yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
I couldn't disagree more. And believe me, I expected to be in the same boat as you as thats why I got rid of my Xperia 1 and Xperia 5.

I have the Pixel 4 and whilst I agree point and shoot is better with the Pixel, I have gotten some incredibly sharp pictures with the Xperia both in bright light (expected) and even in lower light. Some examples attached.

Photo pro mode is amazing.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] andybg40:
Fingerprint sensor works great. Much better than on the X1. In truth, if the camera was better, I would keep it for my daily, it's a great phone.

Design is subjective, but for me, it's the best device I've held for a long time.

---------- Post added at 10:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------

Like I said, I may have a faulty device. Anything that involves faces, texture and indoor lighting, it's terrible. I haven't bothered taking pics outside, pointless to compare, as any £250 phone will nail a shot in bright sunlight.

For the record, pics 1 and 3 have blown highlights, another Xperia issue for many years.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
Lol. Well, I shot these in photo pro with no tweaks made. So if you were that arsed about your photos then you could dial it down in post processing.

Sounds like you don't want that so maybe you should just stick to your Pixel. :)
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] andybg40:
I'm more than happy to spend time in post adjusting good images to make them more appealing. Wasting my time trying to recover a poor image, that I may only have the one chance to get, is pointless and unnecessary, especially having so many good camera phones available nowadays.

I've taken over 200 images since Thursday doing comparisons. I'll point one thing out that may be of use. When using the main camera app, if you can fool it into thinking it's taking an image of a document (comes up on screen), it's absolutely on point, focus is tac sharp. But I don't want my kids holding a sheet of text up every time I want to take a picture of them!

I've spent enough time on this phone to know it's either faulty or just poorly optimised. As others post their results, we'll find out which is correct.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] idees:
the feedback of vibration is disappointing, or something else?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
The vibration feedback. It's utter crap.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] idees:
hmmm so better disable it?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
Yes I have. I prefer to have some sort of tactile feedback from my devices, particularly for the nav buttons - but I can't believe how bad they are in this phone so just turned them off across the board. Shame really.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] cd993:
I actually quite like it
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
Wow, really? That's... Interesting.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] cd993:
I can perhaps see why you don't like it, it does have a certain feel to it. I've tweaked the intensity a little with SwiftKey for typing, which I find feels nice. I'm not so keen on the dynamic vibration but there have been a couple times I've had it on low and liked that too.

Each to their own though ?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
It does ... cheap! Haha.

Compared to the haptics in a Pixel and an iPhone (and any flagship Samsung since the Note 10), this is severely lacking.

The fact you can 'hear' the vibration when it is in your hand says it all for me.

But as you can say, each to their own. :)
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] cd993:
That is a very good point actually, it feels good when typing but I've certainly noticed the sound of it!
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] tessorodesoto:
Well not really, if you dial down exppsure to fix the clouds, you will darken the other subjects, which in my opinion, are already dark. Not pleased with this pictures either, people think that they can fix everything in MANUAL mode, but that is far from true. You can only fix that with software, that is why manual mode is a total waste for this type of optics (too small)
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
Return it then. :).

If people thought they were going to get a Pixel quality camera out of the box with just point and shoot then they're going to be very disappointed.

It needs saying that my photos are literally point and shoot from photo pro. I know nothing about the modes that are presented. I am going to try and learn though to try and get the best out of the camera before I decide whether I want to keep it or not.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Tmel14:
As a casual camera user who mainly takes pics of family/friends/pets, it'd be great to know how it is just for point and shoot? Is it better in the stock app or camera pro and has tinkering with settings made a positive difference? Is portrait mode good?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] tessorodesoto:
As i said, you can tweak it all you want, dynamic range cant be fixed with a slider, you either fix the overexposure and mess up the shadows, or fix the shadows and overexpose the rest. For these type of sensors, there isnt much you can do, hence the importance of software tweaks like those in googles or apples phones. I like sonys phones for their elegance and design, but cameras have always been just Ok. I pre ordered one though, for the record :)
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Mackay53:
For the price point of the phone I think it's fair to say you'd expect a point and shoot camera that is as good as a phone from 2019 which costs a few hundred less.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
But that's never been the case for a Sony device. And that's not really how this phone has been advertised. Sure, the camera has been hyped, but not for the same reason the Pixel camera or iPhone camera is hyped.

It's because it gives you control of your images more than any other phone camera will in line with Sonys Alpha tech. And you can get some very versatile images when you take the time to use them.

