Thanks klaw81 for pointing this out in the comments.
New Z5 Compact at $759. After 20% coupon, that's $607.20, plus another 4% cashback (~$30) from CashRewards (www.cashrewards.com.au). 4 colours avaliable.
Thanks klaw81 for pointing this out in the comments.
New Z5 Compact at $759. After 20% coupon, that's $607.20, plus another 4% cashback (~$30) from CashRewards (www.cashrewards.com.au). 4 colours avaliable.
I break phones all the time. Even broke a nokia once.
I have had a Z2 for over a year now and not managed to break it after numerous drops. Havn't been in a swimming pool, it did get a hosing down though.
I would just like to add another perspective as I have gone through a few types of phones; iPhone 3g, galaxy nexus, HTC one m7, LG g2, and Sony Xperia.
I have found Sony to be very good. The build quality is good. I have heard of the charging flap seal failing and heat causing the rear screen to crack but I haven't personally experienced any of this. I've had my z3 compact for a year now and it's going strong. I'm aware of the condition testing for the ip68 rating but I've used mine in swimming pools and oceans. That being said the touch screen fails underwater for obvious reasons.
The ui is also quite good and quite light on resources compared to competitors like Samsung and HTC.
So, there's my 2 cents. A good price for what is most certainly, in my opinion, a good phone. Take from me, and op, what you can.
My Z1 is like unbreakable, ive dropped it over 50 times and only a few chips. Not sure how you use ur phones..
Ditto, I'm still using an Xperia Z. It's rock solid.
How good is the back panel of the phone? I bought a 2nd hand one before and the back panel was unglued and had a gaping hole that needs to be pushed all the time. Returned it being unsatisfied with it since it wouldnt exactly be IP water proof. I'm hoping the quality of the Z5C to be better though and I'll get it if it is..
I don't know why people are negging your review. I think it's well known that some earlier xperia models had durability issues.
I still think this is a great phone at this money. Pretty much zero choice for a high end small phone nowadays.
Because it's irrelevant to the deal, are we going to mention the story of how Apple Macbooks were recalled 3 years ago because a battery burnt down a house in every single Apple Macbook deal?
For the record Z5 compact doesn't even have a glass back nor promise ocean diving capabilities, to further the irrelevance of the post.
But the back is frosted glass
Z compact backs haven't been glass since the the first 'compact': the Z1f which was an exclusive to Japan. Every phone there after has been plastic with a shatter film to keep the same feel as the front.
That's why Sony has always been willing to talk about the larger Z phones having Gorilla at the front and Dragontrail at the back. Yet when it comes to the compact, it's always no comment or 'anti-shatter' glass.
I've only ever heard of the Z1C using a plastic rear cover. I'm honestly not sure about the Z3C, but I've heard people call it a glass back more than not. The product page for the Z5 Compact states that it has "a frosted glass back", so you can either take that to literally mean glass or spin it to mean whatever you'd like.
Yep, the screen cracking and phantom inputs are common and relevant problems with the Xperia line.
You're right, the screen on the Z3 Compact is a self cracking POS.
Our Z3 compact broke as well. Was in my jeans front pocket and screen cracked. I've never had a phone break. In the same jeans I'm now carrying an HTC One M7 and have had no issues. A quick look on the web shows Z3 compact with lots of similar experiences. Sony told me to go away when I complained and said it doesn't happen (even though I pointed them to web posts of it happening to others). So this was our last Sony device the family buys based on how they handle post sales issues now.
Good deal on a recently released phone yes (I don't even think it's available in Australia yet) - but this isn't wrong, the Z3C had issues with self cracking screens. A quick search online shows the same stuff popping up for the Z5C already: https://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xperia-Z5-Z5-Compact-Z5-Premi…
The Z3 owners thread on Whirlpool is full of people talking about their experiences with the front and back glass cracking spontaneously (https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2337571). There's no hard data obviously but there's a huge amount of anecdotal evidence online. Plus the added risk of it being a grey import.
If you check the listing, they provide 12 months warranty in Australia.
What's your point? It is still a grey import and the "Australian" warranty is not with Sony nor guaranteed by Australian consumer law. The phone most likely ends up being sent to HK by the seller. Pretty standard grey import stuff.
