Is Xperia Z3 the best from Sony? A review

Sony's latest Z-series smartphone Xperia Z3 reached the market only few months after Z2’s release. 

With refined design and few improvements in software, Xperia Z3, which was released along with the Z3 Tablet Compact and smaller Z3 Compact, promises integration with Sony's PlayStation 4 games console. Recently Sony also announced Xperia Z3v, another version of Z3, with similar specs but with remote charging facility, to be sold exclusively by Verizon.

With Z3, Sony has finally unified its various platforms into one that can give run for money for Microsoft or Apple. Xperia Z3 is available in the UK with SIM-free option from around £500 and on monthly contracts from around £35. 

Design

Having glass-covered front and rear sides with aluminium band, Xperia Z3 is smaller, slimmer and lighter than Z2. The rounded edges of Z3 helps to give better grip compared to sharper edges of Z2. The disadvantage of the glass top and bottom is that it can be prone to fingerprints smudges.

Having highest waterproof and dust proof ratings, Sony claims that Z3 can survive in underwater upto 1.5 meters for 30 minutes provided all covers and ports are tightly shut. Users can use the phone to listen to music even in a downpour or take pictures underwater. Combined with aluminium frame and super-slim body, the Android smartphone is the combination of beauty and durability.

Display

Another best thing about Z3 is its display as the IPS panel is dazzling and colors are bright. However, Sony could have capitalized on the screen size (5.2 inch) and resolution as users are limited to just five rows of huge icons. The current resolution of Z3 has been fixed as 1080x1920.  Thanks to IPS technology, the smartphone offers super sharp images and accurate colours in any angle.

Sound

Z3 is packed with Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) technology that lets listeners upscale the low-res music to high-res quality. It restores and refines compressed MP3 and AAC files, giving powerful and full-range audio output. The High-Res Audio allows less distortion and noise at a wide range of frequency reproducing sound with amazing detail. Xperia Z3 also embedded with built-in Digital Noise Cancelling technology, which reduces exterior sound by up to 98 per cent when combined with the MDR-NC31EM headsets.

Software features

Like Z2, Xperia Z3 too runs in Android KitKat but in 4.4.4 version instead of 4.4.2. Sony has set right some bugs in the earlier version and so software-wise, there is no difference between Z2 and Z3.

Featuring fast web browsing, super fluid UI and impressive multi-tasking, Sony has made Android with the powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a built-in LTE/4G modem.

Apart from having built-in themes and floating apps, Sony includes Sony Select, an app curator, Lifelog, a health tracker and PlayStation, which allows users to play PS4 games anywhere in the house. Also, Z3 is the first smartphone to make users stream PS4 games into it, which is an added incentive, especially when others in the house take their turn to play on television screen. Other specs are 3GB RAM, 16GB or 32GB internal storage, dual band Wi-Fi, NFC connectivity and Bluetooth 4.0.

Camera

The Xperia Z3 comes with the camera of same 20.7-megapixel found in Z1 and Z2 but with few changes. The ISO sensitivity has been fixed at 12,800 with wider lens for better image stability. Like Z2, Z3 can capture 4K video. But despite having 20.7 MP camera Sony produces pictures around 8 MP, which is quite disappointing.

Battery life 

Claims to have provided ground breaking two-day battery life, Sony says that the battery in Z3 can last for two days for the benefit of people who travel a lot and don’t have charging facility. The extended mode gives users another 14 per cent extra battery life. The Extra Stamina mode extends the battery life to almost a week by keeping only essential functions on while disabling other unwanted functions and apps.

Conclusion

Though Sony Xperia Z3 doesn't have a path-breaking design, some of the good things about the smartphone are its efficient battery, brilliant display, waterproof feature, improved sound quality and PS4 game compatibility. The bad things are limited and big icons, problems in autofocus and low picture output. Sony should have waited and produced more powerful device to outwit its competitors.