For me, it's a huge improvement over Xperias before it. Doesn't mean it's the best camera on a phone still, but it is noticeably better.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Rodders_28:
Pros

4k HDR on YouTube is superb

Size and weight is great

Camera and video I like. Video looks great on my 4k tv. Hands held stability is good as well. Though I have to copy it to a usb to watch.

Cons

I rebooted my phone and it lost all my home screen setup. Reverted to as I bought it.

YouTube doesn't work on mobile connection.

Apps don't appear on desktop when installed, even with the seeing on.

Battery life..... Seems to go down pretty fast.

Sometimes notice it's not a 120 Hz screen in games, but think that more down to game coding, as assume of the more demanding games are fine.

WiFi calling and volte doesn't seem to be in the settings to use.

No independent photo gallery or video. Forced to use Google photos

Think that's it lol
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] leony74:
Which network you are using it on.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Rodders_28:
O2. Just uninstalled YouTube updates and it works on 4g now.

I don't get 4g+ so perhaps that's why no WiFi calling and volte?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Mackay53:
You sometimes notice it's not 120hz in games because it doesn't support 120hz in any games.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] stefanve:
added small review here https://xdaforums.com/sony-xperia-1-II/review/overall-love-t4056693
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Rodders_28:
Sorry, was comparing to my old phone that was:) I didn't make that clear
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Namnick:
r

How do you feel about 60 hz coming from 120 hz screen ?

I have heard xperia displays and software are smooth anyways. And how does motion blur reduction compare to you ?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] NSD:
There's no guarantee the NA version will be rootable right?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Rodders_28:
Overall it's decent and I'm happy. Only noticed it's a bit jittery on one silly idle game I play, Call of Duty that came installed on the phone is super smooth.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] augie7107:
I'm happy with it initially but haven't tried the camera yet. I'll find time to do that today. Disappointed that email, phone and album are no longer available and weather and 3D creator need to be manually installed. Sony always had a unique set of proprietary apps and the numbers are certainly dwindling.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] murrayalex:
I've caved in as I expected and have ordered a white one from Wonda Mobile, won't be here for a few weeks though. It's a Sony phone so I know what to expect, I already have an Xperia 1. They are somewhat niche devices for people who like/appreciate certain traits/things in a phone. I like the fact they haven't pandered to the masses, for example, with those ludicrous and pointless curved screens.

Bring it on...
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Sho-Bud:
My largest complain right now is the processing of the wide angle images. In the normal photo app they are overly processed, when zooming in it has a "plastic" look. But on with the Pro app, the edges of objects and shadow details are very blocky or grainy. If they can tweak it in a future firmware that would be nice. The 24 mm sensor gives great results, I must play with the HDR settings. The 70 mm sensor, well, not perfect but not too bad. If they would tweak it a bit it could be great.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] BBEN66:
Forget the Oppo, I had it for a couple of days, it is way inferior even to the S20 Ultra. Some images I took with it are good but not special. UI is in beta stage (imho). Battery drains faster than expected. Screen is ok (for some it might be awesome), I find the one on my S20 Ultra (16/512) way better.

BTW: this is my second S20 Ultra, I gave it new chance (2 weeks ago) and I am happy I did it, the new one is like a new device: focus perfect, image perfect, video perfect, even zoom up to 30 is usable.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] AJHutchinson:
Any version is able to be rooted, just requires unlocking the bootloader.

That said O2 over here in the UK didn't usually allow you to unlock the bootloader which has changed recently.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
Coming from the Xperia 1 I can say the improvements are

1. Battery life

2. Headphone jack

3. Camera pro app

Those are both pretty important for me, might not be for others. My photos are coming in nice and sharp so far. I'll start taking photos in the pro app today.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] NSD:
Right. No guarantee that the bootloader will be unlockable in NA.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Piospi:
The battery in this model is a joke....I have had a phone call for two days. At the beginning I just used a little to turn off unnecessary applications and install apps my from google play. I charged it up to 90% and since then I've only taken one picture and a few short conversations - max 1-2 mins.

And during that time battery was down to 68%....
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
That is not normal. I am averaging 7-8 SoT with the phone although I have turned always on display off and now it only comes on when I lift the phone.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
My battery life is phenomenal. I've yet to go under 50% after a full day.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Rodders_28:
Dont you use your phone!?

I'm always charging mine lol
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] mehdi_s82:
Use Ambient display in smart mode instead of Always On,it makes a significant difference on battery life
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
I'm on my phone all day long. My Xperia 1 always needed a recharge. I've been on my phone for the past 2.5 hours and am at 89%. I don't like my screen super bright, I don't game. It's all phone calls, emails, texts, photos and browsing.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] cd993:
You could even have it disabled entirely and rely on the notification light, if that would suit your needs. I'm rooted and have LED Blinker Pro set up so red for missed calls, green for Whatsapp, blue for Gmail etc.

