Got 3 in our household, great phones although not the most robust and Sony customer services are the biggest cowboys out there. The processors ageing now, and you can probably get a bit more power and efficiency from Chinese phones at this price.

I can confirm that it works on 3rd party companies using the Vodafone network (i.e. Talk mobile) without needing to unlock the phone. Also had to use a Firefox browser trick to order without compulsory £10 top up. There is a 'keep existing sim option' but it disappears before you can click it. Use Firefox, click "View - Page Style - No Style" and the text page appears allowing you to select the option.

Mine died badly about 5 minutes after being in water (a few cm). Had to send it back for repair as well. After 2 weeks got it back with the usual main oard replace (essentially meaning they have given you a refurb back). As with you it has a different EMEI number and thus is relocked. The worst thing is that I encrypted the ad card so have now no chance of recovering the data on it. Great. I've chucked it in the draw. Will use it as an outdoor camera now on hols and that's about it.

Are there chinese phones of this size? I'm meaning phones that although being chinese seem somewhat/partly UK based in their selling, like Huawei. (And thus seem safer to order.)

Im really in 2 minds about buying this phone.

I bought the m4 aqua last year which is of the same design. Most recdntly the sd catch doesnt work, i can only speak when loud speaker is on, rear camera pictures have lines on them.

But at £150... This is tempting

Just to say I have it and it's my first android since 2010 so v different. V fast
Can't seem to remove the Vodafone apps despite unlocking it. No Vodafone startup logos or stickers so all good there

OOS everywhere by me :disappointed:

I got my Z3 compact back from sony repair centre this morning.
so as mentioned earlier the phone started to loop when i was in a call.
sony have replaced the main board, sticker(3), display, case(3)- no idea what that means.
in regards to the main board, i knew this would be happening as a software repair using their tool didnt solve it. it had to be hardware.
i've lost all my data-not fussed
i've lost my glass screen protector- annoyed, as sony customer service said they wouldn't remove it. i didn't see a need for the screen to be replaced unless orignal batches really do have an issue pealing away.
the phone has been given a NEW imei number. this is the biggest issue i have as they have RE-LOCKED the phone. the costs are adding up now.
they said, they will always re lock the phone if the main board is replaced as it will be set up as how we got it.
so if buying from thieving vodafone who charge £19.99 to unlock on pay as you go or unless you have cleared all bills for 3 months on pay monthly, they will unlock for free with the documentation sony send back with the phone. you need to forward it to vodafone. however if you use a cheap ebay unlocker you'll need to pay again.
basically, avoid this phone. it will keep going to repair as it is poor.
their staff aren't helpful. i got it back in 1 week(5 working days) but my phone is still unusable due to the network relock issue unless i pay out more money..
thanks a lot sony

Just picked one of these up today on Oxford Street London. £159 including top up. £12.99 for unlock on that well known auction website.

I'll take 2 when drops on £100

cold - no stock

I've owned a few Xiaomi devces, the note 3 pro has been my favourite so far. it has its flaws though.
as mentioned by another user Xiaomi don't have band 20, but also the SD650 on these devices had random issues with signal. not sure if the updates have fixed it but I use mine to play marvel contest of champions. the battery gets hammered with that.
I've owned the honor 4x and a few other huawei devices. some of their kit is really nice. however, I am not a fan of Kirin chips used. once support stops from Huawei it'll be a nightmare to use.
I owned a CN zenfone 2, which was amazing when I had it.
I have an Elephone P8000-actually on my 2nd one due to the first 1 died. would take more than a day to charge and the mainboard smelt like it was burning. oh and it burnt me at night and melted my sim.
the 2nd one works fine and CM 12.1 on it runs really well. if it wasn't for custom roms, that phone would be dead too.
this one runs a mediatek chip.
this is my 3rd mediatek device, each one seems to get better but it lacks a lot. I guess it comes down to manufacturers but software is usually lacking unless its xiaomi or htc and now sony, but even the elephone p8000 had its issues with gps. they aren't as bad as the original devices but sometimes i'm going through buildings.
when I do gaming on these device, everthing is great until it heats up and then throttles the performance. it lags so badly. my g2 plays the same game without lagging and heats up too.

back onto the topic of the Z3 compact-the received it 4 days ago and i'm waiting for it. I think this is one of their worst phones ever. hoping they just send out a z5 compact as replacement.

That's really surprising, I assumed Sony support was really good but apparently mine was a one off!

I was amazed that they replaced all panels on mine, sent it back in March and it was only gone about a week.

Did you actually? Got the same issue on mine and it came back unrepaired, saying there was debris in the sd card slot

Sold out :disappointed:

I've had mine since UK launch (mid September 2014) and in that time had a rear panel crack on me and the software for the camera corrupt. More recently, the screen started coming away in the upper left corner (apparently quite common), the seal around the charging flap came away (ditto) and the coating on lens on the rear camera went 'funny' which made the pictures shockingly bad. Regarding battery life, I usually get around 2 days (sometimes 3) with Bluetooth, WiFi and NFC constantly on, music at least an hour and half a dozen calls each day.

I really like the phone - I'm normally a phone-tart and change them after about a year but have no plans to change this, even at contact end date.

