[Xperia Z3 General] alon3232:
Must unload this off my chest:

Really wanted to like the Z3 but here is what I think of it right now after few weeks of intensive use:

My Z3 is D6603 stock unrooted running latest firmware 23.4.A.1.232 - after complete factory reset AND software Repair procedure via PCC.

Sony & Google Bloatware disabled: Google News & Weather, Podcast, Xperia Care, Street View, Google Play Books, Google+, Hangouts, Social Live, Talkback, Facebook Xperia, Xperia Lounge, Tweeter, FB Messenger, Instagram and others I must have forgotten. My only IM app is WhatsApp, absolutely no Games on board. I Use Greenify (non-root version) to manually close apps that are not required to run in the background.

1. Lousy LTE signal reception - I had many android phones gone under my hands lately and by far the Z3 has the worst LTE reception - where others had 3-4 bars, the Z3 has none and it falls back to 3G (H/H+)- then (by a known documented bug) it never goes back to LTE/4G even when reception allows it - it just "stuck" with 3G.

2. Lousy GPS reception - Never had such a bad experience with slow ability to lock on signal and even then it tends to disconnect unless you position the phone close to the windshield - any other position in the car and you are faced with disconnecting and lost signal during navigation. Even when navigation software is running (Waze) it is extremely slow in updating position so there is a Lag with updates to Waze - 5 seconds after I took a turn for example, it shows on the map - Making Navigation a horrible experience as I frequently miss the next turn if it's close by.

3. Battery life sucks with Lollipop - I have to believe others who claim that under KitKat it was great. Cruising with Stamina mode ON and screen brightness set to Auto 0% can give you a day with light use with SOT of 6 hours, but anything more straining than this - for example light camera/GPS/Gaming use with 20% Auto brightness and battery drains like mad.

4. Mediocre Camera performance - quality is very disappointing compared to other phones with same/similar or ever lower spec Sony sensor.

5. Low speaker volume - if I want to use it while driving or on a busy street outside - there is no way I can hear the other side of the conversation through the speaker.

6. Low earpiece volume during calls - same as #5 above.

7. Malfunctioning Speakerphone - other side can't here me when I activate speaker phone ! it's not even low volume they complain about - it's horrible garbled noise.

I know that all the above sound/mic/speaker/earpiece issues are not hardware related probably as running Sony's own diagnostics software show that all these components are functioning well.

8. Slow UI speed - lags and unresponsive at times - especially when dialing a contact - it takes several seconds between hitting the contact's name until the dialing action is actually initiated.

9. This is really minor - but flash is extremely weak - cannot use it as flashlight, in camera barely has a 10 inch range and worse of all, when it accidentally turn on - you can hardly tell if not in a dark room so there goes another battery drain.

Enough said so far - I am very disappointed with this Phone - my previous OnePlus One is infinitely much better - (again I am far from being a troll here, I really wanted to like the Z3, I even have a C5 Ultra ready to be tested soon as a replacement and really hope that it will provide a decent performance and make me a Sony fan again):

I can also testify that these other phones that I had the opportunity to extensively test proved to perform much better than my Z3:

Samsung Note 3, LG G3, Xperia Z2, Nexus 6, Note Edge, Samsung S6, Samsung S6 Edge, LG G4, Meizu M2 Note, OnePlus One - all were running stock ROM unrooted. Amazing how even the last too phones which are Chinese brands had much better user experience than my Z3 (not to mention they cost 50% and even 30% of the price of the Z3).

Please advise which ROM to install. as a last resort, before I am forced to get rid of my Z3 ? Again, these are mostly Major issues - I am talking here about signal reception, GPS and simply the ability to carry a phone call - when these are not possible then I have simply no use for a smartphone - no matter how good is the display or the build quality or water resistance.

UPDATE : Z3 Sold ! Thank for your support