, once per 1.5 day usually, use the phone heavily for remote monitoring of various stuff, music, calls, and navigation, 2 days is great in my eyes :p, old phone did just 0.5-1 day)

I don't see the issues you get with locking, not sure what os you have but certainly sounds like a fault. Is factory reset and if you still got the issues report to Sony whose warranty is good.. Then flog it as it sounds like a different phone would be better for you
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Yeah, problem is, it's hard to reproduce, it happens at random and not very often. The touchscreen etc. works, it just looks like part of the UI/software is frozen. Perhaps it might be better next software update, idk.

Tbh I'm tempted to just use it in the water, I have insurance even for ''own faults'' like fall or water damage, so even if they say I didn't close the cap properly ( which I doubt, Sony forum has some people with the same issue and after Sony tested the waterproofing they got a new phone) I will get a new phone anyhow, even get a loan phone for that time, the problem is it's a huge inconvenience, it took me hours to set stuff up like I want to ( home screens, apps, settings, sync 20-30 gb's worth of Spotify playlists, logins for many sites and apps, etc), I don't want a ''clean'' phone.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased now, but I'm feeling quite disappointed with the Z3 overall, I got my dad a Note 4, and that phone seems far superior imho, especially the screen. The price difference between the 2 was negligible though.
 
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I've not looked at the note 4, the wife has a note 3 and I dislike Samsungs take on android, it's ui and notifications. Then again she wouldn't want my small Z3 :-)
 
I'm on a bit of a run for Sony Xperias for daily testers right now and all of them struggle to drive my 595's (50 ohm version) but for nearly everything else I'm happy. I nearly always have to play with which headphone profile (under audio accessory settings) to get the most out of it though - some of those profiles are.... horrific. For car use and a line in the phone works fine for me (VW Group cars / BMWs are what i have available to test on) - volume around 2/3 to avoid distortion over analogue then boost through car. If you want to see nagging then any recent Samsung's volume tripper is ANNOYING AS HELL. OH GOD IT'S ORANGE VOLUME, CALL THE POLICE.

The flap thing is annoying and you can get replacements on ebay for cheaps is my only suggestion :/ Sony did make a waterproof USB on the Z3+, took em a while (and they removed the mag dock because of this)

On the software side, I would recommend a factory reset to fix the lockups, that's not good :( Pressing hard on the screen is fine, the flex is honestly not an issue and all high end phones bond the display to the glass where you should have seen the same really, it's a space saving measure. The outer glass is strong stuff as long as you don't provide it a shatter point, you should be OK :)

Ultimately if you're not happy with any handset i'd recommend a change as long as it's not going to financially hinder you. If you're a power user and use the handset for hours a day you want that to be a fun experience - don't suffer too much :) Maybe a note 5?
 
I don't use the Android EQ or Sony's sound features, leave everything off and siply EQ and pre-amp from within the music player. I use GoneMad Music Player which has it's own sound stack and EQ, higher quality than Android's own one. PowerAmp has its own one too and the SQ is very good and loud enough.
 
phone amps aren't built to power any headphones tbh it's all about ohm and sensitivity together not just ohms. they are made for IEM's.

they could probably power fidelio x1/x2's at a push (30ohm).

you need a dac/amp like the ones fiio sell but there are other companies that do better ones like cayin, etc.

fiio gets recommended a lot but it's low range audiophile equipment. better off with something slightly better like cayin.

head fi is your friend

i use mine with IEM's or bluetooth into a parrok mki9200.

so long as you have volume to max on bluetooth there are no issues as i can then control it from the remote control.

as for iem's they go plenty loud on full, better off with a notch or two down.
 
All my phones have powered headphones just fine. Volume has been ample, I think those wanting more volume may have busted ears, or my ears are very sensitive :p

My headphones have been AKG K7XX, X1, X2, HD595, Q701. Granted IEMs are used the most though.

Edit*
New Xperia coming in a few days capable of photographing "split second" imagery:

http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/07/3...photos/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
 
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I think those wanting more volume may have busted ears
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Yeah, pretty much impossible to prevent if you go out a lot and go to lots of concerts ( bar wearing headplugs), and in combination, like to listen at unsocial volumes at home and in car :D.

it's ui and notifications
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Personally I miss it after 4 yrs of Samsung...