My point is that when I bought a pair of Sony headphones from a large grey importer on eBay (citiwide_au), their 'small print' pretty much stated the headphones weren't covered by any warranty. After they recently stopped working after 4 months, citiwide wouldn't even return my emails.
At least qd have a policy that clearly states that they provide their own mail-in warranty. Not that different to what Sony does with Fonebiz if you ask me.
have to say I have had sont z1 and using z3, touch wood, they seem ok, guess its a bit of luck too
I've dropped my z1 and z3 on concrete a few times and lucky ive had a few scratches here and there, don't use bumpers too
my father in law and mother in law, cracked a few Samsung screens just dropping it from seated chair
I've had the heat issues with my z1, had to use a case to reduce the heat
z3 seems ok
bit slow and some apps crash here and there
but overall its pretty good
camera is pretty good, system can run a bit slow, battery is awesome, micro SD card great, build is nice
Hahahaha yep, let's not buy a completely different model off of your experience of one of their older phones. If you'd like me to counter your one story with my one story, my Xperia Z2 has been ROCK solid. It does use proper glass, Dragontrail X glass and Gorilla Glass, just because Sony doesn't call it out, doesn't mean it doesn't have it. My Z2 has been dropped from ridiculous heights and doesn't have a scratch on it, and has been swimming in a 2m pool for a good 15 minutes and dunked in numerous tanks of water, splashed and the likes and works like the day I got it.
I've gone as far as to try bend the thing will all my strength and was unsuccessful.
Sony phones are rock solid, and your one negative experience cannot counter that, and the millions of other satisfied customers.
Had my Z3 since relase day and it's the most bad ass phone i have ever owned. Goes with me everywhere and with no more than a screen protector looks like new. I'd jump on this deal in an instant if i didnt think the Z3 had another 2 years left in it.
Yes Sony said it was waterproof… but think of it as back-up if you are unlucky enough to drop it into a puddle.
Seriously, only a fool would want to take their smartphone underwater!
Sensitive sensors, microphones + speakers are not the sort of things you want to take swimming. Does this need to be said?? lol
Seriously, buy a real underwater camera if you want underwater footage!
A mobile phone has no business taking selfies beneath the ocean. lol (f'n idiots!)
I wouldn't blame people so much given the ads that Sony puts out (in fact, this happens with every bloody phones with IP rating) is misleading. Ads showcasing waterproof function don't say what IP rating actually means (it has certain condition, whether water is moving or not (water pressure), whether the water is fresh or not, and it is for certain amount of time), and how it is given at the pristine condition where everything works.
People who are relatively informed about these features know not to risk it (and usually think of them as a backup plan for when it starts raining and stuff), that said, can you blame people when the manufacturers have been advertising the products in a misleading way? Of course, I wouldn't blame the manufacturers entirely, that said, I wouldn't blame the consumers entirely for not knowing about the waterproof function well enough as well.
I hear what you are saying. Sony's dishonest + misleading marketing is definitely a big part of the problem.
@Son ofa Zombie: Wouldn't blame Sony completely, Samsung did it with their waterproof phone as well. I frankly see it as a more of marketing teams in general being dishonest.
Can anyone say much about qd's warranty service? I don't expect them to have world class warranty but do they usually do a good job at honouring warranty or do they try their best to divert it as much as possible?
if it is AUS stock, you have to call a Sony number and they will get you to send to a 3rd party company in Sydney. Should they believe that it was not a warranty issue, you have to pay around 40~50 to have it sent back to you
It's grey. How can people actually think local stock can be this cheap?
I think his point is even AU stock, you may not get the warranty service you were expected.
Yes, you send to FoneBiz. They're a god awful service provider (Google them) - however Nokia and a few other mobs use them.
@DrStinge: Ugh, FoneBiz, those bastards lost my phone for a week (actually bit more than a week), Dick Smith sent the device to them and they didn't know where it was nor knew that it went missing (it was when I asked them about how the things are going that they started to look for my phone). Fortunately, I got my phone back, but those guys are pathetic.
@Oversimplified: Actually can confirm this one. I sent my Z3 for water damage to see if I could get warranty to replace it for me.
They lost my phone (well, Auspost did) and I got sent a replacement with screen protectors too!
What makes this phone better then the G4 ?
