Comparing the flagships: Sony Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact. Sony Xperia X review and comparison with Sony Xperia Z3 Sony xperia z3 is different

It was known that the flagship Sony Xperia Z4 is similar in appearance to the Z3 in a number of characteristics, however, hardly anyone could have imagined how obvious the similarity would be. Visual comparative pictures have already appeared on the Internet, demonstrating the analogy in the design and arrangement of the main elements.

At the front, the Xperia Z4 differs from its predecessor only in the different location of the logo, sensors and front camera, as well as the displacement of the paired speakers. All these changes will be able to be distinguished only by a user familiar with the line, while others will not notice such minor innovations at all.

Xperia Z4 - left, Z3 - right

Things are completely different with the rear panel - there the analogy is close to 100 percent. The new product is distinguished only by the NFC icon and the flash, located slightly lower relative to the camera than that of the Xperia Z3. Well, another important point is the color of the rear panel itself; the Z4 has a copper design option that is slightly darker.

The most obvious difference between the new model and the old one is the design of the ends - Xperia Z4 has a glossy frame and has a characteristic shine, especially noticeable on metal corners. Well, here are the connectors and buttons: in the new model, the USB input has moved to the bottom edge and has lost its protection, the magnetic connector on the left has disappeared, and the microSD card slot on the right side is now located under the same plug as the SIM card on the left.

Xperia Z4 - top, Z3 - bottom

Users with an excellent eye will be able to detect a slightly thinner body on the Xperia Z4, although in reality the difference is not so significant - only 0.4 mm.

Xperia Z4 - left, Z3 - right

In terms of technical characteristics, there are also few significant differences between the devices - the Z4 has a much more powerful chip, a high-quality front camera, support for Bluetooth 4.1 and a less capacious battery. A detailed comparison of specifications is presented in the table below.

Comparison of characteristics of Sony Xperia Z4 and Xperia Z3

	Sony Xperia Z3
CPU:	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 8 cores	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 4 cores
GPU:	Adreno 430	Adreno 330
RAM:	3 GB	3 GB
memory:	32/64 GB + microSD up to 128 GB	16/32 GB + microSD up to 128 GB
display:	5.2" IPS 1920x1080 pixels density 424 ppi Gorilla Glass 4	5.2" IPS 1920x1080 pixels density 424 ppi Gorilla Glass 3
main camera:	20.7 MP single LED flash autofocus digital stabilization	20.7 MP single LED flash autofocus digital stabilization
frontal camera:	5.1 MP, wide-angle 1080p	2.2 MP 1080p
modules:	Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1 GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC	Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC
battery:	2,930 mAh	3 100 mAh
dimensions:	146x72x6.9 mm	146x72x7.3 mm
weight:	144 grams	153 grams
bonuses:	protection against moisture and dust IP68	protection against moisture and dust IP68

Detailed testing of the new flagship Sony Mobile

Perhaps it’s worth starting with the fact that Sony, having once again updated its main and most popular line of mobile devices called Xperia Z, this time brought everything “to a common denominator”, giving all devices included in the updated series, without exception, a serial number 3. Thus, even the miniature version of the flagship smartphone Sony Z3 Compact immediately “jumped” one digit in its index, so as not to differ from its comrades in the line. There is no longer and will never be a model called Xperia Z2 Compact; users immediately received a third “mini” version, and now all three main products in the top family have the same index Z3 in their name.

Sony's new line of mobile devices was presented at the very beginning of autumn during the IFA 2014 world exhibition and includes three top-end devices: the flagship smartphone Sony Xperia Z3, its miniature version Xperia Z3 Compact, and a new eight-inch tablet called Sony Z3 Tablet. This applies to the main devices of the line. In addition to them, the new series of Sony mobile products includes the budget smartphone Xperia E3, a watch, and a new bracelet with an electronic ink screen... But everything has its time. Today we present to your attention a detailed test review of the most important device in the top family - the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone, which very quickly replaced the Xperia Z2 introduced literally in the spring. The Japanese firmly adhere to the once chosen course of updating the flagship line every six months, rightly believing that during this time enough reasons have accumulated to update the model range.

Unlike the Xperia Z2, which progressed relative to its predecessors precisely in terms of technical improvements, the Xperia Z3 added virtually no changes in this regard. But on the other hand, quite significant work was done on the appearance of the product itself and the user graphical interface, that is, most of the changes this time lie precisely in the plane of design and decoration. However, this does not mean that the next update should be treated with disdain. On the contrary, the Sony Xperia Z3 has eliminated all those shortcomings and roughness that irritated the powerful, but in many ways rough Xperia Z2. However, in terms of technical characteristics, some changes have occurred. Let's talk about everything in order.

Video review

First, we suggest watching our video review of the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone:

Key Features of Sony Xperia Z3 (Model D6603)

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC), 2.5 GHz, 4 cores
• GPU Adreno 330
• Operating system Android 4.4 KitKat
• Touch IPS display, 5.2″, 1920×1080
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 16 GB
• MicroSD card slot up to 128 GB (SDXC)
• Protection against dust and moisture according to IP 65/68 standard
• Communication GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communications 3G UMTS HSPA+ 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz
• LTE Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20 (2600/800 FDD are used in the Russian Federation)
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• Support DLNA, MHL 3.0, OTG, Media Go, MTP, Miracast
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot
• GPS/Glonass
• Exmor RS 20.7 MP camera, autofocus, LED flash, 4K video
• Front camera 2.2 MP
• Non-removable battery 3100 mAh
• Dimensions 146×72×7.3 mm
• Weight 152 g

Scope of delivery

The Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone is packaged in a fairly simple-looking, flat and square box made of thin unvarnished cardboard, which has already become classic for the latest products in the Sony mobile line, with a cardboard tray and three different-sized compartments inside, separated by thin partitions.

