!

5000 views!

I cant believe it! 

My new blog, only a few months old, has hit 5000 views already! 

Who would have thought that people would want to listen to my ramblings eh?

Here are some interesting statistics:

By far the most successful post was "HDR Saves The Day" which managed to get over 800 views, followed by "For Those Who Cannot Read A Spec Sheet" then followed by one of my favourites, "The Classic Car Shoot".

My biggest audience was by far was the good old US of A, closely followed by the UK. I seem to be quite popular in Germany and India also. Other audiences come from the Philippians, Russia and Indonesia. 

I was also quite surprised to see a decent amount of views from an Iphone or Ipad. 

Whats in store for the future? Nothing really, as I managed to break my Xperia Z2 testing its water proof capabilities off the coast of Croatia. So until I am supplied with another phone I will be quite dormant. 

I would like to thank Sony for supplying me with the technology to test, the Test Lab for teaching me so much about the technology and my friend Ella getting involved in the blog, my son for making photography so much fun and my girlfriend Dasha for giving me the strength to get back in to writing the blog after the past few months where I became quite fed up.

Lets see if we can hit 10,000! 

DO NOT USE YOUR XPERIA Z2 IN SEA WATER!

On one of my trips abroad recently I decided to hit the sun kissed beaches of Croatia, a place I had been itching to try for years now. So naturally I decided to take my inspiration, light, and life partner (no not my girlfriend), the Xperia Z2! 

All I wanted to do while on holiday was the usual boring nerd stuff, you know, the stuff which would bore the average holiday maker to death. Testing my Xperia's battery to its limits, seeing how well its new IPS screen handles in high sunlight conditions, and of course, testing the camera capabilities...Oh, and maybe some sight seeing too, I suppose!
 Sadly, there was one special feature on the Xperia Z2's camera which I regret testing and that of course was the water proof capabilities.

As many of you know, the Xperia Z2 has the highest water Ingress Protection (IP rating) possible on the electronic market, with a handsome IP58. This gives it protection against immersion in water for reasonably long periods of time.

I am so conditioned in to doing everything in my power to avoid getting my phones wet in any shape or form that it took me weeks for me to build up the courage to run it under a tap. Eventually I started to use it in the shower and the occasion bath and the phone worked a treat.

Using my Z2 in the sea however was the ultimate test, and considering how nervous I was, you would have thought that I would have read the instructions before use, as it clearly states in the user manual and official Xperia website; YOU SHOULD NOT USE IN SEA WATER. So I take full responsibility for what happened and this is by no way a shot at the build quality of Sony's Xperia line. 
That being said there are many stories floating around in the media of the Xperia Z2 surviving horrendous conditions in the sea (here and here) so, why not? Maybe its one of those legal things where Sony aren't allowed to say its sea water proof but generally its ok?

It does beg the question how many people will be making the same mistake as me and how little I have seen Sony advertise that sea water should not be used on their adverts.

I made sure the flaps on my phone were shut tight and jumped in the sea after a long day of walking around the town of Pula. I took some pictures of my friend swimming under water and the results were fantastic. The phone didnt spend long under water, I was probably only in there for half an hour, in which the phone was in there for probably half of that. 

Once I got out I gave my phone a quick dry and thought nothing of it. The pictures turned out great and the phone continued to work perfectly. Once I get back to my hostel several hours later I had noticed some unusual behaviour with my mobile phone, the phone kept turning itself off, the phone was over heating and I had noticed huge amounts of condensation on the inside of my camera lens.

Example photo

The Damage:

The camera never worked from then on. Sadly I couldn't throw my phone in a bag of rice over night like a lot of people would suggest on forums after water damage. Being on holiday and in a country in which I looked EVERYWHERE for rice and found none, I was stuck. 

It struck me as strange as I made sure the flaps were closed tight yet its clear that lots of water had got in somewhere!

The phone was dead for 2 days, I really thought my phone was gone forever. 

After a few days it did turn back on. The phone booted up and seemed to be running normally (except the camera). 