They are aiming for different markets. If you prefer a smaller phone with flagship specs than this is about your only option. It has front facing stereo speakers, 720P screen, faster SoC and fingerprint scanner that the G4 doesn't.
Battery life monster and sized for human hands.
This is a Battery God Phone.
The battery is not as good as the Z3C according to GSMArena..
The build is nicer (as is the design, IMO), the battery is better, dual front facing speakers, finger print sensor and the software is a bit cleaner. Camera is up in the air, but the G4 has been established to be one of the best.
But since this is the Compact model, the G4 has more RAM, a much larger display and a better PPI to go along with it. Also won't be as fragile.
The new Sony camera is has been rated by DxO as the best phone camera.
As far as the RAM goes, can anyone confirm that 3GB will make a noticeable difference over 2GB in real life usage? I seriously doubt it.
As the PPI goes, once you go over 300 the human eye won't notice an improvement from a normal viewing distance of one foot.
The new Sony camera is has been rated by DxO as the best phone camera.
I'm aware of that, but I'd rather see more real world reviews before making a definitive conclusion. The G4's position is established, the Z5's isn't.
As far as the RAM goes, can anyone confirm that 3GB will make a noticeable difference over 2GB in real life usage? I seriously doubt it.
I doubt any one could possibly confirm that. All we have are anecdotes and theory to go one. But theory says that the OS will cache as much as it can in the memory to improve performance. The RAM won't be sitting idle. Multitasking will be better, performance intense apps like games will perform better. Your device will be better prepared for future OS features (like multiwindow and the like). More to the point, I wouldn't want to spend $600 to upgrade my phone when it has the same amount of RAM my previous $400 one did.
As the PPI goes, once you go over 300 the human eye won't notice an improvement from a normal viewing distance of one foot.
And I call BS on this one. You can definitely, definitely notice the difference if you look at two displays side by side. Especially in text. This is an Apple marketing point, nothing more.
Yes, if you pixel-peep. That's why I said "from a normal viewing distance". My personal anecdotal experience confirms this - I always craved a higher resolution screen on a phone until I got an HTC One X (312 ppi) a few years ago. Did I see the difference when I looked closely at a phone with a higher PPI? Sure. But I've never felt the need to go 1080p on a 4.5"-4.7"screen, which is my preferred screen size (especially, not at the expense of the battery life and performance), so the Compact Xperias are just about perfect as far as I'm concerned.
@ProspectiveDarkness: G4 has slower RAM (LPDDR4 vs 3) and has ridiculously high resolution screen (in terms of performance, QHD does put fair bit of load on the phone), on top of SoC that was meant to be for a high-end non-flagship phones (i.e. compared to 805, it has worse GPU), though I'd say in terms of SoC, Qualcomm and ARM messed so many things with 810 that I cannot say which one would be definitively better (Cooling alleviates problem, the problem with A57 cores and big.LITTLE solution is not fixed).
I guess that in terms of on screen performance, this phone will be better, simply because HD resolution puts less burden on the performance overall. Snapdragon 810 is meant to be better than 808. While it has problems that I frankly think is just alleviated not fixed, I'd say it's probably going to perform better than 808, though it should be far better and it shouldn't have that high of a TDP, but that's another story.
In terms of RAM, I think it's a moot point, one has faster RAM and requires less performance to begin with because of the resolution, the other one has slower RAM and requires better performance because of the high resolution. More RAM is always better in my opinion, whether it is necessary is another story. By your logic, those people who bought G4 spent more money to get same quality glass panel as G3 (most 2015 flagships use Gorilla Glasses 4, not 3) and same speed RAM as G2 (Though 808 do not support LPDDR4, so I guess LG had no other choice).
@Oversimplified:
LG does a better job with Android when it comes to performance. Have nothing to complain about in that regard, even if its not great on paper. My note 4 was a lot worse performance wise than my G4. I don't trust Samsung to get their softtware updates right.
@Ronnnie: LG also released 805 devices in Korea at least (G3 Cat.6), if you brought Note 4 up because of me mentioning 805. Regardless, LG G4 isn't exactly built up as a flagship, 808 feels to me as a high end mid range SoC looking at how 805 has better GPU (the reason I've brought 805 in, since it was last year's flagship SoC). Looking at Gorilla Glass 3, LG could've easily used 4 (which LG does with V10). LG could've added fingerprint reader as well (you can argue it is gimmicky which I wouldn't argue back, but I will simply point out that V10 also has that in). LG didn't include QC 2.0 compatiable charger with G4 as well (which caused little debate on whether it can support it in some nerdy communities I go to), which V10 also included (from what I've read).
