I’m considering a Sony Experia Z3 for next phone…. Like the looks and waterproof ness…… But I was puzzled how they get it so waterproof …… And it looks like the charging port has a cover over it that must be removed somehow for charging ??

How does this work in the real world day to day? It seems like a hassle to have to keep popping covers off to charge up …. .?

And how about listening on headphones ??

Any one here got one and can share real world experiences?

I have a Z1 Compact. It shares the same waterproofing features. Yes, you have to flip open a cover for the USB Mini port. I reckon the little seal on that will be a weak point so I invested in the magnetic charging lead. This just attaches to the outside of the case – very simple. My car dock has the same feature too so it’s just a question of popping the phone in and that’s it.

Headphones work as normal – no cover.

I have the Z2. Great waterproofing – taken many underwater swimming type shots – nae bother.

The performance of the phone however- that’s another story. Constantly refusing to recognise the memory card, constantly dropping wifi signal, running super hot etc. Certainly wish I’d stuck with Samsung when I changed a few months back. Hope the Z3 is sorted better than the Z2…

I’ve a Z2 for work. It’s a cover you need to remove but it’s not fallen off as yet so all looking good. Lasts for ages on a charge too!

Haven’t tested the waterproofness on it as yet, well nothing other than using it in the rain but then I do with my other phone and that’s not died a death yet either.

Sony’s headphones were surprisingly bad though, replace them and the sound is much better quality – they really let themselves down here.

Got my z3 compact last week. Very good so far. Waiting on a magnetic charge lead to arrive, that will stop me having to pull away the cover. Fancied a smaller phone than my old s3 and the new equivalent smart phones.

I didn’t realise there was the magnetic option…… That does indeed look a neat solution……

I got one a few weeks ago, it’s brilliant. Really like the size and battery lasts for ages. Gets excellent reviews too. Don’t find the charging port too much of a hassle, it’s just a small cover on the side

Headphones fine.

You can also get magnetic adapters for your standard micro USB leads, rather than using the dock.

Just a couple of quid on Ebay.

I like it, but I don’t find the interface as user friendly as the Nokia lumia it replaces.

Headphones are junk, camera isn’t as good as I expected, charger cover will clearly not last.

It is very fast, light and quality of the screen is excellent. Doesn’t even get warm.

Wish I’d gone for the lumia 930 though

Had one for a couple of months, replaced an original Xperia Z. Happy with it so far, nice and quick, getting 3 days between charges (1-1.5 on the old one which admittedly obviously had an old battery), camera good enough, twin front speakers nice and so on

The one thing which really bugs me which I thought was nice at first is the metal rear cover. If you rest the phone on anything which has a gradient greater than 0.00001 degrees, it slides off! Might have to put it in a case or put a bit of tape on the back! (1st world issue…)

I had no idea you could get those magnetic chargers, look good, might actually get a full dock thing

charger cover will clearly not last.

My Xperia Z is over a year old and it’s still fine (touch wood), and that includes late night inebriated fiddling to plug it in.

Mind you, it’s still more of a faff than a magnetic charger, I’d get one of those.

I have the Z2. Great waterproofing – taken many underwater swimming type shots – nae bother.

The performance of the phone however- that’s another story. Constantly refusing to recognise the memory card, constantly dropping wifi signal, running super hot etc. Certainly wish I’d stuck with Samsung when I changed a few months back. Hope the Z3 is sorted better than the Z2…

Total Opposite of my experience with the Z2 I’ve found it a really good phone, it’s been happy with the memory card I’ve put in there and it’s been pretty bullet proof with Wifi and BT accessories…

Only criticism is that it is maybe a bit big, but I knew that when I got it…

I did get a cheap charging cradle off ebay, which uses the magnetic charging contacts on the side, as I too don’t like popping open that side port cover to charge it, since using that I’ve hardly had to bother opening the side port.

Much prefer Sony to Samsung now…

had a Z3 for a few weeks now. first thing I did was buy a jelly case for it, much better now as the glass back is slippy.

it’s quick, easy to handle, good camera, bright screen, great battery life (2 days on normal usage for me) has ANT+, fast GPS location, good sound through headphones and via bluetooth. umm, on and is waterproof, I put mine in the sink by accident. my wife panicked a little. no ill effects to the phone.

can heat up a bit if you push it hard though.

I have a Sony that’s two years old with a similar waterproof cover. It is always charged with a plug in cable and never been an issue, and is perfectly waterproof. Takes a couple of seconds each time you charge it in to open or close the cover. I’ve also got a Samsung that’s about five years old with a pretty much identical cover, and that is still waterproof too.
I think the phones will be completely obsolete well before the covers give up and leak.

I have the Z2 – great phone apart from 1 drawback – it’s size – just too bloody big. I was looking for a waterproof and bumpproof phone and this ticked all the boxes and my network provider wasn’t doing the Z2 Compact, so this was the only 1 available. Apart from the size, it is a great device.

Has been dunked a few times and still working great…I hadn’t noticed any ‘weakness’ with the tab that needs removed to charge via the USB cable, but I also went for the magnetic connector – slightly less faff to attach and charge.

I suspect the Z3 will be a great phone as well…but I’d be more interested in the Z3 Compact due to the size issue I have with the Z2 (and I think the Z3 is the same size).

I have the Z1 compact and on that basis the girlfriend bought the Z3.

As above, the non compact are big. She has trouble to type with one hand with hers.
Camera on mine is great… Z3 even better. Burst function is great for taking riding shots and the slow mo vid is also fantastic.

Mine is a year old and as water proof as ever. The main selling point for me was that it is dust proof.. Some friends have had their iPhones die after the dust got into them.

Music quality is fine,imo.
The gf received noise cancelling ones that work well. She also got some running armband widget thingy, although she’s yet to use it, the lazy bitch.

I’d recommend… Although my advise would be don’t get a black one. You’ll turn it around at least once when you go to use it. For that reason mine is bright yellow.

I just need Sony to adopt QI charging like the Nexus phones have or I need the Nexus phones to become waterproof! Come on guys, sort it out.

Camera on mine is great… Z3 even better. Burst function is great for taking riding shots and the slow mo vid is also fantastic.

You have slow mo on the Z1c? Have you rooted yours? If so does it upset the camera quality? Or did you mean slow mo the Z3?

^^ Z3 has super slo-mo function. bit jealous, TBH. can i root my phone so that it has the new camera features?

what is a root?

Z3 has super slo-mo function. bit jealous, TBH. can i root my phone so that it has the new camera features?
what is a root?

Rooting is jailbreaking for Androids and allows users to dive deeper into a phone’s sub-system. Essentially, it’ll allow you to access the entire operating system and be able to customize just about anything on your Android. With root access, you can get around any restrictions that your manufacturer or carrier may have applied. You can run more apps, you can overclock or underclock your processor, replace the firmware.

There is a bodge going around to give you some of the Z3 camera features.. But I’ve heard rooting these xperias can upset the cameras due some of the image processing firmware being not accessible after root or something like that.

Thanks fellas. Generally positive feedback. Looks like decision made !