After a while I noticed that the battery was running out incredibly fast, say 1% every minute? Even on Stamina and Low Battery mode. Not only that but the phone would even go down when on charge. Even more annoyingly, the phone could only charge up while turned off, and that was still incredibly slow. I would have to charge the phone over night (say, 8 hours) for about a 55% charge. A 55% which would run out within an hour of usage. 

The Xperia Z2 would also be subject to random battery shut downs too, after spending hours and hours charging I would get the occasion battery wipe out where it would jump from 20-30% to zero.

TIPS:

A tip from my good friend Graham, one of my fellow moderators for the Xperia Z2 Facebook group.

"I've seen a good trick to check your phone for being airtight. You open the diagnostics function and using the barometric pressure sensor... Press on the screen and check pressure increases. If it doesn't then your phone isn't watertight."

Which this useful link will tell you, and I quote;

 "you can test waterproofing WITHOUT water: 
1) close the flaps
2) dial *#*#7378423#*#* (7378423 = SERVICE)
3) service tests/pressure sensor
4) press on the screen with your finger, pressure will rise
5) open a flap, press, pressure does not rise."

So there are many options, that being said, usually from my experience closing the flaps on the phone is good enough to keep it safe and dry, but with a phone of such class and expense, you can never be too sure!

A month later:

Its been a month now since my holiday and the camera is still broken. The battery has improved slightly, now it can stay on a steady charge if you charge it and stick it in low battery mode AND stamina mode AND use Battery Doctor to close all unwanted apps.  If you do not do all these things then the battery will eventually go down.

The phone over heats every time I turn it on and still occasionally shuts down because of it (which is horrible in your pocket as it nearly burns your leg).  The random shut downs from 20-30% have stopped but the phone will never ever be the same again. 

Since my phone is used as an alarm clock I have now had to buy an old fashioned alarm clock to use until I get a new phone as it wont last through the night. I can leave it on a steady charge over night but then my battery doesn't go up, so if I use my phone even just a couple of times a day then I lose about 20-30% each day (and we are talking about turning my phone on and using it for 20-30 mins a day to check messages, emails, calendar and voicemails). 

I can receive calls but since my phone has to spend 90% of its time off to charge I usually have to contact people through texts or voicemails and get back to them.

Its been a real killer not being able to use my camera. Its been particularly hard considering I have two blogs which require a lot of photos. As you can tell by this blog post that the pictures stop at the time I use my Xperia Z2 in the sea. 

My advice? 

Don't use your phone in sea water!

 I am sure it can survive if need be, like if it falls in by accident, but its not worth risking a £500 phone for a couple of decent photos. I know insurance companies can be a real bitch when it comes to water damage too.

Always read the instructions before use and damn well follow them! 

I am gutted. 

:( 

For those who cannot read a spec sheet...(rant)

As you may or may not have heard, Sony have gone against the grain in the mobile phone industry and decided to release a flagship phone every 6 months rather than the usual 12 like some of its rivals. Its been quite a controversial issue as of late as it has got people talking about whether Sony are doing the right thing. 
Personally, I think its a great idea as for most of us who have 18-24 month phone contracts will now know when we upgrade that we will have the most up to date technology available, rather than settling for something 6-12 months old, without having to wait an extra few months for the next phone to come out. 

A lot of people on social media have criticized Sony for not changing enough in the new Xperia Z3 compared to its predecessor the Xperia Z2. A common reply I am hearing when people innocently ask what the difference is between the two phones are usually replied with a very stroppy and stubborn "nothing". 

Though people like myself were expecting a little more, ideally in the camera department, if you look in to the details of the specs of the new Z3 and its capabilities you will actually realise there has been a lot of fine tuning. 
The Xperia Z2 is easily the best phones I have ever owned, and now its been tweaked to near perfection.

Here are some of the changes Sony have added to an already near perfect phone...

The Size.

The Sony Xperia Z2 has a slim 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm build and weighs 163g.
The Xperia Z3 comes in at 146 x 72 x 7.3mm and 152g, 

Conclusion: Its thinner and lighter. 

The Durability

The Xperia Z3 has a new IP certification with a handsome IP68 rating, now meaning that it is classed as "totally dust tight" compared to the Z2 which only has a rating of IP58 meaning it is "protected against dust that may harm equipment".

The Xperia Z3 now has the highest water and dust resistant rating on the market possible.