Overall, it doesn't feel like a flagship in terms of what it offers. To me, it feels like LG didn't make it as a flagship, they've cut costs here and there (as far as I could see), given how V10 has all of things I've pointed out in.
Absolutely wreckage battery life. Seriously, Sony phones never die, and the Z3 compact was in the top 10's of GSMArena's notoriously intense battery life test, while the Z5C dropped a bit, but is still in the top 20s. My Z2 easily ends the day with 35% and 4+ hours of intense screen on time and that's on a custom ROM, Sony's stock software kicks ass in terms of power management. Unless you really are a heavy user, these can last 2 days of use, or at the very least 1.5 of moderate.
I'd assume so with the smaller, lower resolution screen (compared to 5 inch+ flaghships, which in my opinion is completely fine as smaller screen means that PPI will be high with relatively low resolution) and large battery for its size (2700mah really large, especially phone this size).
Yep, but also Sony are just really good at batteries. They make their own batteries and their Android skin is unmatched at power management. If they would just put 4000mAh batteries in their bigger flagships, they would be more recognized for it, cause they could easily get like 3 days on a single charge
@deanylev: I don't think being a battery maker comes into it (LG and Samsung both produces battery), though I think Android skin might be one factor (since if you root and tweak things around, you'd see battery performance boost on TouchWiz and Optimus UX). That said, I personally believe that nothing can beat physical battery capacity when you have the phone constantly running, and this phone seems to have large battery capacity.
@Oversimplified: It does, some batteries are simply better than others due to stacking and different technologies and the likes. And the Sony firmware is good at battery at a very deep level, not simply achievable through rooting and tweaking. Rooting and tweaking only adds to it, creating unheard of efficiency on Stock sony ROMs.
@deanylev: Dunno what to say, since battery life stuff isn't my main interest nor speciality (technologies introduced in battery tend to never gets full coverage compared to display technology, camera technology, audio technology or SoCs).
Software wise I would assume that what you are talking about is achievable with tweaks that is possible with root access (tweaks on kernel etc etc). I've mentioned this before, battery life stuff isn't my cup of tea. That said you can do a lot with root access, much more than just removing bloatware. I've seen people tweaking governors and stuff (which is slightly beyond what I look at).
I've seen people crediting screen technology for better battery life beforehand for Sony phones before in terms of hardware (i.e. Phonearena with Z3). To be honest, I've never heard anyone saying things like better battery technology that's independent of what the battery capacity is. I've heard of technologies that allows smaller size batteries to contain larger capacity beforehand though.
In short, I don't know whether what you are saying is correct, I've never seen anyone bringing up what you've mentioned above. I've seen that Sony phones have large battery for the phones (usually much larger than their competitors), and they tend to have fairly high (usually would be considered as one of the best) scores in many benchmarks.
I've got a 2.5 year old original Z that's been passed on the my GF. It's fine. The only issue is one of the covering flaps is a bit loose, but I've been more than happy with it all round.
My 11 month old z3c headphone port hasn't been functioning for 3 months now. Just can't be without a phone for the 2weeks or whatever it will take to repair.
Thankfully haven't experienced the screen issue though my friends z3 seemed to spontaneous crack too.
Same thing happened to my headphone jack, Go to any repair shop that handles Xperia's. You'll have it back in less than an hour but you'll be $90 out of pocket.
I thought the code is only for Wedding items.Or am I mistaken? Will these sellers honour phones bought with this discount code ?
Who does have a z5 in a wedding? Even James Bond
I think eBay's covering the gap so I don't think the seller will care.
out of stock!
Thanks! Marked out of stock.
Sorry, but available in other colours (except black) ;)
Be warned! Sony may be good at some areas but mobile phone is something they are doing not well.
I will never touch a Sony Xperia phone again…never again… 3 strikes you out sorry Sony, you have failed me 3 times over.
