First impressions

[Stealthman]

I just got my Z3 last night from T-Mobile, I am coming over from a Nexus 5.

The screen is gorgeous although I think screen resolution and specs are over rated on smart phones, everything looks really good. The design of the phone is "sexy" if you feel comfortable using that word to describe a phone. It looks great. I do not like the glass back, it looks good but is super prone to fingerprints and is very slippery. I got a Rinke fusion case which fits nice and is slim however that attracts fingerprints on the back as well. I'll be looking for other cases.

Phone works great so far, I didn't like the Sony interface so I downloaded and installed Google Now launcher and it feels just like my n5. It's fast and snappy. I haven't had time to really test out the battery life or the camera yet, I took a few pictures and was not really impressed however I have to play with it more. I do LOVE the physical camera button. It's such a simple and great feature to have, more phones should have it. The tap to wake is a nice feature but doesn't work all the time.

So far so good, I haven't been able to put it down yet.

 

[galathon]

Just a quick word.

I'm also impressed with the screen but not the camera mostly because it's a WIDE ANGLE camera so when you take a photo with it on auto mode, it will tend to be more "zoomed out" than most.

To gain the advantage you're then forced to "crop" the photo, it crops with good quality allowing a nice sharp image when "zoomed" that way.

One remark, while I like the glass back, I'm having problems with a Scotche stick on metal pad to stick it to a magnetic dash car mount.

It keeps unsticking. I even tried cleaning the phone with alcohol before but eventually it just keeps getting loose. It fell off (again) last night while driving with GPS (Waze) on.

Does the Z3 have a non-stick coating on the back panel?

 

[Stealthman]

Just a quick word.

I'm also impressed with the screen but not the camera mostly because it's a WIDE ANGLE camera so when you take a photo with it on auto mode, it will tend to be more "zoomed out" than most.

To gain the advantage you're then forced to "crop" the photo, it crops with good quality allowing a nice sharp image when "zoomed" that way.

One remark, while I like the glass back, I'm having problems with a Scotche stick on metal pad to stick it to a magnetic dash car mount.

It keeps unsticking. I even tried cleaning the phone with alcohol before but eventually it just keeps getting loose. It fell off (again) last night while driving with GPS (Waze) on.

Does the Z3 have a non-stick coating on the back panel?

I hate the glass back, oh it looks nice but it is very, very slippery. I don't like the way the phone feels naked. I am going to try a D brand skin on the back.


After using it all weekend:

- the camera can take some really good pictures, I am becoming more impressed with it
- battery life is ok, not great. I am using stamina mode, not letting social media accounts or emails sync auto and brightness at 50%, I am getting a little over 3 hours screen on time, I don't see how anyone is getting 5+ hours of SOT as I've seen posted. They must be on minimum brightness and whats the point if you have to do that. That being said the battery life is much better than my n5 was

 

[galathon]

I've been using it mostly for GPS usage and the battery does impress. I was in the car 50 minutes this morning, not plugged in, when I got to work I had 89% battery left.

GPS app used WAZE, screen brightness about half with auto adjust turned on.

I'm trying another adhesive for the metal plate, after cleaning off the original adhesive and it seems to stick. Using 3M double sided rubberized tape. It's very slightly thicker than the old adhesive but so far so good since Friday night it's not come loose.

Camera takes some getting used to, it's excellent in low light.

 

[Stealthman]

I found a GREAT case, sometimes the best ones are the least expensive, this TPU case fits great, looks great and feels great. It works with the official dock as well. It doesn't add much size either.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OPW1SD2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Stealthman]

Battery life is either getting better as I use it or more likely the stats are now calibrated more accurately after some discharging and charging. I am not getting 2 days out of it but definitely more than 1 day, I don't have to charge it every night which is nice.