Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Review: The Little Dog with a Big Bite

Let’s get down to business.

With a title like that, you might be thinking ‘well that’s great… onto the next one’. And if you indeed do think that way, no problem. However, I encourage you to read further because this review is more than just a write up about a Sony smartphone but more importantly, a review about a Sony smartphone which has snuck under the radar of the Note 4, iPhone 6/6 Plus, Galaxy Alpha and even Sony Xperia Z3 press coverage and managed to deliver arguably the most compelling Android smartphone package ever. So without further ado, I give you the Z3 Compact Review.

As far as first impressions go, this is a beautiful looking bit of kit. The phone is a plastic slab sandwiched in-between two sheets of glass to give it the minimalist style we have come to associate with Sony. The rounded edges make it gorgeous to hold and use one handed, the main selling point of these ‘small’ devices nowadays.

HARDWARE

Its okay honey… I’m dust and waterproof. IP65 and IP68 if you must care for details.

The screen is a 4.6″ 720p display, perfect for this size and given the best possible position to impress with minimal bezels flanking its sides. I won’t bore you with the fancy terms used by Sony to describe its display but simply put, it’s one of the finest displays I have ever seen on a smartphone. The colours are life-like, with visibility angles infinitely better than some 1080p displays.

The camera was the first place I started. We have a few times on TekTalk’s weekly podcast the frustration of using recent Sony smartphone cameras. They are not badly equipped but the difference between the camera processing on a Sony smartphone and an iPhone (Apple exclusively uses Sony lenses on their iPhones) is night and day, leading to tech people questioning why Sony would create such beautiful hardware and fall short spectacularly in a department in which they are a legendary name. Well, I can now confirm that those questions need to be put to bed once and for all. Also still lacking truly great night time photos, the Z3 Compact camera is a stunning bit of kit and in my opinion, the first real Android threat to an iPhone in the camera department. The photos aren’t ridiculously over saturated or excessively sharpened like on some high end flagships like the S5 or the One M8. Instead, we have photos showing an accurate representation of what was seen at that time. The shutter button also helps make the experience much quicker than unlocking a phone or doing gimmicky hand twists to start the camera. All in all, a camera worthy of the Sony branding.

 SOUND

Playing a song on the phone through the excellent Walkman app (more on this in the software part), I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of output. Now the quality on the front facing speakers is not even close to my experience with my previous smartphone, the One M8, but it is still much better than 99% of the phones available right now. My audio samples used to test the front speakers (DMX’s No Sunshine, Ariana Grande’s Problem and AC/DC’S Shoot to Thrill) allowed me to get an insight as to how the speakers sound across a broad spectrum of music (the songs have elements of many musical genres) which it passed with flying colours. I noticed low-mids being very clear, vocals not being drowned out by ramped up bass levels and each instrument clear defined and appreciated. The highs were a little flat but by tweaking some settings and turning on ClearAudio for example, those gripes were quickly remedied. If you are into audio quality but not at the level of audiophiles, you cannot go wrong with this phone.

 SOFTWARE

The Z3 Compact comes running 4.4.4 KitKat out of the gate with Sony UI layered over the top. Unlike their previous efforts with Jelly Bean, the UI has been decluttered with some Sony specific apps and services on show. Those apps, unlike most of the apps preinstalled on a Samsung device for example, are generally useful. The PS4 remote play feature is a decent second screen experience that will only get better over time. The Walkman app mentioned earlier is as good a default music app as any I have seen. I really like the interface used, the amount of information presented on artists and albums as well as the audio tweaking settings. Add to that, the Video and picture gallery app (Album) and you have a robust software feature set which Sony should be really proud of. You also get the Lifelog app preinstalled but I did not test it, essentially because I am locked into Endomondo and MyFitnesspal. The Sony UI skin is very light and the more I have used it during the last 6 weeks of testing, the more I have avoided keeping the Google Now launcher on the phone. After the first week, it has been Sony’s UI all the way and that is a high compliment. It isn’t all high praise though sadly. Sony, for some stupid reason has decided to  stick their ‘What’s New’ feature right where you would normally drag up for Google Now. What possessed them to do such a thing, only Sony knows but it is very frustrating when going into Google Now and accidently being put through to essentially an advert for Sony movie, app and music content. I would not mind it as much if it could be deactivated but that is not possible. I hope Lollipop fixes this.

