Xperia Z1 Compact... finally the holy grail for "normal sized" phone enthusiasts?

Yeah, those photos are definitely decent, but they are also in good light. In low light with Intelligent Auto it really sucks. I will play with the manual settings then and try and find a happy medium.
 
Arthur Hucksake said:
The Auto mode will keep switching through various modes. (If you look in the bottom right corner).... once it gathers the lighting info, focus etc it then settles on the right mode.

Often you can start snapping and its between modes. Its strange like that.
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Ahh, I see. Low light and flash performance i still pretty bad though... images are next to useless. I just took a few photos with flash and the bottom half of the photo exhibits significant purple/blue discoloration. My galaxy S III was a better general snapper, especially for random night out shots.
 
MJ said:
That's a shame. Starting to regret it a bit now. The camera for me is very important but WP is just to limited which is why I bought the Z1 compact.
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Well, it's annoying, but really not a huge gripe I guess, considering the phone is incredibly strong in almost all other respects.

Doohickey said:
What's the loudspeaker like on the Z1 Compact? I had an Xperia Z and it was rubbish, and the position of the speaker port was also poor. Any improvement?
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See my comments above. :)

EDIT - Verge sums it up best: http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/31/5363936/sony-xperia-z1-compact-review

ony has tucked away a single loudspeaker at the bottom of the Z1 Compact, which does a reasonable job of conveying notifications and blaring out the occasional tune. Cellular reception and call quality are similarly competent — neither stands out as excellent, but there’s little cause for complaint either.
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Saundie said:
Has anybody got one of the DK32 charging docks? I've just ordered one, mostly because I've gotten so used to docking the Acro S, but also to save from having to keep lifting the USB flap.
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Nah, I would much prefer a Qi charging pad than the dock.
 
sarge78 said:
Superior Auto could have better oversampling* but without OIS current gen 1.1um pixel based phones are always going produce rubbishy looking images in low light.
Great for pixel peeping reviews/marketing but pants in many normal scenarios. Luckily a few OEMs haven't entered the MP war that blighted the point and shoot class a while back.

I'd kill for a Sony/Nokia with a 5MP 1/2.3"+ sensor. :) If your 'night out' photos are hugely important then something with large pixels or OIS might be much more suitable.

*The leaked Z2 low light sample shots look a bit better, hopefully most of that comes from software over hardware tweaks. Then you've got to hope Sony fully implement it on the compact.
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It has nothing to do with OIS. The photos I took with my SIII were in another league, and that doesn't have OIS. It's about how the camera take a raw image and then processes the final result. On paper the Sony camera is the better snapper, so for it to be considerably worse than the SIII in practise is just not on.

And despite my camera misgivings I wouldn't change this phone for the world, in every other regard it's perfect.
 
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MJ said:
Mine came today!

I got the lime one, and to be honest its not lime, It's yellow which is what I wanted. Fist impressions are good, nice screen and very fast. I installed the screen protector which came with it, strange it only comes for one for the front. Going to order a couple of sets on eBay.

Regarding the camera, I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I have done a few comparisons with my 1020 and it is very good. Post processing is aggressive but not as bad as some of the sample shots I have seen online.

Just an FYI for everybody else. I am placing my z1 compact on top of my qi nokia charger and it does nothing. The charger is flashing but does not start charging.
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Hmm interesting... is it the QI standard, or a nokia specific one?
 
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sarge78 said:
All phones that use tiny 1.1um pixels when pushing high ISO produce very flat/mushy output, there's only so much you can do with multiple exposures and processing. OIS helps drive down ISO to create OK images but the downside is long shutter speeds.
It's an inherent feature and well documented. Sony had hoped a RGBW layout would bring sensitivity back but they haven't got it reliably working and it's been delayed.
The S3 uses a similar gen 1.4um pixel sensor, it's more sensitive and overall should be a bit more reliable for low light shots.

Ps, Not knocking the Z1 compact in anyway! I think it's close to being the best Android you can buy. (I just want big pixels to go with that big sensor :) ...and bezels from the Z2 :p ...and lighter chassis with no glass :p)
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I'm hardly going to criticise you for "knocking it", if I am also the one doing the most complaining about the camera. :p

My point is that this issue is not just down to the pixels, if you analyze the photos you will see that I am talking about software processing.

See this as an example:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t1/1656037_10151818577271330_1061650214_n.jpg
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Just look at the face... all detail has been digitally crushed by the processing.

Then look how downright bad this photo is with flash...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/1614144_10151818577656330_788347680_o.jpg
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It's barely any better than a Huawei camera in this situation. Flash light pollution is also very noticeable.
 