The Sony Xperia Z3 package is very laconic: a compact charger and a Micro-USB connecting cable. Sony has decided to no longer include headphones in the package with its flagship products; they will be offered separately at a fairly reasonable price, as an additional accessory.

Appearance and ease of use

If most of the main changes in the Sony Xperia Z2 affected the technical part, then in the third incarnation the previous content was dressed in a much fresher shell. Since the very first Xperia Z, the appearance of the body of all flagship smartphones in the line has remained virtually unchanged over generations, remaining the same type. The basis of the design, to which the developers even gave their own name OmniBalance, was a frame with flat edges. Moreover, recently it has taken on the appearance of such a rough, heavy all-metal structure with cut off sharp edges that the Xperia Z2, for example, was really uncomfortable to hold in the hand. The main complaints that immediately poured in from users regarding the Xperia Z2 presented in the spring concerned precisely the roughness and heaviness of the body of the new product. This time, the developers took into account all the negative nuances and changed the feeling of using a smartphone beyond recognition.

Moreover, they didn’t have to do almost anything: they just removed the flat chamfers from the surface of the side frames, which made the rough edges that dug into the palm disappear. The metal frame has become completely streamlined; flat and sharp edges have been replaced by rounded sides, making the device really pleasant to hold in your hand.

The polymer gasket between metal and glass, which disappeared in recent models, has not returned here, but the metal edges of the edge no longer dig into the skin as before. Now in the hands of the user there is a pleasant-to-touch, smooth and streamlined “block”, which has also lost weight. The weight of the Sony Xperia Z3 was brought to a comfortable level, which had the most favorable effect on the overall perception of the device - now there is simply nothing to complain about.

As for the general structure of the case, the smartphone is still a monolithic, non-separable candy bar, consisting of two glass plates and a metal frame that runs along the entire side perimeter of the case. The metal surface is matte and slightly rough, which is why the smartphone is perfectly held in the fingers and does not slip out of the palm.

At the same time, even greater changes have been made to the design of the frame than are immediately noticeable to the eye. The fact is that the corners of the frame this time were made of polycarbonate material, which absorbs shock when the device falls. Now they play the role of shock absorbers, which, in theory, should have a beneficial effect on the “survival” of the product after falls from a height. This plastic is indistinguishable from the metal of the frame itself, so that overall the body retains a uniform appearance.

Another change affected the thickness of the case: the smartphone has become a little thinner, and it looks very cool. True, the decrease in thickness led to a decrease in the volume of the built-in battery, but the changes in this regard are not very significant.

Otherwise, everything remains in place: the front and rear glass no longer have the factory protective film; the characteristics of the glass are similar to the popular Corning Gorilla Glass, but proud Sony does not like to talk about its suppliers. The screen is now made using IPS technology, next to it on the front side there are two stereo speakers facing the user. A special connector with an open pair of contacts for installing a smartphone in a docking station has not been forgotten. The connector is universal: most modern Sony devices, including tablets, can be installed in the same docking station, purchased separately.

The covers on the side frame are still made of metal and equipped with rubberized gaskets. As a result, the smartphone, like its predecessors, is provided with maximum protection against the ingress of water and dust according to the IP 65/68 standard. There are two covers; they hide slots for a memory card and SIM card, as well as a Micro-USB connector. By the way, changes have occurred here too: now top-end Sony mobile devices use Nano-SIM format cards, obviously with an eye to a painless possible transition for some users from the Apple iPhone. The rest will have to go to the communication store again and change their SIM card to a card of the new standard.

The front and rear glass panels now do not have those factory protective films that were so controversial. Maybe this is for the better, since the films naturally wore out faster and became covered with a lot of scratches than glass, and removing them was quite problematic, and besides, the glass then lost its grease-repellent coating.

The sound output grilles are located at the top and bottom of the screen; the role of the grilles is played by two symmetrical slits in the glass. A completely logical solution is to turn the speakers towards the user, and not away from him, and there are two speakers themselves. By the way, the sound of the new flagship has become significantly louder than that of its predecessors, even despite the gaskets that protect it from water. Another change: previously, it was through the top slot of the speaker that the status indicator light made its way, now its role is played by a more traditional, separately located LED point. In the settings menu there is an item where you can disable some of the indicator’s functions, leaving it to notify only about the charging status.

Below the screen, as is customary with Sony, there are no hardware touch buttons; control is carried out using virtual buttons on the screen. So here below you can only find the lower speaker grille, and even then there is not much space left for it. In general, the frames around the screen are very thin on all sides, so that the body of the smartphone, with such a large display area, remains in quite manageable dimensions - both for the average human hand and for a pocket of any size.

The back wall of the case is exactly the same as the front: it is made of glass, there is no protective film on it, there are no gaskets between the glass and the metal of the side faces, and the only functional elements present here are the camera window and the flash eye. The flash here consists of a single LED, while most competing flagships have had dual flashes for a long time, and now they also come in multi-colored ones. It’s good that they didn’t forget to provide the smartphone with pre-installed software that allows you to use this module in flashlight mode.

The power and lock button is located on the right side, next to the volume key. Traditionally for the latest Sony smartphones, it looks like a metal round piece, but in the third series models it is somewhat different in appearance. All the keys are large, easy to feel blindly, and have a distinct spring-loaded action, so there are no complaints about the controls of the Sony Xperia Z3.

At the bottom of the right side there is a dedicated hardware camera control key, thanks to which the smartphone can be used for shooting even underwater, although the screen at this time becomes insensitive to touch. The ability to shoot underwater on Sony mobile devices is a proprietary feature that the company constantly plays out in advertising and on posters.