As a Z2 ,Z3 and Z4 owner, I can confidently say this: Sony Xperia phones look well, and feel like a piece of quality devices.
HOWEVER, that is as far as good story goes. Z2 Z3 Z4 overheating problems all the way. Dustproof, yes! Waterproof? No! Read the news, if you do the same thing Sony did in their ads you saw on TV, your phone WILL leak water AND Sony WILL reject your warranty claims, and to repair, it is around $280-$370 for the screens because it is special led and glass altogether, PLUS you "LOSE" the "waterproofness" of the phone.
Also, the screen…I know I know, if you drop any phone, the screen will shutter. Sony will guarantee you that no matter when where how you drop your phone, to be 100% rest assured, your Sony phone will need a new screen. Man…I was lying down on a mechanics creeper, my Z3 came off my pocket, about 100mm drop, yes you are right only 100mm, and the screen was shuttered and half the screen was completely unusable, a new screen needed. I have dropped iphone 4S 5S 6 more than 20 times, replaced screen once, the rest just a bit dent here and there. I dropped LG 5-6 times, just a bit scratches. Don't let me say my Nokia, Nokia phone doesn't give a single shit on this. People say get a case, the real problem is I have case on all of them…Do I really need to buy these extreme rubberised rugged phone cases? If we have to do this way, what sense it makes to get a good looking phone because we will have these rugged cases anyways…
OK, long story short, Sony phone looks OK, but breaks like flakes, good luck Sony, and all the best to the owners.
Your experience might have been bad, we still have Z2 and it is doing well. It already has been dropped in bathtub and in ahrd floor few times few time. So far no issues. It has usual sony cover and temper glass as accessories.
We love the battery life it provides and didnt get slow in all this time. On top of that amazing camera.
Yours might have been lemon.
Did you have your phone in a good case ? What about a tempered glass cover for front and back ?
It's a fragile phone so protection is a must.
I take my Z3 compact into the shower with me everyday with a UE boom and its works fine. Last month I dropped my phone between the rocks of a rock wall during a fishing trip and it only chipped off a bit of the edges.
The size/battery/color of the phone really stands out from the other phones on the market. I think you just had back luck with yours.
I've had a Z2 and a Z3 Compact and a couple of my family members also have a Z3 Compact. I've just bought the Z5 Compact for my girlfriend. These are the best phones we've ever had for build quality, software quality (besides the Nexus line), camera quality and battery life.
I've drop my Z3 Compact and the screen has broken … but that goes the same for pretty much all of my other phones except for the Nexus One, and that thing was a tank in comparison. They don't build them like they used to.
EDIT: comment added to parent post
it's funny that, in other words, you said the same thing that I did. I got 9 negative votes and you got 9 positive votes. It's things like this that make you believe in marketing
Thanks ! I got the last one at 20:44. Was contemplating cancelling the order for iPhone 6S but I've been a fan of compact line, so couldn't resist. Thanks blighst.
I was deadset on buying this phone, until I got to play with it when it launched earlier last month.
Plastic body feels cheap, 720p display noticeably lacks sharpness expected of a phone this price.
If it had an aluminium frame like the Z5 and a 1080p display, I'd buy this in a heartbeat.
In the last 2 yrs I've had a HTC One M7, LG G2, Moto X 1st gen, Note 4 & currently use a sony Z3. Tech specs aside, I felt the Z5 compact was a step backwards from all these phones.
Currently have a LG G4 on order from the current QD_AU deal :)
Thanks OP. Just got home from work so missed out on the 4% cashrewareds. None the less an absolute bargain. Just ordered the yellow one. Should make it easy to find in the dark.:)
i think 4% cashrewards was extended till Monday now. i thought i read that…
Oh, Ok. Thought it ended 4pm AEDT. Well fingers crossed.
Is there a catch? Any reason to be skeptical about overseas stock?
Hey guys, if you're still after the black one you can buy it from here for $40 more:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sony-Xperia-Z5-Compact-Black-32GB…
Ah, I was kind of relieved the Z5c black sold out since I'd stop being tempted and save a bit by going for a mid-range phone…
M4 comes to $263 and is an ok mid ranger
any deals on the bigger brother - just the Z5?
thanks for that. I saw your reply too late…. I'm very annoyed :(
How does this compare to the s6 deal? Camera is a priority
What I have read is both ate great cameras.
