Hi guys. I wanted to share my personal experience with the Sony Xperia Z1.
To put things into perspective, I am a long standing Sony person, I've owned and own many Sony products ranging from game consoles [PS1, PS2, currently PS3 and soon PS4], I own 3 of their smart TVs, a have many Sony headphones and I generally try to buy as many Sony products as I can.
Sony for me has always been for me a garance of premium quality and design and as far as either goes, I have always received both in spades. That is, untill I've decided to buy my first Sony smartphone, the Xperia Z1.
I've owned many different phones in my life, some Nokias and recently Samsung's offerings.
I've always taken good care of my electronics and the Z1 is no exception.
I've been waiting to finally pull the plug on a Sony smartphone.
First I was considering the Z, but it was a bit of a mixed bag, then the Z Ultra, which I should have probably gone with and finally deciding for the Z1, which I've expected to be an improvement over the Z Ultra, but that's where my disappointment begins.
The Z1 overall feel is great, the OmniBalance design, the sleek looks, the aluminium body, that's all very good and something I've expected and like. The performance is solid, the phone is absolutely a beast and has no problems with anything I throw at it. The battery life is okay and the camera is getting better with every update.
The disappointment thereby lies in the display. Straight on, it is pretty good but I take 2 big key issues with it and a smaller one with the phone.
1] the substandard, terrible, viewing angles - the viewing angles of the Z1 are terrible. From what I understand, there are more panels at play here [source - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2445283].
Seems like most of us Europeans got the Sharp panel, which is not much better than the panels used in the Xperia Z, where viewing angles were a known issue. It was something that was resolved on the Z Ultra, using an IPS display. So a successor to the Z line should be even better, right? Ow, how wrong I was... Whenever you tilt the phone off angle, even slightly, the colors get washed out and lose their vibrance, reds, greens, blues, oranges, all those colors lose their tone and look dull and washed out. Even the slightest tilt off centre causes this. It's an issue I encounter daily, whenever I just want to put the phone down on something and watch videos or images, it happens.
Ironically enough, the Z2 solves that issue fully, again by utilizing the IPS display! Does that mean I drew the shortest straw? Did I luck out on my display pannel? How do you go from bad viewing angles on the Z, to great viewing angles on the Z Ultra, AND BACK AGAIN to the bad viewing angles on the Z1, only to fix them again on the Z2?! Really Sony?! WTH... This is a problem I never had with my, arguably cheaper, Samsung LCD phones, like the Ace II - that display has amazing viewing angles compared to the Z1... how is that acceptable? So does the Z Ultra!
Which brings me to another problem:
2] The display is prone to scratches like nothing I've used before. I can again refer to the Ace II that's a phone that took much more abuse than the Z1 yet there is not a single scratch on the Ace. Now the Z1, a phone I've owned for less than two months, pampered like a baby, never dropped anywhere from any height and never done anything remotely abusive to , already has the very top part of the display scratched... It's only on the surface, so in theory those scratches should be fixable but really? A 700$+ device should not be prone to scratching like this. I wanted to exchange the Z1 for the Z Ultra because of issue 1], but after 4 days of very little in home use, a mysterious scratch appeared in the top right corner! How? Did the display crack? I literally have NO IDEA how that scratch got there... might have been there from the start for all I know!. All I know is that it was not accepted for return or exchange because of a scratch I am positive I did not cause...
The point is, the phone would be amazing if the display was not sub-par. The Z Ultra has an IPS display and so does the Z2... Why would you skimp there on the Z1? Wasn't it supposed to be the best of Sony even better"Well the Z Ultra is obviously a better device there, save for the camera... But it is also $100 cheaper at the same time!
How do you use an inferior screen on a device that's supposed to be better and more expensive?
This brings me to the minor issue:
3] The speaker - it's terrible. It's the worst speaker of all the flagship phones out there and it's again something that's been only fixed on the Z2... With a stereo setup!
Do you really expect me, Sony, to shell the same amount of money again after 4 months for the Z2?!
I really feel like the Z1 should have been the same as the Z2, the flaws present on the Z, should have been remedied on the Z1 yet ironically they were fixed only on the Z Ultra... And then brought back!
Z2 is a perfect Z [and Z1], stereo speakers, IPS display + outstanding viewing angles, better panel... Why wasn't the Z1 just that then?
I feel bad. It's the first time Sony disappointed me. I've been used to getting the best experience from Sony but this phone showed me something else - an ugly face in a perfect body... Sony's displays have always been outstanding and still are... Why make a device that breaks the magic :/?
It's a shame really because otherwise, I absolutely love this phone, but the display doesn't allow me to enjoy it fully.
I will remain a Sony fan for the future, as I am a firm believer in Sony, but this disappointment will remain in me for a long time, as it's part of a device I use daily and the display is not something you can overlook.
I guess I'll be more careful next time when buying a phone from Sony... I'll think it through twice and decide carefuly to make sure not to be burnt twice... The Z2 is the phone I should have gone for... If I only knew, I would have waited 2 months longer... It's the same price...
Really disappointed 😕 You've left me down guys! Big time.
That's about all I wanted to write... I wanted to get this out so sorry if it came out as a bit of a rant. I just wasn't expecting this from a company that never let me down before... A sad day for me indeed...
Hope I won't see this Sony's side ever again!
