Mini-review of 0.14-q on Xperia Z5 Compact

/e/OS Devices Sony
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I installed the unofficial 0.14-q build on my Sony Xperia Z5 Compact some time ago. I wanted to give you just my impressions so you can judge if you should install it or not.

In general I like the phone better now than the original Android version by Sony, even though it lacks some features. It feels snappier and I like the idealogy behind /e/.

The problems for me is:

  • camera quality is poor. Most images look like some child has put their greasy fingers on the lens.
  • Auto focus (AF) does not work. It tries different focal lengths but always use wrong. For distant objects it is quite ok, for close-up photo (< 0.5 m) they get blurry. Manual focus do work though.
  • Battery consumption is high. I have used AccuBattery app and it always says 0% Deep Sleep. With some apps installed (with periodic e-mail checker) the battery energy decrease around 2.5 %/hour even with screen off.

I have successfully used:

  • gps
  • wifi
  • bluetooth
  • sound, microphone
  • NFC
  • external SD card
  • accelerometer
  • fingerprint reader
  • ambient light sensor
  • selfie camera
  • torch

I have not yet been able to try:

  • phone call (I am lacking a valid sim card)
  • sms, mms
  • fm radio
  • network sharing through wifi or bt

I also found this page by Sony. For Main camera capability it says
With Sony Software: 1/2.3’’ 23 MP Sony Exmor RS™ for mobile sensor, Hybrid Auto Focus 0.03 sec, 5 x Clear Image Zoom, Up to 8x Digital Zoom,
With Open Devices: 20MP
Unfortunately I do not think the camera will be better than this without Sony’s proprietary firmware. I already tried different apps and enabling/disabling Camera2API… :frowning:

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Thanks for the review.

I think that’s the case for pretty much every custom ROM. Camera is an area where Sony’s smartphones have always been among the best performing devices, largely because of their experience with making digital camera, which they brought to their proprietary mobile phone software as well. It’s a key selling point for their own-brand devices, and they don’t like giving that advantage away.

I don’t use the camera a lot, and I’m not an expert, but it might be worth searching in some of the XDA Z5 Compact forums for discussions about camera quality. In particular look at the LineageOS Unofficial 17.1 ROM and Unofficial 18.1 ROM threads.

This unofficial build is based on the Unofficial 17.1 ROM, so it’s always worth looking in that forum if you need more information on a particular Z5c-related topic. There are more experts there than here :slight_smile:

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I have now realized this seems to be incorrect. Now my phone enters Deep Sleep.
I removed my SIM card (since it has expired and cannot be used), but I am not sure if that is related to this.

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Hi @hardcopy

Camera and auto focus are working for me without issue using /e/ version: 0.15 (Q) from March 2021 (e-0.15-q-20210312105636-dev-suzuran), I’ve made a few notes, maybe they could be of help to get your camera working. Battery consumption seems ok for me too.

Can also confirm the following work:

  • phone call
  • sms, mms
  • fm radio

I have not tried network sharing through wifi, but have transferred files via bluetooth from my old phone to the Z5C and it worked fine.