[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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 - :))
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