Conclusion: The Xperia Z3 is more durable and dust resistant. 



The Screen

Though the Xperia Z2 and Z3 seem to have the same spec screens, both with a 5.2 inch display equipped with X reality technology, Live Colour LED and Trilluminus display. One thing I have noticed is that the Xperia Z3 has a brighter screen capability, being able to go up to 600 nits compared to the 460 nits with the Z2.

This is something I have noticed while using my Z2. Its screen can be quite dim, even when turned up to max, so this is very welcome news indeed. 

Again, fine tuning.

Conclusion: The same decent but much needed brighter screen.

The Camera

Again, the two handset’s cameras seem pretty similar, as they both have a massive 20.7 megapixel Exmor RS sensor, a 2.2 megapixel front camera and the award winning G lens. Not to mention being able to shoot in 4K, Augmented Reality and Time Burst modes.

However the Sony Xperia Z3 uses a slightly larger 25mm wide-angle lens, so you can fit more in to your shots. It also has a higher ISO sensitivity which will make a big difference in low lighting situations, something Sony has been criticized with in the past.

I am also excited to hear that the Xperia Z3 will have a new mode called ‘Face in’ which uses both  front and back cameras at once so that you can capture video while recording your reaction while filming. This is something I cannot wait to try out as it has some great possibilities.

Conclusion: A wider lens, a higher ISO sensitivity for low light pictures and some new features. 

The Battery

Even though the new Xperia Z3 seems to have a slightly smaller 3100 mAh battery on paper compared to its Z2 brother (3200 mAh), it does boast a better battery life. As you may recall from my other blog posts such as the Z2 Festival Battery Test and Battery Test 1 on my Z2, the damn thing can last for days if need be, but the Xperia Z3, thanks to a more efficient processor and screen can now, apparently, last two days on normal usage. 

Conclusion: A longer lasting battery.

Other features

There are also things which the Xperia Z3 can do which the Z2 simply cant do at all, which go beyond simple tweeks. Of course I am referring to the Playstation 4 Remote play which lets you stream PS4 games on to your Xperia Z3's screen while around the house. Basically the same technology in the PS Vita hand held console, but on your phone. Every bit of technology around is slowly merging in to your phone, and now your games console too, well, if you own a Z3 that is. 

So, new Playstation 4 compatibility too.

The Cost

There is also one massive difference which most people who are still throwing a strop at Sony seem to forget, if these changes above aren't good enough for you, then consider this.

The Xperia Z3 has a current RRP of £550.

The Xperia Z2, £390. 

So if you still aren't bothered or impressed by the changes to the new Xperia Z3, its just devalued the Z2 for you so you can now save a ton of cash.

Suck it. 

The Xperia Z2 goes to Croatia!

I have just been touring Croatia this week so thought id show off some of the stuff ive managed to do with my Xperia Z2.

The first thing I want to share is this picture from the plane. As we all know, most pictures taken from a plane are terrible because of the double glazing windows which are often filthy, 5 inches apart and quite simply never let your camera do its thing. Somehow the Xperia Z2 seemed mostly unphased by this. 

Here is another nice one. 

I took a picture at Pula Collosium on Superior Auto mode.

Then run it through an app called Snapseed. 

Here is some other stuff Snapseed can do.

 Boom,

Again, Snapseed. Not too sure about this one.

Here is a very spooky church in Croatia.

 I found an old soviet factory which I managed to catch during the calm of a tropical storm with HDR.

Here is me showing off some of the water proof capabilities of the Xperia Z2

Almost as crystal clear as the Croatian sea.

 And naturally, I had some fun with Augmented Reality. 

Some more of what Augmented Reality can do.

I hope you enjoyed my snaps. 

Thanks for reading!

The Dour Festival Battery Test!

Well, there is no doubt that the Xperia Z2 has a whopping battery.
I mean, its equipped with a MASSIVE Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery which dwarfs most of its competitors. Not only that, but its equipped with some decent battery saving technology like Stamina Mode, which really does make a difference.

That being said. If a massive battery and some decent software is available, usually the first question which pops in to my head is "can it survive a festival?".

