Why People Arent Buying Sony Xperia Phones
Sony Xperia smartphones look so good on paper. So why is it that we don't recommend them? Here's our answer to that and a brief 2023 review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV.
Sony Xperia smartphones look so good on paper. So why is it that we don't recommend them? Here's our answer to that and a brief 2023 review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV.
Why People Arent Buying Sony Xperia Phones
because they are fucking expensive
There you have it folks. Its expensive and you pay upfront. Most people don't have $1500 laying around to wing at a phone yet alone a $500 emergency budget sadly. Especially these days.
S24 Ultra isn't any cheaper and it's selling well.
how much of that is due to people actually being able to actually buy a s24, or because that just what happens to be their phone carrier's option? when selling phone it's extremely important distinction, most people can get their phones "significantly cheaper" so to speak, via their carrier.
As an ex cellphone salesman I have never seen any carriers here in canada selling phones in like, pretty much the last decade almost now. Canadian here. Rodgers, Bell, Koodo, Fido, off the top of my head, none sell sony phones.
Now I did often try to sell cellphones to folk out right since IMO it's far better to own the device and pay for a cheap plan, but to do that, phones need to actually be affordable.
Poor updates (policy), overpriced for the specs. I mean, 400-500 for a phone with a SD695 and 60hrz? Come on... Such a shame, because they are the only ones with a screen without a punchhole/camera cutout...
And they quit making the compact. I rocked 3 or 4 new old stock Xperia xz1 for YEARS. Smallest phones I could get at the time. Now I'm doing the same thing with the s10e which I still feel is too big.
Yea if they hadn't cancelled the compact back then, I would've went with it instead of the S10e I got af the time.
2 Years of updates was my reason. Samsung is up to 7,Apple is about 5 or 6 and Google is 7 years.
Note this is based off of my memory so I could be wrong.
Have Samsung & Google actually delivered 7 years yet - or is that still just a promise on paper to continue supporting existing products?
Apple for all its faults has at least delivered on this premise.
Google and Samsung both have a track record of delivering updates even past the promised date so far.
iPhone 6s (2015) received a security update this month, they have delivered indeed
Samsung made that promise last year and limited to the higher-end lineups, I believe.
Google still update their pixel 6 phones from years ago (not sure about the pixel 5 or below).
Apple is a complete different story since they owned the entire ecosystems and keeps making money from the devices being in use.
Apple supports phones 7+ years and basically has always had the longest support of all the OEMs
IPhone 6s received updates in the past year and it’s from 2015
If you swap it out for Lineage problem solved. I agree & strongly recommend against using a stock Sony ROM. It kind of defeats the point of buying one.
No entry level options, relatively lower specs for the price asked, mediocre software support. That being said, they are one of the few OEMs in their price segment to still offer headphone jacks.
Yeah headphone jack is a nice bonus, my only method of playing audio from my phone in the car is the aux cable
Me too. I bought a ugreen Bluetooth to aux adapter. Just a USB stick with wire an 3,5mm headphone jack on. Works great and I payed 20€.
They're also comparatively "small" in this world of bricks.
I got an Xperia 5 IV very recently when my Galaxy S7 died. Been happy with it. Smallest phone I could find with an SD card slot, and while it's still larger than my old phone, the screen is the same width, just taller. Overpriced? Probably a bit. In the end though, I like it.
The size is why I keep them in the back of my head. Because when my Pixel 4a dies I'm kinda screwed with how humongous (what?) all those phones nowadays are.
Right, like people want to develop wrist pain over a damn phone. 5&6" is hard to come by.
I upgraded from an S7 in the past year... I ended up going with a Samsung XCover 6 Pro since Sony doesn't sell their flagship phones in Canada...
Shit updates, expensive, terrible marketing (since ever). I used to buy Xperia phones exclusively, the compact ones to be precise, then Sony decided that compact phones and affordable phones had to go, I bought an Xperia 10 (I or II, can't remember) and it absolutely sucked. When it broke I bought a random Chinese phone from the store, ended up with a Realme. Works better, with worse battery life tho.
I just bought a new phone. I went with a Galaxy again. I really wanted the Sony because it has a great feature set. However, I was not confident in long term support, which Sony has said will be much shorter than competitors. And it also cost about 30% more than the other flagship phones. I can't justify spending more money for a phone that will last me half as long.
