Sony Xperia XZ3 long-term review
- ?
- Anonymous
- XNk
- 11 Mar 2019
Anonymous, 11 Mar 2019actually you don't have xperia xz3 you are just samsung fan... moreSuch baseless accusations singling out a particular brand is extremely common on Sony threads. I wonder what's with the insecurity of these people.
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- imparanoic
- U$3
- 11 Mar 2019
Anonymous, 11 Mar 2019Wrong. Not due to SOC because all sony flagships have heati... morei have never had any heat issues with my XZs which i had for nearly 2 years, i don't know about, sony phone don't heat much even when doing all task, but i don't play games with touchscreen, i do use ps vita and 3ds, don't even listen to music, playing fighting or action games on touchscreen to me is like using a steering wheel to play music based game
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- Nick Tagataka
- Y}P
- 11 Mar 2019
Menace, 10 Mar 2019Its' not like that at all.
First misconception: camera q... more"Sony is a lot more stylish with better quality build"
Are you serious?
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- Eldamri
- sxr
- 11 Mar 2019
FO2, 10 Mar 2019Xz2 (which I used for 2 months) and XZ3 (my current phone) ... moreYes the snapdragon 810 SOC has heating issues even with non sony phones using it. I have the z5 compact and it's heating up. All phones will heat up when pushed to play heavy games but the SD810 heats up on regular browsing using 4G. So yes it's the SOC.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 6p$
- 11 Mar 2019
FO2, 10 Mar 2019Xz2 (which I used for 2 months) and XZ3 (my current phone) ... moreWrong. Not due to SOC because all sony flagships have heating issue. I have XZs and XZ3 and both have heating issue when playing games.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 6p$
- 11 Mar 2019
Slayer, 10 Mar 2019The XZ3 does not heat up, I've had it for close on 4 months... morePlay some demending HD games. You'll know it heats up to more than 65°C and start to lag.
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- Anonymous
- X}d
- 11 Mar 2019
Anonymous, 10 Mar 2019May be it has heating issue. All sony flagships have heatin... moreactually you don't have xperia xz3 you are just samsung fanboy who just misguided people
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- Anonymous
- XNk
- 11 Mar 2019
Chaostheory, 10 Mar 2019Definitely on the negative side. I have a S9 paid $300 on 2... morePie has not even been released for one year yet.
- jrharbort
- IbE
- 11 Mar 2019
RAR, 09 Mar 2019Which program did you use to flash? I have the internationa... moreI used Newflasher.
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- Chaostheory
- QTq
- 10 Mar 2019
Definitely on the negative side. I have a S9 paid $300 on 2yr contract, XZ3 not available. I was really hoping Samsung had stepped up their game, but the S9 is a letdown. 1yr late with pie, software still buggy, and I'm not sure how this fp sensor is any better, including having to reset it every couple of months (maybe my fp is changing lol). Still has the messaging bug where if you are in a conversation and the screen turns off it doesn't always notify when another text comes in. Three presses to turn off the phone is annoying too. The superior operation of Sony software would be why I would pick it over Samsung.
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- Slayer
- F35
- 10 Mar 2019
Anonymous, 10 Mar 2019May be it has heating issue. All sony flagships have heatin... moreThe XZ3 does not heat up, I've had it for close on 4 months. My S10 Plus got seriously warm during set up! Even though my S10+ got quite warm this is not unusual nr does it make it a bad phone. My XZ3 didn't even do that during set up!
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- Victor
- fuj
- 10 Mar 2019
I hope GSMArena is actually taking note of these comments calling out the reviewer. It's a serious issue. The question of credibility has to apply to all sectors of society, not just politicians. Most GSMArena loyalists would love the assurance that they could take what's written on this site to the bank. But gone are the days when people imbibe whatever is said without question. If its incorrect, it ought to be corrected. On the other hand, if its dishonest..., well I leave that to you. Having relied on GSMArena reviews for decisions on phones over time, I hope it means something to you that I've learnt to be very skeptical of your largely and consistently negative reviews of great Sony phones, while in real life they perform way better than you state. I remember when you tagged waterproofing a gimmick... until "others" hacked it a few years later, now it's a basic flagship requirement. I hope the wide chasm between the experience of real XZ3 owners on this forum and this review concerns you. I hope it causes you to do an internal review, some introspection and give your readers the quality and respect they deserve. Is objectivity too much to ask for? I hope not.
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- FO2
- mpy
- 10 Mar 2019
Anonymous, 10 Mar 2019May be it has heating issue. All sony flagships have heatin... moreXz2 (which I used for 2 months) and XZ3 (my current phone) never heat up, even when gaming. The phone that did have heating issues was the Z3+ due to the SOC.
