Sony XPERIA Z2 D6503 FACTORY UNLOCKED International Version No Warranty - WHITE

Two parts to this review. First the seller, second the phone.I bought from FGS Trading, they might of cost $5.00 more but was well worth it, I changed my mind and wanted a different color so I emailed them. They emailed back and told me if the could the would, and still make sure it shipped that day. Well they did, I switched from white to purple, because of some staining issues I found out about during some research done after the fact.Also FGS sold me a phone that had over $80 worth of accessories, the sony magnetic dock, and the noise canceling headphone. What a great surprise, and well worth the extra $5 i spent.This phone, the Sony Z2 D6503, wow. I am using a nexus 5 as my daily, and have a note 3, and Z Ultra as alternatives.Size - The phone is larger, but coming from the nexus which has squared corners, its very usable. If you don't mind using the nexus 5 you won't mind the Z2.Display - clarity seems the same as the nexus, but better that the note 3, and z ultra. The colors are so much better than the nexus5, and the Z ultra, and not near as artificial as the AMOLED on the note 3.-processing power - even though it has the snapdragon 801 chipset, and the other 3 have the snapdragon 800, it feels about the same, if not a tad slower (the other 3 are all rooted and running stock KitKat) sometimes when I pull down the notification tray and i get a stutter.Camera - I knew what I was getting, a 20.7MP sensor, but it still blew me away, I took photos with all 4 phones, the same photo, the Sony Z2 using superior auto, which yields an 8MP image, the nexus 5, and Z Ultra at 8MP and the note 3 at 13MP. The Sony destroyed them all, better color reproduction, more detail, and less noise, especially when cropped. All images where viewed on a 1080p 27" monitor. When I set the Z2 to manual and used the full 20.7MP setting I noticed zero improvement over the 8MP sampled pic.Build quality - not quite to the level of my old HTC one M8, or iPhone 5/5s, but very much the same quality of the iPhone 4/4s and HTC one m7.Sound - the front facing speakers are not any louder than the other phones, but the clarity is taken to a whole new level, but defintaly still below the HTC one both m7/m8, but remember these are waterproof. The Sony noise canceling headphones included from FGS Trading (model mdr-nc31e) are amazing, as good as any in ear buds I've ever bought or used in terms of noise canceling, and the sound quality from them is a few levels better than those typically included with phones(looking at you apple)Battery life, both my nexus 5 and Z2 were at 100% at 10am, and right now it is 9pm, I'm sure I've used the Z2 30% more than the nexus over this time, and the nexus is at 40%, and the Sony at 70%, wow, color me impressed.So far I love this phone, and I have owned the HTC one m7/m8, and the galaxy s3/s4/s5 (the s5 for 10 days, most over rated phone I have used) the Z2 beats the S5 in every way so far as I've experienced, but I didn't use the fingerprint scanner.I hope they make a compact 4.5 inch version that still uses a 1080p screen, because I would buy that for my wife, as she loves this phone too(but uses the iPhone 5s currently)Improvements - shrink the side bezels, the lg g2 did it. Get rid of the xperia link when you swipe up, as it shares space with google now, but is about 0.00001% as useful. Why go with the snapdragon 801 AB, and not the AC. I know its only 0.2ghz difference, but come on Sony why go 99% when making a flagship. Why have this amazing camera but not offer a duel led "true tone" style flash like my HTC one M8, or wife's 5s, and flagship, with best camera ever on a android device, why go 99%

I have had this phone for a bit over 2 months now. On first impression, I was blown away by the crisp display coming from a crappy LG F3 phone (that broke exactly a day after a year) and the really sleek looking physical design. I've used this phone in Dublin, Barcelona, London, all with no problems. The reason I got this phone was so that I can use 4G internationally and I did (except for Spain, I could only get 3G with Orange. I got great speeds with Ireland's three.ie prepaid).Now onto the complaints.- How scratch resistant is it? I don't use a screen protector because I've always been vigilant about not storing it near sharp objects. A couple of weeks ago i noticed 2 small hairline scratches near the bottom corner. The specs claim it has scratch-resistant glass (yes yes I know, not scratch-proof), but I really was careful with storage and handling. It always gets its own pocket or interior pocket when placed inside a bag. Always face up on table. Maybe it was a result of traveling with all the airport security and shuffling of items from and back into bags.- Camera: I stuck to the 'Superior Auto' setting (where settings are automatically optimized) and found some pictures to be pixelated and out-of-focus. I later found out that their 'auto' setting does not take pictures at 20MP! You'd have to switch it to 'Manual'. If you want 20MP resolution, root the device and install the xposed module. What the heck is the point of advertising 20MP if they're going to leave it out of the camera's auto setting?!?- Delay for Multitask button: Slow to switch to different app. There seems to be at least a half second delay before a list of active apps are shown.- Poor Speaker. My friend recently got an iphone 6 plus, so I was able to compare with hers. Boy does my Z2 speaker pale in comparison! I was able to hear her phonecall on speaker and the other party's voice came through crisp, clear, loud enough. On my Z2's setting, I have (in Call Settings) Speaker Voice Enhancement checkbox checked. My phone call's speakerphone audio quality still wasn't good.- Oversensitive touch screen. There were many times where my palm or finger hovered close to the screen, but not in contact, and the wrong button or area was inadvertently tapped on. This is a well-known issue.Overall, I got this phone in an emergency. My LG F3 phone broke, I needed a new one, and this was one of the best out there 2 months ago, and the price wasn't bad (at about $540, cheaper than HTC One M8). But in hindsight, I feel that I could have chosen a phone with a better speaker, despite it having fewer bands. I'm hoping Sony will release some updates that can especially fix 1)superior auto camera setting NOT using 20MP resolution and 2) oversensitive touchscreen

I lost my S5 when I went jet skiing with my girlfriend (water damage). I needed a new phone. Being an android lover and lover of big screens and a major techie who loves being able to use my phone as a computer, I tried the HTC m8. It was really good but the camera sucked so I got rid of it. I tried the IPhone like my gf suggested and I didn't like the restrictive (but super smooth) iOS and the tiny screen. Then I thought about this phone and I decided to get it by looking at the spec sheet and the brand. Sony products I have owned have been great so it helped my decision. I can't believe I'm saying this but this phone is so much better than all the others!!!!! Seriously, I'd never thought I'd love another phone more than my S5 but I do! The camera kicks butt, the UI is mega smooth, the screen is gorgeous (it doesn't get super dim like my S5 though. The lowest brightness of my Xperia is 16nits as opposed to 4nits on my S5), the design is beautiful and useful (water proof in this rainy weather), and it's overall super slick and quick. I am VERY picky with my technology but this phone is amazing. I love it and it will easily be my daily driver for 2 yes. Then I will get the next Xperia. This is the first sony phone I've ever had and it didn't disappoint. It totally took out all competition from other flagships. To be honest, the only fault I find in this phone is the high low brightness problem I mentioned earlier. If you want a beautiful, powerful, durable, and big screen phone, you can't go wrong. I give this phone a 9.5/10 easily. If you have any questions, email me at [email protected]!