Zenphone 9 vs Xperia 10 IV

[IPD]

Apart from the specs on GSM Arena (I can look those up myself)--does anyone have any hands-on experience with either of these?

 

Thoughts on not having a MicroSD slot?

[Commodus]

On 8/19/2022 at 12:48 PM, IPD said:

Apart from the specs on GSM Arena (I can look those up myself)--does anyone have any hands-on experience with either of these?

 

Thoughts on not having a MicroSD slot?

Without experience for those phones, I'll say this: going without a microSD slot is absolutely fine as long as you have sufficient headroom. Cards are something of a pain as you have to deal with mismatched storage speeds (microSD is typically slower than built-in UFS drives), more complex file management (including backups) and diminishing advantages in the streaming era.

[venomtail]

Here in the UK looks like ASUS won't have a physical presence. Haven't seen a single carrier who'll be selling the phone so no way to see IRL what the sizing is like and even if I'll like the phone.

 

As for Micro SD? No longer as relevant as it used to be. When android came with 16/32GB max storage option and a when a single 64GB Micro SD could more than double your storage, it was a key factor. Now that phones themselves have built in 256GB of storage, it's more than comfy and all a Micro SD card would benefit is how often you have to dump all your pictures to mass storage from your phone far less frequently.

[RadekXJ]

IDK if still relevant to you, but I've been using Xperia 10 IV since November last year. I went with Sony, cause I could not get my hands on Asus anywhere before purchase, plus Asus was 2 times more expensive.
My previous phone was Samsung M21, so I don't have comparison to high end smartphones.

On the plus side: I really like the size of the phone, it fits nicely in my pockets, can be handled with one hand. The camera is OK for my needs, the speed is also OK. The battery life is great, at least 2 days if I play with it. It is waterproof, I dropped mine in the carwash, noticed it after a while - no harm done, just displayed a message that USB port is wet for about an hour. The finger sensor is better than the one I had on Samsung. And it still has a minijack port

It doesn't charge fast, but I usually plug it in when going to bed anyway, so it has plenty of time to charge.

It doesn't have wireless charging. I don't care.

On the negative side: the screen needs protection ASAP. I've put mine in the empty pocket on the second day I've had it, walked around for an hour, ended with a nasty scratch. Samsungs screen was much more durable. Dual SIM is not for physical 2 SIM cards, the other one needs to be e-sim. I found that there is a revision for actual physical dual SIM out there, but you need to look at the precise model number. But the revision with e-sim dual has microSD slot. Bluetooth was a bit glitchy at first, but after a few software updates it works fine. Even with a minijack port it does not support FM radio.

Overall - I'm satisfied with it given the Black Friday price I payed for it. Given current prices - I think it is too expensive for what it offers.

[E-waste]

On 5/17/2023 at 5:21 AM, RadekXJ said:

Given current prices - I think it is too expensive for what it offers.

You can unlock the bootloader, Sony website on the developer page will explain exactly how to do it, so you can modify the operating system, and use LineageOS for different features and longer support cycles.

 

You could also play around with mobile Linux like Ubuntu, or KDE Plasma with Arch Linux or Debian.

 

Can't safely do that with a samsung because their updates will eventually lock the bootloader, removing user choice.

[E-waste]

The Zenfone and Zenfone 2, the XZ not xB or whatever the model numbers are, the one without a B for sure, is Intel Atom cpu.

 

Yes, intel Atom x86_64 bit processor!

 

Not only can these six or eight devices however many models they (asus) produces of each, run Android, but also Windows, and more importantly, Linux.

 

I'm not at all sure how to get cellular calls working in Linux, but you could look for adaptations of the software released for pinephone.

 

This would quite literally be a desktop system, hopefully with an accessible, large-text mobile interface with full access to software like Gimp or blue marble.  I can't think of even one good software package that I would like to use, that hasn't also been compiled for ARM, but if you can, it may be something to look into.

 

Everything from pi-hole, unbound dns server and dolphin / mupen emulation software is all now compiled for arm, so I'm not sure the use case, but I find it quite interesting and unique and want to highlight it.

[RadekXJ]

I'm saying that Sony is too expensive given the comparison to my wife's Motorola Edge 30 Neo. On Black Friday I've payed around 1500 PLN (around 350 USD) for it. Now it is around 2000 PLN (475 USD). Motorola is still around 1500 PLN with identical CPU and RAM config, plus it has wireless charging (which my wife doesn't use) and comes with a solid charger in the box. Of course, it is larger than Sony (the size of my ex Samsung), doesn't have a minijack and has much smaller battery, so I would not switch .

I don't think the average smartphone user will be interested in the potential of switching the OS on his phone.

[E-waste]

The Sony as OP you already stated has an option for an sdcard.

 

I will NEVER want to use a device where I can't store data outside the internal memory.

 

Never.

 

It's not logical.  If you impair the screen and can't operate the device and unlock the screen, there goes all your data, locked away in something you can't access.

 

I don't recommend anyone ever take that chance.  Plus, if there is a model option with less internal storage, you could potentially get a lower price, but that's less important to me.