The headphone audio jack (3.5 mm) is located on top here, and it is not covered by any plugs. However, it is also protected from water getting inside the case. There is nothing on the bottom end - a universal Micro-USB connector, which, by the way, supports connecting external devices in OTG mode, is hidden under a cover on the left side. For daily charging, you will have to flip this cover every time - or use a separately purchased docking station. Sony is in no hurry to build support for wireless charging into its mobile devices.

There is another hole in the lower left corner of the case - this is a traditional strap mount, which is present on all Sony smartphones, and it is a pity that other manufacturers neglect this useful element.

The color scheme of the new flagship's cases has undergone significant changes. Quite unexpectedly, the smartphone was presented not only in traditional black and white, and also, quite expectedly, gold, but also in a completely new one - mint green, which the developers simply call green. In fact, this color has a soft pastel, like a slightly faded greenish tone; The color is discreet and very pleasing to the eye. But the golden color is more reminiscent of highly polished copper, which is why it got its name Copper (copper-red).

Screen

The Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone is equipped with an IPS touch matrix. The screen dimensions are 64x114 mm, diagonal - 5.2 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. A parameter such as pixel density is 423 ppi here. From the developers themselves, this type of display received the brand name Triluminos.

The outside of the screen is covered with protective glass without a factory protective film - this proprietary distinctive feature has completely disappeared from the screens of Sony mobile devices. The thickness of the side frames from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is approximately 3 mm - the frames are very narrow.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment. Multi-touch technology here allows you to process up to 10 simultaneous touches. The display can be operated with gloves or wet fingers. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen is locked using a proximity sensor.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens of both devices (Sony Xperia Z3, as it is not difficult to determine, is on the right; then they can be distinguished by size):

Both screens are dark, but the Sony screen is still darker (its brightness in the photo is 98 versus 103 for the Nexus 7). The tripling of reflected objects in the Sony Xperia Z3 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the outer glass (also known as the touch sensor) and the surface of the matrix (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass-air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better under strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, perhaps better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was about 680 cd/m², and the minimum was 4.7 cd/m². The maximum value is simply huge and is a record for this type of technology, and, given the good anti-glare properties, in bright daylight and even in direct sun the image on the screen should be clearly visible. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the logo on the front panel). In automatic mode, when external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the brightness adjustment position. If it is at maximum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 130 cd/m² (too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 350 cd/m² (very much), in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 580 cd/m² (enough). If the brightness slider is at half the scale (it is very non-linear - after 50% the brightness goes up sharply as the setting value increases), then the screen brightness for the three conditions indicated above is as follows: 68, 240 and 580 cd/m² (suitable values). If the brightness control is set to minimum - 7.4, 120, 580 cd/m². As a result, the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

This screen uses an IPS type matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without inverting shades and without significant color shifts, even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of the Nexus 7 and Sony Xperia Z3, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² (over a white field in the entire screen), and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K . White field perpendicular to the plane of the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture:

The colors on the Sony Xperia Z3's screen are oversaturated, skin tones are heavily red-shifted, and the color balance is very different from the standard. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Sony Xperia Z3 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong brightening of blacks and a greater decrease in brightness. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of the Sony Xperia Z3 the drop in brightness is greater (brightness according to photographs is 216 versus 230 for the Nexus 7). However, the color tone did not change much. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a violet or red-violet hue. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same for the screens!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is average, since there are areas with slightly increased brightness along the edge:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 690:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 23 ms (14 ms on + 9 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 33 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals according to the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the index of the approximating power function turned out to be 2.31, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve strongly deviates from the power law:

The smartphone has a dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness depending on the nature of the displayed image. The general tendency is that in dark images the brightness decreases, but the algorithm is somewhat complex, and as a result, periodically the brightness jumps noticeably, which is annoying, and decreasing the brightness in dark images reduces the visibility of gradations in the shadows under external illumination. That is, there is zero benefit from this function, only harm. As a result, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - when displaying special templates with a consistently average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. Of course, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

They are very atypical. As they write on the Sony website, this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphor (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows for a wide color gamut. Unfortunately, as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and these are the vast majority) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above. Note that when compared with the Sony Xperia Z2, it is clear that the manufacturer tried to improve the situation with oversaturated colors, and to bring the coverage back to normal, it increased the cross-mixing of components, but something stopped it at the phase of reducing the saturation of the green color. Thanks for trying, but we need to go further, reduce it to sRGB.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is far from ideal, since the color temperature is higher than the standard 6500 K. True, the deviation from the spectrum of an absolutely black body (ΔE) over most of the gray scale is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. But at the same time, the variation in color temperature and ΔE is large, which negatively affects the visual perception of color balance. (Dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This smartphone has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the intensities of the three primary colors. That's what we tried to do, the result is data signed as Corr. in the graphs above. As a result, we slightly reduced ΔE on white and brought the white point a little closer to 6500 K (but also greatly reduced the brightness).

We were prevented from bringing at least the white point back to normal by the limited range of adjustments and high discreteness, which is actually higher than the adjustment step. However, this correction did not reduce the oversaturation of colors.

If someone still finds the image on the screen of this smartphone not bright enough, you can turn on the proprietary mode X-Reality for mobile. The result is shown below:

Saturation and contour sharpness are software-enhanced, and there are fewer discernible gradations in the area of ​​saturated colors. But the picture, yes, has become brighter. For color extremists, there is a “maximum brightness” mode, in which the mockery of the image (and common sense) exceeds all reasonable limits. Here's what we got:

Of course, such a picture will find fans. We are all very different.