Well, several years ago I ended up doing a battery test for the Xperia Arc, before the days of battery management (on any major scale anyway), wasteful screens and smaller batteries. Sadly the phone barely lasted a day and a half.

Now, several years on and many generations later, I shall be taking my state-of-the-art Xperia Z2 to Dour Festival, Belgium.

Now, the first thing I want to mention before we start is that I decided to cut usage down as much as I can, I want to push the phone to the absolute limits, but not refuse to use it completely, otherwise, whats the point, right? So many people at Dour the festival I saw were resorting to the old Nokia 3310's just so they had a phone which could last the festival and take some punishment. If the waterproof Gorilla Glass equipped Xperia Z2 can last most of the festival then I consider the nostalgia of Nokia's being the king of phones well and truly over. The festival was 4 days long and during a massive heat wave, this is the ultimate test for the modern smart phone.

We left the house at around 97% battery, we had checked the news, Facebook, Twitter and the Dour Festival app over breakfast, the Dour app tells us useful details about the site, artists and facilities. 

I used the Xperia Z2's Stamina mode to extend the battery life as much as I could for the long journey. As you can see we have a battery with 22 hours life which now is estimated at nearly 5 days. This includes low battery mode too which will have to be turned off when using certain things such as the internet and making calls but is a great feature to have while not using my phone. 

We started in the fine City of Ely in the UK. The battery was pretty much full. I stuck on stamina mode and turned off any wasteful features such as bluetooth, wifi and turned down screen brightness. We had several trains to catch from Ely to Cambridge, from Cambridge to London then London to Brussels Midi, then another to Dour itself. Lets be realistic here, we were going to use our phones quite a bit for the long journey ahead. We ended up using our phones to check Facebook, the news and keep the time, even after a 1 hour journey to London and a near 3 hour journey from London to Brussels my Xperia Z2 was still above 90%. 

When we got to Brussels midi we hung out with some kids outside the station who were kind enough to keep us entertained with their incredible accordion skills while we waited for our train. I recorded a videos of them with my Xperia Z2, one being in glorious 4k. Even after recording a few videos and showing the kids some pictures on my phone, the battery was still barely above 90%. I really was surprised how well it handles such processing power. 

By the time we got on the train towards Dour Festival from Brussels we didn't get a chance to use our phones much in a practical sense thanks to 3 Mobile being absolutely useless and forgetting to turn on my passport mode, despite calling them twice to remind them about it the day before, so I decided to listen to some of my terrible music on my headphones and get in the mood for the festival. 

Before doing so however, I decided to run a great app called "Battery Doctor" which closes down a lot of apps running in the background to stop unnecessary usage of my battery. Its a simple one click solution and added several HOURS of life.

It was 13:00 and I had used 16% of my battery, its quite a lot of battery considering how long I was hoping to get this phone to last for the festival.
Would 3200 mAh be enough?
I was quite confident as I was expecting to use a lot of my battery on the train there and back for entertainment purposes. I was very impressed it was only 16% really as I had even recorded some 4K video, listened to music and using social media, which is all quite notorious for sucking up battery.

Once we had finally made it to Dour we missioned across the festival and finally set up camp. I checked the Dour festival app again to see what bands were on! Several caught my eye so I decided to take a screen shot on the times and locations of the performances so I didnt need to keep opening the app which might prove wasteful on the battery. This was especially needed as my battery was nearly a third down at around 75% now, so I decided to turn my phone off for a while. It has served its purpose very well and kept me entertained none stop on the train for hours. I'd taken some great photos, shot some brilliant 4K videos and kept myself informed on travel information, the festival app and using social media.

There was no big acts or anything happening on the Thursday so we didnt use the phone much and kept it off until tomorrow.

Friday

The first night was a big night for me. Two of my favourite DJ's and a band I had been quite curious to see live were up. I love Atari Teenage Riot so much that I probably wasnt going to take any pictures or use my phone at all because I was going to be completely fixed on them and experience the show properly...but Igorrr and Within Temptation were two bands which I liked, but didnt quite like as obsessively as ATR, so I was probably going to take some video and snaps of them.

