Ingram85 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Apart from the higher res screen and update support I think the huawei ascend mate 7 has the nexus 6 beat in every other regard. Smaller size (just) but still 6 inch (1080p), hell of a lot thinner, bigger battery (2 days use), great fingerprint scanner integration, good internals, good cameras, cheaper etc... The only thing is that huawei is still somewhat of an unknown entity I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astondalston Posted November 13, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 13, 2014 So, Z3 owners, can I tap you up for your thoughts on the phone after living with it for a while? Is the camera as good as they say? Is having a dedicated button for the camera a big deal? Battery life? How offensive is Sony's skin and is the PS4 remote play any good? I've been using a Z1 for over a year now. Currently running on 4.4 and find it superior in almost every way to my work iPhone 5S. The skin is minimally different to stock android (I even prefer Sony's Home icon)and the only minor annoyance is Xperia Lounge notifications which land once a month or so. Battery lasts a day easily (using batteryguru). Camera-wise, I rarely use the dedicated button, mainly because the case I've got impedes it slightly, but you can launch from the lock screen by swiping up. I love the fact its waterproof and have taken loads of pics on holiday with my kids jumping around in pools, lakes, etc I wouldn't mind a Z3 myself, but don't see much advantage over my Z1 for the extra cash. If you don't have one already, i'd say jump right in... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted November 13, 2014 Administrator Share Posted November 13, 2014 So, Z3 owners, can I tap you up for your thoughts on the phone after living with it for a while? Is the camera as good as they say? Is having a dedicated button for the camera a big deal? Battery life? How offensive is Sony's skin and is the PS4 remote play any good? I've got a z2 tablet. It updated to 4.4.4 last night. Nice piece of kit. The only problem with Sony's skin is that I can't remove the pigging awful facebook app. I can't think of any issues I've had with it. I've not used the camera as it's a tablet and I'm not a clearing in the woods. I don't have a PS4. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astondalston Posted November 13, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 13, 2014 I've deleted the FB app on my Z1 so i'd forgotten about that. It was very annoying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Rev, 3 of my good friends have gone from the iPhone 5 / 5S to the Z3 and they love it. As a Nexus 5 user I'm considering a Z3 myself just for the battery life alone - unless Android L shows an improvement. The skin seems pretty inoffensive from using it, and they've confirmed rolling lollipop onto their devices in early 2015. As an aside, I have serious reception issues with the Nexus 5. The mobile signal seems to clash with LTE or WiFi quite often, meaning I'll get quit a few missed calls without the phone ever ringing. It's also very slow to pick up the signal after leaving known signal blackspots. For instance, my carpark is known for having no reception, but it can take a good minute or two after leaving before the phone picks up the carrier signal again. Notably slower than my work Blackberry (on the same mobile operator). So annoying as it's otherwise a very good phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 I guess there are 2 reasons I went down the Nexus road, firstly is its stock android and secondly is the speed of updates to the latest version. Stock android can be improved as can be seen by The Moto X additions and the camera isnt always what it should be when compared to other flagship devices. The speed of updates looks like it has improved massively with LG and Motorola being right on the case and get them out to users almost as quick if not quicker than Nexus handsets which begs the question of why would I want to buy a Nexus phone? Google have positioned it in the market up against the other big players and so will have to compete on more than just price. It will be very interesting to see how sales of the this Nexus go because of both price and size and how that might affect Googles thinking on the Nexus program in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 I have the Z1. It lasts a day easily. Camera is very good, I have some fantastic photos from it. Tomorrow I leave the house at 8, I listen to 2/3 hours music, do 2/3 hours web browsing, check emails, notifications, make one/two calls, send 30/40 texts. By the time I get home it will be on 40-45% I'll screen grab at 8 and at 6 when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Battery today; I have used it for music, email, tweeting, texts, calls.. And a slightly edited pic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarule123 Posted November 13, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 13, 2014 So, Z3 owners, can I tap you up for your thoughts on the phone after living with it for a while? Is the camera as good as they say? Is having a dedicated button for the camera a big deal? Battery life? How offensive is Sony's skin and is the PS4 remote play any good? Barely used remote play but it was just as good as the Vita. Camera is very good but I would say that coming from a N5. Sony's skin is fine and the battery life is amazing. I forgot to charge it last night, so I had it on 70% from 7am, used it shit loads for browsing the web and it's still on 38% as of right now. It shits all over the N5. Not to mention it's water&dust proof. