Living with a Nokia Lumia 625 all this while was never a disappointing experience, although there are times when you wished your camera was a little more better than the basic 5MP one it comes with it. But otherwise, it could do things which phones that cost twice or even more than what it is actually worth.
But after a long time with the Windows Phone OS 8 which has improved massively over the years if you compare with the boring Windows Phone 7.5 and 7.8, things started to get a little boring, again. I wanted a change and before I knew it, all of a sudden I was bit by the Android bug and I was on the hunt for an Android phone. My initial budget was anywhere between INR15000 and INR20000. I did my homework pretty well and had lined up a good number of phones to consider before I made the plunge into the android world.
That’s when I saw the Z3 in all its glory and it had its price tag displayed in the biggest font possible that would let lesser fortunate people like me away from it. But still there is nothing wrong in taking it for a spin in at the shop and almost instantly I was hooked on to it. I wanted it badly and ended up buying one. And the device looks stunning in black.
The Design
The Sony Xperia Z3 is by far the best looking Android phone in the market today. And if you compare it with the Z1 or Z2, the way the phone’s exterior is designed makes it look elegant and discreet. What I mean by that is that when you compare an Apple iPhone’s design with the Z3, if you are walking around with the iPhone people would instantly recognize that you use and iPhone with the massive Apple logo behind your phone and of course that timeless apple design philosophy. However the Z3 rarely attracts any attention. It is made with one purpose in mind, to let the user enjoy the experience and not someone who sees someone enjoying his/her experience with the phone. Its design doesn’t scream "look at me I am and expensive piece of Japan’s finest" The device also features the OmniBalace™ technology. What this does is that the device weighs pretty much the same all around and this lets you hold the device the way you want it, it just stays comfortably in your palm without making you adjust every now and then to hold the device.
What makes the phones design so beautiful is the brushed aluminum frame that surrounds the phone and of course the glossy black finish on both sides. What really is a let down is definitely the flaps that you would have to open up to insert the SIM, memory chip and the power connector for the charger. And the whole thing thanks to its glossy appearance is a finger print magnet.
The Display
The Z3 comes with one of the best screens ever to be fitted on a mobile device of its size. The 5.2 inch full-HD featuring the Sony’s TRILUMINOS™ display technology that features in their big screen TV’s on something as small as a TV remote. Hats off the Japanese way of making electronics smaller and smaller, nobody can beat them in making cars, bullet trains and electronics. The display also features the Sony’s X-Reality™ engine for bringing pictures to life with vivid colours and noise reduction for low light photos. Sony even lets you turn the feature on and off for you to find out the difference between the way pictures are displayed with and without the technology in place. It is also a joy to watch videos on this screen. There are no lags or jitters or whatsoever at all. Just picture perfect.
The only drawback I could find about the screen was that it was sort of difficult to see things on it in bright sunlight outdoors. Blame it on the glossy screen to move on.
Performance
This is where the Z3 displays its power. With 3GB of RAM and a 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, you get the feeling of effortless performance with this device. Although sometimes, the device tends to heat up a little bit when you get to play some graphic intensive games but not so hot for you to toast some bread on it.
User Interface
The Z3’s interface is simple and straight forward unlike its competitors. It uses the same user experience that has been carried over from their good old Sony Ericsson devices. The notifications sometimes can get a bit annoying, but not so annoying that would make you slap the phone on the floor. It makes you feel like whatever you see on the screen is built to serve the purpose of your intention. That simple and yet elegant.
Audio
The Xperia Z3 comes with the Sony Walkman app. I have seen many audio apps but the Walkman is quite something else. It downloads the music information from GraceNote and updates all your audio collection with its relevant album art and the information you need about the song, album or the artist. It also features Sony’s Hi-Res audio delivery and it breathes new life into all your mp3 or FLAC collection. The biggest let down or may be a mad cost cutting exercise that Sony seems to do with its prospects and existing clients is that the Z3 is supplied with the WORST headphones in the history of all headphones. The advertise the phone with much enthusiasm about the noise cancellation headsets and all that, but at the end of the day you get a basic headset with a microphone slapped on to it. And if you want to utilize all that Hi-Res audio claims, get ready to shell out a few thousands for a decent pair of headphones.
The Z3 call audio quality is very good and so is the reception. You could hold a conversation on it in the noisiest of the environments with no interruptions at all. This truly is a great handset.
Camera
Everybody knows this, it comes with a monster 20.7 MP camera which features a lot of the features Sony offers on its D-SLR cameras. I am no photographer to explain all that tech to you all, but it clicks really beautiful pictures but not a good performer at low light photography. I did notice almost all the times for low light pictures that the pictures have some sort of an arc which looks like the light from the flash spoiling the image. And this is one of the very few cameras fitted on to a smart phone capable of capturing videos at 4K, so if you fancy doing that get ready to stack up those memory chips to the maximum. The other issue that I faced and I am not sure about others is that the phone really heats up when you start capturing video in 4K like two minutes into a video capturing session.
Water proof? One word No.