Alarm, timer, etc have some rubbish scroll or circle UI's on the Sony, what's wrong with quickly typing in the time ?
Stock contacts and dialer app is rubbish, I use exdialer now which is far superior and also allows swiping left/right on contacts again to call/message, saves 1 extra click/screen.
The 3 ''on screen'' buttons on bottom take up valuable screen space, especially if the keyboard is also in view. Physical or dedicated/off screen buttons are the way to go, so you can use more screen space. I still can't get used to typing on this ( keep typing to low because of the button bar on bottom). I have small hands and my thumb barely reaches up enough on the Z3 ( or well not barely, but it goes to low often).

Notifications on phone are annoying anyhow, I have a watch for notifications :), all I do with notification screen is remove notifications without even reading em as I mostly read them on my watch. Also why doesn't show more than 1 or 2 messages of whatsapp in the notifications, from 2 or 3 messages it's ''2 messages from 2 contacts'' instead of simply listing em :X. Samsung did this only if other notifications weere on screen or from 4+ or so. Why can't it push every whatsapp message individually like Apple does ? Or at least have a bigger message limit like on my old S4.

I do hate Samsung stuff like S voice, S planner, Samsung music/games/hub whatever crap Samsung account rubbish, but the basic UI and applications (menu's, dialer, contacts, messages, timer, alarm, etc) are generally superior to stock android. Need less actions or time or attention to the screen to do the same and u can do more things blindly because of the physical buttons... And the Z3 also comes with some Experia ''malware'' ( like experia lounge or whatever it is that kept bugging me and I blocked notifications of) too, not like it's ''clean'' android like Cyanogen mod.
 
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Snowdog - you do appear to have the wrong phone, if I felt as bad as you do there is no way I would still have the same phone :)
 
BigBoy said:
OTA update UK generic just came through.
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So it has! Creating ftf now and flashing, let's see if the gap next to the battery is fixed at regional localised level :p

Apart from the Generic Europe official release for sim free handsets, the following UK networks have released it too:

3
Virgin Mobile

And as of tonight, the generic UK release for sim free handsets. You should see the OTA soon as it's staggered. Otherwise simply manually update using Flashtool and Xperifirm.

Edit*
Hmm the ftf for the UK is bigger than Europe, not a small difference either... Almost 100MB of difference.

4nQ4Ole.jpg
 
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They are like the DiCaprio of phones. Excellent style and accumulation of features and performance, yet mostly overlooked.

Will it ever win an Oscar? Maybe next year :p

As the comments in that link say, The Xperia has always been a great overall package. Other flagships beat them in some areas and not others, but as an overall device, there doesn't seem to be an equal. No other OEM has excellent dev/community support, openness to bootloader unlocking among other things. I don't think Sony will be going anywhere, and their mobile ceo said they don't intend to stop making mobile devices recently either.

They're just not making a song and dance about themselves sadly, like other OEMs are.
 
What they are doing is hemorrhaging £££'s.

Then they go and release a half baked successor to the Z3.

It's not rocket science. Add OIS and full manual, bigger battery, fingerprint sensor and refresh the design a little. And make another compact. And sell it at £450/£350.

And Market the thing FFS. Do they not know business?
 
Most of the people buying them are people who usually show interest in Nexus devices, so phone geeks and enthusiasts. Nexus phones aren't exactly marketed greatly to the masses either mind.

This hasn't really changed much over the years and probably won't change in the near future. They won't be going anywhere because of it though.

Look at Samsung's S6, they marketed it very strongly, yet the sales figures aren't as expected and they've since announced a "restructure" (price drop) plan.

It's a Win<>Lose gamble everywhere these days.
 
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Nexus phones don't need to be marketed though do they? It's just a phone to showcase the OS, not a pure money maker like Sony need it to be.

Why be in business if you can't even be bothered to make the most of the resources you have?

I hope they don't drop out of the phone market, they have so much potential yet they squander it by not building upon their strengths.

Sony in the Mobile market literally have next to no presence. It's not just Sony though, HTC and LG are also slacking.

Samsung are doing great in real terms. They are just not making as much £££ as they used to but that's still a ****load more than anyone else in Android combined. And they have qualities that shine like the best screens and camera's in the business.
 
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