Sony Xperia X Compact

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Starlith

208 posts

Master Geek

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#211672 6-Apr-2017 15:01

I am planning on upgrading from my z3 compact to either this or an iPhone SE from Vodafone store.

Any thoughts or advice from owners of this device?

I've noticed cases and screen protectors are hard to come by

04fuxake

64 posts

Master Geek

#1785915 22-May-2017 12:09

I'm probably a bit late to this but in case anyone is considering this phone, here are my thoughts (coming from a Samsung Galaxy S3).

It's very fast for a "mid-range" device. I'm running Android 7.0 and have not had any slowdowns. I guess the 3GB RAM helps this a lot.

The battery can easily get through a whole day or moderate usage. Standby is even better and it fair sips the battery when not in use. It also includes BatteryCare which watches how you charge your phone and will adjust the rate of charge to prolong the battery life. E.g. if you always charge overnight, it will kick in full-speed until it gets to about 90% and then just sits there until your alarm nears when it will ramp up to 100%.

The Sony UI is a very light skin over stock Android which is really nice.

The camera takes good photos but can be a bit slow when processing each taken photo. I gather this is a problem with all Xperia phones. Also, the camera's manual SCN modes can only be used in 4:3 8MP resolution.

The "black" variant is actually a very dark blue. If you can, get the misty blue or white variant (VFNZ only sell the "black" one) because the "black" one shows scratches and fingerprints like a mofo.

The button placement is unorthodox but when you actually use it, it makes sense. The power button/fingerprint sensor is the best placed of all phones on the market, IMO. If you register a finger and thumb from each hand, you can pretty much unlock it from any position - holding in either hand, laying on a table, face up or down. HOWEVER, while the fingerprint sensor is super fast, it is very sensitive to moisture so you need dry fingertips.

Cases and accessories are not abundant but there are a few sellers on TradeMe with cases. I'm currently using a Nillkin TPU case which is very slim but still adds some scratch protection. The only thing you lose is the nice curved shape of the phone in the hand.

While the phone is not marketed as water-resistant like the previous Z-series phones were, it apparently IS waterproof. There are plenty of vids on YouTube of people submerging them for minutes in water and coming out unscathed. Having said that, IF you did get it damaged by water, you'd probably have no luck with a warranty claim. Rumour has it Sony didn't want to deal with the warranty issues so they didn't advertise it.

NzBeagle

962 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1785960 22-May-2017 13:33

I've got the 'misty blue' as mentioned above. Great phone, especially if you like the size. I came back to the Sony's, z3 compact -> Note 5 -> X Compact, for the smaller phone. The phone is capable, all the factors mentioned above ring true with my experience. The camera is a little slower than I found on the z3 compact, I wondered if this was due to the mid range vs high range chipset. The fingerprint sensor position and success I find much better than on the Note 5.

Android runs well, and May security update has been sent through, hoping to go 7.1.1 soon, as still on 7.0 with my phone. Runs every app about as good, if not better than the note 5.

Have not tested the water resistance and don't use any protective cases.

04fuxake

64 posts

Master Geek

#1788622 26-May-2017 11:22

What firmware are you running on your misty blue? I'm assuming it is an import? Mine hasn't got the update yet.

NzBeagle

962 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1788638 26-May-2017 11:32

04fuxake:

What firmware are you running on your misty blue? I'm assuming it is an import? Mine hasn't got the update yet.

34.2.A.2.69 - 7.0 - 1 May 2017 Sec Patch

UK Import

Starlith

208 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#1788705 26-May-2017 12:41

So I ended up trading in my old Z3 and Z3 Compact to Vodafone for the X Compact which cut the price down to an affordable $500

So far brilliant phone, speedy, perfect size, crisp looking screen with bright colours and deep blacks, the camera captures alot of detail during the day but has slight distortion around the edges while at night with the smaller pixels on the sensor it is not as good at capturing the light as others out there unless you have a really steady hand. Also the camera processing is a bit slower than the Z3.

If this phone had the new Sony 19MP sensor I believe this would be the ultimate compact phone.

The battery for me is slightly better than my Z3C on Android 6.0.

The fingerprint sensor on the power button since the Z5 is a stroke of genius and is the best I've ever used, can't stand having it on the back or front like the Samsungs and Apples.

I'm on stock vodafone firmware 7.0 which I really don't mind as this phone is very fast and responsive, I have flashtool and XperiFirm on standby if I want to flash another firmware.

The downfall for upgrading to this phone is the difficulty to get it rooted. The rooted features I had on the Z3 series kept the phone alive but with Blokada as a non-rooted replacement for Adaway and the hidden Android 7.0 Night Mode toggle as a non-rooted replacement for flux I can't see myself needing to root the phone.

The only other gripe is how hard it is to find decent accessories for the X Compact compared to say an iPhone but I managed to get what I needed even with minimal choice on accessories.

Loving this phone and the size of the screen, can't believe I even considered getting a smaller screen iPhone SE.