Let's summarize. The brightness adjustment range of this screen is simply wider than ever, and the anti-glare properties are all right, which allows you to comfortably use the smartphone both on a sunny day on the beach and in complete darkness. It is permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works absolutely adequately. The advantages also include a very effective oleophobic coating, no flicker and no air gap in the layers of the screen. The disadvantages are a strong highlighting of black color when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the surface of the screen and aggressive dynamic brightness adjustment. Color rendering is not the best, colors are oversaturated (skin tones are especially affected), color balance differs from the standard. The presence of appropriate adjustments allows you to slightly correct the balance, but not completely and at the expense of reducing brightness. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices (and the most important thing is the visibility of information in a wide range of external conditions), the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Sound

For the first time, the sound of Sony's flagship smartphone was truly pleasing. During the behind-the-scenes first acquaintance with the prototypes of the Sony Xperia Z3 at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, the device did not impress with its sound. However, the production sample that was later sent to our editorial office pleasantly surprised us with the power of its sound and the depth of sound, especially considering that the speakers here are also covered with membranes that protect against water ingress. The new Xperia Z3 began to sound much louder and better than its predecessors, the sound remains clear at the maximum volume level, the low frequencies are not in abundance, but quite enough, the maximum volume is high. Looking ahead, it is worth noting that the mini version of the Xperia Z3 Compact is not so rosy with this; the devices clearly have speakers of different quality installed.

To play music, the device traditionally uses a proprietary Walkman player. The standard audio player is rich in settings and additional software sound improvements, such as a built-in equalizer with a lot of preset values ​​(you can set your own), Clear Phase, xLoud technologies or virtual surround sound. Control of most settings is available if the complex ClearAudio+ function is turned off, otherwise all settings are left to the machine.

FM radio is included as standard with the smartphone. Traditionally, it only works with connected headphones as an antenna; it does not have the ability to record programs. There was no voice recorder in the standard configuration of the flagship, just like the Xperia Z3 Compact, by the way.

Camera

Sony Xperia Z3 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 20.7 and 2.2 megapixels. The hardware here is exactly the same as in the Sony Xperia Z2, only software effects have been added. The main 20.7-megapixel camera is equipped with a G Lens series lens with a focal length of 27 mm and an aperture of F2.0. The camera uses a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS for mobile sensor and a Bionz for mobile processor.

By default, the cameras of all Sony devices operate as standard in the so-called super auto mode (iauto) with a wide aspect ratio, but you can switch the shooting to manual settings. It is noteworthy that when you use the hardware button on the side of the device to quickly turn on the camera, it is always activated only in automatic shooting mode, even if manual mode was previously enabled. If you launch the camera application by touching the icon on the display, then everything goes as usual, and the camera leaves the previous settings intact, that is, it starts in manual mode, if one was set earlier. Note that there is a big difference between automatic and manual modes, because the maximum resolution of images can only be set in manual adjustment mode. When shooting in automatic mode, which is set by default, photos are obtained with a size of 3840 × 2160 (8 megapixels), and in manual mode the maximum possible resolution is exactly the same 20.7 megapixels (5248 × 3936).

In addition to automatic and manual, the Sony Xperia Z3 camera software has several interesting additional shooting modes. The Info-eye mode, for example, provides contextual information to an object in the frame using augmented reality technology. In Timeshift burst mode, the camera takes up to 61 shots two seconds before pressing the shutter button, from which you can then choose the best one. The Social live function allows you to upload footage directly to Facebook and view comments on it on your smartphone screen. AR effect makes it possible to combine pictures with animation using proprietary augmented reality technology SmartAR. In addition, the range of additional applications that increase the choice of different shooting modes can be expanded through downloadable applications, the number of which is constantly growing. To do this, simply turn on the camera, press the shooting mode icon and select “+Apps” to view additional options.

The camera can shoot video in 1080p and UHD (4K) resolution, but the main thing is that it also has the ability to shoot in the most interesting of modes - 1080p at 60 frames/second. An example of such a video is presented below.

• Video No. 1 (84 MB, 1920×1080, 60 fps)

	Good (but not excellent) sharpness on the left side of the frame, which cannot be said about the right side and edges.
	In mid-shots, sharpness drops noticeably. The camera adjusts the exposure too sensitively.
	There are problems with exposure, as well as noise in the shadows and object boundaries.
	The color of the sky is quite “even”, although for this reason the wires simply “drowned” in it.
	In this case, the exposure was chosen well and the shadows were worked out. But there are still problems with the noise reduction and the right side of the frame.
	Again, an unpleasant choice of exposure and a large area of ​​blur on the right.
	The foliage in the background is beautifully done in some places, and terrible in others. The number plate of the nearest car is visible.
	Some sharpening is noticeable on the wires, which still does not save them from drowning in the blue.

Trying to keep up with inexorable progress, manufacturers do not always present ready-made devices. It has happened more than once that the very first models turned out to be somewhat “damp”. Unfortunately, sometimes famous manufacturers also sin with this.

The smartphone came to us even before its official presentation in Russia, and therefore I remember the case of the Sony Z1 Compact, the camera of which we did not quite deservedly kill. The problem was that due to the “dampness” of the sample, good pictures were obtained after one time, or even three. Most likely, the problem was in the camera firmware, which did not adequately process the signal from the image sensor, which is why there was a characteristic blur in the pictures. A similar effect occurs when the camera rotates around the optical axis at relatively long shutter speeds, with sharpness noticeably deteriorating from the center to the edges of the frame. As a result, it was probably possible to shoot with the camera only from a tripod. But in later copies of the smartphone the camera has become noticeably better.

A similar effect is present here: part of the image is blurred, as with a long exposure. Perhaps the reason is that the camera takes several pictures at too large an interval. In any case, we hope that everything will be fixed soon enough, and Sony, as we have already noticed, brings its products to a decent state.