Stubborn ideologies, slow to changes, devices get abandoned after 2 years.
Used to be a big fan of Xperia phones up until the Xperia 5.
I loved my XZ premium . Would still use it if it hadn't come down with an unfixable charging issue.
I'm gonna be real, I thought Sony stopped making these 5 years ago. Probably because I haven't looked into buying a phone since that long ago
They used to do great phones though. The Xperia Play (and its slimmer Arc cousin) and the Walkman feature phone are still personal favorites of mine.
Their phones are far too expensive and their software support is horrible.
Where's the article?
There's an embedded video above the headline. It's easy to dismiss as an ad. I did, too.
It's easy to dismiss as an ad. I did, too.
Well, Vivaldi's built-in in adblock apparently agrees with this categorization. The video shows up if I disable it. Lol
It isn't much better either. HTG went from a great site publishing tech articles to riddled with paywalls(you will encounter sign in screens if you read multiple articles quickly), Premium options, ad affiliated newsletter links and just constant churning of low quality filler mostly.
My favorite phone was a Sony Xperia Compact. If they still have SD Card slots my next phone will be Sony.
Marketing and availablity. Unless you watch Phonereviews you probably have no idea these phones exist.
I probably would consider them, but their phones tend to have lackluster US carrier/band support and lack of security updates. Coupling that with the high price tag, no go.
Posted from my Xperia 5.
I loved my Xperia XA2, but when the next android update came down the pipe I literally lost features.
I miss my Xperia Play, that thing was the bee's knees.
Does Sony still make phones ? ... The last time I saw someone using a Sony phone was probably 8 years ago
Probably because you buy them upfront and online mostly and not from the service providers.
Indeed I have never bought something online
I used to have an Xperia pro, the one with the physical keyboard. It was my last keyboard phone. I absolutely loved it.
Flashed a different OS, cyanogenmod I believe, which broke the governor chip (irreparable; known issue but super buried, would have done the same with any OS of that version number, including stock) so it would read as a dead battery if not on the charger.
Never touched Sony phones again. Don’t trust them at all.
I was planning on getting an Xperia 1 VI.
Gonna flash LineageOS on it.
I have the 1 VI, it's great. No lineage available yet, might take a while
Is it bootloader unlockable?
If it is, try checking treble compatibilty.
If passed, Lineage may be supported.
I got a 1ii and though LineageOS works great compared to stock, it still has its downsides - on the top of my head screen mirroring is lost and since LOS21 can't make Magisk w/ zigisk work.
Flashing Lineage on the 1 II is trivial now compared to a few years ago.
The stock ROM is loaded with shitware in II III and V.
The shape is great not too big for the hand.
The camera is decent, surely better in VI. No stupid AI color boost and faking pictures.
The price is steep as you know.
The screens feel like they could have been brighter.
3.5mm AUX, MicroSD as you know.
Sony ASOP is about the only thing keeping me interested in their lineups.
Better than Sam or Apple. But to be honest all cellphones are trash, satellite StarLink phone and others can't happen soon enough or a decent Linux phone.
Its a solid plan.
Do you recommend an Xperia from an S10e user?
🤑
Sony phones are great for custom firmware support
Pixel OS. It's the best out of the box experience for most users.
I had a Sony phone once. It was shite. Couldn't remember the date and time on a reboot.
It was crap in other ways too but that was the one that annoyed me the most. Obviously the majority of the price went on the name and not the phone. Shame really, Sony used to be a name that meant quality, now they're just another bunch of MBA-led enshittifiers.
Sony Support SUX.
When you go to Samsung or Moto/Lenovo support, they would give you a loaner phone when yours was in for repairs. Repair centers accepted wherever they were located.
Sony would tell a 1500USD phone customer to F*CK OFF if they asked for a loaner phone during repairs. You have to go to the Sony Mobile repair center to get any kind of help. There are tons of dealers and TV / audio / other Sony repair and none of those have any kind words or help for customers.
Sony Support is DOGSHIT GARBAGE.
I have xperia 1 III and will use it until it dies, but there is very little chance that I'm buying xperia next, mainly because the camera is so shit. I don't really care for the camera that much, but the picture quality is only comparable to xiaomi <200€ phones, that is way to shit compared to the price I'm paying.
