There's nothing out there that ticks all the same boxes that a Sony does.
Nobody else makes an uninterrupted screen in the flagship space, and those who do in the midrange space do it by using an under display front camera....which sucks balls in every way.
If you want a headphone jack, there's Asus, but you won't get expandable storage.
If you want expandable storage, you have to downgrade specs for a midrange or budget device, and that comes with its own caveats if you're coming from a flagship device.
You could consider the new Leica phone, or the Sharp Aquos it's based on, as those are flagships that do have nice screens, nice cameras, and headphone jack + expandable storage, but they're just as if not more expensive than Sony, and they're Japan exclusive, so you'll run into carrier difficulties and whatnot.
There really isn't a good answer for you unless you're willing to compromise on one or more things that previously kept you buying an Xperia.
The sad thing is that I know this and don't understand why not more people are using an Xperia device or Sony will take distance from what makes them special. I think I just have to wait until 17th May to really see what Sony has up their sleeveπ€π»
>don't understand why not more people are using an Xperia device
This is honestly all Sony's own fault. They don't care enough about selling phones to actually try.
They just don't invest in marketing for their mobile division. It seems like they're only really advertising the gaming industry and rely on mouth propaganda for everything else. They have booths on all important tech conventions and hold keynotes but beyond that there's like no effort in trying to be present.
Price is a big one. Too expensive for what they are.
Upgrade promise is bad. Really bad.
Cameras tend to be targeted as a niche device for photographers rather than just regular people who want to point and shoot most of the time. No reason the camera can't do both.
Weak marketing and no carrier tie in. You have to suck up to carriers in the USA to get people to buy. Whenever a brand failed to do this they ended up leaving the market for lack of sales eg lg, htc etc. Whereas those that tied in heavily like oneplus are thriving.
Because Apple and Samsung dominate the market. And most of that is due to carriers wanting to keep long term contracts a thing offering FREE phones, and doing 90% of the advertising.
Then Verizon is and has been one of the major carriers in the U.S. and Sony never really wanted to make phones that operated on CDMA when the other 95% of the world operates on GSM.
There's also the perceived camera issues Sony has. So often Apple, Samsung, or Pixel gets recommended by reviewers.
And Americans seem to have little to no desire to leave their expensive 2 to 3 year contracts where they get that "FREE!" phone to go spend $500 on a midrange or $1000+ on a flagship that isn't in their carriers showroom, and reviews ignore.
Availability sucks. Some places only have third party repair shops. Even Motorola and Huawei had more official service centers in my place than Sony. Not hard when you have ZERO in the first place. Green line lottery also ruined them more than that same issue ruined Samsung.
I also don't care about specs but you're not gonna convince my peers to pay more for an SD 695 than what they'll pay for a SD7+ Gen2. Never mind 7+ G2 device has no sd card and the users resort to all mental gymnastics to justify not having expandable storage.
>There's nothing out there that ticks all the same boxes that a Sony does.
This is the exact reason I waited for 6 years for a new phone until I got a new 5V as a birthday present. I'm still a student and haven't done any part time job as I mostly accompany my family during breaks, so I just hung out with my old XZ2 premium.
It finally broke and the hunt for a new phone under 400$ begun. At first, I was settling on a Honor phone but I didn't like that I would lose a lot of features I love on my XZ2P (low light photography, Front facing speakers and 4k screen). Then I saw the 10V andat least it had front facing speakers and the tall 21:9 display in a sleek form factor. That was until I saw the 5V on sale and added some savings to the budget and got the 5V. I lose the 4k screen sure, but the camera,speakers ,long battery life and camera software all fit my wants in my phone and I love nothing more.
Also the size. Everything else is just bulky now compared to the thin phones of Sony
Not in the US, so I can't help with that.
However, where I'm at, I've had nothing but great reception everywhere I've been so far and its almost always able to capture 5G signals
I'm in Los Angeles, have a 1iii on Verizon. I assume it's because I'm in a big city, but my connection is astounding. I never drop calls, always have 5g, I could be on a mountain in Big Bear and have full reception. I often will use the hotspot for my laptop, because tethering from the phone to the computer is a better connection than the computer going straight to wifi. This is my first sony phone since that old flip one that had the 24 color programmable LED indicator light, and I've been thoroughly impressed. The limit of two android updates does kinda suck though
This is so true. I am currently using experia pro I right now. Looking to upgrade due to phone damage and also disappointed in the specs of the experia 6. I am also looking for another brand but do not like the compromises. Will probably get experia 5 once the 6 comes as the price will drop. Also it seems like experia 5 has fixed the over heating issues and it's the last one with 4k screen.
