u/uberrob

Does the Find N6 come from the factory with a protector on the lens? I can't tell.

I bought one and it wouldn't stick, so I am guessing there is one on there already.

For the last 24 hours, I’ve been hitting a brick wall trying to use the built-in Gemini assistant on my Oppo Find N6.

​Every single time I try to activate it by holding down the power button, the assistant overlay crashes immediately with this message:

"Something went wrong, please try again (1099)"

​The strange part is that it is only happening with the long-press power button shortcut. If I tap the home screen widget or open the Gemini app directly from its icon, it connects and works perfectly fine.

​I’ve already spent a bunch of time troubleshooting and ruled out a lot of the standard local fixes:

​Cleared the app cache and force-stopped the app.

​Tore down and reset the Android default digital assistant mapping in system settings.

​Tried switching the active Gemini model via the app interface.

​None of it has shaken the error loose. It seems like the system gesture handshake is failing or hitting a hard deadlock on the backend cluster for this specific shortcut.

​Has anyone else with a Find N6 run into Error 1099 on the power button gesture recently? If you managed to fix it without resorting to a secondary Google account or completely wiping your core Google app data, what did the trick?

​Appreciate any insights!

https://preview.redd.it/rf568xxk737h1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4eb9578095b3018f8f963c5173b6b6d06f3654c4

https://preview.redd.it/kbpxzvxk737h1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6447ab11fe5ef45d9f1cb30bb484f8c2e6200d8

Ok....so....first off, I live in the states - so this review pertains only to the global version of the N6....also, this long, sorry about that but I wanted to get everything out of the way in one shot...

I've spent most of my smartphone life on stock Android. Pixels, then several generations of Sony Xperias. My previous phone was an Xperia 1 V with 256GB onboard and a 2TB microSD card, which gave me a ridiculous amount of storage and frankly spoiled me. I absolutely loved that phone. Over the years I had grown very attached to Sony's philosophy. The hardware, the camera system, the almost stubborn commitment to features like expandable storage and a headphone jack, and perhaps most importantly, an Android experience that stayed out of the way. I had become one of those annoying people who would happily tell anyone willing to listen why Xperia phones deserved more attention.

So I honestly assumed I would remain in the Xperia ecosystem indefinitely.

But time catches up with everything. My Xperia 1 V is now several years old and effectively reached the end of its software support a few OS releases back. The phone itself still works beautifully, which in some ways made this decision harder. There wasn't some catastrophic failure or broken screen forcing my hand. Quite the opposite. I was perfectly happy with the device. But I also wanted a modern flagship with several years of updates ahead of it, and I had reached the point where keeping the Xperia simply because I loved it started to feel more sentimental than practical.

Living in the United States complicated matters further. Like many Xperia owners, I had been watching the rumors surrounding the Xperia 1 VIII and fully expected that to be my next phone. I wasn't shopping around. I wasn't looking for excuses to leave Sony. I was just waiting.

Unfortunately, when it became clear that Sony had once again made some curious decisions regarding U.S. support, specifically the omission of T-Mobile's n71 band, that was a full stop for me. Maybe I could have lived with it. Plenty of people undoubtedly will. But after spending years investing in the Xperia ecosystem, I simply wasn't interested in paying flagship prices and knowingly accepting a compromised network experience. If I was spending that kind of money, I wanted something that felt like a complete package.

That realization forced me into unfamiliar territory. For the first time in many years, I had to seriously consider alternatives.

Which turned out to be harder than I expected.

I honestly surprised myself by buying this thing. I went back and forth between the Find X9 Ultra and the N6 for weeks. Photography is a serious hobby for me, and part of me thought I'd regret walking away from the Xperia experience. My day job has me constantly remoting into machines, reviewing documents, juggling multiple apps, and generally living on my phone. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that maybe productivity had become more important than squeezing out the last few percent of camera performance. I wasn't really looking for a foldable. I was looking for a better tool. In the end, curiosity got the better of me and I took the plunge.

I also have to admit that I wasn't convinced I'd like it. Coming from years of stock Android, I fully expected to spend the first month complaining about ColorOS and questioning my life choices. In fact, I half expected this to be an expensive experiment that would end with me crawling back to Sony six months from now. But sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and try something different, and so far I think I did....ok-ish...?

First off, the hardware is exceptional. Oppo absolutely nailed the industrial design. The phone feels expensive, dense, and incredibly well made. The hinge is excellent, and once unfolded it just disappears into the background. It has the feel of something that had many generations of refinement behind it, even though foldables are still relatively young.

One thing you'll notice immediately is that the camera bump is enormous. It looks cool and certainly announces itself, but it also makes the phone a bit top-heavy. The balance is very different from my Xperia. It's not uncomfortable, but it took some getting used to and there have been a few moments where I instinctively reached for features Sony had that made one-handed operation easier. I really miss Xperia's one-handed mode. It sounds like a small thing until you've used it for years. (Both the Xperia 1V and the Oppo N6 are 21:9 screens....and my thumb isn't that long.)

The biggest surprise for me has been just how transformative the larger screen has been. I use RVNC extensively to connect to Windows machines, and on my Xperia I was constantly panning around trying to see my desktop. On the N6, I can see the entire desktop. That alone has changed my workflow. Add in the ability to run three apps simultaneously and this thing feels more like a tiny tablet than a phone. I find myself actually multitasking instead of just thinking about multitasking.

