The Sony Xperia Z3 isn't a phone that you'd have thought would make a lot of sense. After all, the Xperia Z2 was a nifty little handset and yet it's now been replaced barely six months later.
The new phone, from the outside at least, doesn't seem to add much more into the mix, merely improving things a little more and tweaking elements that were already pretty good. So has Sony really done enough?
The Xperia Z3, which lands alongside a new tablet and mini phone to complete the family (the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact and the Xperia Z3 Compact), is a really good phone that does it all, on paper at least.
Sony told me that the reason these flagships are coming thick and fast is simply because it wants to start making waves in the high-end smartphone market, and the way to do that is always offer the best innovation.
That's perhaps true, and perhaps customers won't get too confused by seeing a new phone on the shelves and advertised all the time, but there's no doubt it kills the lustre that might have been built by users having to wait a year to get the best of Sony in a smartphone.
So is the Xperia Z3 that phone? It does come in attractive colours (white, black, copper gold and 'silver green') and has a shrunken frame, improved camera and that all important Sony PS4 Remote Play compatibility.
Those things alone would be good enough for most, and the IP68 rating (which might not really change the way 99% of people use their phone) is at least a good 'peace of mind' marketing tool.
But what about when the new Xperia Z4 lands on shelves? Surely this model will be seen as clumsy and outdated too, despite a lower price point?
Design
This is a phone that has dimensions of 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm, which compared to the Sony Xperia Z2 (146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2 mm) doesn't seem all that different.
The copper colour I had on test is also something I didn't expect to like - after all, this is really a brown phone - but it again seems to exude a quality that belies the slightly lower price tag.
The rest of the phone is largely as expected: the Omnibalance key at the side is pretty easy to strike, and although the volume key is positioned just below and theoretically too close, the larger size of the phone makes it easy enough to differentiate in the hand.
Then there are the port covers. We clearly need these to make sure the phone is fully waterproof of course, but the problem here is that they ever so slightly stick out, even when pressed in as hard as possible.
The main culprit is the cover for the microSD and SIM card (which is now a nano option, showing Sony is starting to fall in line with the rest of the industry) which just protrudes slightly and therefore ruins the sleek, premium air the Sony Xperia Z3 has.
The other change to the design is the nylon covers in the corners of the phone - apparently these are cleverly added to stop the phone looking so damaged. According to Sony, most phones land on these corners when dropped, so putting the covers on helps stop the tarnished metal.
Except, well, it doesn't. The corners on my review device are fine, but even before dropping the phone later in the test, there were already two small nicks in the metal band in just over a week.
This is the same thing we saw with the iPhone 5, and anyone that's owned one of those and kept it out of a case will see the scratched up monstrosities that some people are walking around with.
I don't think the Xperia Z3 will suffer to quite that degree, but it's interesting to see the effect happening so quickly.
The front facing speakers are worth a mention here too. Not only do they help to justify the oversized bezels, they also provide some pretty good and rich sound.
While not in the same league as the HTC One M8, the smaller and more discreet design will appeal to those that want good quality audio without the compromise in aesthetics.
And Sony, of course, continues with the dedicated camera button. I mention it last as its presence is always something to be celebrated: an easier way to fire up one of the most-used applications on the phone and a more stable method of snapping away.Remote Play :
Remote Play is one of the key selling points of Sony's Xperia range of smartphones. The feature allows you to connect the Xperia Z3 up to a PlayStation 4 that's on the same Wi-Fi network and stream games to the smartphone.
Remote Play is an impressive sounding feature that could help Sony differentiate its struggling smartphones against its competitors. However my enthusiasm for the feature was tempered somewhat by it not being available when the Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z3 Compact launched at the end of September.
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Thankfully Xperia Z3 owners haven't had to wait too long for the feature to be implemented with Sony making it available at the beginning of November. This means I was able to fire up my PS4 and see if Remote Play delivers on its lofty promises and was worth the (relatively short) wait.
Although there is already a PlayStation app installed on the Xperia Z3 to use the Remote Play feature you need to install the free Remote Play app from the Google Play store.
The initial set up was pretty straightforward, with the app finding the PS4 (which was turned on and logged in) on the network without any trouble. Once connected the PlayStation 4 displayed a code that I needed to enter in the Xperia Z3 app to securely connect. Once this is done the first time I wasn't asked to do it again.
If you want to use the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller you'll also need to pair it via Bluetooth with the Xperia Z3, which is a simple enough process, and works much the same way that you would pair any Bluetooth device to a smartphone.
