Sony presents its latest high end, the Xperia XZ3. A daring positioning that fights in the court of Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 or Huawei P20 Pro. It sports an elegant design, rather pretty, accompanied by interesting features. However, Sony made some questionable choices, which we will talk about later in this test.
Unboxing
The Xperia XZ3 is no exception to the rule of new smartphones that have removed the 3.5mm jack, with no headphones provided. However, Sony thinks about its users and provides an adapter to use any pair of headphones. In addition, it also offers to charge the phone while listening to music! Of course, the charging cable and the wall socket are present.
Design
Sony is strong with its latest version. The general design is really pretty, elegant. The grip is nice and almost everything falls under the hand. Almost because the Japanese brand has chosen to place the impression sensor in a … questionable place. Indeed, it is located at the back of the phone, under the camera. But its location is really too low, and during normal use the finger is automatically placed on the camera. In addition, the back unfortunately holds a lot of fingerprints. The glass slab is surely the cause.
Sony presents its latest high end, the Xperia XZ3. A daring positioning that fights in the court of Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 or Huawei P20 Pro. It sports an elegant design, rather pretty, accompanied by interesting features. However, Sony made some questionable choices, which we will talk about later in this test.
Screen
The screen is surely the biggest highlight of this smartphone. Here we find a 6 “OLED panel with a ratio of 18: 9. The definition is increased to 2880 x 1440 px. In fact there is a huge screen, a curved hair on the sides in the manner of Galaxy SX Edge. The latter is really pleasing to the eye, the color rendering is beautiful and we will greatly appreciate watching photos or videos on the Xperia XZ3.
Camera
The Sony Xperia XZ3 is located in a range of smartphones that are expected to almost irreproachable photo quality. Knowing that Sony is also well known in the world of photography, the XZ3 is expected to turn! And it must be said that Sony has succeeded! There is a single 19-megapixel sensor with an F / 2.0 aperture. The latter is also stabilized on 5 axes, to offer a longer opening, for better results in low light!
In broad daylight I could only notice some dull colors, but a really qualitative overall rendering. At night, as long as you do not abuse the zoom, the result is rather convincing!
Sony presents its latest high end, the Xperia XZ3. A daring positioning that fights in the court of Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 or Huawei P20 Pro. It sports an elegant design, rather pretty, accompanied by interesting features. However, Sony made some questionable choices, which we will talk about later in this test.
Performance
As for performance, the Sony Xperia XZ3 is not left out. It is animated by the monstrous Snapdragon 845, itself supported by 4GB of RAM. As a result, the user experience is very good, with no lag felt during everyday use. The only problem, for some, will be the interface. Indeed Sony offers an overlay manufacturer rather than the so-called “stock” interface of Android.
Nevertheless, this overlay allows the addition of certain features, such as the famous Stamina which we will talk about a little later. But also the addition of interactions with the tactile edges of the smartphone. Indeed tapping on the sides will bring up a context menu, as on the screen above.
If you ever slide your fingers on the sides, it will be the “return” action that will be performed. A feature rather gadget, because in fact its use is unreliable.
Autonomy
Sony has developed a feature well known in the world of mobile: the Stamina mode. The latter makes it possible to optimize the battery as much as possible in order to reach record autonomies. At least it was true at the time of the first XZ (that I could have personally). On the XZ3 it will be difficult, or impossible to achieve 2 days of autonomy during basic use. A big black spot for a phone of this caliber.
Conclusion
To conclude, I am quite mixed about this smartphone. On the one hand it is positioned as a high-end, with a rather high price of € 799 and on the other hand it is tainted with some significant defects. As an autonomy that is not among the best, the same for the sound. To believe that Sony has everything bet on unhelpful features (like the phone that vibrates according to the sound coming from the speakers or the Super Slow Mo) for a result that may disappoint some.
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