	Lighting ≈3200 lux. The camera does a good job.
	Lighting ≈1400 lux. The situation remains virtually unchanged.
	Lighting ≈130 lux. The grain from the noise reduction becomes a little larger.
	Lighting ≈130 lux, flash. The outbreak does little to improve the situation.
	Lighting<1 люкс, вспышка. Камера справляется немного хуже, чем в прошлый раз. Вспышка очень слабая.

As for this camera “here and now”, it is somewhat inconsistent with a flagship of this level. The software processing is not the worst, but it is clear that it was done in haste: there are barely noticeable traces of sharpening and “laddering” on straight lines, the exposure metering is overly sensitive, and the noise reduction works erratically and (not always and in places) roughly. The noise reduction doesn't handle shadows very well for a flagship, but it's acceptable. What’s worse is that it spoils medium and long-range plans, although the sharpness of the optics and the resolution of the sensor are quite capable of working out such details, as confirmed by the graph, which in this case somewhat rehabilitates the camera and gives it the right to life. Ultimately, all the problems (I would like to believe) rest on the program, which the manufacturer did not have time to bring to perfection. Another reason to believe this is the feeling that the camera contains a module very similar to the Z2 camera. At the same time, the Superior Auto mode produces pictures of a different size than in the case of the Z2. Therefore, if the assumption is correct, then the module is definitely good, and the program is completely redesigned and, apparently, (yet) unfinished. But Sony is unlikely to abandon its flagship to the mercy of fate, and this problem should be corrected in production samples. Well, in any case, the physical parameters of the camera are very decent, and after improvements it promises to be interesting. And even now, with some skill, it is suitable for various subjects.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for fourth generation networks (LTE) used in Russia. In practice, with a SIM card from the domestic operator MTS, the smartphone confidently recognizes and works with 4G networks. The network capabilities of the smartphone are extensive and correspond to a truly top level: there is support for the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, and as a standard you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The mode for connecting external devices (USB Host, USB OTG) is supported, so you can connect flash drives and mice with keyboards to the Micro-USB port. The navigation module works with both GPS and the domestic Glonass system.

There were no spontaneous reboots/shutdowns observed during testing, as well as system slowdowns or freezes. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen is blocked by the proximity sensor. The LED indicator at the top of the front panel provides notification of charging status and incoming events.

There is no dedicated top row with numbers on the standard keyboard by default; you need to switch the layout each time, or connect the number row yourself through the settings menu. The layout itself and the location of the keys are standard: to switch the language layout, just click on the button with the corresponding icon. The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. There is a convenient option to move the keyboard closer to one of the sides of the screen to make it easier to reach with the fingers of the hand holding the smartphone. Naturally, continuous writing (by sliding your finger from letter to letter) Swype is also supported.

OS and software

The operating system is the latest version of the Google Android 4.4.4 KitKat software platform, on top of which is traditionally installed its own proprietary graphical user interface. The internal structure of the shell, all menus, settings items and pop-up contextual submenus - everything remains exactly the same. However, the external shell has undergone significant changes. Previously, Sony's graphical interface elements were drawn quite finely. Now, unexpectedly, all the elements on the screen, and most importantly, the application icons themselves, began to look much larger and clearer. The fonts have increased; such sudden transformations have only benefited the smartphone. There are also less obvious, but in some ways more useful, improvements. Finally, for example, a function to reboot the device has appeared in the menu, because before this only Sony smartphones lacked such an option. If it was necessary to reboot the device, it was necessary to first turn off and then turn on the smartphone, which was annoying.

The most important innovation that has occurred in software terms with the new Sony mobile devices is the emergence of close integration with the Sony PlayStation 4 game console. If the house already has one, then the Xperia Z3 smartphone, or the Xperia Z3 Tablet, can serve as a “portable screen” , that is, everything that happens begins to be displayed not on the TV screen, but on the screen of a mobile device. This is, for example, convenient when you need to free up the TV if one of the family members suddenly wants to watch some other program on TV. For such use, Sony will produce a special mount that can connect a smartphone or tablet to the joystick of a game console. This service is called Remote Play.

Performance

Like the previous flagship, the Sony Xperia Z3 hardware platform is based on a single-chip quad-core system (SoC) Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with four Krait 400 cores. However, the Sony Xperia Z2 had a maximum processor core frequency of only 2.3 GHz, while the Sony Xperia Z3 it is increased to 2.5 GHz. This is explained by the fact that a slightly more advanced version of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) is used here.

The processor here is supported in graphics processing by the same Adreno 330 video accelerator. About 11 GB of 16 GB of own memory for the user’s needs is initially available in the device. The smartphone's RAM capacity is 3 GB, and this makes the Sony Xperia Z3 stand out among its direct competitors - all the others received only 2 GB of RAM. MicroSD memory cards in this model are supported up to 128 GB, you can also connect external flash drives, keyboards and mice to the Micro-USB port using a special adapter in OTG mode.

To get an idea of ​​the platform performance of the smartphone under test, we will conduct a standard set of tests.

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing in MobileXPRT, as well as in the latest versions of AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

Based on benchmark testing results, the device proved to be one of the most powerful and productive modern mobile devices on the market. It is worth noting that all the figures practically coincided with the results of the previous model Sony Xperia Z2, which recently underwent exactly the same tests. As for the results in the AnTuTu test, they have increased significantly, but it is not yet entirely clear how the results of the two versions of the popular benchmark correlate with each other, because now the fourth version has been replaced by the fifth, and all new devices are now tested in it. It is unknown whether the developers have brought everything to a common denominator, so for now we will have to mark on the plates which versions of the benchmark this or that model was tested with. However, the difference is probably not so great; all the top smartphones, the operation of which is based on the Snapdragon 801, are, in any case, the most powerful mobile devices on the market today, the hardware capacity of which will be enough to perform any tasks for a long time.