While the pairing of the DualShock 4 to the Xperia Z3 was easy, it did cause a few frustrations later on. With the DualShock 4 paired to the Xperia Z3 it means the controller is no longer paired to the PlayStation 4, so if you want to play the PS4 normally then you need to re-pair the DualShock 4 with the console.
If you then try to use Remote Play with the DualShock 4 still paired to the PlayStation 4, then things get a bit confusing if the PS4 is still in range. The Xperia Z3 connects to the PlayStation 4 fine, but when the controller is switched on it logs you out of the PlayStation 4 and Remote Play loses connection.
This makes Remote Play a rather more fiddly affair, especially if you're going to be switching from PS4 to Remote Play often, which is what many people will be doing.
If you don't want to connect a Dual Shock 4 controller to the Z3 you can use the touchscreen in a similar fashion to many mobile games. A translucent overlay appears on screen, displaying the various buttons to control the game.
This works fine, and the Z3's large 5.2-inch screen is a real benefit here. However, for the best Remote Play experience you'll want to use a physical controller.
When Remote Play is up and running it works incredibly well, and the Z3's full 1080p screen really shines with games such as GTA V and Assassin's Creed: Unity looking fantastic. The game's sound is streamed as well, and the built-in speaker of the Xperia Z3 does a decent job, though the experience with headphones is better.
Crucially lag is kept to a minimum, which means there is very little delay between pressing a button on the controller and the action appearing in-game.
The fact that I was able to play Shadow Of Mordor, a game where perfectly timed button presses are essential, without any trouble is a testament to just how well Remote Play works.
Other people's experiences may vary depending on their situation, but as long as you have a capable, reasonably new, router then you should get a reasonably smooth experience.
Overall Remote Play works extremely well and could be a real selling point for the Xperia Z3, especially for PlayStation 4 owners.
It currently only works on Wi-Fi networks with the PS4 and the Z3 on the same network, but I'd like to see it go truly remote at some point, and allow Remote Play over 4G when away from home, although I appreciate that you cantheoretically do this the latency issue would render the experience far from satisfactory.
Battery :
Battery life on the Sony Xperia Z3 borders on the exceptional at times. Sony claimed to me that this phone could last two days on a single charge in 'real use' - a lofty claim indeed.
Of course, it can't live up to that level - but then again, I've never come across a phone that has ever been close to manufacturer's claims.
In reality, without Stamina Mode activated, you'll comfortably get through a day. With it turned on from 65% (as I had) you'll get easily into another day and maybe trickle into two if you're really careful.
However, it's not perfect, as it does show the standard 'quick drop' of power if you're using the screen too heavily, even on average brightness.
But let's place this in context: compared to something like the iPhone 6, which has a 720p display (roughly) compared to the Full HD offering here, and the Z3 still manages to outscore the iPhone in terms of video and gaming ability when it comes to battery life.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given the Xperia Z2 did so when in the world of battery retention - although the fact the non-removable battery is now smaller (at 3100mAh) compared to its predecessor but still manages to last longer shows that Sony's mysterious screen technology is working.
I say mysterious because the brand won't really talk about it. There's some element of the screen 'remembering' what's on there, rather than constantly refreshing all the time, but I have no idea if this trick can be used in movies or whether it's limited to more static web browsing.
Stamina Mode isn't a new idea from Sony, having arrived on the original Xperia Z, but it's still a useful feature, if not a frustrating one at times.
The theory is simple: the Z3 goes to sleep, the phone then cuts all connectivity to apps (apart from those that have been whitelisted as able to connect during sleep) and the battery is thus preserved. The downside is that you don't get updates instantly, the upside is fewer disturbances and a longer battery life.
On the whole, it works well. However, there were a few instances where I was alerted that Spotify or Real Racing 3 were preventing the mode from working (even though I wasn't using them), thus nullifying the battery savings.
Why were these apps running in the background anyway? And if they were, why didn't Stamina Mode shut them down? The same option will truncate the frame rate in gaming, leading to a juddery experience that I accepted at the reward of more battery power.
If that's the case, then the phone should be able to shut down or at least hibernate apps - I don't want to be told that this feature doesn't work, I want it fixed.
The same for the heavy power saving mode the Z3 has embedded: like Samsung and HTC, Z3 owners can now flick a switch and have only the most basic of functions work, allowing you to have maximum battery and make a few calls and texts.
When turned on, it takes an age to boot the phone into the mode, and even then I saw very little power saving, with the device still running low on juice almost as quickly as when the phone was on normally.