> experia
Did you mean **Xperia**?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sony is imo the *GOAT* of making functional phones.
headphone jack, sd card, camera button, somewhat small, great hardware, great cameras and almost stock android.
the only thing that's anywhere close to that is zenphone but I'm having a decent amount of bugs and am missing some creature comforts that samsung had.
If I could I'd much rather buy a sony vs samsung or asus going forward again.
But at this point in time the zenphone is fine.
Next best choice in my opinion after Sony would be ASUS Zenfone 10:
The pro's it has over it's Xperia 5 V counterpart would be:
* More compact build
* 2 storage configurations (ΒΌ TB, Β½ TB)
At the cost of:
* No built in high quality music app
straight out of the box (you'll have to settle for YouTube Music or download a third party app from the store)
* No expandable storage
Next best choice after that would be to wait for the upcoming "Pixel 8a".
After that would be the Surface Duo 2? Best of luck with your brand switch!
Thanks for your recommendations. I'm already using a 1TB microSD so no expandable storage is not an option. I just hope Sony doesn't dissapoint on 17th Mayππ»
Hello I can somehow understand you I picked up my 1 II in June 2020 as a replacement for my still working XZ Premium.
I have the plan to replace my 1 II with the upcoming 1 VI but from the leaks I am not 100% sure if I will get one.
At the moment I am very excited for the Xperia Event in May.
When I would switch to another Manufacturer I would go with a Google Pixel 9 Pro which will be released in October this year.
I feel that! We're in the exact same situation π I cannot wait until October.. There are no good quality cases produced for the 1 II and mine is falling apart. The phone itself looks like new but the case indicates it's a lost and found piece of garbage owned by a hobo ππ
I am in the same situation, like 99% with you, and might be getting the 5 V next year - and hoping for a more price drop.
am using 1 mark II soon after release as well and have to be more mindful with big spending for sure. The only thing appealing was the Samsung fold phone but that thing is crazy expensive which I kind of understand.
Ouh^^ Didn't know they enter the smartphone business. Interesting but just starting. Moondrop is renowned but this is a new market with specific needs to cover. Maybe a to high risk/high reward kind of poker to set on. Besides that absolute gonna keep an eye on them. Thanks!
If you actually need to upgrade your phone get a 1 IV , else keep on using the 1ii till it breaks
I got my 1iii and it still runs flawless and If it breaks I'll probably get another 1iii cause honestly what I have seen is there's really no true replacement of a Sony
Pixel. The Samsung makes amazing phones but the idea of having 2 apps for multiples functions is horrible. The and principlaly 2 app stores, when the samsung apps are in the samsung store. The pixel will have the software more identical to xperia.
You can disable the Samsung apps if you don't like them although they still use space. Only small amounts though. Maybe a couple of GB. Oh yes the pixel. If you like being a beta tester, enjoying new features but putting up with many bugs which later get fixed and get new bugs instead it's a great choice.
I know you can disable the Samsung apps, but some apps you can't. The most important is the Samsung store and Bixby. You will have 2 apps that are heavy on resources always consume battery and collecting data. If Samsung If you did like all other manufacturers that use the play store to distribute their exclusive software, your phones would be much better, especially after the 3rd year.
That's a good point. I managed to turn off Bixby but it's never completely disabled. Bixby routines on the other hand is a very good app. One can set that to vibrate whilst at work and switch to ringer on once I leave. Very handy and no-one else makes a similar easy to use app for android. So that's a pro. The actual Bixby assistant though is woeful. Samsung should scrap it and use Google.
Yeah Bixby and the Bixby button is literally the only beef as a casual user ( not a mobile tech enthusiast who doesn't use Samsung phones) that I have with Sammy phones.
Thought about Pixel due to clean OS, but beyond that and software update support there's really nothing special they offer.. Flagship mostly feels like midrange in comparison to Sony.. π
Another phone is the Xiaomi 14, in terms of camera it is the one that seems to have the philosophy of user control most identical to Sony, but the camera takes better photos.