For my particular use case, that foldable screen has been a genuine game changer. I can have Slack open, email open, and a browser window open simultaneously. I can remote into systems and actually see what I'm doing. I spend a lot of my day dealing with investors, engineers, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, and the Find N6 feels like it was designed for people who abuse their phones the way I do.

The stylus has also been much better than I expected. I primarily bought it for note-taking and document markup, but I've already found myself using it far more than I anticipated. Handwriting recognition and some of the AI search features are genuinely useful. I've even spent time sketching and playing with drawing apps, which wasn't something I expected. Having a pen available turns out to be one of those features you don't think you need until you have it.

My only complaint with the stylus is the charging arrangement. The magnetic charging cradle that sticks to the back works, but honestly it feels like an afterthought. You've got this beautiful phone and then you slap this weird little attachment on the back and suddenly it feels like somebody solved the problem at the last minute. I've heard there are ways to charge it directly from the phone through Qi charging, but the process lacks obvious feedback and feels strangely mysterious. So for now I just use the charger and live with the awkwardness.

As a hobby photographer, the camera system deserves mention. The hardware itself is excellent. I've been impressed with everything I've shot so far. I think most people would be thrilled with it. But I also think Sony and Oppo approach photography very differently.

Sony always felt like a camera company that happened to make phones. Between the Zeiss optics, the variable telephoto lens, and the DSLR-inspired software, Xperia appealed to the photographer in me. The Xperia experience felt deliberate and professional. The Oppo produces beautiful images, and perhaps even easier images, but the Sony always made me feel like I had a miniature Alpha camera in my pocket.

So while I think the Find N6 camera is excellent, I still miss Sony's philosophy. That's probably nostalgia talking, but I suspect other Xperia owners will understand what I mean.

Coming from stock Android, ColorOS has been a culture shock.

I know some people love it. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but years of Pixel and Xperia muscle memory are hard to overcome. The split notification and control center arrangement feels suspiciously Apple-like and I absolutely hate it. I constantly swipe the wrong direction. Everything seems to be in slightly different places than my brain expects. None of it is objectively bad, but almost all of it is different.

I suspect that six months from now I'll wonder why I ever complained, but right now I still occasionally mutter, "Sony wouldn't have done it this way."

Storage has also required a change in mindset. Going from 2.25TB of combined storage on the Xperia to a 0.5TB on the N6 has forced me to rethink things. In prep for this phone, I purchased an FiiO M33 DAP so I can still listen to my music library offline (I hate choosing playlists when scrambling for a flight.) So now, my music library that used to live on the phone now lives there. I do miss the flexibility of expandable storage. Sony was one of the last holdouts, and I appreciated them for it.

Overall, though, I think Oppo may have succeeded in something I thought impossible.

I don't think the Find N6 has made me stop loving Xperia phones. In fact, using the Oppo has reminded me just how many things Sony gets right. But the foldable form factor has changed the equation enough that I finally stepped away after years of loyalty.

Would I switch back to the Xperia 1V or move to the upcoming Pixel 11 Fold tomorrow? Probably not. But, if the Xperia 1IX (if there will ever be one) includes the N71 band and keeps the headphone jack and SDCard slot..... we'll see....

I am genuinely stuck and would appreciate some advice from people who have actually lived with these phones.

For context, I have been in the Sony Xperia camp for years. My current daily driver is an Xperia 1 V with 512GB internal storage and a 1TB microSD card. One of the reasons I've stayed with Xperia is that I have always appreciated expandable storage, the relatively stock Android experience, and Sony's camera philosophy.

Professionally, I'm the CEO of a technology startup. That means I spend a ridiculous amount of time on airplanes, in airports, at conferences, in investor meetings, and reviewing decks, PDFs, spreadsheets, contracts, engineering documents, and email. Productivity matters a lot to me.

Outside of work, photography is probably my biggest hobby. I travel quite a bit and enjoy shooting architecture, cityscapes, landscapes, aviation, and whatever interesting places I happen to find myself in. I am not a professional photographer, but I care enough about photography that the camera system is a major consideration.

On paper, the X9 Ultra seems like the obvious choice. Better camera, 1TB storage option, larger battery, and arguably one of the best camera systems available today.

But the Find N6 keeps pulling me back. The idea of having a foldable for reviewing documents, presentations, and email while traveling sounds genuinely useful. I don't care much about the "wow" factor of folding phones. I'm interested in whether it would actually improve my day-to-day workflow.

My biggest concerns are:

- Going from effectively 1.5TB of storage today down to 512GB.

- Giving up what appears to be a significantly better camera system on the X9 Ultra.

- Whether the foldable experience is actually transformative for productivity or just something people get excited about for a few weeks.

One thing I have already ruled out is the Chinese versions. Android Auto is important to me and I don't want to spend my life troubleshooting phone software.

For those of you who have used either or both, especially if you came from Xperia, which way would you go and why?

Would you choose the better camera phone, or the foldable?

I have a weird one for the NVIDIA crowd.

The only app on my Shield that behaves strangely is the Apple TV app. Almost like clockwork, after exactly 30 minutes of playback, the Shield suddenly drops back to the Android TV home screen. It feels less like the desktop crashes and more like the app itself is restarting. The app and the shield pro TV are all updated to the latest version.

What’s odd is:

• It does not matter whether I stay in one show or switch between shows

• It only seems to happen once per session

• After that first occurrence, the Apple TV app behaves normally

• No other streaming apps do this at all, including Plex, Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, etc.

So this really feels Apple TV-specific, or possibly some strange interaction between the Apple TV app and the Shield launcher/runtime.

Has anyone else seen this behavior? Particularly on the Shield TV Pro units?