It also doesn't seem to do much more than limit the data and apps you can use, although presumably all the cores are turned right down. It's like it needs some time to warm up – if your battery is falling, it won't arrest that slide, more bring it to a controlled slow-down.
In terms of TechRadar's battery test (a 90 minute Full HD looped video), the Sony Xperia Z3 on full brightness is a real power guzzler – at 31%, that's one of the poorest showings from any phone.
But, and this is a very important but, the phone can go brighter than most other handsets can manage, which is a choice you'll need to make at the expense of a wider gamut of places you can use it and thus accept the drop in power to get a really good screen.
What's interesting is that even at lower battery modes, the power savings aren't that great. This tells me that it's the screen 'remembering' tech that's the battery saver, which obviously can't be used in video.
The other niggle is getting power back into the battery. It charges rather slowly at times, even with high amp charging blocks, which is most irritating seeing as many modern smartphones are able to juice up in minutes - the iPhone 6 is practically 'blink and you'll miss it' speedy when it comes to charging.
Camera :
The camera on the Sony Xperia Z3 is understandably powerful, given that it's chock-full with Sony technology from the camera division.
This means an Exmor RS sensor, a Bionz processor and G Lens technology to really get the most out of your snaps. With that in mind, the extra width on the lens and the improved low-light sensitivity really come to the fore here, as these were a couple of the big bugbears with the older flagship phones from Sony.
The thing with the Sony camera is you really need to decide what you want from a phone snapper: is it a simple point and shoot that gives you pretty great results each time, no matter the setting, or is it one that can be played with and give you the amazing picture?
The Sony Xperia Z3 camera is definitely in the latter. I found it a touch frustrating compared to the other cameras on the market when it comes to speed of snap, taking longer to load and fire than the others around.
Photography is the only area where speed is important, as you'll miss your kid doing a funny thing or a moment in history that's set up just right. They say that the best camera is the one you have with you, but that doesn't mean you can't look for more snappiness in your snapper.
The autofocus on the Z3 doesn't seem quite up to the level of the rest of the competition, with the LG G3, iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5 all providing faster clarity. It's not a lot to deal with, but it's perceptible.
And that's not to say that when it gets it the Sony Xperia Z3 doesn't give superbly clear photos, but it can be a bit hit and miss.
The other big upgrade from Sony is the new high level ISO mode, which is designed to get the most from darker scenes when older cameras don't.
I'm torn about what to say here, as I do have some truly great low-light photos from the Z3. But these were the result of 'low-light' mode firing up in the main Intelligent Auto camera mode (the basic setting that can decide which scene settings are best based on what you're shooting) and not just the general power of the sensor.
Both the iPhone 6 Plus and HTC One M8 don't rely on low-light mode and still give good low-light pictures. With the Z3 in full Low Light power, it will give you brighter lit stills than these two, but the others take them at normal speed, and don't need a super steady hand for a few seconds.
If you go manual on the Z3, the low light capabilities do seem to give brighter photos, but with a weirder white balance (which, again, you can tweak). I hope I'm going some way to showing that the Z3 is a more capable camera than most on the market, but by gosh, you'll need to spend some good time getting to know it.
The results are great, and while the HTC One M8 is the superior device for capturing more mobile scenes and blurring (which, in fairness, is a lot of the times you'll do this) thanks to having two cameras, if you spend some time with the Z3 setting a shot it's really worth it.
As you can see on the next page, even more mobile subjects can be blurred, but the effect isn't perfect.
4K video
Here's something that's crazily not been fixed: the Sony Xperia Z3, like its predecessor, can't record 4K video for longer than three minutes before heating up and crashing the app.
The Sony Xperia Z3 camera cannot be called poor in any way, as it's tremendously powerful. But Sony hasn't really found a way to tame that power, even with the intuitive Intelligent Auto mode which usually picks the right scene choice.
The Sony Xperia Z3 camera cannot be called poor in any way, as it's tremendously powerful. But Sony hasn't really found a way to tame that power, even with the intuitive Intelligent Auto mode which usually picks the right scene choice.
You'll get good snaps most of the time, and the range of additional options are excellent (including sound and shot, AR fun etc) - but most won't be used.
The low light performance is improved here too, although not from a hardware perspective, and I'm suspicious if that improvement has been found through software.
To sum up: the Sony Xperia Z3 is a tremendously disappointing camera from a brand that has such a heritage in the space. Take a look at this off-the-cuff shot compared to the iPhone 6 Plus and you'll see what I mean - bright, changeable light baffles the Z3 where the iPhone 6 automatically realises it needs HDR.
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