Looking at recent Android version distribution and understanding the fact that Android 8.0 is standing on the brink of survival i decided to look for an alternative future solution. As for 8.0, everything is working fine at the moment, I am just doing some research to test the waters out. [LineageOS 20] is a custom firmware based around Android 13 [last version which allows to run legacy applications]. Operating system has been unofficially backported to the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact in 2023.

Somewhere in the previous posts i have already done [small rant] regarding the desired specification of modern smartphone. After fiddling around with the latest [Oppo Find X6 Pro] aka the best modern cameraphone, i come to a conclusion with myself on how the smartphone specification of my dreams should look like. Consider this as a revisited version of the previous document. And yeah, you will surely see the Oppo review in a while when i free myself up from the daily routine.

UPDATED ON: 2023-12-17 CURRENTLY TEST IS NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEW! IMAGE WIDTH >1600px IS RECOMMENDED! ▒ DIRECT COMPARISON In the very beginning of the test I underline the fact that we are comparing only resolution and not the dynamic range. In this category older FSI sensor is an outsider, for sure. Today’s rival is [IPHUCK 15 PRO MAX] with almost the same sensor size as Nokia. As you may already know Nokia PureView 808 comes with 1/1.

As you may know [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] is my main web surfing phone on the go. I’m fully satisfied with it’s capabilities even in 2023. Except one little problem, related to GPS and speed of satellites detection. Issue showed up couple of months ago and it seems that i finally found an easy way to fix it. After some investigations i conclude that device has a hardware based problem, and to eliminate it completely you need to open phone casing and pull up antenna so it will have tighter surface touching with in-case metallic plate.

Quick breakdown of personal techno gizmos. DEVICE MODEL Smartphone: [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] Cameraphone: [Nokia PureView 808] ] Laptop: [Dell Precision 7510/7520] Budget CPU: [Intel Xeon Broadwell] Modern CPU: [AMD Ryzen 7xxx/8xxx] / [Threadripper 5xxx] GPU: [Nvidia Geforce 3090Ti] Monitor: [30" NEC PA302W P-IPS] Pocket Camera: [Ricoh GRIII] Travel Camera: [Olympus Pen-F] Audio Player: [Shanling M7] Headphones: [FiiO FA9] Speakers: [Genelec 8040B] Subwoofer: [Genelec 7050C] Hope that this heap of links induce some emotional response in your brain.

UPDATED ON: 2023-02-20 Quick note of imaginary small-sized phone for a computer geek. Chance of real life appearance is pretty close to zero, especially considering current drumb trends and marketers domination over common sense. PART HARDWARE CPU Octa-core 1nm or better RAM 8Gb RAM or better STORAGE 256Gb UFS 3.1 + SD card up to 2Tb DISPLAY 4.4" 1920x1200 OLED CAMERA 1" sensor 40Mp or better, no h/w denoiser/enhancer AUDIO 24bit/384kHz, 3.

UPDATED ON: 2023-04-18 To keep battery of newly acquired devices safe do the following: 3-4 100% charges to warm up new battery after that do not charge battery above 78-80% do not discharge below 14-15% lower minimimum 20-25% upper maximum 78-80% at least twice a year do a 100% charge keep spare batteries in the fridge at 30% charge state. Storage temperature around +5 Celsius. All you need is one simple tool: [Battery Charge Limit] .

Considering the fact that world is going completly mad the most important features for smartphone will be reability, long running time and neat network reception. In such scenario [Sonim XP8] is a perfect phone because it has interchangable battery, strong millitary protection and it is almost indestructible. Device is based around [Android 8.1] , so telemetry is minimal, but nerual networks is already there [in their rudimentary state]. So rooting phone and installing [neat ip-tables firewall] and [root-based hosts adblocker] will solve problem like there was no any.

UPDATED ON: 2023-01-24 After long consideration my interest is lost, due to understanding the fact that 4G module is 100% closed blackbox, which cancels all privacy benefits of the phone in one stroke. It’s a true thing for official version of the phone. On the bright side there is an [unofficial open-source project] of modem firmware in early alpha. Will report back if something good happens. I bet some of you are already tired of ugly g monopoly with their telemetric data mining platform os-called operating system.

Simple repost of an excellent YT review on my current trusty websurfer ► [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] smartphone. Imagery by spacedrone808 @Adobe Imagery by spacedrone808 @Freepik

UPDATED ON: 2022-02-18 CURRENTLY TEST IS NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEW! IMAGE WIDTH >1600px IS RECOMMENDED! ▒ DIRECT COMPARISON In the very beginning of the test I underline the fact that we are comparing only resolution and not the dynamic range. In this category older FSI sensor is an outsider, for sure. Today’s rival is [IPHUCK 13 PRO HYPER MAX] with unknown sensor, even GSMarena don’t know actual size of it [after [some research] i find out that it is somewhere around 1/1.

CURRENTLY TEST IS NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEW! IMAGE WIDTH >1600px IS RECOMMENDED! ▒ DIRECT COMPARISON In the very beginning of the test I underline the fact that we are comparing only resolution and not the dynamic range. In this category older FSI sensor is an outsider, for sure. Today’s rival is [Huawei P50 Pro] with 1/1.5" sensor. Pre-paid dxomark affirm the fact that this is the best cameraphone ever produced.

CURRENTLY TEST IS NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEW! IMAGE WIDTH >1600px IS RECOMMENDED! ▒ DIRECT COMPARISON In the very beginning of the test I underline the fact that we are comparing only resolution and not the dynamic range. In this category older FSI sensor is an outsider, for sure. Today’s rival is [Xiaomi MI 11 Ultra] with 1/1.12" sensor. A tad larger than mighty Nokia 808, which comes with 1/1.

Updated on 2022.12.23 Added Landscape in detail section. CURRENTLY TEST IS NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEW! IMAGE WIDTH >1600px IS RECOMMENDED! In [older posts] I’ve pointed to the fact that Nokia 808 is the most powerful camera-phone in terms of provided detail. I would like to remind you that previously tested [Samsung S20] and even [1-inch Panasonic CM1] can’t stand in direct competition to Nokia 808. Here are sample pictures.

UPDATED ON: 2023-02-16 I’m not a big fan of Sony smartphones. Yeah, their products almost always packed with technology, but in terms of engineering ideas and realization things they suck pretty badly. Same point of view regarding their photography division. But nevertheless I’m using Sony XZ1 Compact as my main portable web gateway on daily basis. Using it due to ultra-compact size and no alternatives available. It’s a 2017 flagship, based upon Snapdragon 835 CPU and paired with 4Gb of RAM.

Just a quick note regarding coolness of obsolete cellular protocol. I’m talking about 3G technology.
Recently I find myself in situation when 3G is actually provides greater speed and is way more reliable than modern protocols.