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 (edited) In use for 9 hours. Smartwatch via Bluetooth, music, data.. Edited November 14, 2014 by limpid fixed image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I think I might sit on my Nexus 4 until spring now. Seriously tempted by the Z3, but 5.0 Lollypop is coming to the Nexus 4 and that might tide me over until the spring flagships are released in March/April time. HTC should have an offering then, Samsung too but Touchwiz is the devil and I am not at all interested in that one, but I do wonder if Sony will continue with their six month refresh cycle of the Xperia Z range or not. If they do then it will put them into the time period I am considering but I suspect they put out two flagship handsets in 2014 for the same reason Apple put out two iPads out in a year not so long ago, and that is so they could move the annual upgrade date to a different financial quarter. I have no way of knowing what Sony plan of course but I am prepared to wait. Part of it is my urge to get a 4G tariff, I'm entitled to a 20% discount on Vodafone (perk of my job) but they don't offer 4G in Nuneaton at the moment. I'll be able to get 4G in Birmingham and Westminster, places I spend a lot of time in every day and places where I am much more likely to use cellular data than I am in Nuneaton where I have several reliable WiFi connections. I'll see if Vodafone plan to cover Nuneaton by then, I spoke to the guy in the main Vodafone shop in Birmingham yesterday but all he could tell me is that they were committed to having 98% coverage of Great Britain by December 2015 but he couldn't offer details of which postcodes are getting covered when. Why couldn't Google have just made the Nexus 6 a more compelling purchase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarule123 Posted November 14, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 14, 2014 Go with 3 for unlimited 4G! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 TechRadar gave the N6, 4 and a half out of 5. Decent enough review. The things that are unknown are the battery life (which is said to be average), whether it'll be too big for most users, and whether it is value for money. It's not that much bigger than most flagships these days. I've got small hands so have to two hand a 5.5 inch screen anyway. Why not go 6 inches. Specwise the N6 looks excellent, even the camera is decent if not overwhelming, by most accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted November 14, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 14, 2014 I havent had a Nexus as a primary phone. I'm going for the 6. Going from 6.4 to 6 in size shouldn't matter. I do like Android 5. Very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 (edited) Go with 3 for unlimited 4G! I've been on 3 for a long time, I want to say since about 2006 or 2007. Their signal strength has took a noticeable dive in the past 12 months or so which kills my battery. I'm not sure whether that is because they have sacrificed 3G strength for 4G coverage or not but whatever it is doesn't help me out with my 3G/HSPA+ handset. Getting HSPA+ has been a lottery for months which is a huge concern. Bringing it back to the Nexus 6, I guess the two sites I tend to trust the most for reviews (Anandtech and Ars) have been two of the most critical, some of the other places just have less credibility, Android Authority will love it, The Verge will score it not an iPhone/10 but I am still interested to see what Marques Brownlee has to say. When Google announced the size of the phone I instantly had second thoughts and after a while had decided that it had to be an exceptional handset to get my business if I was going to have a handset which doesn't fit in my breast pocket (I often keep my N4 there if I am listening to Podcasts). The fact that battery life and camera seem to be poor again really are alarming when you consider they bumped the price by £200 and size of the thing means they should be able to get a huge battery and a big camera sensor in the chassis. Edited November 14, 2014 by The_Rev 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I'll be giving this nexus a miss. My next phone will be an Xperia... or, not to go off topic, potentially an Iphone6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismail-villa Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Waiting for the Lollipop update still!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 15, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 15, 2014 I've not used the camera as it's a tablet and I'm not a clearing in the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 When is the Nexus 4 getting Android 5.0? Had my phone in bits this week as I broke the screen. Didn't realise it would be so easy to change the battery so may replace it if 5.0 is imminent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 The factory image is out now so you can install it manually if you don't mind wiping your phone. The OTA will be in days or weeks I guess. That won't wipe your phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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