My Work Phone through the Years (and the unintended switch to iOS)

[Sony Xperia Z3 (2016-2017), Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (2017-2020), Sony Xperia 1 II (2020-2023), Apple iPhone 11 Pro (2023-?)]

In 2016, I was encouraged by my previous employer to have a dedicated work phone. The intention was to set a boundary between work and personal life. It was beneficial to both me and the company since it made me focused on communication and other tasks related to my work when I am at work and close such communication line outside work. We were allowed to bring our personal phone, but there was a window hour when we can use it.

[Sony Xperia miro]

Before having my dedicated work phone, I used Sony Xperia miro as my main phone – for work and personal purposes. It was a weak phone when it comes to tasks I need to carry out. The camera quality is not ideal, especially for digitizing reports for archives. It was also slow for accessing online files, downloading e-mail attachments, editing them on phone, uploading and sending them back. It was also a challenge to use its small display. So, I had an idea what to get as my first dedicated work phone – an xperia with a large display and more capable chipset.

[Sony Xperia Z3 (2016-2017)]

My first dedicated work phone is Sony Xperia Z3 that I acquired in 2016. It has relatively bigger and higher pixel density display that is ideal for work. Viewing and scrutinizing images and documents are easy on it. Checking out video presentation is also nice, especially if it involves audio as it has front firing stereo speakers. It is also seamless to collaborate as I can send and receive files via bluetooth and other connectivity solutions – online or not. I can recall how I managed to create presentations and project them wirelessly on external display.

[Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (2017-2020)]

Then, in 2017, I bought Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. My one year experience on Z3 made Z5 Premium a logical choice. But, honestly, my Z3 is not due for an upgrade. We were not encouraged to have updated security patches by then. However, I did not regret upgrading to Z5 Premium. All advantages I have on Z3 is even better on Z5 Premium. I can view at better resolution and that my screenshots are sharper than before to the point that I do not need to zoom in on web pages to get a good screenshot. I just crop in when needed and the image is still decently sharp.

[Sony Xperia 1 II (2020-2023)]

Three years later, in 2020, I bought Sony Xperia 1 II. I could say, even when I am using the same brand, that my experience is significantly different. I never experience any delay that I experienced on Z5 Premium from time to time. Thermals is also significantly better on 1 II over Z5 Premium even when I am using data connectivity outside office. Multitasking is also easier on it, including handling as it is slimmer than my Z5 Premium. I am more than satisfied with its performance. My initial plan to upgrade to 1 V even gets blurry as I do not see it being lacking in every aspect as per things I used it for. On the other hand, my screenshots were not as sharp as before. Likewise, the security patch update already ended last year, 2022. At work, it is not required to have our phones updated, but it is repeatedly recommended. It was also for our own good, but I really have not heard anyone whose data were compromised at work. So, I am still undecided to look for my next work phone.

[Apple iPhone 11 Pro (2023-?)]

But, after three years, in 2023, I was given an Apple iPhone 11 Pro – a phone that was released months before Xperia 1 II’s released. As an appreciation, I have to use it. At first, I was torn between using it as a personal phone or work phone. But being not into iOS, it would not be a good idea to use it as a personal phone. And since it still receives security updates, maybe until 2025, it is ideal for work phone.

So, how was it as my new work phone? Well, it receives calls and messages. Most apps I needed for work are available. For some, I need to do workarounds. It takes good photos. The display is good for viewing images and documents, except that it has a large notch. But, it is safe for now since the longest image I view on it for work purpose is still in 16:9. Audio is good. Most things are actually good.

But being used to android, especially for work, there are some issues I have to face.