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Results of testing the graphics subsystem in the Epic Citadel gaming test, as well as Basemark X and Bonsai Benchmark:

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.

According to testing results, the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone was not equipped with all the decoders necessary for full playback of most of the most common files on the Internet. But the first smartphone in the series, the Xperia Z model, played all these same files without any problems without the need to resort to third-party solutions. Here, to successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, even in it you will first have to change the settings, switching from hardware decoding to software or to a new mode called Hardware+(not supported by all smartphones), only then will sound appear. All results are summarized in a table.

¹ MX Video Player only played sound after switching to software decoding or a new mode Hardware+; The standard player does not have this setting

Additionally, the MHL interface was tested. To test it, we used the LG IPS237L monitor, which supports direct MHL connection using a passive adapter cable from micro-USB to HDMI. In this case, output via MHL was carried out at a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels at a frequency of 30 frames/s. Regardless of the actual orientation of the smartphone, the image is displayed on the smartphone and monitor screens only in landscape orientation with the connector on the smartphone facing down. In this case, the image on the monitor fits exactly within the boundaries of the display area (if you remember to increase the setting Image Size up to 100%) and repeats the image on the smartphone screen one to one.

Sound is output via MHL (in this case, the sounds were heard through headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of good quality. In this case, sounds are not output through the loudspeaker of the smartphone itself, and the volume is not adjusted using the buttons on the smartphone body, but is turned off. In our case, the smartphone with the MHL adapter connected was charging, judging by the charge indicator.

Next, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”), we checked how the video is displayed on the screen of the smartphone itself. Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied: 1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels and frame rates of 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps. In the tests, we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware+” mode. The results of this (block entitled “Smartphone Screen”) and the next test are summarized in the table:

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since the frames (or groups of frames) can output with a more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. The displayed brightness range is equal to the standard range of 16-235, that is, all shade gradations are displayed in shadows and highlights. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels), the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly across the width of the screen, in the original Full HD resolution.

With a monitor connected via MHL, when playing video, the monitor displays an exact copy of the smartphone screen, that is, the output is in true Full HD resolution in the case of 1080p files.

The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235 - all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights. The results of the monitor output tests are shown in the table above in the “MHL (monitor output)” block. The output quality is good. We do not show the results for files with 50 and 60 fps, since this does not make sense due to the output mode of 30 fps. For games where higher frame rates are desired, you can use available external adapters that provide 60 fps output at 720p, or you can try to find monitors/adapters that support MHL output at 1080p at 60 fps.

The conclusion is typical: an MHL connection can be used for gaming, watching movies, surfing the web and other activities that benefit from a larger screen size.

Battery life

The lithium-ion battery installed in the Sony Xperia Z3 turned out to be quite a bit smaller in volume than that of the Xperia Z2, but still has a capacity of 3100 mAh that is quite decent for a modern flagship. Sony's new flagship did not set a record in terms of battery life, but overall it showed itself to be no worse, and maybe a little better than its predecessor. Perhaps the new type of battery has an effect, or the optimization of energy consumption has become better, but in any case, a slight decrease in the battery capacity of the new product did not negatively affect the battery life of the device in test modes.

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted more than 20 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos from YouTube in high quality (HQ) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted 10 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked for almost 5 hours. The device charges quite quickly; a full charge takes less than 3 hours.

Bottom line

Once again, Sony Mobile has released an excellent top-end device of the highest quality and performance class. The Japanese flagship boasts an expensive, catchy and stylish design and, of course, premium materials. Among its strengths are also the presence of a high degree of protection from water and dust, the highest hardware performance and technical equipment to date, as well as a powerful battery and good sound quality. The screen and camera cannot certainly be called excellent, but they generally correspond to the high level of the smartphone. However, at this point I would like to state with a little sadness that we did not see any breakthroughs in the next update. The smartphone's hardware remains virtually the same; the changes are, albeit noticeable, but still mostly cosmetic. However, we did not see any special breakthroughs from other manufacturers in the new season either; the market froze in anticipation of new technical discoveries, and we are looking forward to them too.

The Japanese company Sony has been releasing several solutions per year since the days of the first Android phones.

Basically, the manufacturer replaced old lines with new ones, but the main reason for this was the release of intermediate models to maintain interest in the product.

Comparison of Sony flagships

With the release of the Z line, the situation changed dramatically.

Let's try to compare Sony Xperia Z2 and Sony Xperia Z3, are they so different from each other, or is Z3 just another intermediate model?

Exterior design

There are no significant differences between the models in this regard. The old one is a good waterproof case with a 5.2-inch screen diagonal, covered with glass on both sides.

The design concept is still minimalistic and neat.

The side edges have been somewhat smoothed, and the position of the speakers has also changed: now they occupy an area directly on the glass.

While the Z2 offers neat, clean lines, the Z3 enhances its usability. Thanks to the smoothed side edges, it is pleasant to hold in the hand.

Due to the simplification of the design of the smartphone and the displacement of the speakers, the dimensions of the Z3 were slightly reduced in comparison with its older brother, but this in no way affected the screen diagonal.

Sony Xperia Z, Z1, Z2, Z3, Z5 - how not to get confused when listing modifications of smartphones released over the past 3 years? And this is not counting versions like Compact, Ultra or Premium, which also exist in the line of the Japanese brand.

To make life more interesting and fun, Sony came up with the X series, which is also not simple and consists of several smartphones: XA - a simpler option, X - middle class, X Performance - the top, and XA Ultra - king-size for lovers of everything big .