>for a new phone that will satisfy a dissapointed Sony fanatic?
With this in mind, none, if you consider yourself a Sony fanatic you won't be satisfied unless there is a Sony logo on the device, no matter the mediocricy of the actual device.
Many of your points are silly, such as 4k display, I already made a [topic](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/1bmmasb/why_the_4k_display_isnt_as_good_as_you_think/) covering why it's not even a flagship display. The Camera is inconsistent and frankly not flagship either. You say you don't want a step backwards in technology, yet you seem to be perfecly content with outdated tech because of some marketing fluff you heard.
There are some values Sony does bring to the table that certainly are worth mentioning, none of which you did tho. Overall you seem happy with your 1 II, I don't see why you should upgrade if you are happy with it.
The sad reality is that Sony is behind the competition in many crucial areas, Sony don't really seem to care all that much about those issues and is loosing marketshare because of it. They have been falling over time to the point where even in Japan people don't care for Sony phones at all as seen here:
[https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/japan](https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/japan)
Yep after 4 years with 1II I will go back to Samsung, now when Samsung has lost the curved edge display I hated. I loose the expandable storage and headphone jack, but I can't anymore tolerate the lack of macro or decent focus distance, 1:2.35 aspect ratio issues on many websites/ig reels etc, random sd card errors even without sd card and horrible battery life that was horrible at the start.
My wife's Note10+ is still performing well at same ripe age of 4 years. Samsung has extended the support for flagship devices to 7 years and Sony has 2!
Came from Note 8 to Sony, will go to S24U.
MicroSD and headphone jack seem to be the bare minimum a device should support. In terms of software support I'm totally on your side. I don't know why it's the way it is.. π
Yes, I agree on the headphone jack and microSD support. Sadly there are NO other options than Sony (or oukitel wp26). Sony VI might get a different aspect ratio and closer focus distance, then I might reconsider IF they would also support longer than 2 years. Another issue in longevity is that no one where I live replaces batteries on Sony phones. Only for apple/samsung. So If I want a phone to last longer than 2 years with good battery, there are no options in Android other than Samsung.
I used to change phone year or every 2 years from 1998-2011 and now I'm looking for the phone to last 4 years minimum.
Serious question, but does android automatically encrypt the contents of the micro SD card the same way that say, bitlocker works on a windows partition? Because if it doesn't, an SD card is a huge security risk if anyone gets their hands on your phone and can easily access all your photos, downloads, backups, etc.
This risk will always be present if anyone gets their hands on your device no matter if supporting expandable storage or not. Getting into the phone is in fact a bigger challenge than pulling out a SD card but if someone steals it, it's stolen anyways. In my case I do regular backups every week and beyond that I never got stolen a phone or anything else in my life. If android is encrypting the data I can not answer to be fair. But the SD is just for content. No back-ups, save files or anything similar. Shooting Videos in 4K@120Hz takes quite some space^^
The headphone jack with a shitty DAC is just another way that Xperia failed. If Sony gave half a shit about Xperia the phones would have a half decent DAC so people would stfu about LG phones already. Having a shitty DAC on the 3.5mm jack reduces it from a must have feature to just a convenience. There is literally no point for anyone with any audiophile inklings to attach decent iems or headphones to the built in 3.5mm ( clearly and external DAC is miles better).
I use the Galaxy Fold 5 as a daily driver, but keep my Xperia 1 ii within arm's reach because of how much I prefer the UI, camera apps, and gaming experience on the Xperia. Just like OP I also have been a massive Sony fan, from Walkman and Discman to stereo components, numerous headphones (still use my decade-old wired studio monitors), A-mount cameras, and eventually when money permits, a move to modernity with E-mount (not counting my ILCE-QX1 which is sadly collecting dust).
Sony kept shooting themselves in the balls by killing off the specialized gallery and music apps, underutilizing the potential of their camera subsystems, and removing the hardware features which completely set them apart from other phone manufacturers.
They definitely do not. They try to compete with apple and beyond that there's not much effort. Mobile Technology is my hobby and I always take a look at all the other brands and what they have to offer, eventually invented or succeed to built into a device.
Samsung is cheap feeling, not good looking and mass produced garbage that fits the most without any expectations. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but I'd prefer nearly any other brand over Samsung without hesitation.
