Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Eating Humble Pie - Apple, Pie

So you may remember I was very disappointed with the direction Apple is taking lately, with its subscription model and general smugness. So I switched to a Sony Xperia Z3+ via a refurb Z2 (still a good value phone I reckon).

It's not that Android is bad. Indeed, I am completely won over by Google services once more and thanks to Google Music I am actively listening and rediscovering my music library once more.

Google Inbox has matured to a point where it just seems normal to me, I've always used my email as a to-do list, so it's perfect(ing). I've been centralising my schedule with (Microsoft's) Sunrise Calendar and not looked back. And Google Keep has since been released for iOS.

So the software that sits on Android is not bad.

It's the ...

Well.

Those that know me know that I have virtually zero tolerance for a product flake out in critical working situation.

You guessed it.

The Xperia video camera let me down. More than once.

I can workaround the native camera not recording 1080P video for more than 30 minutes, but some things I can't comes to term with:

1. Camera lag. From activation delay to a delay after pressing record, it is not acceptable to me when one of my primary uses for bothering with a smartphone is to have a reliable and robust video camera on me at all times. The Xperia hardware may be robust and reliable but the software has proven to me over the last couple of months that it is neither robust nor reliable.

2. Fixing the exposure. I mean, c'mon. I want to set an exposure and keep it there, please. I didn't realise how important that feature had become to me on iPhone.

3. Third party camera apps that are a bit flakey. Likely because of that F word.

I just don't have time for this shit. I need something that "just works", shit here I am on my knees begging for iPhone to take me back because in my experience it "just works".

So I guess I've learned a lesson here. I love recording live stereo sound, I really love it. However, moreso I love a reliable and robust video camera that records mono. And there always the Shure MV88 and my credit rating before I bankrupt myself with another round of Apple gear and Lightning cables.

Like I say though, Google services have won me over. Android hardware flakiness is to Apple network services flakiness in my experience - frustrating and somewhat second-rate; mediocre.

My next iteration airninja mojo core kit looks like being a previous generation Apple phone running current generation Google services. Win win, right?

3 comments:

  1. UPDATE: after a few months back on iPhone the stereo recording options let me down, bah! Via a HTC 10 through a Z5C on vacation, I now find myself running with a Sony Xperia X Performance (Dual SIM variant with 64GB onboard).

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    1. Yes, ultimately it's the consistency of stereo sound recording on the XP that should keep me with Sony for a while. I'm actually quite excited for the XZ too since the 5-axis EIS could well be useful to me (OIS just isn't that great for video in my experience especially if small oscillating vibrations are involved).

      There's still no manual mode for video recording on the XP however the audio is the overriding factor on the videos I make currently and the XP auto-everything does "good enough".

      If iPhone is the "photographer's choice" then Sony absolutely has an opportunity here to become the "videographer's choice".

      I hear that Sony's mobile division is up for the chop if it doesn't turn a profit soon. I think it would be a sad loss for Sony to exit the smartphone market.

      But overall, yes very pleased with my XP as my daily driver.

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