Xperia X or Xperia Z3?

Recently a friend wrote to me and asked, why buy an Xperia X if you can buy an Xperia Z3 or Z3+? The idea of ​​taking last year’s flagships instead of new “mid-rangers” is not new. Therefore, I decided to compare both smartphones to understand what the new Xperia X will do compared to the old model. The price difference between them is about 10-12 thousand rubles, a weighty argument.

Xperia X on the left and Xperia Z3 on the right. Find 10 differences

Attack of the Clones

I like the design of Sony smartphones, but the Japanese haven't changed it for many years, so it's easy to get confused about the phones. Look at the photos, Xperia X is very similar to Xperia Z3+. They have almost identical dimensions, but the Xperia X is slightly smaller and noticeably lighter. I explain this by the fact that the screen size here is more modest: 5 inches versus 5.2.

The design of the Xperia X will please Sony fans, but if you are not a fan of the Japanese brand, you will get confused among a bunch of similar phones.

The sides in both cases are made of aluminum, but the Xperia X does not have plastic inserts at the corners, which, in theory, take the impact when dropped. But I doubt that this saves in cases where the glass body flies onto the asphalt.

After all, the back surface of the Xperia X is made of aluminum, while the Z3+ has glass. Which is better? I like the matte finish better; it doesn’t get dirty at all compared to a stained glass plane. But the glass has a beautiful glare, which the Xperia X cannot boast of. Practicality vs beauty, these are the eternal torment of choice.

The volume button on the Xperia X has moved down, you confuse it with the power button and often press it in the wrong place out of habit. I think that the Z3+ had a more convenient key layout, but apparently due to the addition of a scanner, the entire design was redesigned.

The Xperia Z3+ does not have a fingerprint scanner; it appeared in the Z5; the Xperia X also inherited this useful feature. True, we had to sacrifice the signature round shape - the power key became flat. Sony is the only company that integrates a scanner on the side. Basically, it is added to the central button under the screen (Apple, Samsung, HTC, Moto) or on the back surface (Huawei and thousands of Chinese brands). It’s more intuitive for me to press the button under the screen, but after a week I got used to the Xperia X’s button layout.

The scanner works well, but there were cases when it did not work the first time. I had to enter a password to get to my data. But there were very few such cases, so I will not suffer on this score.

For the scanner to work, you must press a physical button, otherwise it will not work. But if the screen backlight is on, then a light touch is enough; you don’t need to press the button until it clicks. It's a pity that this function does not work when the screen is locked.

Juicy, bright, Full HD

The new Xperia X has curved screen glass at the edges, 2.5D looks and feels nicer than simple flat glass. It is enough to move your finger over it to feel all this difference for yourself. The screen has a good oleophobic coating in all cases, the finger glides as it should.

In my opinion, the picture quality is comparable to previous Xperia models; if you don’t like the default settings, you can set the colors manually.

It's a pity, but Sony didn't give the Xperia X a frameless design, the frames are the same as the Z3. But there is protection from moisture, but the Xperia X does not have it; swimming in the sink is fatal for it. Due to the fact that the screen size is not very large, the phone is convenient to operate with one hand. The Xperia X is comparable to the Galaxy S6, but due to its angular shape, the Japanese phone looks more massive than the Korean one.

Two days without an outlet

I didn't expect anything special from the Xperia X with a 2620 mAh battery. It turned out that I was wrong and the phone pleasantly surprised me by working longer than I expected. On average, I got 2 days of work with 4.5-5 hours of active screen. When idle, the phone practically does not explode.

But I noticed that as soon as I turn on LTE, the device sits down faster. Perhaps this is due to the non-final Sony firmware, because... I have not noticed a similar situation with other devices. Z3 works less, it took me about one day. A triumph of technology.

I’ll also note that Sony has a convenient Stamina function, which is responsible for energy saving and turns off “unnecessary” processes to save battery.

Don't jerk when you don't ask

The compartment for the nano-SIM and memory card of the Xperia X is located on the side under a flap. Moreover, if you even slightly lift it, the phone goes into reboot, believing that they invariably want to pull out one of the cards from it. Xperia X will appear in a version with a single SIM card, but there will also be a dual-SIM version, where you can install a microSD instead of a second card.

I have no complaints about the speaker, I can hear people well, but I would like the ringer to be more powerful. Here it is quiet and calls are easy to miss.

Naturally, LTE is present, everything is in order. NFC helps you pay for purchases from your phone, I tried the service together with a Tinkoff card, everything works. At the same time, I was surprised that the seemingly progressive Alfa Bank does not know how to perform such an operation.

Fast smartphone

There is a sign with the test results for everyone. For comparison with the Xperia X, I took the Xperia Z3, last year's Samsung Galaxy S6, which fits within this budget. And the new Alcatel Idol 4s with features like the Xperia X.

The Xperia X has a mid-range processor; the Qualcomm 650 is comparable in power to last year's top-end chips, but inferior to them in graphics. The sensations are exactly the same as after getting acquainted with Alcatel: the test performance is adequate. But the software is still somewhat damp: sometimes the gallery slows down, sometimes the browser suddenly gets stuck.

Xperia X received 32 GB of internal memory, 20 GB of which remains for personal needs; if this is not enough, then a microSD slot will help increase the space. The smartphone has received an updated shell; it is significantly different from the one found in the Xperia Z3, although they have the same version of Android. Both are on version 6. I think it would be fair to devote a separate article to the shell, there is a lot to talk about there.

I liked the phone for its sound quality, but the headphone headroom is not very large; for the metro you need to choose headphones with good noise insulation.