1. Offline collaboration is problematic with non-apple devices. At work, we used to share documents via bluetooth – or NFC for a quick tap share android beam, nearby share for multiple devices, etc. Out of the box, there is no way I can do this. Even some apps for sharing documents ran into some issues with other phones. My ultimate solution up to now is to have online collaboration. I set up my google photos and google drive to accommodate documents from my team mates. This means, I have to be online – as well as my team mates whenever I need some documents.
2. Company apps are in android. There is a web-based version which is not that intuitive. I guess, I have to live this way for the next 2 years or so.
3. Control center works differently from android quick toggles. For instance, turning off wifi and bluetooth from the control center will not totally turn them off. They usually turn on and connect the next day and worse randomly, automatically. Workaround? I need to open the settings app and turn them off from there. Better workaround? I now use shortcuts to turn them off at once. But, I now have an icon on the homescreen for that instead of having them on quick toggles or control center.
4. Settings menu of all apps are on settings app. It means I have to open another app just to change settings on the app I am working on. Though, this is quite easy to get used to unlike some other system designs on iOS.
5. Apparently slower animations. It is good to have a balance of appealing animation and faster switching or transition between apps. But, on a work phone, I prioritize faster transition. Yes, I also prefer to have animations during transitions but I just find iOS slower than the 1x animation on my Xperia 1 II. Maybe I should consider iOS animations as “entertainment” by now.
6. The “ostrich approach” for unresponsive apps. I got this idea from IT people where I work. On android, you will be prompted when an app is unresponsive. You have a choice whether to kill the app, wait until the system resolves the issues and even send the error code to google. iOS, particularly iOS15 and iOS16 on my iPhone 11 Pro, works differently. It just would not respond. I can switch to other apps just fine, but when I get back, the frozen app remains frozen until I remove it from the opened apps.

[Using shortcuts to turn-off bluetooth and wifi]

[Individual apps have their settings on Settings app]

Some issues were due to shifting from android to iOS. But, I find some issues unintuitive and somehow frustrating as I expected iOS to be more intuitive than android, especially android 10-12, where I am comfortable working on. I am hoping that some of this concerns be addressed on the next updates. Somehow, I am expecting some of these to be resolved as iOS is turning into android, update after update – widgets, ability to remove app icons on homescreen by implementing dedicated app drawer, starting to work seamlessly with windows pc through pc link (though a seamless connectivity with android is greatly appreciated), a rumor about sideloading apps (how about virtual machine for apk?), etc.

So far, iPhone 11 Pro is generally fine as a work phone. It is ideal as a work phone with its longer security updates. However, this is the hardest shift I did among my work phones as the platform is different. It is just that changing my work phone before is a breeze – being from xperia to xperia.

So that is about my work phone journey up to this moment. Watch out for my next blog about my current work phone – Apple iPhone 11 Pro, which is a usual review I did for all my phone collections – charging test, battery usage test, and impressions for music playback, web browsing, casual gaming, photo shoot, video recording and video playback.

Thanks for reading!

By the way, here are the drafts I made for the header photo - :))

So, which one I should have used instead of the timeline version? 😆

My Top Preferred Phones in 2022

From 2005 to 2022, I have acquired 38 phones. Most of these are my collections. Eight were acquired for personal use or used as main phone, while three were for work. With this number of phones, it is tempting to compare them and rank them based on my preference for the sake of fun. Apparently, it is also a good way to assess which phones to keep just in case I have to dispose some. Worst case scenario is to maintain only five phones. Though, I really do not plan to.

In 2021, Sony Xperia 1 II was my most preferred phone. It was not an instant choice, since it was my third most preferred phone in 2020. Nokia Lumia 1020 comes second in 2021, dropping from number one in 2020. Third spot goes to Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, which was at number two in 2020. LG V50s climbed to the fourth spot, from sixth. Finally, Nokia Asha 202 completes the top 5 of my most preferred phones last year, dropping from fourth in 2020. You can check the complete list of my ranking last year. My Top Preferred Phones in 2021

For this year’s ranking, I counted in all phones. Yep, including the phone I just bought this year. As usual, I placed the previous ranking in parentheses.

Just like in 2021, I will still list down the phones that are already lost. Least preferred, to the point that it was okay losing these.

38 (28)  Firefly Mobile Aurii Secret 4G

37 (27)  Asus Zenfone 5

36 (26)  Cloudfone Thrill Plus

35 (25)  Nokia X2 Dual SIM

These next phones were still good to keep, but not really to use. Some of them are unusable or my interests on them just faded as most of them are replaceable by other phones on higher ranks. Those on higher ranks offer more on usability and novelty.

