Sony have just released their latest smartphone in Australia, the anticipated Xperia Z3, some six months after they made waves with their last model. The updates focus on the entertainment factor (in particular its use as a remote screen for the Playstation 4) as well as a slimmer, lighter and improved ergonomic designs.
Screen and Picture Quality
The first thing you’ll notice with the phone is the size of the screen, a 5.2″ IPS LCD taking over the vast majority of the unit (which at 146mm x 72mm x 7.3mm is a fraction smaller than the Z2). Place it next to an standard sized iPhone and suddenly the Apple model feels insignificant. It’s a bit bigger, too, than the HTC One (M8) and the Samsung Galaxy S5. Throw in a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution and you have yourself one fine looking screen. From watching videos to looking at websites and photos, the screen is a stunner and the touch screen capabilities are flawless.
Design: The Bigger, The Better?
With the Z2, the feedback on its size must have been mostly positive as they’ve only trimmed a fraction of the Z3 predecessor’s size – but it handles much better. They’ve given us smoother, rounder edges, while making it slimmer and lighter. Holding it against the iPhone 4S almost sees no difference in weight. And in spite of the size it does fit comfortably in your pocket. Also the flat back is a notable difference between it and the new iPhone 6 – though the quality of the camera of the latter will make that difference worthwhile for some.
When we talk ergonomics though, the only real issue I had with it was that it’s a bit slippery meaning it slipped out of my hands a couple of times, or off my lap. I would definitely recommend getting yourself a case for this reason alone. When dropped, I had no impact on the screen though.
Sound Quality
Standard in call conversations were perfect – experienced no issues – but then again, if you can’t get that right, you probably shouldn’t be making a phone. What we’re more interested in here is the quality of sound in the speakers when watching videos on YouTube or a downloaded film. Not much has changed in that regard from the Z2, with speakers blending into the design with an emphasis on quality – I would happily watch an entire film, and certainly play a game, using the inbuilt speakers. Though the headphone jack is optimized for Sony’s noise cancelling headphones, which were tested as well and indeed served the product with excellent quality.
Storage
We were provided with a 64GB mini SD card for our review unit, in addition to the 12GB or so that’s made available internally. Size expansion is one killer feature that Apple products never facilitate – and to their own detriment. Though downloading TV shows and movies from Google Play on the computer, putting it onto the SD card and then sticking it into the Xperia Z3 couldn’t be quicker and easier. I’ve yet to download a file type the unit doesn’t play either – which is excellent – and it always looks phenomenal on the screen. Which leads us to…
Video
Watching video on the phone’s large screen is an obvious winner. But what about shooting video? Well, this is one area where the phone seems to jump the gun a bit. Of course there are the standard options for filming, and they works fine – you can even edit your video with an inbuilt app. But I’m perplexed by the inclusion of 4K filming. Sure, being able to film in 4K is impressive – but who does that benefit? The average person doesn’t own a screen that can show 4K at full quality – and probably won’t for a while. You can argue they’re “future proofing”, but when you’re releasing new models every 6 months – why not just save it for later? And, naturally, it takes up a whole heap of room as well.
But the main issue with 4K filming is that after a couple of minutes it overheats the phone’s camera and shuts it down. I’m sure there’ll be some tech heads out there who’d say “but you can do THIS and THIS if you have 4K footage, even if you only have a couple of minutes of footage”… but those sorts of people probably will soon get their hands on expensive 4K cameras that do it properly. You don’t need it on your phone. Not yet. I’m not convinced.
Photography
At over 20 megapixels, in theory this is a powerful camera. And it is – take it out into good lighting and you’ll have some of the best photos you’ve ever taken on a phone. And doesn’t it look nice on that sizable HD screen? But it’s hard to get a well focused shot in a darker environment. Sony do promote the phone as having “unparalleled low light sensitivity”, and in some ways it captures more than its rivals in a darker environment – but to get one that wasn’t blurry and in some instances even usable was a difficult task. So while this feature may have been disappointing, with good lighting it easily competes with the best.
