Should I Buy?

Tmel14

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Oct 19, 2014
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I've been considering getting a new phone for a while now as my S8's battery life has fallen off a cliff and the screen also has a minor crack.

My Xperia Z3 is probably my favourite phone I've ever had and I've always been tempted by going back to Sony. I've heard some brilliant things regarding the screen but wondered if anyone could tell me what the camera and battery life are like on this phone? The S8 has a very good camera and I would want something that is at least on a par with that.

I'm toying with the idea of getting this or waiting until April for the P20 Pro's successor. Would really appreciate any user opinions of the XZ3 to help inform my decision.
 

X1tymez

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Mar 27, 2016
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I've been considering getting a new phone for a while now as my S8's battery life has fallen off a cliff and the screen also has a minor crack.

My Xperia Z3 is probably my favourite phone I've ever had and I've always been tempted by going back to Sony. I've heard some brilliant things regarding the screen but wondered if anyone could tell me what the camera and battery life are like on this phone? The S8 has a very good camera and I would want something that is at least on a par with that.

I'm toying with the idea of getting this or waiting until April for the P20 Pro's successor. Would really appreciate any user opinions of the XZ3 to help inform my decision.
You should consider YouTube for review on this device. Not a lot users on this form on Sony device.
 

esoqq

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Oct 17, 2018
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I've had the XZ3 for just over a week now and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it. Historically I've had quite a few Sony's including a Z3 and my last Sony was a Z5 Premium. Since the Premium I've used a Galaxy S8+, and for the last year a Pixel 2XL.

I was certain until a few weeks ago that the Pixel 3XL would be my next phone, having been mostly very happy with the 2XL, but I'm really not a notch person and the 3XL was just too awkward looking for me to live with.

I'd say the XZ3 feels quite similar in the hand to the S8+, except even more slippery. It definitely has a quality look and feel to it.

One thing I noticed when going from the Samsung to the Pixel was that photos on the latter look more real and less airbrushed. The Pixel made me look ten years older when taking selfies. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on what you like, but the Sony camera feels somewhere in between and probably strikes the right balance. I haven't taken all that many shots yet, but my initial impression is that it's not quite on par with the Pixel, but I feel it's at least as good as the S8. If it does have a weakness it's possibly low light photos, but I've hardly taken any yet.

Everything is nice and fast, but then it is a brand new phone, and the daily battery life at the moment is very similar to the Pixel. The reason I left the S8+ after a fairly short time was actually the battery longevity. It was good initially, but after less than 6 months it got noticeably poor. I think Samsung are happy to incorporate as rapid charging as possible but at the expense of the long term battery health. Sony are much more focused on preserving the health of the battery with features like the "Battery Care" function which learns when you generally wake up, and only charges the battery to 90% until a short time before your wake up time. Sony did of course develop the first commercial Lithium Ion batteries, so I expect them to manage the technology very well.

I'm still using the phone quite frequently at the moment since it's a new "toy" but I think it'll just about get through a day with moderate to heavy use. I tend to top up at some point in the afternoon anyway as I think that's better for the battery than letting it run down to almost nothing in the evening.

As far as the screen goes, I've not seen anything superior. It's definitely better than the Pixel, and probably a shade better than the Galaxy. The other thing I like about the Sony is that although they do bundle their own (mostly good) apps, they haven't made too many changes from vanilla Android unlike TouchWiz. Again, for me it's getting the balance just about right in customisation. It's great to see Android Pie on it, as I'd started to get used to it on the Pixel.

I've been a fan of music over Bluetooth for a while now, and it's been great to see the improvements with successive Bluetooth increments and new audio technologies over the years. One of the biggest disappointments with the S8+ was what I regarded as poor sound quality over Bluetooth. It was a revelation when I moved to the Pixel, and I'd forgotten how much better even my Z5 Premium sounded than the Samsung. I think the XZ3 even outperforms the Pixel, and I'm loving being back to a Sony LDAC phone with LDAC headphones.

If I had to list negatives with the new Sony, I'd say that I prefer the feel of a flat back rather than the curve, the fingerprint sensor doesn't suit me (but getting used to it quickly), and there are slightly more stutters with the OS than with the Pixel (but I expect this will get refined with updates). And yes it is slippery, and will very slowly slide along certain surfaces which aren't perfectly horizontal. This is in common with the Z3 / Z5 Premium, but my new phone has already fallen off the ironing board once, after being left there for about 2 minutes untouched!
 

nate0

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Nov 3, 2015
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I've never owned an Xperia until last week. I bought the Bordeaux red model with 4GB of ram.

I'm impressed with the sound from it and confugurability there. The screen is top notch and I'm also pleased with the confugurability there. Double tap to wake, the AOD are great features I needed too.

I have no complaints other than the price companies are trying to move towards now. 900 is outrageous imo. Why I bought this one used. There's No way I'd pay full dollar for a smartphone again at this rate.
 

nate0

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Nov 3, 2015
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Anyone able to speak on battery life?
It's a performer. For the capacity it has I'd say it performed as well or outperforms the S8+/S9+.

What specific details about the battery life are you looking for? Because that is honestly subjective to the individual user, habits, routine, etc.
 

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