34 (24)        Nokia 1600

33 (23)        Alcatel OT-C552

32 (22)        Nokia 1100

31 (21)        Nokia N70 (b)

30 (15)        Nokia N70 (a)

29 (19)        HTC Desire 200

28 (18)        Nokia N9

27 (20)        Nokia N8 (a)

26 (14)        Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)

25 (10)        Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)

24 (11)        Sony Xperia Z3 Dual

23 (17)        HTC Windows Phone 8X

22 (16)        Lenovo E156

21 (13)        Sony Xperia miro

20 (new)    Sony Xperia SP

19 (9)        Sony Ericsson Satio

18 (new)    Sony Ericsson W980

17 (new)    Sony Xperia Z

16 (new)    Sony Xperia Z Ultra

These next phones fall under my more preferred devices. These are usable and somehow unique. These phones might be weak in some areas, but are worthy to be kept on my drawer and also still be used. I might also recommend these to some people.

15 (12)        Asus Fonepad Note FHD6

14 (7)        Nokia N8 (b)

13 (8)        LG G4

12 (new)    Sony Xperia Z2

11 (new)    Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

10 (new)    Sony Xperia XZ Premium

9 (6)            Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual

8 (4)            LG V50s ThinQ 5G

7 (new)        LG G8 ThinQ

6 (new)        Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition

Before listing down the top 5, here are the victors of two challenges I made this year.

First off, the Antutu challenge. As shown below, the highest Antutu score was recorded by Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition. It is just normal, as it has the most powerful SoC on my collection.

Second, which is not as simple as the Antutu challenge, is the Blind Photo Challenge. It consisted of seven rounds. The mechanics is simple. I just posted photos on social media and ask everyone interested to react on photos they liked. I have to eliminate some phones from the challenge every round – those that has the least accumulated reaction. The phone whose pictures has the most accumulated reaction wins. The result is as follows and is won by Nokia Lumia 1020.

Finally, here are the top 5 of my most preferred phones in 2022. I am confident to recommend these, depending on people and purpose.

5 (new) LG Wing

• -          Truth be told. Main reason to include this phone in my most preferred list is its form factor. It is the most unique form factor for a smartphone. Its form factor provides new experience in handling especially when recording and watching videos. This is recommended to people who wants novel experience on a smartphone.

4 (5)       Nokia Asha 202

• -          Going back to its rank in 2020, it holds a candle for an excellent battery life, good for those who need dependable phone.
• -          There is also a buzz going around about young adults shifting to “dumb” phones, whether for short term or long term, as a way to “get back their life” from excessive use of social media. Such idea makes me push it to a higher rank as I might need it in the near future.

3 (2)       Nokia Lumia 1020

• -          Slightly sliding down the rank, it is still worth keeping and using especially its camera, as the resulting photos are still likeable – the blind photo challenge I made this year gave me the hint.
• -          The audio side of this thing also makes it my third most preferred phone. The 3.5mm audio port and Dolby Atmos make it a treasure in a time where most phones do not have such port.

2 (3)       Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact

• -          There is still a demand for a compact phone. And since the market is dominated by large phones, keeping a compact phone that is still capable makes sense.
• -          This phone also has an excellent display. It is not an OLED panel that many people seem to prefer. But, this phone has one of the excellent IPS LCD panel ever put on a phone. It supports HDR and is dim enough to be eye-friendly when used in dark environment.
• -          It still has a good battery life to battery capacity ratio. Sony’s battery care is doing its job, it seems.
• -          The photos from its camera is also doing good, even in 2022. The first blind photo challenge I made was won by this phone. It lacks a lot of features compared to 2022 camera-centric phones but it still provides vivid photos that are likeable.

