[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

Well from my xperience with the note 2, the xperia's camera is a winner in everyshot. All my friends who seen pics from camera, are saying its great, the screen is impressive once you relaise that is doesnt overblow colours and overstaurate them, and the menu os os actually is a very dark grey, not black, which alot are dissapointed by it, thinking its the black levels that arent good. When I took a snapshot of the xperia z wallpaper, and viewed in gallery with bravia engine enabled, the colours and contrast really popped, similar to htc dispalys, however once again thats down to prefrence, some people prefer a natural life like viewing experience, while others prefer a high constrast high saturarion eye popping display, similar to how a tv is presented in stores , running on demo mode. While it might look great and eye cathing, you're not really going to take it home and watch a movie on it that way. first thing you do is tone it all down to a more natural setting, because in the end its much more pleasant on the eyes.
Thats how I feel about the xperia z display. The only thing my note wins in, is battery life. However with normal use, the xperia z takes me through a whole day. A compromise iam willing to make.

 
Yes, it doesn't overblow the colours, and I realise lots of the UI elements are grey, but the blacks and contrast still aren't good enough even taking colour reproduction into account. That isn't to say that many won't be satisfied with the screen, but it is objectively the worst panel I have seen for some time if you leave resolution aside. If you look at other 1080p panels it is demonstrably the worst so far (I have an HTC Butterfly, so that isn't hearsay). I should mention that the defects in the display go beyond personal preference, because I prefer natural colour reproduction and especially white balance (the reason I'm running Perseus kernel on my Note 2, it has a professionally calibrated screen setting). There is some suggestion that there is wide variability in the quality of Z screens though, so perhaps I have a 'bad one', but I haven't seen a single credible source like GSMArena say nice things about the display either.
 
You should do a direct comparison with the Note 2 camera, taking shots in the same conditions with the same composition. I did yesterday (shots and commentary are in my Twitter feed) and the Xperia Z camera produced worse shots in almost every setting. You don't have to take my word for it though, check GSMArena for a comprehensive overview. The Z camera is not really any advance on the better 8mp cameras from last year, and in many conditions produces worse shots. Hopefully some of that can be improved with software update, because the most egregious problem is overly aggressive noise reduction smearing out resolved detail (to the point that even in good lighting conditions it resolves less detail shooting in 12mp than my Note 2 does in 8mp).
 
There is a lot to like about the Xperia Z, and many will be very happy with it, no doubt about it. The screen and camera simply aren't as good as the marketing, that is all.

 

[bucho2004]

I Read up alot of reviews on the z before I got it, with contradicting results, so I went and checked it out myself, felt happy enough with it and bought it. initially not wow'd by the screen either, but the more u used the more I fell for it, like like I said a lot more pleasant on the eyes (colours, saturation, depth) especially when using for long periods, than my note 2. Although I haven't played with kernel colour calibration on note 2. I do agree photos are automatically heavily processed by the xperia z, but I really like the end results, very sharp and clear pics. And really bright clear night pics, also quite a few reviews and youtube comarisons prefer xperia camera, so it depends on the individual, I guess if I want more details I take a shot with burst mode, processing disabled, but a bit more noise in pics like my note 2, both are great phones, but overall I prefer the xperia z, also in the sound quality department too, what do you think about the headphone inn sound quality?

 

[NZtechfreak]

I will have to try the burst mode if processing is disabled there - I would expect much better detail resolution given how bad the noise reduction algorithms are that Sony is employing (expect more noise as you say, probably a trade-off I'd make in this case).
 
The photo comparison I did yesterday probably easiest to see on the forum post I did here.

 

[ethan3686]

The phone is very quiet though..the sound levels are very low in headphones..there is a ACID MOD in xda devs that seems to increase volume levels..can someone confirm that?

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

The phone is very quiet though..the sound levels are very low in headphones..there is a ACID MOD in xda devs that seems to increase volume levels..can someone confirm that?

 
No offense but if you feel the max level on the Z is to low, then you are used to listening too loud.
 
