Sony Xperia Z3

Participant · 26 Sep 2014 at 20:44

I take your points about the image not being to scale, but scaling down the chassis of the Note 4 to that of the Z3 and comparing the relative screen area actually makes for a pretty useful comparison in my view. Especially given that the S5 is 4mm shorter than the Z3 but has a usable screen area 5mm greater.

m4rk84 said:
It's a pretty dumb image, ofcourse a larger phone like a note can have smaller bezels, because they are so large they have more space to fit in the internals. Who would post an image comparing a Note to a Z3 anyway?

Yeah, because nobody else is comparing the two phones!

Mobius 1 · 26 Sep 2014 at 20:53

I think phones with too little bezel look a bit odd (see sharp aqueos crystal) I think Sony have got it just right with the two newly released z series

Wonderer99 · 26 Sep 2014 at 20:54

Has anyone ordered the copper colour in the uk on contract? For some reason this colour still seems to be pre order only everywhere and Mobiles.co.uk are basically just shrugging and saying sometime in the next week :rolleyes:

Also has anyone seen the underwater unboxing video on Youtube, kinda cool. I did not want to link it as I am still working out the rules here as im new..........oh Hi

m4rk84 · 26 Sep 2014 at 21:00

Wonderer99 said:
Has anyone ordered the copper colour in the uk on contract? For some reason this colour still seems to be pre order only everywhere and Mobiles.co.uk are basically just shrugging and saying sometime in the next week

Also has anyone seen the underwater unboxing video on Youtube, kinda cool. I did not want to link it as I am still working out the rules here as im new..........oh Hi

Welcome! Feel free to link Youtube videos so long as they don't contain any bad language.

Wonderer99 · 26 Sep 2014 at 21:01

m4rk84 said:
Welcome! Feel free to link Youtube videos so long as they don't contain any bad language.

Ok cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIf9GdCzY_Y

Rimsy · 26 Sep 2014 at 21:16

satchef1 said:
No.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/si...Galaxy-Note-4,Sony-Xperia-Z3/phones/8577,8764

Thanks.. Quite interesting comparison - almost the same size (note 4 being 1/4" taller) yet you get a lot more screen with the note for your phone footprint. Z3 does look better from aesthetic perspective and does still tempt me but can't help but feel there's a lot of wasted space.

McPhee · 26 Sep 2014 at 21:55

The Z3's bezel isn't much bigger really (click "View Layered") but once you factor in the softkeys, that's a lot of dead space at the bottom. The Z3c fares a lot better, which is the really weird thing. It's just another mark against the Z3 (vs the Z3c) I guess. Annoying, given I actually prefer the hardware design of the Z3 (and the colours of the Compact...).

If you want impressive, use that tool to bring up the Z3c, iPhone 5S and iPhone 6. Bare in mind the iPhone 5S has a 4" screen, the Z3c a 4.6" screen and the iPhone 6 a 4.7" screen.

Ade74 · 26 Sep 2014 at 22:00

m4rk84 said:
@Ade74 definitely a nano sim.

Thanks

York · 26 Sep 2014 at 22:47

So decided to order one of these to replace my S4. Any recommended accessories/cases for them yet? Also been looking at the magnetic charging cables + docks for easier charging (have a Xperia Z Tablet and dislike having to open the ports to charge etc) any recommended brands/cables?

mrk · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:00

Still playing with it, haven't taken a single photo yet! Will get round to it...

Encountered one big issue which may force me to root once root is available. It's a Google thing not Sony and that's the SD card write permissions from certain apps which became locked down post Android 4.4. Baked in file manager works fine but others like ES or QuickPic will only do some things and not others like I can delete a file in a folder but cannot delete the folder itself or create a new folder. I must use the built in file manager to do that.

The upshot is the built in file manager seems quite good and seems to have similar features as ES like network browsing and so on so will see how I get on with it first.

Just wish QuickPic worked with SD write permissions fully though as I manage a lot of images through that...

zoomee · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:15

York said:
So decided to order one of these to replace my S4. Any recommended accessories/cases for them yet? Also been looking at the magnetic charging cables + docks for easier charging (have a Xperia Z Tablet and dislike having to open the ports to charge etc) any recommended brands/cables?

Just been searching - there seems to be a lack of any decent accessories

Barring the nice and cheap magnetic cables charging cables from ebay. Problem with them is that they don't 'stick' that well so you can forget trying to use the phone with them attached lol!

Can't even find darn screen protectors for this phone! - I want some for front and back urgently.

Cases - I like the look of the windowed official cases but £40! woot! - I'd be prepared to pay that though but they ain't even available until the 14th of October wtf!

Other than the official charging dock station there isn't much out there at the moment

biron_w · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:18

Saw a tweet earlier from Paul O'Brien who runs Modaco and he said this phone is probably the best Android phone out at the moment.

Purdy · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:18

Magnetic charger? Doesn't it use the micro usb?

m4rk84 · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:19

Purdy said:
Magnetic charger? Doesn't it use the micro usb?

No the magnetic chargers connect to the docking points on the outside of the phone, so no micro usb or messing with flaps required.

The battery lasts so long isn't just getting the dock sufficient? Leave it in the dock every night and you should never even need to think about charging as the battery should last longer then a whole day even with the heaviest use.

Purdy · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:31

I guess, maybe I'm used to having a fair few micro USBs around the place so I can always charge my M7s turd battery

FTM · 26 Sep 2014 at 23:34

you can still use micro usb i think...its just the magnetic charger saves you having to fiddle with flaps

MoRT489 · 27 Sep 2014 at 00:34

Correct.

mrk · 27 Sep 2014 at 02:58

How do you select an ISO above 800? I'm in manual mode but the ISO range still shows 800 max!

Rimsy · 27 Sep 2014 at 07:57

You have to be in superior auto for quality I think?

mrk · 27 Sep 2014 at 11:00

No Superior auto limits what settings are available, not the other way round

Must be a setting I'm not seeing

Anyway, I've been up all night with rounds of power naps here and there. no doubt I will be sleeping like a dead badger any moment so before I do here are some photos and thoughts.

- The bundled screen protector is rubbish. It's non glossy but reading text is a fuzzy affair with it on. I also managed to get a few air bubbles that could not be pushed out. Every single time. I hate screen protectors.
- The bundled USB OTG cable is rather good quality.
- Been using it all night after a full charge. So it's been used for 6 hours no with 4hrs 24mins screen on time. The UI says I have 1 day 14 hours remaining and the battery is at 61%!!
- The audio effects engine is rather good. I use Sennheiser IE80s for music when on the move and I played around with custom EQ settings first but found the best clarity and detail comes from letting the DAC decide the best stuff to use so set both "Clear+" mode things on and adjusted some slight tone control in PowerAmp.
- The sound processor on this has more power than the Note 3 for sure.
- Once I adjusted the RGB controls for white balance the screen was very close to the colour of my Note 3.

Vs the Note 3 in pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/8N7Q0

**** Sony Xperia Z3 ****

Sony Xperia Z3