Battery Life
Though they quote two days worth of battery life, of course in the real world it becomes more like a day and a half if you are a constant user. But that said, I never ran out of battery any days I was using the phone – and I pushed it hard, using videos, listening to music wired and wireless (via my Sony Bluetooth Headphones), shooting video, taking photos and for me the biggest battery drain of all: reading and replying to my overflowing e-mail inbox. So as long as you are recharging nightly you’re never going to face the issue that so many other phones do: dead battery halfway through the day thanks to that mentioned overflowing e-mail inbox. It’s these sorts of features that make you wonder why people aren’t quicker to move onto this sort of phone model.
I also really loved the Battery Stamina mode, which is handy when you are running low on battery. It limits the phone to its core functions e.g. calls and SMS, to make sure your battery lasts as long as possible to maintain its essentials. Because that makes sense. There’s also “Extended usage mode” and “Extended standby mode” all which are there to help you get the most out of your battery.
Interface
Anyone who’s already comfortable with an Android phone will have no troubles getting used to the UI of Sony’s Xperia’s models. It takes the best of the Android interface features and throws in Sony’s own charm – think the menus on the Playstation. Very crisp, clean, colourful and interactive. Customisation is king in the world of the Android, and the Sony Xperia series have made it as easy as it get. From interactive backgrounds to playable video files, you can customize your pages to feature just about anything you need it to and you can even change the settings to do things like wake your phone by a double tap. I liked that one.
Text Messaging
Pretty straight forward here, as an iPhone regular over the years, I had no problems using the Text Messaging interface (though you do miss iMessage, which is a thorn in Android’s side no doubt). A testament to its excellent interface, the phone memorises all the words you enter into the system – which if you’re like me and writing fast can actually be a bad thing, but it’s easy to delete a word from its memory. A week into the system though, I was writing messages faster than I ever have before thanks to the memorized words. There’s also a feature where you slide your finger between letters, and it predicts your word – sometimes this works well, though it wasn’t perfect.
“The most waterproof and dust resistant phone on the market”
OK, so I have to admit I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to testing out and reviewing new phones. I’m not going to take it for a swim, in the same way that I’m not going to drop it from my balcony to see if it survives. So for this, I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. With a rating of IP65/68, this is without question the most waterproof phone on the market. Nothing else even comes close. At the launch event for this phone in Sydney, they had the phone sitting in a fish tank, which they were able to remove and work without any issue. Their claims include that you can swim with the phone for 30 minutes, and dive up to 1.5m. Just don’t forget to “firmly close all the covers for the ports”.
So if you’re the sort of person that drops your phone in the toilet on a night out (and there are a lot of you…) or you live in a dust cloud where you jump into pools often, this phone could not be a better for you.
Playstation 4 Remote Place
Goldeneye when we could peak at our friends screen? And as someone who likes to play his Playstation late at night when others are sleeping, it will serve as a great way to do this. With the TV off and your phone on, I can lay on the couch and play the latest Grand Theft Auto or whatever I might be playing without disturbing my housemates.
I experienced no lag in the test run, and though I imagine that the connection may experience some troubles in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth intensive areas e.g. offices, this is without question a gamechanger for the new model. Hell, some people might buy it just for this feature and not even use it as a phone and I wouldn’t blame them.
The Verdict
Xperia is an entertainment device first, and a phone second. After all, this is the company that brings us the Playstation, it only makes sense. It means it’s a phone for a certain user. If you want a dynamic, easy to use phone that fits to your varied usages and doesn’t have the pesky blocks on programs (and flash) that Apple are insistent on, then the Xperia is for you. It’s a stand out device with great battery life, dynamic controls and excellent UI.
We’ll revisit the phone in a month or so when the PS4 functionality has been given the green light, and look at some of the more long term capabilities. How is battery life going after a month or so? How is the dictionary developing? What sort of apps have made the system a must have? We note there are quite a lot of built in programs we have yet to play around with and hopefully we’ll be able to bring you more on that next time around…
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Release Details
The Sony Xperia Z3 is available in Australia with a RRP of $849. A smaller “Compact” version is available for $649 (not reviewed here). And there’s also a Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact floating around. Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodaphone are all offering the models, though as of the time of printing, not all Telcos have both models in stock. Virgin are offering the cheapest monthly plan for the phone from $50 a month. We tested the phone on the Telstra network.
Stock photos provided by Sony.
