Sony Xperia smartphones look so good on paper. So why is it that we don’t recommend them? Here’s our answer to that and a brief 2023 review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV.
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Poor updates (policy), overpriced for the specs. I mean, 400-500 for a phone with a SD695 and 60hrz? Come on… Such a shame, because they are the only ones with a screen without a punchhole/camera cutout…
And they quit making the compact. I rocked 3 or 4 new old stock Xperia xz1 for YEARS. Smallest phones I could get at the time. Now I’m doing the same thing with the s10e which I still feel is too big.
Yes. I loved the compact! Small size is still a major criteria when I look at phones, but they’re unfortunately just getting bigger and bigger… Plus, yeah they were sorta expensive, but super solid. Would buy again anytime.
I miss my Droid Mini so much. i loved that tiny little thing.
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Yea if they hadn’t cancelled the compact back then, I would’ve went with it instead of the S10e I got af the time.
2 Years of updates was my reason. Samsung is up to 7,Apple is about 5 or 6 and Google is 7 years.
Note this is based off of my memory so I could be wrong.
Fairphone is minimum 8 years.
Who the fuck keeps (and uses) a phone for 8 years?
It would be more realistic if they made batteries easily swappable. If I could just pop off the back of the phone and swap a battery in 20 seconds I’d keep that phone forever.
Back in my day, you don’t need 20 seconds to replace a battery. And battery is not just replaceable, but also interchangeable. Multiple phone models could be using the same battery, making it cheaper and more available.
5 years and still going strong. Not planning to replace any time soon.
People who prefer to not release toxic waste for no good reason?
I just bought a new phone. I went with a Galaxy again. I really wanted the Sony because it has a great feature set. However, I was not confident in long term support, which Sony has said will be much shorter than competitors. And it also cost about 30% more than the other flagship phones. I can’t justify spending more money for a phone that will last me half as long.
No entry level options, relatively lower specs for the price asked, mediocre software support. That being said, they are one of the few OEMs in their price segment to still offer headphone jacks.
Shit updates, expensive, terrible marketing (since ever). I used to buy Xperia phones exclusively, the compact ones to be precise, then Sony decided that compact phones and affordable phones had to go, I bought an Xperia 10 (I or II, can’t remember) and it absolutely sucked. When it broke I bought a random Chinese phone from the store, ended up with a Realme. Works better, with worse battery life tho.
Their phones are far too expensive and their software support is horrible.
Stubborn ideologies, slow to changes, devices get abandoned after 2 years.
Used to be a big fan of Xperia phones up until the Xperia 5.
I loved my XZ premium . Would still use it if it hadn’t come down with an unfixable charging issue.
My favorite phone was a Sony Xperia Compact. If they still have SD Card slots my next phone will be Sony.
Posted from my Xperia 5.
Marketing and availablity. Unless you watch Phonereviews you probably have no idea these phones exist.
Does Sony still make phones ? … The last time I saw someone using a Sony phone was probably 8 years ago
I probably would consider them, but their phones tend to have lackluster US carrier/band support and lack of security updates. Coupling that with the high price tag, no go.
Pixel OS. It’s the best out of the box experience for most users.
I was planning on getting an Xperia 1 VI.
Gonna flash LineageOS on it.
I have the 1 VI, it’s great. No lineage available yet, might take a while
Is it bootloader unlockable?
If it is, try checking treble compatibilty.
If passed, Lineage may be supported.
Yes you can unlock the bootloader (not supported on the Japanese model and there is no US model this time), I’m not sure how well the camera system works on a gsi. On previous models they had to use proprietary blobs to get it to work properly
I got a 1ii and though LineageOS works great compared to stock, it still has its downsides - on the top of my head screen mirroring is lost and since LOS21 can’t make Magisk w/ zigisk work.
I used to have an Xperia pro, the one with the physical keyboard. It was my last keyboard phone. I absolutely loved it.
Flashed a different OS, cyanogenmod I believe, which broke the governor chip (irreparable; known issue but super buried, would have done the same with any OS of that version number, including stock) so it would read as a dead battery if not on the charger.
Never touched Sony phones again. Don’t trust them at all.