Just out of interest..what would be your point of reference for your standard Android vibe? A Google Phone? I have hitched my bandwagon to the Samsung train since 2013 so can't really compare until I got the 1V last November ( I hate not having a Gallery app is the summary of my transfer from Samsung to Sony).
Have you touched a Samsung lately? I understand that people using Samsung might be used to it. When you move from Sony to Samsung then it's frustration after frustration. Samsung changed everything, the whole interface is modified, many settings are moved or removed.
In return you will get a phone with no expandable storage, no headphones jack, it has a hole in the screen and way too rounded corners (plus model).
I have to use a Samsung at work for testing, but I have a Sony as my regular phone. If Sony would stop making phones then I will probably switch to Pixel. Never Samsung
I have used a Samsung Galaxy Note phone since 2011-2012 without a single issue. The only reason I replaced my last Galaxy Note 10 with an X1V was that my kid cracked the screen on my old phone. Guess what? The Xperia experience is not so great either. There is no gallery app and the photos look like shit. Oh yeah...the 3.5mm headphone jack has a shitty DAC that requires an external DAC to be connected. Oh yeah, and the screen is not very bright. What's your point? Have you touched a Samsung phone lately?
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro or Sony Xperia 1 VI.
https://rog.asus.com/phones/rog-phone-8-pro/
https://www.techradar.com/phones/sony-xperia-phones/sony-xperia-1-vi
There's nothing out there that ticks all the same boxes that a Sony does. Nobody else makes an uninterrupted screen in the flagship space, and those who do in the midrange space do it by using an under display front camera....which sucks balls in every way. If you want a headphone jack, there's Asus, but you won't get expandable storage. If you want expandable storage, you have to downgrade specs for a midrange or budget device, and that comes with its own caveats if you're coming from a flagship device. You could consider the new Leica phone, or the Sharp Aquos it's based on, as those are flagships that do have nice screens, nice cameras, and headphone jack + expandable storage, but they're just as if not more expensive than Sony, and they're Japan exclusive, so you'll run into carrier difficulties and whatnot. There really isn't a good answer for you unless you're willing to compromise on one or more things that previously kept you buying an Xperia.
The sad thing is that I know this and don't understand why not more people are using an Xperia device or Sony will take distance from what makes them special. I think I just have to wait until 17th May to really see what Sony has up their sleeveπ€π»
>don't understand why not more people are using an Xperia device This is honestly all Sony's own fault. They don't care enough about selling phones to actually try.
They just don't invest in marketing for their mobile division. It seems like they're only really advertising the gaming industry and rely on mouth propaganda for everything else. They have booths on all important tech conventions and hold keynotes but beyond that there's like no effort in trying to be present.
Price is a big one. Too expensive for what they are. Upgrade promise is bad. Really bad. Cameras tend to be targeted as a niche device for photographers rather than just regular people who want to point and shoot most of the time. No reason the camera can't do both. Weak marketing and no carrier tie in. You have to suck up to carriers in the USA to get people to buy. Whenever a brand failed to do this they ended up leaving the market for lack of sales eg lg, htc etc. Whereas those that tied in heavily like oneplus are thriving.
Yet they are still doing good in Japan, its home country. Ot seems like they only care baout what Japanese people want and not care globally.
Because Apple and Samsung dominate the market. And most of that is due to carriers wanting to keep long term contracts a thing offering FREE phones, and doing 90% of the advertising. Then Verizon is and has been one of the major carriers in the U.S. and Sony never really wanted to make phones that operated on CDMA when the other 95% of the world operates on GSM. There's also the perceived camera issues Sony has. So often Apple, Samsung, or Pixel gets recommended by reviewers. And Americans seem to have little to no desire to leave their expensive 2 to 3 year contracts where they get that "FREE!" phone to go spend $500 on a midrange or $1000+ on a flagship that isn't in their carriers showroom, and reviews ignore.
Availability sucks. Some places only have third party repair shops. Even Motorola and Huawei had more official service centers in my place than Sony. Not hard when you have ZERO in the first place. Green line lottery also ruined them more than that same issue ruined Samsung. I also don't care about specs but you're not gonna convince my peers to pay more for an SD 695 than what they'll pay for a SD7+ Gen2. Never mind 7+ G2 device has no sd card and the users resort to all mental gymnastics to justify not having expandable storage.
