topic Re: Xperia xz in XZ Series

No FM radio?

aad14 — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 23:57:21 GMT

Can someone confirm that the XZ does NOT have FM radio? If not, that's a deal-breaker for me. Can someone also please tell me why they removed it and if it will be future policy? The SD820 seems capable as both the S7 and G5 have it.
Removing features is not the way to go, Sony.

Re: No FM radio?

Uliwooly — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:01:43 GMT

@aad14

Did you read anywhere that it doesn't support FM radio? I'll escalate this but keep in mind that this is a user based forum.

Re: No FM radio?

YoGem — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:04:29 GMT

White papers state that there is no fm radio...

Re: No FM radio?

Uliwooly — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:05:29 GMT

@YoGem

developer.sonymobile.com/documentation/whitepapers/Xperia%20XZ_WP_1.pdf

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 12:54:03 GMT

These are the apps according to Sony's site: "Music, Album, Video, Movie Creator, Spotify, News, What's New, Sound Photo, AR-effect." No FM radio. It also doesn't have one according to GSMArena.

Can someone please confirm that it will not have one for sure and that they're not planning to add it back again? I'd really like to have this phone, but otherwise I'll be looking elsewhere unfortunaletly.

Re: No FM radio?

Uliwooly — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 17:41:39 GMT

@aad14

I'll let you know when I get an official answer or maybe someone will post here.

On a side note, I understand why some people will use FM radio, I use it too, whenever I don't want to listen the music I have stored on my phone and/or don't want to use up my data through spotify, FM radio it's a great alternative but I don't see it as a deterrent for an amazing phone like the XZ.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:17:11 GMT

Thanks in advance Uliwooly.

Some background info: EVERY phone has a working FM chip, even iPhones and galaxies, which don't have FM (Samsung dropped it since the S4, that made me switch to Sony) have got the chip. The problem nowadays is that manufacturers disable it, either at software level (the US snapdragon variants of the S7 received an update that enabled the FM radio again), or at hardware level: they even need to take extra effort (!) to ground the otherwise functioning (!) antenna pin (Samsung does this with their Exynos variants). I hope Sony disabled it at software level, because a grounded pin will obviously never have functioning FM again.

FM radio is a very nice addition to streaming as it does use much less battery power and also if you get bored of your own music. But then, why would you pay €700 so that they take extra effort to ground that antenna pin? Why don't they just keep the available and functioning FM chip and give the users something for their money? Judging from the comments I read, a lot of people still use it. It doesn't make sense to take extra effort to remove it, while the low- and mid-rangers do have it.

Re: No FM radio?

AnnoyedUKCustom — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 10:36:50 GMT

FM Radio is not only a replacement for streaming or downloaded music. It is also a convenient way to follow live events (e.g. sport events). It's ridiculous that the hardware supports it but the software doesn't.

I really don't understand what Sony is doing with its Android phones. This is supposed to be a flagship phone. What's the purpose of removing basic features that used to be available even in mid-range phones?

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 17:26:26 GMT

True, it does not make sense at all to remove an otherwise AVAILABLE feature that only needs an available app (Sony's FM app is the best btw.). I'm impatiently refreshing this site for an official answer cause I would really like to buy this phone. But if it doesn't have it, I'll be looking somewhere else because I'm not going to support them removing available and useful features. Just search for 'radio' in GSMArena's comment section and you'll see that a lot of people are skipping this phone because the lack of FM radio. And I applaud that.

Re: No FM radio?

Christofer — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 07:09:43 GMT

Hi @aad14,

I can confirm that according to the information I have Xperia XZ does not support FM radio.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 09:58:28 GMT

Thanks Christofer. Very sad news. I really don't understand why they're restricting (the XZ does have a FM chip..) a feature used by many people that differentiated them from flagships from other companies such as Apple and Samsung. This will turn a lot of people away, including myself. No more Xperia's for me I guess...

Re: No FM radio?

Bullit2003 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:03:04 GMT

It is because Sony provided an FM Radio with the Xperia Z is why I bought my first Sony phone. I have never looked back for 5 years. I now have a Xperia Z5 now and absolutely love it. And listen to my FM radio when I want to listen to new local music on triple J. I also listen to my radio when I am at Live sporting events as streaming services are delayed. And under emergency situations (ie power outages, bush fires, floods) fm radio can provide me with information through the emergency broadcast network when cell towers are congested, non-functional or out of range.