It really is a solid phone for battery. I'm at 4.5 hrs SOT (oh the joys of lockdown) and at 44% - rooted and xposed installed too, with a variety of web browsing, Youtube, Whatsapp etc. no games
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] y2jdmbfan:
So I just got my XQ-AT52, and even though the language is set to USA it is displaying some sort of asian characters for the app names, is there anyway around this? If not, I am returning and will be out a 25% restocking.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] y2jdmbfan:
The newest software update solved this issue for me.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] AJHutchinson:
You can check by bringing up the service menu dial *#*#SERVICE#*#*
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] NSD:
The issue is that I'm considering importing one of these (since it's not sold in Canada) however I would absolutely hate being stuck with one if I can't root it.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
How is everyone's signal strength? Mine is poor even though it was good with the x1, not sure if it's my phone or not. I have gotten quite a few dropped calls as I lost signal. Could I be missing some bands by using a UK model? On TMO USA.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
Some photos using the Photo Pro app. Sharpness is excellent, I tried to see how it handled shade and light.View attachment 5049175
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] y2jdmbfan:
I'm pretty sure the bands are the same as the one that will be released in the US, because it has the same model. XQ-AT51. No guarantees the US model will be any better. I have the dual-sim XQ-AT52, no VoLTE or WiFi calling on AT&T USA, but I didn't expect it to have those. I may still order one from Amazon, to test the difference in signal and see if by chance it works with VoLTE. I wish AT&T didn't have their special own VoLTE, it requires some tweaks to the standard VoLTE.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] WarVic:
Yes, Xperia gives you control of your images and your cameras in pro manual mode BUT in most cases it doesn't result in better images at all. It's like having control for control's sake. And I wouldn't say that LG V-series manual mode is any inferior to Xperia one. I'd rather say that I like LG camera app and their manual mode. I'm saying it as an owner of Xperia 5 at the moment. I considered to upgrade to Xperia 1 II despite insane price tag but it looks like overhyped Xperia's camera system still suffer with the same old illnesses. And this is disappointing.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] brocnical:
I think the above poster is talking nonsense as camera does give noticeable differences in quality, especially low noise from the main sensor with its large size. It's better than my standalone camera in many cases.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
The Photo Pro app is excellent.View attachment 5049659
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] andybg40:
May be the compression here, but that shot is a mess. Can you point to the full resolution version?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] BBEN66:
This is for sure a joke, right?

Even my SONY Ericsson Satio makes better images....
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
Not a joke and the photo is fantastic. The entire sky was yellow after the storm, coupled with the Saharan dust it was incredible. I'm not responsible for what XDA/Tapatalk does with compression.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] AJHutchinson:
If your buying the phone out right without a contract it definitely should be unlockable, as I've said I only ever had the problem when I got them from O2 on a contract in the past but they have resolved that issue lately thank god
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] jwalesh96:
Oh hey I remember seeing you on the xperia 1 forums last year and you made it very very apparent you didn't like it. Why did you buy the 5 later on? did something change?

So far I've seen pretty good results from the 1ii but usually from those using photo pro rather than the regular one, so far though it seems delivered on what was promised like the fast focus and good bursts for action shots so rather than thinking overhype I think its better for people to try for themselves as it seems to be aimed a niche photographer segment more than anything.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] augie7107:
Update 58.0.A.3.39. 4.3mb, certainly can't be much
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] WarVic:
Yes, I bought Xperia 5. I just blindly followed the hype around it but mostly got broken hopes as a result. There are a few reasons I still using it though. And photos quality is not among them. I like the size and weight (not too big, not too small), more or less unique look and rareness in my country, good enough battery life and flat screen. But most important reason - price. I got it dirt cheap. Everything else is mediocre. Sure I get some truly brilliant pictures from it but mostly at good lighting conditions only (crappy $200 potato phones can do it as well). Otherwise I have a lot of complains about Xperia 5 camera system - damn slow camera performance, crappy wide angle and below average selfie camera, inconsistent focusing system, no macro, no dedicated night mode etc. I read a lot of so called first impressions about Xperia 1 II camera system photos quality and it seems didn't go too far from X5. So I'll definitely try it out by myself for $500 or so. It just not worth more than that to my opinion, sorry. Finally, Iets say that X1 II as well as any other cameraphone is aimed for amateur photographers. Seriously, I'd laugh at "pro photographer" who uses a smartphone to do his job. Cheers
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Montane:
I'm really not sure whether to cancel mine or not. I'm after the best camera, 60% of my shots are point and shoot with my little boy.

