Don't buy Sony Phones

Sony smart phone division has become complacent over the years. As a Sony fan, I am disappointed with their dwindling sales and innovation except for the Xperia touch. I fell in love with Sony phones when I first saw the Sony Ericsson W890 in my uncle’s hands. It was bliss to glide through its menu and the Walkman series was unique for its time. However, the competition caught up and are offering better price to performance than Sony phones. I will list down top 5 reasons as to why you should stop buying Sony phones.

Heating Issues

I have owned three Sony phones over the years and except for Sony W8 which was made when Sony was with Ericsson, the Xperia L and Xperia XZ have given me burns. After going through many reviews I have learned that this problem is common across all the Sony phones. The damn XZ can’t record 4K for 5 minutes which is ridiculous. It is shameful that phones half its price can record 4K for extended period. If this is the case with their big phones, I can’t imagine how their compact phones heat up. Water resistance usually seals up the whole phone and makes it difficult for heat dissipation, especially in a country like India where ambient temperatures are really higher than global average. They are well aware of this problem and they still insist on IP68 rating which is higher than other flagships for reasons known only to them

Software and hardware issues

The WIFI on my Xperia L stopped working after 7 months of usage. I bought the phone for around 17k and it was a huge investment for me at that point of time. It took me a while to figure out whether it’s a hardware issue or software issue. Once I knew that it was a Software issue, I tried everything that I could to resolve it but in vain. Even the service centre people gave up which is ridiculous considering their expertise. After 1.5 years the hardware failed on me, the motherboard just died. It is one of the worst phones I have used.

Resale value and price cuts

Going my sheer statistics on peer to peer selling sites, Iphones and Samsungs are sold at 75 percent of their original price even after one year of usage where as Sony phones are not even sold at 40 percent. Moreover, Sony themselves slash prices after 6 months. The XZ which I got for 50k is now selling at 33k. So you can’t even sell these phones for their right value. For example, if I were to sell I have to price my XZ at 23k – 25k because Sony themselves are selling them at 33k.

Replacement parts and accessories availability

Availability of replacement parts and accessories is subject to Market demand. In a market where people are gearing towards Samsung and Iphone, availability of replacement parts and accessories of Sony phones is scarce. I’m quite sure that in my city no one would have the original screen and digitizer assembly or charging port or a case for my phone. This makes things annoying when you want to repair your phone. You have money but you can’t get your phone repaired, how weird is that? And since Sony phones are prone to hardware failures, you will face disasters.

Camera

The company that supplies lens to other biggies can’t perfect its own camera. They always bring gimmicks like 960 FPS and 4K screens which is a useless feature for everyday Joe. Sony cameras perform well only in good lighting and if you have enough time to actually take a picture. Their shutter speed is the slowest in the high end Smartphone segment. Their software processing is the worst in the industry too.

Their newer flagships XZ premium and XZ1 seem to be doing a good job but I can’t trust this company anymore. After so much love for the brand, it is time for me to move on and put my money in better things.

Sincerely,

Ex- Sony fan.