Myself, I just did a focused, subjective listening test comparing the Z to the S3 and the iPhone 5. All three were playing Spotify premium files at max quality and I tried to get the same volume levels. After that I did a lot of A-B switching using my Momentum. 
 
 

 
The results? They all sounded very similar. Between the Xperia Z and the iPhone 5, I couldn't tell any difference to be perfectly honest, other than the fact that you can crank the iPhone louder. (Software limit in the Android phones). 
 
The S3 with it's Wolfson DAC sounded slightly warmer and fleshier than the other two. But to say there is a massive difference is silly. 
 
All three do very well with no audible frequency response issues, distortion etc. But that's just me.

 

[ethan3686]

may i know how to remove that limit?? Because i've asked everyone at xda too and all of them had the same thing to say..good sound quality but very low volume levels. [without any dac..direct 3.5mm]

 

[alphabetagaga]

Quote:

The phone is very quiet though..the sound levels are very low in headphones..there is a ACID MOD in xda devs that seems to increase volume levels..can someone confirm that?

 
No offense but if you feel the max level on the Z is to low, then you are used to listening too loud.
 
Myself, I just did a focused, subjective listening test comparing the Z to the S3 and the iPhone 5. All three were playing Spotify premium files at max quality and I tried to get the same volume levels. After that I did a lot of A-B switching using my Momentum. 
 
 

 
The results? They all sounded very similar. Between the Xperia Z and the iPhone 5, I couldn't tell any difference to be perfectly honest, other than the fact that you can crank the iPhone louder. (Software limit in the Android phones). 
 
The S3 with it's Wolfson DAC sounded slightly warmer and fleshier than the other two. But to say there is a massive difference is silly. 
 
All three do very well with no audible frequency response issues, distortion etc. But that's just me.

from the sound of it you preferred the s3 overall if only marginally?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

from the sound of it you preferred the s3 overall if only marginally?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 
I'm not sure actually! In a way I'd like to say yes, because female vocals of the S3 sounded slightly yummier to me. But I don't really like the S3 overall so it doesn't matter

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

may i know how to remove that limit?? Because i've asked everyone at xda too and all of them had the same thing to say..good sound quality but very low volume levels. [without any dac..direct 3.5mm]

 
You could always install a custom rom allowing it.. 

 

[cklow01]

My volume on Z is always 1 or 2 only when paired with my in-ear earphone....... And I already feel that it is quite loud....

 

[mukonera]

Which one has better SQ, Xperia Z or HTC One M7?
Or any other android phone?
 
Did anyone test both beats audio and Sony's clear audio tech.?
I was taught that HTC has an additional hardware eq. to enhance the sq but I don't know if Xperia has too.

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

Which one has better SQ, Xperia Z or HTC One M7?
Or any other android phone?
 
Did anyone test both beats audio and Sony's clear audio tech.?
I was taught that HTC has an additional hardware eq. to enhance the sq but I don't know if Xperia has too.

 
You should leave all those auto EQ settings OFF for best results.

 

[stiggy771]

have you compared it to the SQ of S3??  I really need a good phone for my Westone 4r's. Currently using a 4th Gen Ipod touch with FLAC files, but I just don't think I am getting the full potential out of my Westones from it. 

 

[Jpfe8851]

The problem with device convergence is that we are expecting too much from them. I've been using converged devices since the early days of Atom 02, HTC and Dopod phones... None of them were much good at anything. More novelty than usable phones especially. iPhone changed that but still has limitations.
 
My iPhone 5 is a damn good phone and email on the go client. And the array of apps is staggeringly useful. But is left behind by both my Walkman Z and especially my iBasso DX100 as a music source. My W4Rs sound great from both these DAPs but flat from my phone. You could mate your iPod with a DAC/Amp to get more from your W4Rs but you may as well get a decent DAP as stacking devices is just a pain. If you're going to carry both phone and decent amp may as well make them decent separates and enjoy the best of both.
 
Just a personal thought based on years of trial and error.

 

[stiggy771]

damn, i was really hoping that Sony included the qualities of the Walkman Z to the Xperia. Guess I fell for this ad blindly,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndXBUf9Xdgo