Huawei P40 is in my sight, I dont need Google.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] WarVic:
The post above post makes sense, my friend. Lets put aside sensor size, number of cameras etc. I always compare photo quality on good quality 24" IPS screen as well as on 15" Macbook Pro. And I was shocked to find out that technically inferior dirt cheap Google Pixel 3 makes better quality photos than my current phone - Xperia 5. Honestly, I still not impressed looking at few photo samples from Xperia 1 II here. See 0.1% difference compared with my X5. And this is sad. Please feel free to convince me that I'm wrong.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] andybg40:
Don't get this phone then. You're going to miss a lot of memories with your kids!
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] jwalesh96:
Hm well I would say that your purchase of the 5 is more on you than anything. the 5 literally was known from the start as the 1's camera in a smaller body minus the camera dram. I would've just gone for a different phone instead unless theres another must have reason for the 5. If its all for an easy simple camera why not the pixel or an iphone? Trade in and sales (for the pixel)on either make em pretty darn cheap as well. Either way, I've read a lot of first impressions and reviews and at this point I'd rather just try it out and suggest others as well. As for your last point if it gets people fired up to pony for an actual camera its a win for them and if it helps a photographer feel at home when using the phone when he doesn't have a dslr on him/her I think thats perfectly fine as well. Seen a lot of people on all sorts of forums and while not everyone, the overall sentiment is positive especially considering launches are usually the roughest time of a phones life since there will be the inevitable bugs, lemons QA etc. If I do get one though, I think it'd teach me how to become a better photographer overall. However, Since I don't own one right now anyways, I suppose we'll end up just agreeing to disagree for a lot of things anyways, Cheers.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] y2jdmbfan:
Do you have some first hand experience?
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] brocnical:
I have the 1 II, you do not. It is not easy to judge a photograph unless you were at the scene taking the picture. I can tell you that, as well as the low noise (much lower than my Canon Powershot SX1), I am also impressed with the colour accuracy of the pictures relative to the actual scene. Much better than the XZ1/XZ2 to compare them to.

I also don't know why some people are saying you can't point-and-shoot with this phone - of course you can, even in Photo Pro auto mode, and it works good! Even Photo-Pro "P" mode is almost as easy as auto -- all it allows you extra to adjust is the exposure. Simple.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] BBEN66:
Can only agree. Briefing my images on the (calibrated) screen of my 27" iMac. In viewable resolution and also in full resolution. And I am really sad that my new 1 Mark 2 can't deliver. Interesting, the so much blamed S20 Ultra (Snapdragon) gives me more and better usable material from all sensors while the Sony only (but not always) from it's main sensor.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] andybg40:
Yes, thank you. Had the phone for three days and returned. Took hundreds of shots and compared to a number of other phones I have, it's not good enough.

And before someone comes back with 'you need to use the pro mode', tell my 4.5yr old and 2.5yr old twins that. Asking them to stand still for 2mins while you compose and adjust the settings before you shoot isn't going to happen. In those moments, you need a solid point and shoot and this phone doesn't have it. Well, the one I had didn't, it may have been faulty, but from what I'm seeing elsewhere, it probably wasn't.

---------- Post added at 08:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 AM ----------
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Sensination:
I like it too.It's actually better than Xperia 1.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Bialynia:
I had a lot of fun with burst mode this weekend.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] Aneres11:
Must have been some utterly dreadful vibration motor in the X1 then if people actually like the vibration in this phone. :)
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] BBEN66:
Sometimes I have the feeling Sony has "mistakenly" exchanged the innards of my MK2 with the one from the 10 II.

---------- Post added at 03:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 PM ----------

Today I contacted the Sony Mobile Facebook site and told them my issues with the Xperia 1 MK2. After a couple of minutes they deleted my post. Saw this because I wanted to add a comment and couldn't...

More dissapointment from Sony :(
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] tomjaihk:
I missed the day with old Xperia UI - I could customize my home screen, freely add/drop home screen page and set my favourite theme. I also missed the NFC and auto brightness on/off shortcut key on the notification bar.

But the photo pro is really cool!

If the bugs of Youtube/Play Movie that 1080p cannot be chosen can be fixed asap, I am happier.
[Sony Xperia 1 II Guides, News, & Discussion] edda123:
Had the device for one day now, switched from OnePlus 5t. Overall I like it very much.

Photos look way better than my previous phone managed.

Fingerprint sensor is pretty slow and I really miss the gesture on the sensor to bring down the notifications. Other than that nothing to complain about (yet). Vibration feels okay but nothing special, still way better than OnePlus 5t.