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Buckster said:
mm after reading this thread - took a look at one in a mobile shop in town today

wasn't anywhere near as impressed as I thought I'd be - screen seemed a lot smaller than I'd expected - didn't seem (seem not actual) really any much bigger than my Iphone 4 screen - I think the bezel size doesn't help its case - somehow it makes the screen feel smaller

tried a few videos on it - yes they looked ok - but again felt not much bigger than my Iphone 4

then tried a Nexus 5 and Note 3 - and the extra screen size felt so much nicer - the Note 3 in particular has a stunning screen - just not sure if that is just TOO big

overall was a bit disappointed - but was only a couple of mins play with one

Note 3 at current prices - seems a lot more for your money, bigger higher res screen, bigger battery, 3gb RAM, 32 gig internal storage etc
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Sorry, but if you are even comaring a Z1 Compact and a Note 3, then you were never the target market of the Z1 Compact in the first place. Apples and Oranges. The whole point is that it isn't much bigger than an iPhone 5, because it is the "compact" high-spec phone that many of us have been hoping for. :)

SPG said:
Same here, i took a peek at one at the weekend, was 90% convinced to replace my S2 with one, but it wasnt as awesome as i expected. Iphone 5s i think now. Dont need anything bigger than the S2.
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Not sure where to even begin with that one. :p
 
Buckster said:
the phone looks a lot better from the back than the front

why such a bezel :( the extra screen size of the Moto G seems noticeable - and size wise they are not disimlar - just less bezel on the G

if you want 720p - the Z1 Compact is nearly 3 times the price of the Moto G - for what a faster processor, better camera and micro usb slot
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Well yes, thats exactly what a premium phone is... higher spec for more money. The Moto G is a great budget phone, but it is not a premium device merely on account of its screen resolution, and the Sony Z1 Compact is in another league in terms of speed and engineering. Battery life is also great, it lasts a full day of heavy abuse.

Plus, it only cost me 33% more than a Moto G would over here. ;)
 
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Arthur Hucksake said:
Good comparison on the camera. When used properly, it's very capable I would say. It comes out well in this test....

http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/C...G2-iPhone-5s-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-HTC-One_id3561

If your using manual mode outside, without any scene modes... it's as good as any.

It just doesn't have that "point and click" feel to it. It's more like a digicam.
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The review you linked starts by saying:

"Superior Auto offers lossless-like digital zoom and takes care of scene adjustments automatically. No modes other than their respective default ones have been applied on the rest of the phones, unless noted otherwise. With this lengthy disclaimer out of the way, let's dive into it!"

You are talking about manual... but it doesn't look like the used anything but superior auto for this comparison?
 
Arthur Hucksake said:
Most of the cam reviews use Auto, which I think is a flawed way of reviewing cameras in these newer phones.

Superior Auto doesn't even use the 20MP feature, and they talk about this so they must have used manual.
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20MP is useless, the 8MP shots produce better results and detail. They specifically say they only in the disclaimer I posted above that used Auto, therefore there is no reason to think otherwise. :confused:

Either way their testing results confirm the appalling low light performance.
 
Arthur Hucksake said:
Are you kidding me? 20MP results are far far superior in any given sense, especially outdoors. Can get some really good pics in daylight with that.

Low light isn't great, but I don't think it is the sensor. Something in the software isn't quite right.

The Auto mode is broken, it seems to set the ISO way too high and the modes it selects are often wrong. Was looking at the display last night and it was doing a sports action shot when just sat indoors. WTF

Look forward to see if they address it in the new update.
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No Im not kidding... 20MP to me exhibits more visible noise outdoors at 200 ISO vs 8MP shots. I will re-test today with some comparison shots to see if my earlier results are accurate or not, as I haven't had much time to do that yet. Taking photos at 8MP is much preferable on a phone either way due to the file size and also the uses the photos will generally have (Facebook, social media). I can't see the upside of 20MP unless doing some serious cropping, and from everything I have seen of this camera the last thing you want to do is extreme cropping. :D

However, now I have really started to play with the camera I am getting much better results with lower ISO settings and higher exposure... but I still don't think it will do so much good indoors. The flash issue lighting up the bottom half of the photo when it flashes indoors is a real issue as far as this camera goes... and I'm pretty sure I don't have anything (any plastic protector etc) covering it... unless its the worlds most invisible protector.

I have also removed the front screen protector and have ordered new ones to replace it. Also a case.

Screen protectors http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310846690138?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Case http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390757171...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

:)
 
Huge thread about the camera issues here, in German so you will need to Google translate http://www.android-hilfe.de/sony-xp...ei-der-verarbeitung-kamera-bilder-inside.html

Apparently it is a design flaw that causes the flash to pollute the picture so badly

There is a huge thread on a german forum going on about this. Apparently the coloured devices suffer even more from this. On example pictures, taken with a lime device, you can clearly see a lime, yellowish blur on the buttom.

It looks like the flashlight is guided through the glass between flash and lens, thus bleeding in the picture. Some guys have tested this by covering the flash with cardboard (or similar). Instead of avoiding the light pollution it got worse.

Unfortunately, this probably will not be fixable with a software update.
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The coloured devices such as lime are apparently even more badly affected than the black ones. :(

PS: The media also picked this up so hopefully Sony will make a response soon It seems the press are now aware and will be following this up... hopefully Sony will make a response soon when they see the evidence http://www.inside-handy.de/news/303...xperia-z1-compact-problem-bei-fotos-mit-blitz
 
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