1 (1)       Sony Xperia 1 II

• -          Still an excellent phone for manual photography. HDR is still natural. It even improved on photos with brighter backgrounds as it minimizes clipping of highlights.
• -          Video recording is without compromise. If you specify it to shoot at 120fps, it does just that.
• -          Audio quality is excellent, but not that loud. Dolby atmos works on loudspeaker. Its 3.5mm audio port is a treasure to keep.
• -          Excellent display especially with Creator mode.
• -          Software updates come sparingly, but the system is already stable. Did not experience any lags and issues. Works generally better than the first time I used it – better as time goes.

There you have my personal ranking on my collections, and eventually my top 5 most preferred phones in 2022. What can you say about this list?

Again, here are my top 5 phones -

Battery Testing Ranking in 2021

Last year, 2020 there were 19 phones tested for battery charging duration. Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b) [00:15 hour] topped the ranking, being the fastest to be charged. Followed by Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a) [01:08 hours]. Though, both of these started having bad battery in 2019. Next are Lenovo E156 [01:49 hours] and Sony Xperia 1 II [01:54 hours]. Nokia N8 (a) [01:57 hours] completes the top 5. The slowest to charge spent 04:29 hours. You can always go back to this post for last year's ranking - Phone Reviews – Introduction and Benchmark Plans.

This year, 2021, I did not only rank the charging duration, but also battery life with conservative testing. It includes music playback (with the display on) [20 minutes], web browsing [10 minutes], casual gaming [10 minutes], photo shoot [5 minutes], video recording [5 minutes], and video playback [10 minutes]. That is a one-hour testing session. In a day, there are 5 testing sessions, while the remaining 19 hours are for standby session. This is also specified on the first post of this series. I will also include a ranking for screen on time which is essentially similar to the battery life, overall.

But, first, here are the untested phones.

·         Phone 1 – Nokia 1100 [unbootable]

·         Phone 2 – Alcatel OT-C552 [unbootable]

·         Phone 3 – Nokia 1600 [unbootable]

·         Phone 8 – Nokia N8 (a) [blank display] was #5

·         Phone 9 – HTC Desire 200 [unbootable] was #7

·         Phone 11 – Asus Zenfone 5 [lost]

·         Phone 13 – Nokia N9 [unbootable] was #12

·         Phone 14 – Nokia X2 Dual SIM [lost]

·         Phone 19 – Cloudfone Thrill Plus [lost]

·         Phone 20 – Firefly Mobile Aurii Secret 4G [lost]

·         Phone 23 – Nokia N70 (b) [unbootable]

Here is the rundown from the longest duration (slowest to charge) to the shortest duration (fastest to charge), with the following format: Current Ranking (Previous Ranking) Phone [Hours Charging]

26 (#17)	HTC Windows Phone 8X	[11:10 hours]
25 (#15)	Asus Fonepad Note FHD6	[07:38 hours]
24 (new)	Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet	[05:55 hours]
23 (new)	Sony Xperia SP	[04:40 hours]
22 (new)	Sony Xperia Z2	[04:16 hours]
21 (new)	Sony Xperia Z Ultra	[04:09 hours]
20 (new)	Sony Xperia Z	[03:55 hours]
19 (#16)	Sony Xperia Z3 Dual	[03:31 hours]
18 (#18)	Sony Xperia miro	[03:21 hours]
17 (#13)	Nokia Lumia 1020	[03:04 hours]
16 (new)	Sony Ericsson Satio	[02:58 hours]
15 (new)	Sony Xperia XZ Premium	[02:56 hours]
14 (new)	Sony Ericsson W980	[02:45 hours]
13 (#3)	Lenovo E156	[02:38 hours]
12 (#11)	Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual	[02:25 hours]
11 (#10)	Nokia N70 (a)	[02:25 hours]

Here are the top 10.

10 (#17)	LG V50s ThinQ 5G	[02:20 hours]
9 (#6)	Nokia Asha 202	[02:16 hours]
8 (#14)	LG G4	[02:10 hours]
7 (#9)	Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact	[02:07 hours]
6 (new)	LG G8 ThinQ	[02:03 hours]

And, here are the, best, top 5 (#5 faster, only, by 8 seconds to #6)

5 (#8)	Nokia N8 (b)	[02:03 hours]
4 (new)	LG Wing 5G	[01:57 hours]
3 (#4)	Sony Xperia 1 II	[01:55 hours]
2 (#2)	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)	[00:37 hour]
1 (#1)	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)	[00:30 hour]

From this ranking, I find around 2 hours to be good enough. The top two phones are outliers due to their deteriorated batteries.

