Sony has launched its latest flagship, the Xperia Z3 smartphone at a steep Rs 51,990 price tag in India. Alongside the flagship, the company has also revealed its younger sibling Xperia Z3 Compact priced at Rs 44,990. Both water-resistant and with similar capabilities, the Z3 has a 5.2-inch display, while the Z3 Compact has a smaller 4.6-inch display.
The Sony Xperia Z3 runs on the same quad-core 2.5GHz MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 chip that is featured in the HTC One M8, LG G3 and the Galaxy S5. The powerful SoC with 3GB of RAM and Adreno 330 graphics means Android 4.4 KitKat should have no issues running on the Z3 even with Sony’s customisations. The display though is not a late 2014 flagship-like 2K panel, but instead Sony has opted for a 5.2inch 1080 p display with the Triluminos and X-Reality mobile engine for enhancing colours and image quality.
In terms of the build, the Z3 is smaller than the Z2 by about 1mm on each side, which is a terrific thing, while bezels have been trimmed down to less than 2 mm on the sides. The Z3 is 11g lighter than the Xperia Z2. Sony’s typical Omnibalance design makes a reappearance with a brushed metal frame with rounded edges separating the glass front and back. New colour options in the Z3 include a silver green and copper variant, which replace the purple option from the Z2 lineup. As before, the Xperia Z3 is a waterproof and dust-proof device with an IP65/68 rating.
Battery life should be great thanks to the 3100 mAh battery, which Sony claims offers up to 2 days of usage. It comes with either 16 or 32GB of storage which can be further expanded to up to 128GB thanks to the microSD card support. Connectivity options are top-end too, with Wi-Fi ac, USB on-the-go, GLONASS and NFC all packed in.
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
The Z3 Compact has a smaller display at 4.6 inches and sacrifices the full HD panel for a 720p display. It eschews the metal frame of the Z3 for a lighter plastic build, while the battery is also smaller at 2,600mAh, but slightly larger than the last-gen model. Both phones are identical in terms of specs otherwise. The biggest commonality is the rear camera. While the sensor on the new phones is the same 20.7 MP unit as the last-gen models, Sony has added a new lens and some key Cyber-shot elements to the camera firmware. Firstly, there’s ISO 12800 sensitivity for better low-light shots. The Sony G Lens has been upgraded to 25mm for wider shots.
PS4 integration is also present, and the Z3 series will support the Remote Play feature, allowing you to attach a Dualshock controller and stream games from the PS4 to your mobile device. This will go live in November, and Sony says it plans to bring to older devices as well.
