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I have had 3 of these phones over the past couple of years, I'll get to that in a minute...
Pros:
*Excellent display, bright and clear even in the sunlight. Very good representation of colors and 1080p is crystal clear.
*Great audio quality through headphones and the front facing stereo speakers are some of the best quality I've ever heard on a mobile device, period. The only other phone that I've heard that gives these speakers a run for their money is the HTC M8, and even then it's just a difference of opinion on what you like. The speakers were the main selling point for me in buying the Z3.
*The fastest phone I've owned, can still keep up with most current flagships by other brands even though it's a 2 year old phone thanks to it's beastly 2.5 GHz quad-core processor and 3 GB of RAM.
*It's 3,100 mAH battery is SUPERB, the longest lasting battery I've ever seen at work in a phone, easily outlasting current generation phones making other people jealous 😀. After a full day at work, which includes a few texts here and there, usually about an hour of browsing the web and playing a couple of games while simultaneously playing music at lunch, and then another hour or two of playing nonstop music with the Walkman app after closing down, it's usually only down to around 70% or so from full. That's working outside in the 90 degree+ Florida heat. Standby time is pretty amazing too, fully charged at night and usually still around 95-97% percent 8 hours later.
*The camera is, while not the best, still excellent. 20 megapixels is plenty but the pictures don't always come out quite as good as I'd expect or like for being Sony's 2014 flagship. Nonetheless, still a great camera for still pictures... I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Video recording in HD and full HD are excellent, with the option of 60 fps and even has an included app to record slow motion shots at 120 fps. Built in stereo microphones make the experience even better.
*3,100 mA
CONS
*The glass back is extremely fingerprint prone...
That's really the only complaint I have about this phone.
I'm currently on my third Z3... The first one I accidentally ran over with a forklift (I enjoy listening to music when I close at work at night, had the phone sitting on the forklift next to the seat, took a turn too fast, phone fell, I cried for a couple of hours. Surprisingly however, the screen still turned on by using the power button and the volume and camera buttons still worked, the phone even still received calls and texts. Not too bad for being run over by a 10,000 pound piece of machinery. Pretty impressive metal casing Sony put around the phone. The screen was shattered beyond recognition mind you, but that's to be expected. I had the phone a little over a year with NOT one issue.
My second Z3 lasted about a month. When it first arrived, the back glass panel was slightly lifted away from the phone's metal casing. Within a couple of weeks it had started coming off with only my case holding it on, I tried electrical tape which held up fine for a couple of weeks until the screen developed a phantom crack (I've read on forums that it's a rare issue with the Z3s) which within about an hour rendered the screen entirely nonfunctional, starting at the top and making it's way down. It was rather depressing to see the phone basically die that quickly 😞.
Now I'm on my third one and again upon arrival, the back casing was a little loose. Also the screen is lifted up slightly in the same spot that the back is. But I'm just going to stick with this one and take my chances because I love it so much. The new Z5 seems like a great phone but just not enough of an improvement for me right now to spend that kind of money again. Also from what I've researched, the stereo speakers don't sound quite as good because of the placement and design of the grilles.
It's been about three months and so far the phone is still holding up OK, so that's good. I will update if it (God forbid) dies on me or gets worse.
Also my second and third Z3s had/have the notorious overheating camera issue, the first one never had the issue. The camera will overheat within a few minutes, which is exponentially accelerated when being used outside in the Florida heat.
All in all, I love the Sony Xperia Z3, and while some people criticize their phones, I praise their revolutionary designs and features like the fact that it's extremely water resistant /dust resistant and has an excellent battery, front facing stereo speakers, full hd screen, 20 megapixel 1080p/2K video recorder, very lightweight and slim and sleek design, durable and a very fast phone...
One thing to note though from my experience with three of them is if you buy one now, I would not test it's durability or water resistance if you don't have to. It seems the Z3's exterior wasn't designed well enough to hold up for more than a couple of years.
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Reviews with images
THIS PHONE IS AMAZING!
I have been using the phone for about 8 months now. It's very fast, charges pretty quick, and the battery life lasts for about 3 to 4 days with occasional music and regular texting, and e-mailing. When I activated the stamina mode it can last upward of a week... That's just impressive.The speakers sound pretty good for a phone, and they are dual front facing which is an enormous upgrade from using Samsung phones and their rear mono speaker. The camera looks really nice, I've added some photos for reference, and I was able to use it with AT&T in the USA, I am able to take full advantage of the LTE network and coverage. To get it to work with AT&T, first insert the sim card, then your gonna have to go into settings, then under "Wireless & networks" select "More", from there select "Internet settings" a pop-up should appear stating: "Note Your device will now connect to the internet, for quick setup of Internet and MMS services. Data transmission charges may apply." by hitting Accept you will have another pop-op the states: "Select operator" and lists "Red Pocket US" "ATT" "H2O Wireless USA" select "ATT" and give it a few minutes to download, once it's done reboot your phone and you should be golden.And on top of those nice features like the fast processor, nice amount of ram and a fancy camera and speakers, it's water resistant with an Ingress Protection rating of IP65/IP68 according to the website, for reference I've taken it in the pool to take a couple pictures underwater, and I can play my music in the shower just fine. Just make sure you keep the Micro-USB and SD card ports closed up before exposing it to any water, you don't need to worry about the headphone jack, although I would try using the headphone jack while wet just to be safe.
Top reviews from other countries
George A. Scarr
Looks good and works well.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2024Richard D
Some improvements to my old Z2. Hope this one lasts... Update: yes 9m on and all good. Update: had it for 15m and still fine.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2014Simon J Stuart
The BEST Android device EVER MADE!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2015