Some annoyances with the XZ1 compact (mostly software related)

[Minty_Mark]

I've recently bought the Xperia XZ1, and I have to say to build quality and performance is top notch.

That being said, there are a couple of things that deeply annoy me and I wish to share these with Sony and the community, hoping the developers will fix these issues with software updates.

Auto brightness.

The screen brightness is constantly shifting when the device is in a low light environment when auto brightness is enabled: darker, lighter, darker, lighter, etc. within seconds. Transitions should be smoother than they are now because they are very noticeable, wich is annoying to the user.

Blinking red notification LED (low battery)

There is no option to disable the blinking red notification LED light when battery is below 15%. The led blinks every few seconds which is extremely annoying, and there's no way to disable this right now. Android already shows a message to notify the user of low battery, no need to tell me again every second using such an extreme measure!

Redundant notifications

- The user receives a notification every time mobile data is switched off. My question is: why? I clicked the "mobile data" button myself to switch it off, no need to tell me every time! In addition, Android already tells the user that mobile data is switched off in a way that is much more subtle, by showing an 'x' with the mobile data icon (in the top right corner). The notification of which I speak is thus completely redundant.

- Whenever I turn on "Do not disturb" mode there appears a persistent notification in the drop down menu. Again, there is no need for this since Android already reminds the user this mode is enabled when pressing the volume buttons. Sadly, this notification cannot be swiped away, it can only be muted for 2 hours maximum. Since I like to have "priority only" mode switched on permanently, not being able to hide this message is quite maddening.

Data arrows

There is no need to show the 'arrows' when mobile data/wifi is enabled. Please remove this 'feature' because it is very distracting.

Afterthought

Since all issues are software related, I sincerely hope that Sony will fix these issues with software updates in the nearby future. I like the hardware, but so far the Sony software experience is quite a letdown. Some features added to the vanilla Android ROM have proven to be helpful (for instance, I like super stamina mode), but others are quite irksome!

If anyone else has the same experience as me: please, speak up!

[silestanix]

+1 on the auto brightness bug, it's so annoying that I've had to switch it off, bad user experience, my Z3c is a LOT smoother.  

+1 on the data transmission arrows too. 

Also, battery life is so unpredictable! My Z3c lasted well over a day, the XZ1c will just about do a day and that's with stamina mode on (balanced). 

I actually think that if things don't get sorted out I'll sell up and get my Z3c screen fixed. I can't deal with issues on a phone that's cost me £480 when my older Z3c performs several things better. It's embarrassing for you Sony, fix this

*edit* - Also, Google play services is absolutely KILLING my battery life. Just like it did before on my Z3c before Sony fixed it. 

[trondhb]

I've tried a program called Lux Auto Brightness. Works much better than the built in backlight brightness control. So it should be possible for Sony to fix this issue.

Impressed with battery life, lasted five days. 

[Profyler1]

Shouldn't the navigational bar disappear when surfing on the net in full screen? 

It is still in the bottom =\

[Profyler1]

Another bad implemented thing:. When you are home for example and on WiFi  and go somewhere else (work for example), if you pull down the notification and click in the little WiFi arrow to see the WiFi around, it only shows the old WiFi around your home, and not the WiFi around your work. You have to actually go to the WiFi settings and then you will have the updated WiFi list on the notifications.

[najodleglejszy]

@Profyler1 that depends entirely on the app you're using, and Google Chrome doesn't do that.

[Profyler1]

---

@najodleglejszy wrote:

@Profyler1 that depends entirely on the app you're using, and Google Chrome doesn't do that.

---

Oh ok, i got the impression that my old z1 did have full screen when browsing on chrome. Thanks anyway.

[Tyler_ksu]

Anyone else having issues with the smart backlight feature? As in it doesn't work? Turned on with sleep setting at 15 seconds, the screen dims at about 12 seconds and then turns off at 15 seconds. Tried gradually moving the phone so it "knows" I'm looking at it but still doesn't work. 

[Profyler1]

mine works. i think it uses the infra red to "see" you

may be youre not a human....