Difference between revisions of "Sony Xperia Z5 Compact"

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* adb and local access is not very well supported -apparently, Sony took great pains to actually prevent people from doing local backups. Would have been a showstopper had I known that before. Helium backup does not work reliably, I have not tested other tools (most require root).
 
* adb and local access is not very well supported -apparently, Sony took great pains to actually prevent people from doing local backups. Would have been a showstopper had I known that before. Helium backup does not work reliably, I have not tested other tools (most require root).
 
* Camera is good -for a smartphone-camera (emphasis on "smartphone) -in other words, it is quite crappy. No big deal, I use a DSLR if I need decent quality. The phone camera might be good enough for the occasional snapshot under good light conditions.
 
* Camera is good -for a smartphone-camera (emphasis on "smartphone) -in other words, it is quite crappy. No big deal, I use a DSLR if I need decent quality. The phone camera might be good enough for the occasional snapshot under good light conditions.
 +
 +
== Useful apps ==
 +
 +
Beware, I support most of what Tristan Harris has to say about Smartphones -in short, I think most apps are shit and Android (and iOS) are some sort of scam to make you give away your private data. Find the more elaborate and more differentiated arguments on his website: http://timewellspent.io/
 +
 +
* First thing: Install some self hosted calendaring and cloud software (I use [https://www.zimbra.com/|Zimbra], as I don't have much need for file storage).
 +
 +
=== [aCalendar] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:aCalendar.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Replace the Google (or Sony) calendar spyware.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [DAVDroid] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:DAVDroid.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Link aCalendar with a CalDAV/CardDav source, (e.g. Zimbra).
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [CADroid] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:CADroid.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Allows you to easily import self signed certificates (in case you happen to have one for your home server in the basement).
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
 +
=== [K9 Mail] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:K9Mail.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Replace the Google (or Sony) mail spyware. This will also sync your GMail account and provides GPG support
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [OpenKeyChain] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:OpenKeyChain.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | The GPG extension for K9-Mail.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Firefox] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Firefox.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Replace the Google Chrome browser which always wants to phone home
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [DuckDuckGo] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:DuckDuckGo.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Search the web without being searched.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
 +
=== [Keepass2Android] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Keepass2Android.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | To store your secret passwords and other stuff, even works without cloud sync.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Öffi] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Öffi.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Very usefull public transport schedule viewer.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Nova Launcher] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Nova Launcher.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | An alternate app launcher, which is more flexible than the default one provided by Sony.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Podcast Addict] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Podcast Addict.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | One of the leading podcasting apps.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Tasker] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Tasker.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Automate everything.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [WarnWetter] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:WarnWetter.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | A usefull (and free as in beer) weather forecast app (for Germany, directly from the DWD).
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [TotalCommander] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:TotalCommander.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | A free file browser.
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
 +
=== [Aida64] ===
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
[[Image:Aida64.jpg|thumb|none|150px]]
 +
| valign="top" | Android performance monitor.
 +
|-
 +
|

Revision as of 15:24, 17 September 2016

Random rants about the current smartphone I use.

It is running Android 6.0.1, it is pretty much a mainstream-device, not hacked (no intention of doing so as long as the warranty lasts and/or Sony provides decent software updates) so there will be no hard-to-find secrets on this page.

Things I like

  • Small
  • Fast
  • Battery lasts comparably long (2 days or so)
  • Good software updates support (so far, Sony apparently takes care of its phones -let's hope it stays that way).

Things I don't like

  • Bloatware can't be fully deinstalled (I knew that)
  • 2 GB RAM (I don't see why there would be an issues to put in 3 GB like in the non-compact Z5).
  • Button layout (camera and sound are in the wrong place). Same for the power button sort of (if you want to use the phone with a standard car or bike clamp-holder). Not too anoying, but...
  • The standard keyboard is sometimes hard to use (due to the "small" screen). Kind of anyoing, but as I dislike touchscreens anyways and there is no decent phone with a hardware keyboard out there...
  • Android (and Android apps in general) feel like an excuse to spam people with advertisements and nag-screens. WTF? Even paid apps sometimes still show adverts or start being anoying by asking for Play-store ratings etc.
  • Many apps (also well-known and high-rated ones) are not exactly stable

Things which might have prevented me from buying the phone had I known them before

Yes, I could have send it back after finding out, but I was too lazy, and overall it is a decent phone -as advertised.

  • SD-Card support: No Adoptable storage mode available. So -no app storage on the card. Also, some apps seem to have issues using the card for data storage. The reader is also quite slow apparently. Crap. The phone has 32 GB internal storage, so no too big deal, but still...
  • adb and local access is not very well supported -apparently, Sony took great pains to actually prevent people from doing local backups. Would have been a showstopper had I known that before. Helium backup does not work reliably, I have not tested other tools (most require root).
  • Camera is good -for a smartphone-camera (emphasis on "smartphone) -in other words, it is quite crappy. No big deal, I use a DSLR if I need decent quality. The phone camera might be good enough for the occasional snapshot under good light conditions.

Useful apps

Beware, I support most of what Tristan Harris has to say about Smartphones -in short, I think most apps are shit and Android (and iOS) are some sort of scam to make you give away your private data. Find the more elaborate and more differentiated arguments on his website: http://timewellspent.io/

  • First thing: Install some self hosted calendaring and cloud software (I use [1], as I don't have much need for file storage).

[aCalendar]

|- |

File:ACalendar.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Replace the Google (or Sony) calendar spyware. |- |

[DAVDroid]

|- |

File:DAVDroid.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Link aCalendar with a CalDAV/CardDav source, (e.g. Zimbra). |- |

[CADroid]

|- |

File:CADroid.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Allows you to easily import self signed certificates (in case you happen to have one for your home server in the basement). |- |


[K9 Mail]

|- |

File:K9Mail.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Replace the Google (or Sony) mail spyware. This will also sync your GMail account and provides GPG support |- |

[OpenKeyChain]

|- |

File:OpenKeyChain.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | The GPG extension for K9-Mail. |- |

[Firefox]

|- |

Firefox.jpg

| valign="top" | Replace the Google Chrome browser which always wants to phone home |- |

[DuckDuckGo]

|- |

File:DuckDuckGo.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Search the web without being searched. |- |


[Keepass2Android]

|- |

Keepass2Android.jpg

| valign="top" | To store your secret passwords and other stuff, even works without cloud sync. |- |

[Öffi]

|- |

File:Öffi.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Very usefull public transport schedule viewer. |- |

[Nova Launcher]

|- |

File:Nova Launcher.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | An alternate app launcher, which is more flexible than the default one provided by Sony. |- |

[Podcast Addict]

|- |

File:Podcast Addict.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | One of the leading podcasting apps. |- |

[Tasker]

|- |

Tasker.jpg

| valign="top" | Automate everything. |- |

[WarnWetter]

|- |

File:WarnWetter.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | A usefull (and free as in beer) weather forecast app (for Germany, directly from the DWD). |- |

[TotalCommander]

|- |

File:TotalCommander.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | A free file browser. |- |

[Aida64]

|- |

File:Aida64.jpg
150px

| valign="top" | Android performance monitor. |- |

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