Reactive camera, but crude software

In theory, the Xperia X is the new star of the mobile photography world. The phone has a new autofocus system, when we point the camera at an object, and it “guides” it until we press the shutter button. In the language of photographers, this is “shooting with wiring.” I tried it in cars on a cloudy day, the camera blurs the background well, leaving the object sharp. But how often do we film vehicles? I - no, much more often than children. But the problem with them is that it can be difficult to photograph a nimble child indoors. The camera also does not always focus on objects nearby.

I was impressed by the quick shooting function, which we enable in the settings. Then from the moment you press the shutter button until the photo is taken, it takes half a second. A dedicated shooting key is a separate plus for Sony; few people add this button to smartphones. But the Japanese thought everything through and this key is there for a reason, it helps you take pictures very quickly, without wasting time on unlocking.

The examples show how the camera “washes” along the left edge, I’ll attribute this to pre-production software or a defective module, unfortunately this happens. In general, I liked the camera, the phone takes pictures very well during the day, but in the evening the quality drops, and the lag behind flagships like the LG G4 or Samsung Galaxy S6 is noticeable. But they can be bought for the same money that they ask for the Xperia X.

Compared to the Xperia Z3, the new Xperia X has become more accurate in rendering colors, and the white balance works better. But there is noticeably more noise in the pictures. I think these are software flaws. I was also surprised that HDR is practically not noticeable in operation; when you turn on this option, when not, there is almost no difference.

Here we have a comparison with the Xperia Z3, the difference with the wide-angle optics of the Xperia X is clearly visible. In the example below, problems with the left side of the image are noticeable. I also think that Sony followed the path of Samsung and went into high-sharpness images. And at the same time they added a portion of noise to the pictures.

A bunch of pictures in different conditions for your reference.

Z3 Vs Xperia X

Pros of Z3:

• water protection
• more convenient ergonomics
• update to Android 6.0
• lower price
• 4K video recording
• strap holder

Pros Xperia X

• fingerprint scanner
• new shell and Android 6.0
• The camera focuses faster
• works longer
• higher LTE speed
• aluminum finish is more practical than glass

Opinion

For comparison with the Xperia X, you could take other Sony smartphones: not only the Z3, but also the Z3+, Z5 can become an alternative to this model. At least they cost less, take photos at a comparable level, and the difference in performance is not very big.

I think that 39,990 rubles for Sony Xperia X is a lot. Sony wants to compete on equal terms with Samsung, but last year's Galaxy S6 can be bought for the same money as the Xperia X, it will be better in all respects. Or consider the Galaxy A5, which costs about 25 thousand rubles, as an option.

Sony Xperia X is more expensive than its classmates with other comparable qualities, so the brand name alone will not impress. So my friend looked at the Xperia X, touched the Xperia Z3 and ordered an iPhone 6.

Characteristics

The writing of this menu comparison was prompted by such a frequent question about what to choose - Sony Xperia Z3 or Xperia Z3 Compact? Most often it is asked by beginners who have a certain amount of money to purchase a flagship smartphone from a Japanese brand, but don’t know which model to take. The only significant difference that really affects the comfort and ease of use individually for everyone is the physical dimensions and everything that follows from this. This is what would be decisive for me when choosing between these smartphones, since both of them have powerful technical parameters and will bring pleasure from use.

Some people like big phones, others like smaller ones; Some people want to have a device with a larger screen, and for others, 4 and a half inches is more than enough - it’s purely a matter of taste and preference. However, it would be better to compare the Xperia Z3 Compact to clearly see the difference and possible advantages of one of the models over its brother.

Visually, both phones look great thanks to the OmniBalance design. Both of them are covered with protective glass on the front and back, but the side edges of the Xperia Z3 are metal, while the Z3 Compact is covered with translucent plastic, creating a three-dimensional effect, so the phones are tactilely different. The dimensions of the smartphones are as follows: 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm and 152 grams, versus 127 x 64.9 x 8.6 mm and 129 grams. Both are IP68 certified - protecting the case from water and dust penetration when the plugs are kept closed.

The second significant difference arising from the physical dimensions is the size of the display. The Xperia Z3 has a 5.2-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution (1920 by 1080), and the Xperia Z3 Compact has a 4.6-inch IPS matrix with HD resolution (1280 by 720). Both screens are high-quality, with maximum viewing angles, bright and rich color reproduction, and the picture looks great on them. The fact that a compact model has a lower resolution does not mean that the screen is worse - given its dimensions, this resolution is more than enough. Of course, watching movies and playing games is more comfortable on a larger display.

The hardware basis of both phones is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset: a 4-core processor with an operating frequency of 2.5 GHz and Adreno 330 video. The amount of internal memory is also the same - 16 GB, expandable using microSD cards. The difference lies in the amount of RAM: 3 GB in the Xperia Z3 and 2 GB in the Xperia Z3 Comapct, but in practice, again, the mini version is enough for this volume, and in synthetic tests it even shows superiority (the lower screen resolution plays into its hands). The battery capacity is also different: 3100 mAh and 2600 mAh, but here there is no significant difference in battery life, both smartphones are leaders in this parameter, beating most competitors in terms of operating time, demonstrating almost equal battery life. But still, the Z3 Compact is a little more durable.

When it comes to comparing cameras, you won't believe it, but here the technical parameters are identical - the main 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS matrix and the 2.2-megapixel front sensor. However, in actual use, it is noted that photos and videos from the Xperia Z3 come out of slightly better quality, which is apparently due to the software part. Although in general, the end result is approximately the same and both phones will satisfy you in terms of a shooting device.

To summarize, I would like to emphasize once again that the most important differences are the dimensions, display size and, perhaps, price - the difference in cost in the official Sony Store reaches 9 thousand rubles at the time of writing.

A couple of comparison videos between Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact: