Xperia is in my opinion the only phone left worth buying. It has all the bells and whistles you expect from a flagship phone + a headphone jack, SD card slot and very good camera.
I love being able to manually do what ever I want in the camera app and having the camera button is just nice.
Had the Xperia Z3 back in the day after my beloved Sony Ericson Xperia Play died. Loved both phones. Switched to Samsung for a few years and are now back to Sony (Xperia 1 IV) since 2023. Words can't describe how happy I am being back. :D
Dunno about other Androids, but just hitting the "power" (or wake or whatever it is) button 3 times on the Pixel pulls up the camera app. Even if the phone is currently locked. I think you can set it up so one of the physical buttons takes a photo as well but not 100% sure.
Yeah, the Sony phones do that as well. The special part of the camera button is that it acts like one on a proper camera. If you half press it (you can feel a slight change in resistance when you hit the spot) it engages the focus and then you can press it fully to take the picture.
I was able to program the Bixby button on my Samsung S10+ to take pictures as well, but it lacks the half press feature.
I love Z3. I still mourn the loss of it to this day.
However, I must admit that Xperia quality hasn't been the greatest in the recent years, with the light lines issue plaguing the 5 series from mk II onwards, and now the 1 VI has similar issues too.
What do you mean with "light lines issue"? I haven't had any major problems with my Xperia so far. Sometimes it reboots after being on for a few months, but that's about it.
It appears after some time. And no, Sony doesn't acknowledge this issue, so you have to pay out of pocket if your warranty is over to replace the phone.