Sony's latest offering: Xperia Z3

NickJames said:
Search Z1 or Z2 waterproof, many stories by professional reviewers of the phone leaking. Yeah it may save the phone if you drop it in the sink or toilet for a few seconds but don't expect to take it into the pool and take pictures underwater. 5 minutes in and the phone has condensation, 10 minutes and it dies.
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I can assure you if you close the flaps properly its waterproof alright. In July i went on holiday to cyprus and went in the Sea for 2 hours with the z2 in my shorts pocket, took load of picks whilst in the water, etc, then back at the villa i did underwater videos with it. people that have complained either dont know how to close the easy to close flaps or have a faulty unit.

I got my z3 and ive already swam 50 lengths to test it along with my waterproof headphones.

his is one insane device, im glade Sony went with the latest 801 processor as its very power efficient.

The build quality is just as good as the iphone 6 and looks/feels very very premium. i hope you guys over the water get the phone to see soon.
 
Rash said:
I can assure you if you close the flaps properly its waterproof alright. In July i went on holiday to cyprus and went in the Sea for 2 hours with the z2 in my shorts pocket, took load of picks whilst in the water, etc, then back at the villa i did underwater videos with it. people that have complained either dont know how to close the easy to close flaps or have a faulty unit.

I got my z3 and ive already swam 50 lengths to test it along with my waterproof headphones.

his is one insane device, im glade Sony went with the latest 801 processor as its very power efficient.

The build quality is just as good as the iphone 6 and looks/feels very very premium. i hope you guys over the water get the phone to see soon.
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Good to know about the H2O. Doubt I would intentionally swim with mine though... I would think proving it was a faulty device if the flaps were closed correctly would be a bit tough.

Any thoughts on Sony's overlay on the OS? I am coming from a stock Android experience and preferred this to what Samsung and HTC and 'added' to the OS. I hear that Sony has a light touch, but user input is welcome.
 
aarcam said:
Good to know about the H2O. Doubt I would intentionally swim with mine though... I would think proving it was a faulty device if the flaps were closed correctly would be a bit tough.

Any thoughts on Sony's overlay on the OS? I am coming from a stock Android experience and preferred this to what Samsung and HTC and 'added' to the OS. I hear that Sony has a light touch, but user input is welcome.
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Sony has its own skin for some things but other then that its very close to stock. Sony's skin compliments the stock skin very well
 
The only thing I don't care for on my Z1 is the dialer. I prefer the dialer on my N4. Otherwise the sony UI is damn near like stock.
 
Agreed, its real close to stock but with a few nice extras like scrollable folders, small apps for multitasking. Even the icon sizes are the same as stock now. My first thought when using the z3 is sony is already prepping the ui for android l
 
Domini said:
Sony has its own skin for some things but other then that its very close to stock. Sony's skin compliments the stock skin very well
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Nice, that is what I like to hear.

TMCM said:
The only thing I don't care for on my Z1 is the dialer. I prefer the dialer on my N4. Otherwise the sony UI is damn near like stock.
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Cool. Good to know as I am on a N4 as well.... although I dont know that I find the dialer that stellar IMHO, but certainly gets marks for functional.

Rash said:
Agreed, its real close to stock but with a few nice extras like scrollable folders, small apps for multitasking. Even the icon sizes are the same as stock now. My first thought when using the z3 is sony is already prepping the ui for android l
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I certainly hope that is the case. If I stay Android, I will want something that adopts L early on.

Now I just need to find one that does ATTs LTE bands and has a warranty. The more I look at it, the size of this seems perfect. It is a smidge wider at1/8" or 3mm than my n4 and about 1/2 or 12mm taller which is more than reasonable for a screen this size.

Just have to see what happens with the Nexus and fall rollouts and how Sony gives us NA version for ATT.
 
Z3v looks more like a Z2 than Z3

camera: i think z2 and z3 have the same camera sensor, but different lens and settings
z2 has 27mm f/2.0, up to 6400iso (3200 in manual mode)
z3 has 25mm 2.0, up to 12800iso
z3v probably has 27mm, definitely only up to 6400iso

battery: z3v == z2 @ 3200mAh, z3 has 3100mAh

dimensions / physical exterior: z3v looks like a z2 body

CPU: Z3v == z3
z2 = 2.3 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AB Quad Core
z3 = 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC Quad Core
z3v = 2.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AC Quad Core

Z3v has an exclusive Qi charging (you lose magnetic charging ports though, but its worth it IMO)



do a 3-way comparison
Z3: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/...ria_Z3_D6603_D6633_D6643_D6653_D6616_WP_1.pdf

Z3v D6708: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/documentation/whitepapers/Xperia_Z3v_D6708_WP_1.pdf

Z2: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/documentation/whitepapers/Xperia_Z2_D6502_D6503_D6543_WP_3.pdf
 
paperwastage said:
Z3v looks more like a Z2 than Z3

camera: i think z2 and z3 have the same camera sensor, but different lens and settings
z2 has 27mm f/2.0, up to 6400iso (3200 in manual mode)
z3 has 25mm 2.0, up to 12800iso
z3v probably has 27mm, definitely only up to 6400iso

battery: z3v == z2 @ 3200mAh, z3 has 3100mAh

dimensions / physical exterior: z3v looks like a z2 body

CPU: Z3v == z3
z2 = 2.3 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AB Quad Core
z3 = 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC Quad Core
z3v = 2.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AC Quad Core

Z3v has an exclusive Qi charging (you lose magnetic charging ports though, but its worth it IMO)



do a 3-way comparison
Z3: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/...ria_Z3_D6603_D6633_D6643_D6653_D6616_WP_1.pdf

Z3v D6708: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/documentation/whitepapers/Xperia_Z3v_D6708_WP_1.pdf

Z2: http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/documentation/whitepapers/Xperia_Z2_D6502_D6503_D6543_WP_3.pdf
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We already knew all this with the exception of Qi charging for Verizon
 
Interesting take on the reviews for the camera on this. Some praise it, some rate it as crap. Clearly everyone has a different strategy for rating cameras, but this one is all over the place, bias for _____(insert phone here)_____ aside.

