Sony has just announced the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact at its IFA press conference, the hotly anticipated successors to the Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z1 Compact.
In many respects, the Z3 Compact is almost identical to its big
brother, the Xperia Z3 - something that Sony itself was keen to
emphasise this week - but the big questions on everyone's lips are,
what's the difference and which one's better?
After all, is it really just a matter of looking for the one with the
size that best suits you? And, given that the screens have different
resolutions, does that make a difference? With so many questions, we
decided that we needed to put together some answers, so we're pitting
both phones against each other and are comparing them spec-for-spec. By
the time you've finished reading this you'll know which version of the
phone best suits you.
Be aware that this is
purely a specification comparison to
highlight the differences as they stand on paper. Until we test both
phones in for a full review we can't judge things like performance,
battery life, screen quality and camera image quality. We'll have to
wait for an official release to give a final verdict, but in the
meantime you can decide which one is worth waiting for.
SIZE AND WEIGHT
Dimensions: One of the most obvious differences
between each handset is its respective size. As its name implies, the Z3
Compact is much smaller than the Z3, measuring
127 x 64.9 x 9mm while the Z3 measures
146 x 72 x 7.3mm.
This makes the Z3 Compact much easier to use in one hand which in turn
makes it much more pocket-friendly than the larger Z3. The Z3 Compact is
also lighter, weighing
129g, compared to the Z3's weight of
152g.
Materials: Both phones have a
glass rear and
nylon corners to
help prevent them from getting damaged after a taking tumble. This
certainly makes them look the part of a flagship smartphone, but we have
found in the past that the glass panels can make Xperia phones quite
slippery - so it's just as well they both have the new nylon corners to
help it take a few more knocks than previous models. Both phones are
available in a much wider variety of colours this time round, too. The
Z3 Compact comes in white, red, green and black while the Z3 comes in
white, black, copper and silver green. Both white models are exclusive
to
Phones4U.
DISPLAY
Another big difference between the two phones is screen size and screen resolution. The Xperia Z3 Compact has a
4.6in screen with a resolution of
1,280x720, giving it a pixel density
319ppi, while the Z3 has a much larger
5.2in screen with a Full HD
1,920x1,080 resolution and a pixel density of
423ppi.
This means the Z3's screen will look much sharper than the Z3
Compact, and it will also be able to Full HD video at its native
resolution as well. The Z3 Compact, on the other hand, can play 720p
videos, but will have to compress Full HD content.
PERFORMANCE
Processor: Both the Z3 and Z3 Compact have the same
quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. While we haven't had a chance to test both phones yet, they have the potential to stand toe-to-toe with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3,
as these phones also use the 2.5GHz version of the Snapdragon 801
processor. The Galaxy S5, for instance, scored a lightning fast 391ms in
the SunSpider JavaScript benchmarks, while the G3 scored 649ms, so
hopefully both phones will be able to delivery comparable speeds when we
finally get them in for review.
Of course, this is likely to be better news for the Z3 Compact, as
its miniature size will hopefully mean a smaller price to go with it,
making it potentially better value than the Z3 when it comes to web
performance.
Memory: Like most high-end smartphones, the Z3 Compact has
2GB of RAM, which should be plenty for handling multiple tasks at once in Android 4.4. The Z3 has
3GB of RAM,
but we'll have to wait and see whether there's any discernible
difference between app loading times when we get them in for testing.
Storage: Both phones are available with
16GB of internal storage and are compatible with microSD cards
up to 128GB, so you don't need to worry about running out of space for your music and video files.
CAMERA
Each phone also comes with Sony's
20.7-megapixel 1/2.3”
ExmorRS sensor and Bionz mobile processing engine. This has an 8x
digital zoom and can record video in 4K. It also has an ISO sensitivity
of 12,800 (a world first for a smartphone), which means it should be
able to perform well in very low lighting conditions. Again, as with the
phone's processor, this is likely to make the Z3 Compact better value
than its larger counterpart.
FEATURES
One of the defining features of Sony's Xperia Z range is its
waterproof chassis and the Z3 and Z3 Compact are no different. Both
phones are
water and dust resistant and have been certified as
IP65/68 compliant.
This means you can use them up to 1.5m of fresh water for up to 30
minutes and they're both completely dust-tight, so there's no way
anything can become corrupted by the ingress of dust.
Another killer app belonging to both phones is Sony's brand new
PS4 Remote Play app.
This lets anyone with a PS4 use their phone as a remote screen to
connect and control their games. This means you can still play games if
other members of your family want to watch something on TV (a similar
idea to the Nintendo Wii U's Off-TV Play feature), and it also means you
can effectively turn your PS4 into a handheld games console.
You'll need to connect the phone to your console via Wi-Fi and use
the GCM10 Game Control Mount to connect it to the Dualshock 4 controller
to take advantage of this feature, but this is something that will
surely appeal to gamers who want to be able to play their games anywhere
in the house.
CONCLUSION
The Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact share a lot of similar DNA.
They're both made of the same materials and they have practically the
same hardware and software services - the only real difference is screen
size and screen resolution.
It's difficult to say definitely which phone is better without
testing them yet, but at this stage, we'd say the Z3 Compact may just
have the edge when it comes to overall value. However, those who like
the idea of having a portable PS4 may want to opt for the larger screen
of the Z3 to enhance their play experience. As soon as we get our hands
on review samples, we'll update this article to bring you our final
verdict.