As Sony has taken to BAN FM radio like all the other main phone manufacturers, I am now resticted to LG, Huawei and other chinese phones. I was excited about the Xperia XZ but no FM radio is a deal breaker. Bye bye Sony, it was a fun ride while it lasted.

Regards,

Ex-Sony fan boy.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 09:46:58 GMT

Some comments from GSMArena as I can't give a link:

matisperor

lovely smart phone, but' I have nothing to do with phone without radio........... Or make the radio and fm transmitter available on app thanks.

Canadian Guy
what?? no radio!!!!!!!!

Kevster
Will Sony bring back small apps, fm radio, or maybe even add split screen for true multi-tasking like the S7?

Anonimy
No radio - ty no. I know there are a lot of phones with radio, but i like sony cause it hasradio.

Naim
until now, I cannot understand why no fm radio in mobile phone (sony, samsung, HTC, Iphone.... )
espscially in the high-end mobile only,
Xperia X performance ( No radio)
Xperia XZ (No radio)
Xperia X Compact (with radio)
can anyone explain to me why...?!!!

Mario
Why no radio fm? sony going back !

matisperor
no radio and fm transmitter why?

And the list goes on and on. They're loosing way more money because people don't buy it than they get from streaming services (?) to exclude FM radio in order to promote streaming. A big mistake, because people use both anyways. I hope they're reading this and will change it.

Re: No FM radio?

AnnoyedUKCustom — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 13:42:56 GMT

@Bullit2003 wrote:
As Sony has taken to BAN FM radio like all the other main phone manufacturers, I am now resticted to LG, Huawei and other chinese phones. I was excited about the Xperia XZ but no FM radio is a deal breaker. Bye bye Sony, it was a fun ride while it lasted.
Regards,
Ex-Sony fan boy.

Samsung is also keeping the FM radio on some of its model. I used a Galaxy A3 (2016) for a few weeks and there was an FM Radio.... on a phone that costs 1/3 of the Xperia XZ.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 22:44:54 GMT

Even though I marked it as 'solved', can someone confirm whether Sony disabled it with software (e.g. just no pre-installed FM app) or at hardware level, and why?

Re: No FM radio?

Christofer — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 13:57:30 GMT

@aad14 I'm sorry but I have no further information about this.

Re: No FM radio?

Bhonder — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 22:46:54 GMT

Is there a way to start a petition for bringing back the radio on high end Sony's phone?

My Z5c is behaving but, if it would break and I'd have to buy a new device, with no fm radio my choice would be Apple or Sansung.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 20:49:51 GMT

Yes, I was thinking the same Bhonder. It is such a stupid move, as it is a dealbreaker for a lot of people, judging from all the comments I've read. Just search for 'radio' on GSMArena for the XZ (or other phones that lack radio) and you'll find that it is a dealbreaker for a lot of people. I was also looking for other phones from other brands, as the Xperia's would no longer have the advantage in general without FM in my opinion. But there's hope:

I contacted Sony NL and they confirmed that they didn't destroy (ground the antenna pin) the FM chip, so it will still work. They said to me that it would still work (using the FM-chip, which is not internet streming) but they just didn't pre-install the FM app (but luckily they chose to pre-install the FB-app which I don't use and other uselless apps like Amazon etc. /s). They advised me to use third pary FM apps, which is a shame as Sony's app was definately the best one. Still a very weird move as the phone is capable to not pre-install the app and mark it as FM capable as they will really lose a significant amount of sales because of this. They're really underestimating the number of people who use it, and I think the moderators should make work out of it and forward this to whoever is in charge. Just pre-install the app or make it available on the play store and you will definatley get more sales because of that. Is that so hard, Sony Mobile?

Re: No FM radio?

Bhonder — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:34:18 GMT

I wrote to Sony's Italian support and they replied me that they will excalate the question to designers, along with MHL (useful to stream high quality videos without wireless lag) and lanyard.

My wife and me usually buy top class devices and, along with the new Sony's price tag, competitors actually offer similar, if not better, choices.

Sadly, Apple came out with iPhone 7. They brag about a lot of things like noise canceling and buttonless unlock which Xperia already has since a long time. It sounds like the last days of Nokia phones: a lot of innovation and distinctive functions threw into the trash bin.

p.s.: my old Nokia 701 even had a FM transmitter, not only a receiver.

Re: No FM radio?

aad14 — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 20:15:34 GMT

Thanks Bhonder, keep us updated. I guess we're on our own as we won't get any help from this forum.