Have to wait for T-Mo to get them in and play around with one. Not sure if the multitude of camera options and lack of understanding is the cause or if it truly does have some issues.
 
aarcam said:
Interesting take on the reviews for the camera on this. Some praise it, some rate it as crap. Clearly everyone has a different strategy for rating cameras, but this one is all over the place, bias for _____(insert phone here)_____ aside.

Have to wait for T-Mo to get them in and play around with one. Not sure if the multitude of camera options and lack of understanding is the cause or if it truly does have some issues.
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My understanding is that it's a great camera, but it has Achilles' heels (low light performance, and vividness in daytime). You probably want an iPhone 6/6 Plus if you want absolute consistency, but you won't get a 20.7-megapixel sensor in the bargain.
 
Aurelius said:
My understanding is that it's a great camera, but it has Achilles' heels (low light performance, and vividness in daytime). You probably want an iPhone 6/6 Plus if you want absolute consistency, but you won't get a 20.7-megapixel sensor in the bargain.
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Borrowed this from the Oneplus one thread. Dont know if I should link the other thread on H, or just give credit, but here it is.

radeon962 said:
Oneplus one vs Sony Z3 camera test

http://fortheloveoftech.com/2014/10...ne-camera-comparison-the-long-awaited-review/
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I think it looks pretty good, but its a question of if it takes 5 mins of fiddling to get it to look that way.

My wife/family are all on iPhones and I was thinking that with the introduction of widgets on iOS and their typically solid hardware (with good cameras) would be my return to the world of Apple. However, having played with my wife's iP6 I am really not overly impressed and will most likely stay with Android, I value the customization aspect too much.

So battery and camera have been two things that I want to remedy from my current Android phone, an N4. Pretty sure it wont be hard to beat my old N4 in either of those respects, but I would like to get something on the top of the curve this time.

After realizing that the Nexus 6 is the same size as a coworkers Lumina 1520, that one may be out.
 
I got the Z3 Compact in the mail yesterday. Absolutely love it. I used to own (On the Android side, not the iPhone side) the GS3 --> Note 2 --> (briefly Nexus 5) --> Z1 -- > HTC One M8 --> now back to the Z3 Compact. I think I'll be sticking with Sony phones as I find they are the best when it comes to Android phones IMO.

Considering the Z3 Compact is nearly the same size of an iPhone you really start to see just how much Bezel's/wasted space is on the iPhones. Z3C side by side to an iPhone 5/5s is an eye opener!
 
My mother bought the white one and I've had chance to test it. It is really nice package but man... It is incredibly slippery. It would be nice if the edges (phone's back side) would be curved like on original Galaxy S. That would make it feel better in hand.
 
Anyone using the Z3 or Z3 compact on ATT and getting LTE connectivity? I've been reading up and it seems to be hit or miss.

The most successful individuals all seem to have had LTE enabled on a previous phone so the new IMEI that does not register in the ATT system is not as issue. I am coming from a Nexus 4 that only has hspda+ (and that took some effort..), and would want to get the full benefit of 4G. Just curious.

TIA
 
aarcam said:
Anyone using the Z3 or Z3 compact on ATT and getting LTE connectivity? I've been reading up and it seems to be hit or miss.

The most successful individuals all seem to have had LTE enabled on a previous phone so the new IMEI that does not register in the ATT system is not as issue. I am coming from a Nexus 4 that only has hspda+ (and that took some effort..), and would want to get the full benefit of 4G. Just curious.

TIA
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You need a smartphone IMEI attached to the line to get IMEI. Typically, AT&T would auto-detect the IMEI, flag it as smartphone automatically and give you LTE. If this doesn't work (sometimes, for phones they don't sell), just give AT&T a call, give them your IMEI (or some other smartphone IMEI) and it should work

unless you have the D6616 version (t-mobile Z3 without band 5/17 LTE support), all the other models should be 100% compatible with AT&T LTE
 
paperwastage said:
You need a smartphone IMEI attached to the line to get IMEI. Typically, AT&T would auto-detect the IMEI, flag it as smartphone automatically and give you LTE. If this doesn't work (sometimes, for phones they don't sell), just give AT&T a call, give them your IMEI (or some other smartphone IMEI) and it should work

unless you have the D6616 version (t-mobile Z3 without band 5/17 LTE support), all the other models should be 100% compatible with AT&T LTE
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Thanks, it sounds like it should work, but I have heard just as many success stories as I have horror stories. I was looking at the d6603. I seem to have always had issues getting my phones to work. i-mate SP5, HTC Dual, Nexus 4; at multiple stores across the country. They always seem to be able to screw something simple up something fierce.

Any rumors of this hitting Google as a GPE? That would be most excellent. I have seen the videos of it running Lollipop, so it will at least get the upgrade, but a GPE would be most excellent.
 
Mom grabbed one on my recommendation from T-Mobile. Shes in love with the phone and the camera works pretty flawlessly. Shes happy with the purchase, and I was really impressed by the overall look and feel of the phone.
 
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