I checked the news, messages and social media this morning but otherwise kept my phone to minimal use. I kept it mostly off until the evening when the fun started. The weather was so hot, unforgiving, and with little shade or water available. So we spent the entire day sleeping and resting from the heavy night before just trying to stay cool. Very uneventful.

I did check the weather app several times in the hope it might change, but naturally it didnt.
Who was I kidding?

Me getting ready for ATR.

At the end of the night and after seeing numerous live acts and taking a few half decent pictures, the phone didnt go down much at all, we were lingering around 60-65%. I kept my phone off most of the night except for the gigs so I wasnt  expecting much drainage. Battery doctor kept unwanted apps closed and Low Battery Mode kept screen brighness and everything else off.

Atari Teenage Riot blew me away! Skindred were amazing, Within Temptation, meh!

Saturday

We found these Proximus stands which are used for people who arent equipped with Xperia Z2's and have to queue up like idiots to charge their phone every day.

You are given a few options.
You have the option of charging your phone by plugging them in to these free USB chargers too, which is a very slow process as you have to stand by your phone while it charges or risk someone stealing it...quite unappealing.
I also found that a lot of these USB's were damage or ripped off half way through the festival through vandalism so they werent much good anyway.
Free, but you get what you pay for I suppose.

 Slow charging and usually damaged or vandalised.

The other option was these hand held batteries equipped with a multi port to plug in to any make of phone.  I thought I would give it a try as this is a blog about mobile phones and the festival experience after all. The batteries came to about 1800mAh, which is just over half the battery size of the Z2, so should, in theory, charge around 50-60%.
 I forget the prices now but it was quite reasonable. It was done in a token scheme, so you give them 5 tokens and you get 4 back once (or if) you return the battery pack. It worked out very cheap, no more than £2 to charge your phone up, I think we would all agree is probably worth it!

I went back to my tent and stuck it on charge. I had some problems with charging because the charging ports on the battery had been used a lot and probably misused too, so I had to jiggle it about and balance it just right for it to charge.
Its a decent idea and a cheap feature but the battery was not really charging very fast, it was too slow. In fact if you were using your phone while it was plugged in then it wasnt going up at all.

I left my phone off for a while and let it charge, it took a very long time until it ran out. My phone never got back up beyond 80% as I was using it while charging. but even though the battery was over half the size of the Z2, it still only added about 30% (including 10% for usage while it was charging).

Its a cheap and underwhelming feature but hey, beggers cant be choosers at a festival, right?

Later on.

We couldnt help ourselves with the Augmented Reality, what can I say, I am a sucker for it. Its such fun!

Sadly Augmented Reality kills the battery though, so after taking a few snaps our battery was down to about 70-75% again. Luckily I had used the battery pack earlier in the day so I was feeling a little wasteful. That being said, if I hadn't used the battery pack I would be hovering around 50% right now.

A few pictures of Saturday night.


Sunset in Belgium.

 The stairs of doom

The Samsung tent.



We noticed some Samsung precence there at the festival. They offered free phone charging (in a safe locker) for Samsung costumers only, a washing machine service and a place to chill out and take in all their adverts.

Where is Sony at?

By the end of Saturday we had seen a few more bands, but nothing I was overly keen on so didnt take many pictures or even feel the need to use my phone other than use a bit of social media. My battery ended up on about 40%.

Sunday

This was a big day. My favourite rave scene "Bangface" (which is usually set in London) was taking over one of the tents on the last night. I woke up, psyched myself up on social media, took lots of pictures for my ridiculous costume and used my phone to play some of the music to get me in the mood. It killed my battery but it was the last night, so what?

By the time it was the evening my battery had taken a massive beating, even though I had turned it off for several hours, used Battery Doctor and switch on Low Battery Mode. The music and social media had been used a lot so it really sucked the battery down. I was hovering around 20% now, which is probably 0% now if you consider that I used a battery to recharge it Saturday (That being said, I was being a little wasteful with Augmented Reality earlier because of it).


Bangface was an all nighter so that 20% really had to last as the night as it ended at 7am. We planned on going straight from the rave back to our tent, picking our bags up and sleeping on the train home (painful). So once the night was over, that was the end of the festival for us really.

The phone lasted most of the night thanks to keeping usage low but gave up and failed at around 3-4am.

