A current trend in technology is for companies to release two flagship devices each year – one for the first half of the year and one for the second – and Sony is no different.
Over the past two years, the Sony Xperia range has grown rapidly and in the Xperia Z3, Sony have a device that is finally firing on all cylinders. Whilst past Xperia flagships have lacked on a feature or two, the Xperia Z3 seemingly ticks all the boxes.
With a feature packed specs list, excellent design, seriously durable abilities and claims of two days battery life, the Xperia Z3 offers everything you’re looking for in a smartphone.
Is it as good as Sony claims? Let’s take a closer look..
Design
There is no denying that the Xperia Z3 design is simply fantastic.
Although it shares the same design as its predecessors and looks very similar, the small change Sony made in adding rounded corners and a curved outer bezel has transformed the ergonomics of the handset. Instead of a device with chamfered edges that was uncomfortable to hold, the Xperia Z3 is a joy to use in the hands.
Like past devices, the 5.1 inch Full HD display dominates the front of the handset and Sony continues to use excessive amounts of bezel above and below the display (although this is a personal issue with the design and may be fine for other people). The biggest change from past devices is that finally Sony has a display to be truly proud of. We’re not sure exactly how they have managed it (the IPS LCD and Triluminos technology are probably two key factors) but the Xperia Z3 has one of our favourite displays ever on a smartphone before.
In order to keep the handset dust and water proof, the key ports (such as sim card, charger and micro SD card) are protected by covers. These are easy to open and close and seem somewhat robust enough not to break with normal usage. The headphone jack is uncovered but after our underwater test it continued to operate fine so there’s clearly some protection there.
The back glass panel remains our one key concern with the design – the smooth texture provides a lack of grip and we managed to drop ours a few times so the fear of it slipping out of your hands when you don’t have a case on is a real concern. In fairness to Sony, the handset is built to withstand the odd knock or two and continued to work fine with the only visible damage being a few small scuff marks on the corners.
Overall the Xperia Z3 hardware is elegant yet functional and really is a joy to use in the hands. So the hardware is good but what about the software?
Software & Performance
Sony’s software hasn’t changed an awful lot since the first Xperia Z smartphone with each new iteration of software bringing a few new features and more of the same. In the Android arena, there are many different versions of [...]
The post Sony Xperia Z3 Review – a mighty flagship originally appeared on UKMR and is subject to our Copyright.