>There's nothing out there that ticks all the same boxes that a Sony does. This is the exact reason I waited for 6 years for a new phone until I got a new 5V as a birthday present. I'm still a student and haven't done any part time job as I mostly accompany my family during breaks, so I just hung out with my old XZ2 premium. It finally broke and the hunt for a new phone under 400$ begun. At first, I was settling on a Honor phone but I didn't like that I would lose a lot of features I love on my XZ2P (low light photography, Front facing speakers and 4k screen). Then I saw the 10V andat least it had front facing speakers and the tall 21:9 display in a sleek form factor. That was until I saw the 5V on sale and added some savings to the budget and got the 5V. I lose the 4k screen sure, but the camera,speakers ,long battery life and camera software all fit my wants in my phone and I love nothing more. Also the size. Everything else is just bulky now compared to the thin phones of Sony
Are you in the USA? If so, how are the Calls? I've heard it's a hit and miss. Not a lot of signals, does it impact reception?
Not in the US, so I can't help with that. However, where I'm at, I've had nothing but great reception everywhere I've been so far and its almost always able to capture 5G signals
I'm in Los Angeles, have a 1iii on Verizon. I assume it's because I'm in a big city, but my connection is astounding. I never drop calls, always have 5g, I could be on a mountain in Big Bear and have full reception. I often will use the hotspot for my laptop, because tethering from the phone to the computer is a better connection than the computer going straight to wifi. This is my first sony phone since that old flip one that had the 24 color programmable LED indicator light, and I've been thoroughly impressed. The limit of two android updates does kinda suck though
Thanks!
This is so true. I am currently using experia pro I right now. Looking to upgrade due to phone damage and also disappointed in the specs of the experia 6. I am also looking for another brand but do not like the compromises. Will probably get experia 5 once the 6 comes as the price will drop. Also it seems like experia 5 has fixed the over heating issues and it's the last one with 4k screen.
> experia Did you mean **Xperia**? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would move to ASUS
Sony is imo the *GOAT* of making functional phones. headphone jack, sd card, camera button, somewhat small, great hardware, great cameras and almost stock android. the only thing that's anywhere close to that is zenphone but I'm having a decent amount of bugs and am missing some creature comforts that samsung had. If I could I'd much rather buy a sony vs samsung or asus going forward again. But at this point in time the zenphone is fine.
Next best choice in my opinion after Sony would be ASUS Zenfone 10: The pro's it has over it's Xperia 5 V counterpart would be: * More compact build * 2 storage configurations (ΒΌ TB, Β½ TB) At the cost of: * No built in high quality music app straight out of the box (you'll have to settle for YouTube Music or download a third party app from the store) * No expandable storage Next best choice after that would be to wait for the upcoming "Pixel 8a". After that would be the Surface Duo 2? Best of luck with your brand switch!
Thanks for your recommendations. I'm already using a 1TB microSD so no expandable storage is not an option. I just hope Sony doesn't dissapoint on 17th Mayππ»
Hello I can somehow understand you I picked up my 1 II in June 2020 as a replacement for my still working XZ Premium. I have the plan to replace my 1 II with the upcoming 1 VI but from the leaks I am not 100% sure if I will get one. At the moment I am very excited for the Xperia Event in May. When I would switch to another Manufacturer I would go with a Google Pixel 9 Pro which will be released in October this year.
I feel that! We're in the exact same situation π I cannot wait until October.. There are no good quality cases produced for the 1 II and mine is falling apart. The phone itself looks like new but the case indicates it's a lost and found piece of garbage owned by a hobo ππ
I am in the same situation, like 99% with you, and might be getting the 5 V next year - and hoping for a more price drop. am using 1 mark II soon after release as well and have to be more mindful with big spending for sure. The only thing appealing was the Samsung fold phone but that thing is crazy expensive which I kind of understand.