So is a bigger phone you should be comparing it with a z5 not the compact model.
Personally I prefer the Sony over Samsung from what I have owned.
The Z5 camera has been rated as the best smartphone camera in independent testing by DxO.
Really? The same was said about the z3 compact camera, and on paper it's great! Some reviews said it was fantastic too, but most said it wasn't. I bought it anyway, and i can confirm that the camera is shit. I would be very skeptical and do my due diligence before buying if the camera is important.
Disclaimer: I have not done any research on the z5 camera and have no idea if it's good or bad.
As far as I'm aware, the Z3 camera (except for the software) had not been updated since the Z1, so I'm not sure who said that it had the best camera. The Z5, on the other hand, has a brand new camera.
DxO's tests are quite comprehensive and are meant to be representative of real-life conditions. The S6 and iPhone 6 (and, especially, the 6S) are also very good.
@elektron:
Wish I hadn't bought the z3 compact only 6 months or so ago. Can't really justify upgrading already, but would love a compact phone with good performance AND good camera.
@fruxo:
I hear you…it took me a lot of discipline to hold back from getting the Z3C over the past year.
If it's any conciliation, I also have some buyers remorse - I bricked my trusty old HTC while rooting it in April and I ended up getting a ZTE Smart Fit as a stop-gap phone (paid full retail price of $99), which had the infamous partition issue, so got the Moto G (2nd Gen) in June from a deal on here - I'm finding it awfully laggy at times.
Some of the reasons I was waiting for the Z5C was the flapless micro-USB and LDAC (the best audio codec available, alas proprietary, which works with compatible high-end Sony headphones that I'm planning to get at some point in the future). The improved camera and the finger-scan are more of a bonus for me - I didn't even know about the latter until the IFA.
One of the reasons decided to pull the trigger now (besides the great deal) is precisely because it'll be the current model for the next 12 months, although I've previously hung on to my flagship phones for ~3 years.
In your case, there's definitely no reason to upgrade unless you're so desperate to get a better camera you're prepared to accept a loss (mine is $300 on the 2 stop-gap phones I bought in the last 6 months - I'd probably get peanuts for them second-hand + feeBay charges).
@elektron:
If the camera is actually comparable to the better ones like s6, I'm very tempted to cut my losses to be honest.
Although I'm still sceptical about the camera.
Do these come with the high res/noise cancelling headphones? I know this is a good deal, but I'd happily pay $40 extra for a good pair of buds instead of the junky ones.
I think only the Z5 Premium will come with good headphones.
So how to I get this deal? Just buy the phone on ebay qd-au store and enter the code CWEDDING20 at the checkout? How do I get the extra 4% discount from cash rewards?
Sorry if my questions seem dumb, I just came across this and joined everything to try and get this deal.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers
Be aware of the revised term and condition by e-Bay on this code ending tonight instead of 20 October.
http://pages2.ebay.com.au/Buyer_coupons/wedding20
This offer commences at 14.00 (AEDT) on 15 October 2015 and ends at 23.59 (AEDT) on 16 October 2015 (“Offer Period”).
So guys need some help here. Looking for the best value phone out of these three. Don't have many preferences dont play games and take the odd photo every now and then. Need to know by tonight.
Sony M4 : $260
Sony M5: $440
Sony Z5C: $600
Mainly concerned about getting the best value for money. M4 seems super cheap but unsure if the battery even compares to the others. What should I get?
Got the M4 in the end. gsm phone arena rated it at 81hours on the battery test only 5 under the z5c at 86. At $260, it sealed the deal for me.
Black Compact Z5 is now back in stock!!
Just about to post the same thing, took it as a sign and bought a black one!
just thought I'd pop in to say I ordered one of these for my wife and it arrived today… very quick shipping, now to hope we don't have any issues with it!
Thanks for the comment. I ordered one too and am hoping it arrives this week.
Thanks for posting. Did you receive a sent notification or anything?
It's pretty funny, I received the sent notification AFTER I received the phone!
Thanks krisx. Just got a note mine left Taiwan last night and is due on Monday via DHL. I was in the first batch of stock too so it seems luck of the draw, cheers!
Thanks! I ordered a Zenfone and haven't had any update on shipping- did you receive a sent notice?