Personally I think the Xperia Z2 did a fantastic job over this festival, no phone I have ever owned has had this type of durability and yet still managed to offer me the same kind of reliable and varied experiences. The photos were top notch, as youd expect from an Xperia phone, the phone survived numerous splashes while being used in the crowds or from beer being sprayed over the place and most of all its battery lasted most of the festival.

I really cannot believe how well this phone has lasted. The options available to you thanks to the selection of Androids battery saving apps and Sony's Stamina/Low Battery Mode with a quite simply massive 3200 mAh battery means that this phone, if economized in the right way can nearly survive 4 days.

Eat it Nokia 3310!

Thanks for reading!

Goodtimes at Bangface - Dour Festival.

Background Defocus.

Background Defocus, for me, is a new feature on the Xperia Z2. I think this may be available on previous Xperia phones such as the Xperia Z1, but being an old Xperia SP owner I had to settle for using my skill and hard work to get a decent picture out of my phone. The general idea of Background Defocus is pretty self explanatory, it focuses on one object and blurs the background. The idea from Sony is to simplify photography for everyone and make it less challenging to get a decent and professional picture out of a smartphone camera.

As you can see from these two pictures below, the touch capture was my best friend before the days of Background Defocus. Some decent results were always possible on the Xperia SP if you were willing to wait for the camera to understand what you were trying to do by moving the camera lens closer and further numerous times to get the image to focus right. Though even when it did work the image was often slightly, well, unfocused. 

 The closest penguin always annoyed me in this picture, everything else is perfect!

Poor George looking good, but a little unfocused. 

That was the Xperia SP, several generations old now, and is only a mid ranged phone. This new high end edition of the Xperia range, the Xperia Z2, has a new weapon in our way against poor pictures, so lets see what it can do.

The Xperia Z2, like with everything else in its cocktail of new features, makes things just so easy now. Simply point your camera in Background Defocus mode, touch capture the image you want to focus on, then keep the camera as still as possible. The camera will take two shots, one of the focused image you selected and one of an out of focused background. The phone will then process the image and decide where to blur and where to focus, often with decent results. 

It will then show you the finished result and give you a choice of being able to blur more or less of the background and even chose from a selection of types of blur. 

Pretty simple stuff, right? Almost takes the fun and sport out of photography, right? Wrong! 

Though not necessarily in a good way.
You need to be very careful with this application as it is incredible temperamental. Anything moving, like an animal, person, moving object or even a tree or plant which gets slightly blown in the wind will end up making Background Defocus fail and you will have to try again. Background Defocus seems to take a lot of processing power (Even for Bionz) so it will then take another 5-6 seconds for it to load up and try again. This may not sound like a lot of time but when you are trying to capture a moment, it really is!

It is not impossible mind, this cat was moving a little bit while this picture was taken and the picture turned out ok. Though I personally felt like I had gotten lucky.

My 3 year old, famous for never keeping still, yet it still worked after much trying. So do not lose faith, but I do expect you to lose patients! 

A light touch of BD.

 BD working well with HDR through Snapseed.

 A lovely shot of BD on a statue. If you have an inanimate object then this is a dream feature to use.

Perfect shot.

Ely cathedral. 

Don't get me wrong though, Background Defocus is a great feature to use with photography, though it can be slightly infuriating at times being so temperamental. I think it still have a long way to go before it can be considered a complete replacement in photography as the artificial intelligence does not always put the blurring on the correct places, and the blurring will sometimes creep on to the image you want focused like a hazy mist. 

Sadly this is the best example I have since I often end up deleting the images which do not turn out right. You can see how the AI struggles to tell where the front and background image is, so it adds  defocus over lapping the central image you want focused. 

Conclusion:

I think Background Defocus is a prime example of how useful technology is getting now days. With apps like Snapseed, a cocktail of award winning hardware in the Xperia Z2 and decent features from Sony like Augmented Reality, HDR and Background Defocus crammed in to their latest phones, a decent picture can be taken by absolutely anyone. Give Background Defocus a year or two and this will really be a hot feature! 

Heck, it already is really, as I use Background Defocus more than most of the other photography features on the Z2's camera. 

Give it a try, you cant argue with results!