The Sony Xperia Z3 has finally been officially revealed. We say ‘officially’, because late last month we were privy to some specs leaked by a Chinese tech site. As it so happened, those specs were almost entirely accurate.
This means that, as we feared, the Xperia Z3 is barely any different to its predecessor the Z2. Of course that’s not strictly a bad thing (we liked the Z2 a whole lot), but we seriously doubt any Z2 owners will be tempted to upgrade. Here’s why.
The Z3 has shrunk a touch compared to the Z2, which is nice. It’s 0.7mm thinner and 9g lighter. Not an enormous difference, but if you held each one in either hand you might just about be able to notice a difference.
There’s also a fractional difference in screen size. The unusually-sized 5.3-inch display of the Z2 is now a slightly more conventional 5.2 inches in the Z3. The resolution remains at 1080p full-HD, so you’ll get an ever-so-slight increase in pixel density. We can’t say we expected Sony to go all in with QHD (and we’re not even sure it would be necessary), so 1080p is just fine. It’s noticeably brighter though, increasing from 460 nits to 600 nits, which is always welcome.
If you thought those differences were rather minor, we’ve got some bad news: those were the only differences. From here on in you’ve got more-a-less the exact same handset as the one released just two months ago (who could have seen that coming?)
There’s the same outstanding 20.7MP Sony lens on the rear of the device, the same 3GB of RAM on the inside (not that you’d need any more), and the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor.
Perhaps it’s a little unfair to say the processor is exactly the same. Whilst it’s the same basic chipset, it’s a slightly newer version, meaning you get a clock speed of 2.5GHz vs 2.3GHz in the Z2. That’s great and all, but a switch to the latest 805 processor wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Then there’s the battery. Whilst the Z2’s cell was a sizeable 3,200mAh, the Z3’s is actually smaller. Only by 100mAh, at 3,100mAh, but it’s still an odd choice. We just hope that battery optimisations were made elsewhere so that we don’t end up noticing the difference.
If you’re still interested, the Sony Xperia Z3 will be retailing for £549 SIM-free in the UK. Presumably its release will also mean a price-drop for the Z2, so potential buyers may have a decision on their hands.