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- Tanaka
- m17
- 10 Mar 2019
This review doesn't seem to be realistic or honestly done.
Strange that screen is said not to be good as competitors, but xz3 screen won by large margin in blind testing compared to other makers flagships, and it was win by large margin and other reviews has praised the screen also.
So that picture enhancement isn't buzz words, it boosts colors, sharpness and contrast but of course you can toggle it on/off.
Surround sound can be useful for some, example using headphones, then it doesn't sound that is fully left and right, it can sound more "round" or there is more space in sounds and even if some sound is mixed 100% left, you don't get that pointy feeling in your ears if you have surround on, because it mixes just a touch of that sound also in right channel.
So features aren't gimmicks, there is scenarios when they can and are useful. Best part is that you can test and set your preferences.
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- Menace
- LHe
- 10 Mar 2019
Nick Tagataka, 10 Mar 2019Actually Sony and Samsung put very similar features on thei... moreIts' not like that at all.
First misconception: camera quality.
XZ3 and S9 differences are on shot by shot basis and to be fair neither is better than the other.
Design and build quality: Samsung has perfected curved screens and Sony just went with one but overall design Sony is a lot more stylish with better quality build. Unless you have them side by side in your hands it's really hard to tell from looking at the pictures.
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- Anonymous
- PGq
- 10 Mar 2019
"You're just stuck with the familiar (pre-Pie) three navigation buttons sitting in their own bar at the bottom."
Other than people concerned about real screen estate, isn't that the MOST easiest way to navigate the UI?!
- Kiyasuriin
- nYT
- 10 Mar 2019
xXENDER FREAKXx, 10 Mar 2019I'm curious, is the lag really that laggy? Or is it just so... moreConsider it Samsung's lag on midrange when android 4.3 was new kind of laggy...
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- xXENDER FREAKXx
- TRK
- 10 Mar 2019
Kiyasuriin, 09 Mar 2019Hey. It's Kiyasuriin's husband. Hijacked her account just f... moreI'm curious, is the lag really that laggy? Or is it just some stutters here and there that made it look laggy? I'm sure it ain't that bad, maybe rate the smoothness with something else so at least I know how smooth it performs day to day
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- Fahad80
- mE0
- 10 Mar 2019
Very good review, useful read. However being an XZ3 user for 3 months now, agree/disagree with few points.
* There is no lag in using the phone as it used to be on Samsung TouchwizUI in the past. Experience is quite quick and smooth so far.
* getting Pie out of the box is plus, others just start pushing it now. Latest updates quite quick to come. Already had 3 updates in 3 months, which is nice.
* some of the gimmicks are useful. It's good that I can control what I want.
* turning bloatware on/off is useful.
* Camera quality definitely good in day time, with some noise in night time, but probably expected in single lens setup now.
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- Nick Tagataka
- Y}P
- 10 Mar 2019
Actually Sony and Samsung put very similar features on their phones as if they are trying to copy each other's gimmicks. Here are some examples:
-A lot of bloatware many of which are better designed than Google's counterparts
-Curved display with edge screen features
-Video enhancer with HDR video upscaler
-Multiple virtual surround sound settings for both speakers and earphones
-Hi res audio upconverter(DSEE HX on XZ3, UHQ Upscaler on S9)
-Automatic sound enhancer(ClearAudio+ on XZ3, Dolby Atmos on S9)
-Separate cache cleaner/system maintenance app
-Super vibrant display colour profile
etc...
So when I read this review for the first time, I found it a bit unfair that GSMArena made a dedicated section for gimmicks on XZ3 and heavily criticised it for having those features, but they didn't in their review on S9+. But then I quickly realized why.
The difference between Sony and Samsung is that the former advertises the gimmicks as main features of their phones while neglecting basic user experience, whereas the latter perfects almost everything and then add gimmicks that some people might use, which makes their products more practical to use. Sony is throwing as many gimmicks as possible to their customers hoping some will stick, but Samsung doesn't need to do that: They have the best display, great audio, battery life and versatile camera setup, in a very well-designed body that is also ergonomic and fits well in your hand. XZ3? The design is quite straightforward ripoff from S9 with no real reason for added top and bottom bezels, great display and decent battery life but mediocre camera, no headphone jack, meaninglessly slippery design and poor FPS placement, all available at higher price than S9. S9 is being essentially a better version and cheaper alternative of XZ3 and this means that unless you're die hard Sony fan there is almost no reason for you to buy it over S9. I hope people bashing the reviewer in this comment section will understand this.