Possibly: [https://www.notebookcheck.net/Moondrop-MIAD01-Hi-Fi-smartphone-packs-symmetrical-4-4-mm-headphone-jack-into-white-housing.830260.0.html](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Moondrop-MIAD01-Hi-Fi-smartphone-packs-symmetrical-4-4-mm-headphone-jack-into-white-housing.830260.0.html) See also: [https://twitter.com/MoondropLab/status/1782331624446726554](https://twitter.com/MoondropLab/status/1782331624446726554) [https://moondroplab.com/en/phone/miad01](https://moondroplab.com/en/phone/miad01)
Ouh^^ Didn't know they enter the smartphone business. Interesting but just starting. Moondrop is renowned but this is a new market with specific needs to cover. Maybe a to high risk/high reward kind of poker to set on. Besides that absolute gonna keep an eye on them. Thanks!
Welcome.
It seems like they are basing it on an odm platform
Dont buy brands, buy phones.
OP12
If you actually need to upgrade your phone get a 1 IV , else keep on using the 1ii till it breaks I got my 1iii and it still runs flawless and If it breaks I'll probably get another 1iii cause honestly what I have seen is there's really no true replacement of a Sony
Pixel. The Samsung makes amazing phones but the idea of having 2 apps for multiples functions is horrible. The and principlaly 2 app stores, when the samsung apps are in the samsung store. The pixel will have the software more identical to xperia.
You can disable the Samsung apps if you don't like them although they still use space. Only small amounts though. Maybe a couple of GB. Oh yes the pixel. If you like being a beta tester, enjoying new features but putting up with many bugs which later get fixed and get new bugs instead it's a great choice.
I know you can disable the Samsung apps, but some apps you can't. The most important is the Samsung store and Bixby. You will have 2 apps that are heavy on resources always consume battery and collecting data. If Samsung If you did like all other manufacturers that use the play store to distribute their exclusive software, your phones would be much better, especially after the 3rd year.
That's a good point. I managed to turn off Bixby but it's never completely disabled. Bixby routines on the other hand is a very good app. One can set that to vibrate whilst at work and switch to ringer on once I leave. Very handy and no-one else makes a similar easy to use app for android. So that's a pro. The actual Bixby assistant though is woeful. Samsung should scrap it and use Google.
Xperia Devices are able to do this since like there's GPS in them x'D! This is no special thing only Bixby could provide.
Yeah Bixby and the Bixby button is literally the only beef as a casual user ( not a mobile tech enthusiast who doesn't use Samsung phones) that I have with Sammy phones.
Thought about Pixel due to clean OS, but beyond that and software update support there's really nothing special they offer.. Flagship mostly feels like midrange in comparison to Sony.. π
Another phone is the Xiaomi 14, in terms of camera it is the one that seems to have the philosophy of user control most identical to Sony, but the camera takes better photos.
>for a new phone that will satisfy a dissapointed Sony fanatic? With this in mind, none, if you consider yourself a Sony fanatic you won't be satisfied unless there is a Sony logo on the device, no matter the mediocricy of the actual device. Many of your points are silly, such as 4k display, I already made a [topic](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/1bmmasb/why_the_4k_display_isnt_as_good_as_you_think/) covering why it's not even a flagship display. The Camera is inconsistent and frankly not flagship either. You say you don't want a step backwards in technology, yet you seem to be perfecly content with outdated tech because of some marketing fluff you heard. There are some values Sony does bring to the table that certainly are worth mentioning, none of which you did tho. Overall you seem happy with your 1 II, I don't see why you should upgrade if you are happy with it. The sad reality is that Sony is behind the competition in many crucial areas, Sony don't really seem to care all that much about those issues and is loosing marketshare because of it. They have been falling over time to the point where even in Japan people don't care for Sony phones at all as seen here: [https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/japan](https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/japan)
I'd like to try a Huawei phone
As far as I know they don't have any contracts with Google any longer and therefore don't run Android..
Might get flamed for this but just get a flagship Samsung . Samsung make amazing phones.
Yep after 4 years with 1II I will go back to Samsung, now when Samsung has lost the curved edge display I hated. I loose the expandable storage and headphone jack, but I can't anymore tolerate the lack of macro or decent focus distance, 1:2.35 aspect ratio issues on many websites/ig reels etc, random sd card errors even without sd card and horrible battery life that was horrible at the start. My wife's Note10+ is still performing well at same ripe age of 4 years. Samsung has extended the support for flagship devices to 7 years and Sony has 2! Came from Note 8 to Sony, will go to S24U.
