Sony warns unlocking Xperia Z3 bootloader will kill the camera’s low-light performance
Unlocking your smartphone’s bootloader, for the most part, has traditionally yielded some pretty awesome advantages. Aside from voiding out your warranty (which, in most cases, can be reversed), you gain unfettered access to the wonderful world of custom ROMs, some would argue Android’s greatest benefit over rival platforms like iOS.
But it’s not all roses, specifically when dealing with the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Now keep in mind Sony actually provides a bootloader unlock solution for their devices — so they’re hip to what’s going on. But after some users began reporting degraded camera performance after unlocking the bootloaders of their Xperia Z3 Compact, Sony responded.
In a small amendment to their official bootloader unlock page, Sony adds a disclaimer mentioning how DRM security on the phone can keep some of their specialty software from functioning properly, namely, the camera and how it handles low light and noise filtering. This also means you can’t download a few Sony apps as they’re also protected.
“Certain pre-loaded content on your device may also be inaccessible due to the removal of DRM security keys. For high-end devices running recent software versions, for instance Xperia Z3, the removal of DRM security keys may affect advanced camera functionality.
For example, noise reduction algorithms might be removed, and performance when taking photos in low-light conditions might be affected. The secure user data partition may also become inaccessible, and you will not be able to get any more official software upgrades if you unlock the boot loader.”
If you’re curious to see exactly what people are talking about (so you can judge for yourself if unlocking the bootloader is worth it), check out the same pics below.
Top: unlocked bootloader, bottom: locked
XDA via Xperia Blog