 CONCLUSION

iPhone 6, Z3 Compact and the Galaxy Alpha… Three kings but only one is truly worthy (credit: GSMArena for the picture)

So… how can I sum this experience? In short, it has been a brilliant one. Sony has shown that you can make a ‘mini’ Android smartphone, pack it with the latest and greatest specs and most importantly, adds excellent value software for the most part to create a package which not only competes with the super high end flagships but in my opinion, blows them away. The One M8, Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2/Z3, Galaxy Alpha and even the iPhone 6 are no match for this little beauty. Some would debate the comparison with the iPhone 6 because it’s iOS v. Android but that is not what I am looking at. In terms of experience, the iPhone 6 has had a poor start software wise and with its uninspiring design, it looks like a cash-in sequel of a highly successful franchise. The Z3 Compact however, feels like Sony listened to those cries for a fully specced ‘mini’ Android phone and then the groans when the One Mini 2, Galaxy S5 Mini, LG G3 Mini/S/whatever else LG could think of and the Galaxy Alpha came out and decided to offer a compelling alternative. This is a truly stunning outcome and for me, a former One M8 owner who sold that and invested in a Z3 Compact, the switch was well worth making.

A smartphone which does everything an owner wants with very little in the way of gimmicks… The Sony Z3 Compact is my phone of the year.

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Sony @IFA 2014

Continuing TekTalk’s summary of IFA so far, we turn our eyes to Sony. Now, they came in with quite a few products waiting to be revealed and from the hands on videos, they have impressed big time.

The Z3 isn’t worth upgrading to

Beginning with their latest iteration of the flagship smartphone line, the Z3 was shown off and although we at TekTalk maintain our stance that this isn’t worth upgrading to if you happen to own a Z2 or even a Z1 Compact but for people who will be upgrading from a phone released in early-mid 2013, this is a a very compelling phone and one that everyone should seriously consider. Sony’s decision to develop their phone every 6 months will draw the ire of a lot of people but when faced with results like the Z3, it is a strategy that has SOME merit.

The little upgrades add up to provide an experience a teeeeeeeeny tiny bit better than its predecessor but if thin margins are what you base your life around, this is worth the upgrade. The camera has a lot more technology crammed into it and could be one to consider for camera buffs, the software has removed some of the stupidity like the Sony content option when pulling up from the home button and the rounded corners have had unanimous praise for how good it makes the phone to hold. The screen is still 1080p rather than 2K but for us, it’s a positive rather than negative. Very wise to wait until content arrives rather than just sticking one on the phone for the sake of it.

Next is what I call the ‘Zx range supporting cast’, which this time round comes in the form of the Z3 Compact and the Z3 Compact mini tablet. What they lack in compelling product names, Sony more than makes up for with the build quality of these devices. The Z3 Compact is an engineering marvel, a ‘mini’ phone by today’s standards but packed full of technology which would make even top tier flagship phones of some companies weep. If I were Apple, I’d avoid comparisons with any other phone and concentrate solely on this device as its competition because for ANYONE that dares to consider themselves a wily technology consumer, this is the phone to buy if you like Android. It is just perfect in every way and I for one am excited beyond words in anticipation of picking one up and backing these words up with a full review.

Finally, Sony released a bunch of wearables and phone accessories, some which have been cruelly overlooked and others which are fairly ordinary. The ordinary category is chiefly made up of wearables predictably chiefly the Smartwatch 3 and SmartBand Talk. The Smartwatch 3 now uses Android Wear rather than Sony’s take on Android and is standard fare for the platform but with Sony’s customisable touch. I wasn’t much of a fan and the same goes for the SmartBand Talk which is exactly what it says on the package. It’s essentially the LifeBand wearable but with an e-ink display and the ability for the owner to talk to it. If only the same amount of attention was given to the Sony camera add-ons, the QX30 and QX1. The QX30 builds on what I thought was a much underrated gadget last year (QX10) by providing any smartphone (5” screen max.) with a powerful lens to take pictures with. The QX1 though could be the jewel in the crown though, for this writer at least. A 1” lens that has the ability to have any additional Sony attachment lens from the professional Sony camera range, onto it and essentially have the innards of the pro camera on the smartphone. Pricing will make or break this product but one thing is for sure, I will be very surprised if ANYTHING is half as interesting as this QX1 lens.

 

That is it for Sony, next up is Microsoft. Stay tuned for that to drop within the day.

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