I think it is about time Sony stops marketing this phone with their stunning advertisements of people jumping with the Z3 into a pool and capturing underwater videos. To a lucky few this might have worked, but for me, well my phone right now is with the company of many other broken devices at the Sony service center in Bangalore for, wait for it water damage! Sony claimed that I jumped into a pool too deep for the phone and I claimed that I don’t know to swim. What actually happened was that I was riding my motorcycle in the rain looking for a place to stop and the rain was so strong I was completely drenched and so was my "water-proof" Z3 in my pocket. I was working at that time, but the next day I woke up to a dead phone with water vapour on its camera lens cover. So they finally agreed to fix the phone under warranty and it has been 2 weeks I am without the Z3 now.
Do I still like it?
Yes! it is a great device and I still love it and miss it for the past two weeks. However, I would think twice before I venture out in the rain or anywhere near the water with the so called water proofing story that Sony is talking about almost everywhere they advertise this phone.
Anything other than the Z3?
Yes if you are a bit low on budget and can live with almost non-existent service and support and can live with a giant screen, look no further than the OnePlus One. It has the exact same specifications and even features a Sony 13 MP camera that has pretty much all the features the 20.7 MP camera on the Z3 can offer.
Updated on 11/11/2015:How was my life after almost a year with the Z3?
Yes most of us know that this was once upon a time, Sony’s flagship model not anymore now that we have got the Z5 out there. But let me tell you what life was like living with it for almost a year or so.
To start with, the phone doesn’t demand attention and because of that you could almost have a great looking device and go completely stealth with it. I love the phone because of that.
But here are the ones that I absolutely hate about it.
It is a slim device but if you start with that game you wanted to play, it immediately becomes an iron box. It just gets hot.
20 MP camera is a great camera and it is let down so badly by Sony’s camera software that sucks. Low light photos have never come out good. They always seem to have some sort of arc that looks like a lens flare or something and this is specifically when you need the flash. Spoils the picture completely. Not always but just annoyingly, it always happens when you really dont want it to happen.
Waterproofing, it works but I think twice, you get the message.
The worst of all. Sony promotes this phone claiming that its got an awesome pair of stereo speakers and they are good too. Not mine. I am one of those who rarely use the loud speaker for calls or for playing music. Occasionally when I do so, I never crank up to volume anywhere beyond 60% or 70% but unfortunately the speakers crackle on voice calls!
Again, this is not a statement to defend myself but the Z3 is a solid performer. The phone’s snappy with whatever you do and the only time you’d wait for something to happen on this phone is only when you are on a slow network. That said it is not only for the performance you buy these kind of devices. The main reason you buy a flagship device is because you demand perfection, sadly not the Z3. How are you supposed to feel when something you bought for 40k has the issues I’ve listed above. Too bad Sony.
Overall now that I have decided to let go of the Z3 and look for something else other than a Sony, I’d like to conclude by saying that my life with the Z3 wasn’t spectacular. And I don’t think I had to spend Z3 money to be average.
Update on 1/7/2016
This is probably the day I have decided that I will buy anything from Sony that looks anything like a mobile phone. I would still gladly say that is one of the snappiest phones out there. I am proud to say that I have finally mastered the art of using its inbuilt 20 MP camera that is always unsure about what it wants to do. But if you are patient with it, it blows all the mobile cameras out of the water. So far the performance and the camera if you are ready to tweak around its settings a bit still gets high praise from me. And so does the display and the audio quality(while on headphones) However, there is a lot to hate about it now. And the reason is because of its build quality.
Here’s what is wrong with it.
It is out of warranty(Sony must be really happy now)
The back panel has come off its adhesive strip the 3rd time in 1.5 years of ownership
The screen has come off it adhesive for the second time
The speaker just about the Sony logo crackles as if it is under water and while not on speakerphones, nobody can hear anything.
I can use it when my microwave oven is broken. It was my iron box until last year
Here’s what I have learnt in my life after spending around INR40000
I will never buy a Sony mobile phone ever again in my life, the thing’s just flimsy. Heck I have Nokia Lumia 800 that still works that I bought sometime in 2011 and I use it as a spare phone whenever my Xperia ends up at the service center and probably going by videos on Youtube, probably even fix a nail on the wall!
Sony all I have to tell you is that you have completely lost the plot. As kid I grew up in the 80’s seeing some of the most innovative devices from you. But when I look at my phone which now runs and stays in one piece with the help of some duct tape, it is a shame. Extremely disappointed ownership experience, disappointing service experience(they clearly knew my phone was faulty and never gave me a replacement) all thanks to Sonnet Care in Bangalore for being ruthless with your clients. But for some reason I still love the phone and I have no idea why.
Update 30/08/2016
That time of the year where I have to go to the Sony Service Center AGAIN! And here’s
why.
The adhesive that holds the screen has gone AGAIN and the screen has popped out AGAIN. I think they stick the components together with rice or something.
The ear piece literally farts and crackles AGAIN
The back panel has come off AGAIN
The only other thing that is new this time, there is some discoloration on the top LH and RH side of the screen. Looks like something leaked on it and dripping down.
Had enough so I bought a Motorola G4 Plus
I’ve got to say I learnt my lesson the hard way. Probably I will fix the phone and sell it over, or use it as a paper weight(does anyone still use paperweights) Probably it is just a useless piece of junk lying around at home, I guess. I wouldn’t have been this mad if it was for any other brand other than Sony. There are so many new brands out there where you just cannot believe the attention to detail, build quality and so on for a fraction of the cost. I say this again, I will never ever buy a Sony mobile device ever again.