Sony Xperia XZ3 review

13 September 2018
Few phones can claim they caused quite as big of a stir as the Xperia XZ3. After Sony dropped its first curved OLED Xperia, seemingly out of the blue at IFA 2018, reactions have ranged from overwhelming excitement, through confusion and all the way to denial and anger. That's a level of drama typically reserved for soap operas or celebrity gossip and it all spells out one thing - a massive wave of exposure for Sony.

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Was kind of my dream getting the XZ3 before opting to get Note 9. Happy I didn't.

    • D
    • Daany
    • r3H
    • 14 Sep 2018

    I intentionally had to check the stars on the S9 review. It got almost 5 stars. The XZ3 barely got above 4 stars.

    Up GSMA... They pulled another one. I can't find even a single aspect that makes the S9 better than the XZ3. Mehn, I'm tired of these review sites. It's becoming stale

      • t
      • techuser
      • DEP
      • 14 Sep 2018

      seriously!? why everybody complain about the placement of the fingerprint scanner. NOW try to type something on your phone single handedly, and look where your index finger are. It makes your little finger support the bottom of your phone. this fps placement is the most ergonomic if you really think about it wisely

        [deleted post]Exactly

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • JpI
          • 14 Sep 2018

          kakouille, 14 Sep 2018Best HDR TV are not OLED because of brightness, it's the Sa... morePeople bash LCD but praise Samsung QLED..

          QLED = LCD + quantum dots

          Same thing Sony uses since Z2.. AKA Triluminos

            Anon.D, 14 Sep 2018Samsung is indeed the best when it comes to OLED. Just ign... morejust to prove your point

            benchmark -xz3 aces, others lag far behind
            battery life- second only to note 9
            screen
            brigtness- xz3 is behind only note 9 and s9 plus
            sunlight legibility- xz3 is on par with note 9 and s9 plus
            pixel density- xz3 wins but by a small margin against
            note9 and s9 plus
            speakers- xz3and p20 pro in excellent category others
            are behind
            software - xz3 with pie others are just shy
            camera - go to the photo comparison tool and see for
            yourself which is the best

            sure p20 pro has 3 cameras and only xz3 is single lensed.
            but it makes up for it with portrait shots, 4k hdr video recording (only on xz3), smart launch, predictive capture, full hd 960fps

            so I guess you are right except for one word.
            xz3 is far "beyond" the others

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • JpI
              • 14 Sep 2018

              Anon.D, 14 Sep 2018Samsung is indeed the best when it comes to OLED. Just ign... moreOP6

              8bit SDR screen
              Useless 2nd cam
              No IP rating
              No sd slot
              Notch
              Caught cheating benchmark and sending data to China
              Mono speaker
              No 4K HDR Rec2020 or HDR10 recording
              Lower bitrate video

              I'd rather pay more 200 to have all this, Compact was 700.

              Only good things are speed and 4K EIS ( best in my opinion)

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • N%A
                • 14 Sep 2018

                Once again, Sony doesn't understand what a bezeless phone is.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • JpI
                  • 14 Sep 2018

                  [deleted post]I prefer LCD ...

                  Pure black does not exist in reality. Also you can use max brightness as much as you want.

                    • Y
                    • YogiBear
                    • Mv$
                    • 14 Sep 2018

                    [deleted post]I got working NWZ-X1060 (2009) with OLED. XZ3 will be brother. :)

                      https://youtu.be/6Tuo4glMgCM

                      Xperia is the only one that can play HDR 10 bits rec 2020, Samsung displays are poor in brightness (370 bits) poor in subpixel ((penile display) poor in colors (8 bits display)

                        Anon.D, 14 Sep 2018Samsung is indeed the best when it comes to OLED. Just ign... morecan you please say in which it is behind

                          • c
                          • ch3mn3y
                          • 0kR
                          • 14 Sep 2018

                          Not strange that charging is so slow with Pixel charger. I read somewhere that XZ3 supports up to 45W USB PD charging and what Pixel charger gives is about 18W (at least this is max for this device), right/ With 45 it should be (in theory) 3 times faster.

                            [deleted post]Haha no.
                            Gsmarena are not professional measuring screens do not even have the right equipment, you need hardware and software compatible with HDR screens 10 bits rec 2020.

                            the one who made the analysis hates sony for some reason, apart from not knowing how to analyze screens or having the right tools has said many nonsense, an 8-bit screen is never better than a 10-bit screen rec 2020, a screen amoled pentile never it is better than an RGB and the brightness of an oled HDR is measured with 17% white and works differently than the lcd measurements.


                              Anon.D, 14 Sep 2018Samsung is indeed the best when it comes to OLED. Just ign... moreYes

                                kakouille, 14 Sep 2018Don't change the subject and read the review. Sony Brightn... moreSamsung is indeed the best when it comes to OLED.
                                Just ignore the salty fan, they all find ways to lie and manipulate.
                                Maybe the reason why they always compare to Samsung and Huawei P20 pro is because phones like Galaxy S9 and Note, P20 Pro are benchmark devices, the best in the industry while phones like OnePlus rules the budget category. XZ3 is a good phone but is far behind the Note 9, S9+, P20 Pro and OnePlus 6.

                                  AnonD-772315, 14 Sep 2018Damn the number of Sony fanboys bashing Samsung S9, Note 9 ... moreYes
                                  lool!!!

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • I8m
                                    • 14 Sep 2018

                                    Shanti Dope, 14 Sep 2018Nah Great design is different from great looks. The Note 9... moreIt didn't match. You will just twist, degrade, and manipulate to match what you want.
                                    However if the devices were switched around and Sony made the note 9 you would be thrashing everywhere about how superior it is.
                                    You don't extremists have been called out and outnumbered and outclassed

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • I8m
                                      • 14 Sep 2018

                                      Shanti Dope, 14 Sep 2018Then you might as well say that Galaxy phones suck because ... more370 nits??? Lol nice try

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 4QP
                                        • 14 Sep 2018

                                        Mike, 14 Sep 2018There is a good reason why XZ3 has lower brightness and tha... moreGood excuse