For info, I'm using Sony's Concept ROM which is more like Vanilla Android but with a couple of extra bells and whistles. It's bloat-free, fast and light and really well supported by Sony.

would re-enforce the fact this is a great phone.

Be careful with Xiaomi phones. They still don't have Band 20 LTE which means they won't work properly on Vodafone or O2 4G in the UK.

I've had the phone for just under 18 months. It's a brilliant phone to use, until the the problems start.
The flap that covers the charger kept falling off, it costs about a fiver to replace, but sony won't send it out, they want you to send the phone in. If it's deemed to be your fault they charge you alot more!

I went on holiday, the heat melted the glue that was used to hold the screen on, the screen started peeling away, which was apparently my fault. The digitizer stopped working. Had to replace the screen at my expense.
Now... The screens peeling away again.

So the xaomi brand and hueui p9 aren't good alternatives?

mediatek devices still overheat and the camera on this is better than most Chinese phones for the price.

new advice, pay double the price for a oneplus3? lol

I bought one last time it was this price on Vodafone.
it is expensive compared to other devices to unlock.
my phone lasted less than 2 months. its gone off for warranty repairs. the phone was left on official firmware and all. never used it underwater etc.
I've heard the screen comes off as a common fault but sadly it wasn't even that. the damn thing went into a bootloop during a call.
a recovery using xperia companion did nothing to fix it either so sony have it at this point.
this is the first phone I've had to send under warranty. glad it comes with 2 years. Sadly I don't think it's the last time it'll be going back :disappointed:

Me too there is no £5 unlock as OP stated. Please note it takes a few days to get the code too it's not instant like some phones.

If there is a more preferable phone out there could it be detailed plz? Happy to get Chinese or other brand if the specs are better or price good. This did come out in late 2014 but it compares favourably to most. Thanks all

I love this phone, on my 2nd one. Although I don't get the amazing battery life thing. mine never lasts a full day or barely does and I am not a heavy user.

isnt this oos

I had mine since April dropped it a few times already and it's fine, with a good case I don't think you have much to worry about.

Don`t the glass crack/break easily on these? A minor drop will make it look like Humpty Dumpty?

Don't forget to adjust the camera settings if not will take poor pictures.

No it was about batteries, but they are mistaken like you say.

Not sure where you got that from the s7 still doesn't have removable battery. Just like this doesn't.

The s7 did bring back micro sd, which this has too.

​just read this and can't believe your luck. I had the same issue and nothing but problems. Sounds like another common fault.

​yes the magnetic charging port never worked on one, same one's SD card wouldn't stay engaged. Sent it off to Sony who, lost it, couldn't take payment and charged me for the repairs.

2nd one the screen came away. Got EE to sort that out with a lot less hassle.

Haven't had any issues with 3 for around 6 months thankfully. saying that we are pretty careful and keep them in good quality cases.

​i got mine unlocked for £12 on eBay

Seems to be out of stock everywhere... Shame. Have been looking for another deal on these :disappointed:

I had one of these for 18 months, and eventually the catch that holds the SD card in place failed. Sent it back to Sony and they replaced every outside panel on the phone, so it looked brand new. Can't complain at all.

You are right about unlocking, the Z3 and Z5 are a pain to unlock, and are about £20-£30

S7 does not have removable battery
*Oh you mean expandable storage

​When these came out there was a bit of a scandal about rear glass cracking very easily but Sony said and did nothing, and waited for the storm to die down.

iirc some ppl had water damage issues but you should be fine if you don't try to 'prove' how waterproof it is!

Pound for pound the best phone I've ever had. Amazing battery life, good all round performance, decent screen and viewing angles, camera still better than most.

All in all a total classic. Buy without hesitation.

Great phone amazing price for any 'standard' user you can't go wrong.

Only downside, unless things have changed, pricey to unlock?

Ah that was it, it was just the battery. Not sure what you mean about "newer Samsung's" though - what I referenced was the fact that they tried to move away from removable batteries with the S6 but have gone back to them with the S7 after a sizeable backlash. I'm running a Note 4 at the mo and might be looking at a used S7 in a year or 2...

Got 3 in our household, great phones although not the most robust and Sony customer services are the biggest cowboys out there. The processors ageing now, and you can probably get a bit more power and efficiency from Chinese phones at this price.

I can confirm that it works on 3rd party companies using the Vodafone network (i.e. Talk mobile) without needing to unlock the phone. Also had to use a Firefox browser trick to order without compulsory £10 top up. There is a 'keep existing sim option' but it disappears before you can click it. Use Firefox, click "View - Page Style - No Style" and the text page appears allowing you to select the option.

Heat from me. I might've bought one of these a while ago if they has an sd slot and removable battery - but there's less and less phones' out there offering that now (so glad Samsung saw the error of their ways!).

Had mine for over a year and still love it.

Yes posted before but due for a reminder :smiley:

Sony Brand waterproof and a top battery performer too <3

this is now becoming a monthly post, been this price for a while.
good phone, good price btw.

have been using z3 compact for about 12 months now recently upgraded to Android 6.0.1 and is stable brought mine simply free so no network bloatware just standard Sony apps, at this price an excellent buy