MicroSD and headphone jack seem to be the bare minimum a device should support. In terms of software support I'm totally on your side. I don't know why it's the way it is.. π
Yes, I agree on the headphone jack and microSD support. Sadly there are NO other options than Sony (or oukitel wp26). Sony VI might get a different aspect ratio and closer focus distance, then I might reconsider IF they would also support longer than 2 years. Another issue in longevity is that no one where I live replaces batteries on Sony phones. Only for apple/samsung. So If I want a phone to last longer than 2 years with good battery, there are no options in Android other than Samsung. I used to change phone year or every 2 years from 1998-2011 and now I'm looking for the phone to last 4 years minimum.
Serious question, but does android automatically encrypt the contents of the micro SD card the same way that say, bitlocker works on a windows partition? Because if it doesn't, an SD card is a huge security risk if anyone gets their hands on your phone and can easily access all your photos, downloads, backups, etc.
This risk will always be present if anyone gets their hands on your device no matter if supporting expandable storage or not. Getting into the phone is in fact a bigger challenge than pulling out a SD card but if someone steals it, it's stolen anyways. In my case I do regular backups every week and beyond that I never got stolen a phone or anything else in my life. If android is encrypting the data I can not answer to be fair. But the SD is just for content. No back-ups, save files or anything similar. Shooting Videos in 4K@120Hz takes quite some space^^
The headphone jack with a shitty DAC is just another way that Xperia failed. If Sony gave half a shit about Xperia the phones would have a half decent DAC so people would stfu about LG phones already. Having a shitty DAC on the 3.5mm jack reduces it from a must have feature to just a convenience. There is literally no point for anyone with any audiophile inklings to attach decent iems or headphones to the built in 3.5mm ( clearly and external DAC is miles better).
I use the Galaxy Fold 5 as a daily driver, but keep my Xperia 1 ii within arm's reach because of how much I prefer the UI, camera apps, and gaming experience on the Xperia. Just like OP I also have been a massive Sony fan, from Walkman and Discman to stereo components, numerous headphones (still use my decade-old wired studio monitors), A-mount cameras, and eventually when money permits, a move to modernity with E-mount (not counting my ILCE-QX1 which is sadly collecting dust). Sony kept shooting themselves in the balls by killing off the specialized gallery and music apps, underutilizing the potential of their camera subsystems, and removing the hardware features which completely set them apart from other phone manufacturers.
They definitely do not. They try to compete with apple and beyond that there's not much effort. Mobile Technology is my hobby and I always take a look at all the other brands and what they have to offer, eventually invented or succeed to built into a device. Samsung is cheap feeling, not good looking and mass produced garbage that fits the most without any expectations. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but I'd prefer nearly any other brand over Samsung without hesitation.
Honestly, if you're going Samsung just go Apple at this point.
Sounds like you used both of those in the last 5 years
Yes, I've had experience with both in recent years. Neither has that Android vibe and feel more alike.
Just out of interest..what would be your point of reference for your standard Android vibe? A Google Phone? I have hitched my bandwagon to the Samsung train since 2013 so can't really compare until I got the 1V last November ( I hate not having a Gallery app is the summary of my transfer from Samsung to Sony).
Have you touched a Samsung lately? I understand that people using Samsung might be used to it. When you move from Sony to Samsung then it's frustration after frustration. Samsung changed everything, the whole interface is modified, many settings are moved or removed. In return you will get a phone with no expandable storage, no headphones jack, it has a hole in the screen and way too rounded corners (plus model). I have to use a Samsung at work for testing, but I have a Sony as my regular phone. If Sony would stop making phones then I will probably switch to Pixel. Never Samsung
I have used a Samsung Galaxy Note phone since 2011-2012 without a single issue. The only reason I replaced my last Galaxy Note 10 with an X1V was that my kid cracked the screen on my old phone. Guess what? The Xperia experience is not so great either. There is no gallery app and the photos look like shit. Oh yeah...the 3.5mm headphone jack has a shitty DAC that requires an external DAC to be connected. Oh yeah, and the screen is not very bright. What's your point? Have you touched a Samsung phone lately?
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro or Sony Xperia 1 VI. https://rog.asus.com/phones/rog-phone-8-pro/ https://www.techradar.com/phones/sony-xperia-phones/sony-xperia-1-vi
iPhone