Not content with one flagship each year, Sony has released two and at first glance its new one, the Sony Xperia Z3, doesn’t look a whole lot different from its old one, the Xperia Z2.
But while the change is definitely evolutionary rather than revolutionary it’s still significant. Read on for a run-down off all the differences.
The Sony Xperia Z2 has a slim 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm build and weighs 163g. A glass back and metal frame give it a premium look and it has flat edges and angular corners.
The Sony Xperia Z3 comes in at 146 x 72 x 7.3mm and 152g, so it’s even slimmer and lighter. Like the Xperia Z2 it has a glass back and metal frame, but this time the edges are slightly rounded, while the corners have a nylon covering to protect them from scrapes and falls.
The Sony Xperia Z3 is also a little more water and dust resistant than its predecessor, with an IP68 certification, while the Z2 is IP58 Certified, though unless you plan to go swimming with your phone it won’t make much difference, as both handsets can survive getting splashed or rained on.
There’s not much change when it comes to the screen. Both the Sony Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z2 have a 5.2 inch 1080 x 1920 IPS LCD display with a pixel density of 424 pixels per inch.
However the Sony Xperia Z3 is a lot brighter than the Z2, as it’s capable of reaching up to 600 nits of brightness, while the Z2 can only reach around 460 nits. That difference not only makes it easier to use in direct sunlight but also makes images far more vibrant.
But overall the screen isn’t enormously better and the Xperia Z2 still has a very good display.
With a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM the Sony Xperia Z3 is certainly powerful but it’s only marginally more powerful than the Xperia Z2, which itself has a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM. In practice the difference is minor enough that you’re not likely to notice it and both phones deliver almost impeccable performance.
On the face of it the two handset’s cameras seem pretty similar, as they both have a 20.7 megapixel sensor, a 2.2 megapixel front-facing snapper and can shoot 2160p video at 30fps or in 1080p at 60fps.
However the Sony Xperia Z3 uses a 25mm wide-angle lens, so you can fit more in to your shots. It also has a higher ISO sensitivity, as it can shoot in 1280, which should make a big difference in poor lighting.
Plus it’s better able to counter camera shake when shooting video than the Xperia Z2 and it includes a handful of new shooting modes, such as ‘Face in’ which uses both cameras at once so that you can capture both an event and your reaction to it.
So it’s not a huge improvement overall but the Z3 camera features lots of little improvements.
Listening to music should be a lot better on the Xperia Z3 than on the Xperia Z2, because it adds support for high-resolution audio and can also upscale songs which aren’t in high-res.
Then there’s PS4 Remote Play, which allows you to stream PS4 games to your Z3’s screen and play them anywhere in the house. You’ll still need a PlayStation 4 and a controller and it doesn’t work very well if you’re not on the same Wi-Fi network as your console, so playing when away from home won’t be much of an option, but it’s still a nice feature for PS4 owners, which lets you enjoy your games in new ways and isn’t available on the Xperia Z2.
The Sony Xperia Z3 has a 3100 mAh battery, while the Xperia Z2 has a 3200 mAh one, but despite that Sony promises up to two days of life with moderate use on the Z3, which is slightly more than the Z2 can manage.
It apparently achieves this both by using a more efficient processor and through clever screen technology which means it doesn’t need to refresh the display as often. The Z2 can still last well into a second day of use though, so it’s hardly lacking when it comes to battery life.
Both phones come with 16GB of storage and support for microSD cards of up to 128GB, so there’s no difference there and connectivity options are much the same too, with both offering support for Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G LTE, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.
The Sony Xperia Z3 has a SIM free RRP of £549, while the Sony Xperia Z2 can currently be bought for around £390, so it’s roughly £160 cheaper than Sony’s latest flagship.
While there are a lot of differences between the Sony Xperia Z2 and the Xperia Z3 and almost all of them work out in the Z3’s favour they don’t actually add up to all that much. The Xperia Z3 is the best Sony smartphone yet and certainly one of the best smartphones around, but it’s not a vast improvement over the Z2.
If you already have a Z2 then there’s little reason to upgrade. If you don’t then it really depends on how much difference the slight improvements make to you. The Z3 is almost certainly worth the money it costs, but it’s an awful lot to spend when you can get an Xperia Z2 for a whole lot cheaper.