Now, for the battery life and screen on time, with the following format: Battery Life Ranking [Battery Life] Phone (Screen on Time Ranking [Screen on Time])

26 [0 day 00:52 hour]	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)	(#26 [00:52 hour])
25 [0 day 01:18 hours]	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)	(#25 [01:00 hours])
24 [0 day 17:00 hours]	Sony Ericsson W980	(#21 [04:00 hours])
23 [0 day 21:27 hours]	Nokia N70 (a)	(#24 [03:27 hours])
22 [0 day 21:37 hours]	Sony Xperia Z3 Dual	(#23 [03:37 hours])
21 [0 day 21:44 hours]	Nokia Lumia 1020	(#22 [03:44 hours])
20 [0 day 23:40 hours]	Sony Xperia miro	(#20 [04:40 hours])
19 [0 day 23:56 hours]	Sony Ericsson Satio	(#19 [04:56 hours])
18 [0 day 23:59 hours]	Nokia N8 (b)	(#18 [04:59 hours])
17 [1 day 00:23 hour]	HTC Windows Phone 8X	(#17 [05:23 hours])
16 [1 day 00:26 hour]	LG G4	(#16 [05:26 hours])
15 [1 day 00:32 hour]	Sony Xperia Z	(#15 [05:32 hours])
14 [1 day 00:40 hour]	Sony Xperia Z Ultra	(#14 [05:46 hours])
13 [1 day 01:00 hour]	Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual	(#13 [06:00 hours])
12 [1 day 02:22 hours]	Sony Xperia SP	(#12 [06:22 hours])
11 [1 day 04:36 hours]	LG G8 ThinQ	(#11 [07:36 hours])

Here are the phones on top ten.

10 [1 day 04:49 hours]	Sony Xperia Z2	(#10 [07:49 hours])
9 [1 day 21:23 hours]	Asus Fonepad Note FHD6	(#9 [08:23 hours])
8 [1 day 21:32 hours]	Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact	(#8 [08:32 hours])
7 [1 day 22:27 hours]	Sony Xperia 1 II	(#7 [09:00 hours])
6 [1 day 23:28 hours]	Lenovo E156	(#6 [09:28 hours])

And, the top five phones. Exceeding 10 hours of screen on time.

5 [2 days 00:20 hour]	Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet	(#5 [10:20 hours])
4 [2 days 00:36 hour]	LG Wing 5G	(#4 [10:36 hours])
3 [2 days 02:18 hours]	LG V50s ThinQ 5G	(#3 [11:18 hours])
2 [2 days 05:14 hours]	Sony Xperia XZ Premium	(#2 [12:14 hours])
1 [3 days 23:22 hours]	Nokia Asha 202	(#1 [19:22 hours])

For a stress-free battery life, at least for me, a phone has to last more than a day, or at least 5 hours of screen on time. 17 phones satisfy this, making the top ten phone really good. Twice that, at least 2 days total standby time and 10 hours of screen on time, is already impressive. And there are 5 phones. Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet may be large, but the display resolution is Full HD. LG Wing 5G was just released last year, making its battery optimization on par with new phones. Though, take note that the smaller display was not used during the battery test. LG V50s ThinQ 5G was also tested without the second screen. Unexpectedly, Sony XZ Premium joins the top 5, despite of using the ultra hd resolution on some video playback sessions on my test. The top phone for battery life is, expectedly, Nokia Asha 202. It has a good battery performance since I bought it. Being a feature phone with the tried and tested BL-5C battery, it is anticipated to outlast other phones, especially smartphones.

You can always read the review of each phone by clicking on the corresponding link.

Do you have a phone with the same model from any of the phones I tested? How is the battery life doing?