With the Xperia XZ3, the company has refreshed it design and has also claimed to improve the battery performance. The device runs the latest Android Pie operating system and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. We used the Sony Xperia XZ3 for sometime and here are our initial impressions.
Japanese smartphone maker Sony has launched its latest flagship smartphone Xperia XZ3 at the ongoing technology trade how IFA 2018 in Berlin. The smartphone is successor to the recently launched Xperia XZ2 smartphone. With the Xperia XZ3, the company has refreshed it design and has also claimed to improve the battery performance. The device runs the latest Android Pie operating system and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. We used the Sony Xperia XZ3 for sometime and here are our initial impressions.
Design The Sony Xperia XZ3 comes with a totally new design and form factor. The company has incorporated a lot of changes when we talk about the design of the smartphone. With the Sony Xperia XZ3, the company has ditched its rectangular design. The smartphone is very sleek and has an aluminium frame with glass. The device has curved glass on the rear as well as on the front. Both the sides are protected with a coating of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and it comes in four different colour options — White Silver, Black, Bordeaux Red and Forest Green.
The smartphone offers premium looks and looks very different as compared to the other Xperia smartphones. The button edge of the handset has the USB C port and with Xperia XZ3 the company has removed the 3.5mm audio jack. The users will have to use the same USB Type C port for both charging and listening to music. The company is also giving an adapter in the box which will enable users to use their normal wired headphones.
Along with the USB Type C one can also find the stereo speakers. The top part of the smartphone consists of the SIM card tray. The right of the smartphone is home to the volume rocker, power button and a dedicated camera button. The rear has 19MP camera with LED flash and a circular fingerprint sensor. In all the Xperia XZ3 comes as breath of fresh air when we talk about the design as the smartphone looks very different from other Xperia devices.
Display The Sony Xperia XZ3 features a 6-inch P-OLED QHD+ display with 1440×2880 pixel resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The display is made scratch resistant with a coating of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. This is the first time that Sony has included a P-OLED display in its smartphone. The images and videos look really bright on the display and the colour reproduction is also quite nice. However, like most of the flagship devices available in the market the Xperia XZ3 doesn’t come with a notch screen. On the other hand, in order to accommodate the front camera and speakers the company has used slightly thicker bezels.
The company has also included a new feature in the smartphone called Side Sense which enable users to quickly access their apps on the device. Users just need to double tap on the side to access the apps quickly.
Hardware Coming to the hardware, the Sony Xperia XZ3 is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 845 processor. The smartphone offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage. Users will also have the ability to add more storage by inserting a microSD card. There is also a 3,300 mAh battery with fast charging support. The smartphone also comes with Stamina mode which tracks how long your battery will last. If it recognizes that you are going to run out of power later in the day then it prompts you to activate the mode. The device sports a 19MP rear camera with LED flash and a 13MP front camera for selfies. The smartphone also comes with IP65/68 rating which makes the device dust and water resistant. During our short time with the device we found it to be really fast and worked very well during multitasking and our short gaming session.
Software The Sony Xperia XZ3 is the first non-Google smartphone to come with Android 9.0 Pei operating system out of the box topped with company’s own layer of customisation. However, it offers a really close look to stock Android and you also not find much of bloatware on the handset. Apart from its offers all the standard features of Android Pei such as New system navigation, Smart Text Selection, Redesigned Quick Settings, Simplified Volume Controls, New Dashboard, App Timer, New Do Not Disturb mode and Wind Down feature.
Camera
One of the main highlight of Sony Xperia XZ3 is its camera. The smartphone sports a 19MP single rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and is capable of recording 4K videos which makes it the only phone available in the market with this functionality. Considering that it’s a flagship phone we would have preferred a dual rear camera setup. The camera UI is pretty clean and is easy to use as well. On the front one can find a 13MP camera with f/1.9 aperture and beautification mode. There is also a bokeh mode as well as face enhancement features. We were not able to test the cameras and for the complete analysis you will have to watch out for our review.
What we think
The Sony Xperia XZ3 looks a promising smartphone and its new design add more to its advantage. If the device is priced right then it might do wonders for the company. It has the latest operating system and the best processing power.
