Housing and Design: 5/5
The design of the current Xperia models is generally very chic, yet compact with the Z3 Sony has outdone himself. Had the previous model Z1 compact because of its thickness and the protruding metal frame somewhat "podgy" prevails here simplicity: On the front has been wasted unnecessarily around the display no more room, the housing is comfortably slim, although the frame consists only of plastic he can look very sophisticated and grippy. However, the front and back are arge fingerprint magnet, so it is advisable to pack the phone in a microfibre shell, also to avoid scratches.
The dimensions of the phone are chosen precisely so that we can so still it just with one hand, although one already partially have to be careful not to trigger the palm operating errors. As a right-handed one also has a small risk to take accidentally hit the lens of the rear camera in one hand.
That the device is waterproof, I have not yet actively exploited, but alone to know that you do not have to stay away from water, is very pleasant. The price, however, is that one comes close to the most connections only via a sealed lid. By (not supplied, rather overpriced, but highly recommended) Docking Station you can upload the phone but still without opening it.
The on / off switch may be possibly slightly higher positioned and looks a little rickety; after all, you need it only for Deactivating because from the standby mode can wake the phone by tapping on the display.
Hardware: 5/5
Unlike the "Mini" models of the flagships of other manufacturers Sony neutered the hardware of the "Compact" models do not, but relies on full equipment: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 are found otherwise only in current giant smartphones. Even with the equipment with modern radio standards such as LTE and 802.11ac WLAN you have to make any compromises.
Display: 4/5
Sony has not to be infected by the currently rampant resolution race, but is limited to pleasant 720x1280 pixels (just under 320 dpi), which is sufficient for a sharp display. Otherwise, the display is solid, but not outstanding: contrast, color and viewing angles are decent for LCD ratios, but still no comparison to the OLED displays some competing models. A closer look reveals that the display is slightly streaky and backlit touch screen you can see the electronics in dark image content.
The automatic brightness control is reliable and respond quickly, almost too quickly: If you are sitting behind a light source, the display brightness is constantly changing, depending on how you hold your head straight.
Camera: 3/5
In the image quality of the built-in (rear) camera, Sony does obviously difficult: Behind an actually quite ordinary appearance lies a pretty overbred 20-megapixel sensor and a mediocre image processing that produces like watercolor-like artifacts. The quality of the photos taken therefore vary greatly; in the best case they can easily keep with compact cameras, the less favorable case will come out blurred, shaky mud. The automatic white balance often supplies (Sony-atypical) something to cool results, the automatic exposure control tends during macro shooting with flash overexposed.
The release button on the housing is a real plus in handling, otherwise, control is very heavy menu. The camera will start in the first scene auto mode, in which you can set to nothing; only in the "manual" mode (a de facto program AE) can influence exposure, white balance and so on. The full resolution can be achieved even in this mode, the automatic mode and if you want to use the features (very discreetly working) HDR mode as, one is limited to 8 megapixels. After all, are the little room for a 1.5-fold crop Zoom without too much loss of quality.
Video recording is possible in the resolutions 1080p / 30 and 1080p / 60 and 2160p / 30, the latter being the visible technology brings to their limits: The bit rate is too low and after a few minutes, the phone is so hot that it stop recording. In either mode, you must also be content with the Watercolor artifacts already mentioned take.
Sony's camera software offers other modes are of the many pure gimmick how the "AR-effect", which allows you to leave stomp eg virtual dinosaur on the real kitchen table. The panorama function produces heaps of stitching errors and making it virtually useless; for that you must look out for alternative mandatory software.
Audio: 3/5
Call quality is good, but when it comes to music, the Z3 is compact not mediocrity addition. While the built-in speaker can make neat noise, but good sound is different. By "Clear Audio +" - option is the somewhat improved, but is still worlds away from a HTC One. The headphone output could be something more bass stand, when driving a line-in input with him, also falls on the moderate level. This can, for example, a 5 year old Nokia N900 better.
Software: 3/5
Sony's operating system customizations are limited compared to what Samsung and Huawei organize eg Android, pleasantly low-key out. Of course it is a lot of useless software installed, but you can easily uninstall or partially ignore, only the "Update Center" and "myXperia" annoy persistently. Some changes, however, are quite handy, as the mini-applications that you can boot from the task switcher in small windows. Nice is also the possibility of events like "phone plugged into charging cradle" to link with actions such as "Silent" (which is useful as a concrete example, when the loading tray on the bedside table). Likewise, the possibility of transparent SMB / CIFS (Windows, NAS) and SFTP shares (Linux) access, most welcome.
However, there are a few details that are less pleasant: The Quick Settings menu is difficult to achieve and lacks customization options, with the built-in e-mail client you can directly from notifications out mails not delete, date and time settings with the included applications are very cumbersome, and generally it is striking that, compared to other Android devices with the same amount of RAM very little RAM for applications is left (the so far still no problems in practice to be moved).
The most annoying software problem is actually Google's fault: applications that were not pre-installed on the phone, can not write access to the SD card. This is incredibly annoying, also to the problem do not sinnvol rid: There is currently no possibility of the device to "rooting" to remove this silly restriction. The installation of another operating system is provided for, would, however, accompanied by the loss of some functionality, including a further deterioration in the camera-image quality.
Speed: 5/5
There is nothing to complain about. The user interface makes use of completely liquid, responses to user inputs are made promptly. Also very impressive is the GPS receiver, which usually has the location accurately determined after a few seconds.
Battery Life: 5/5
How long the Z3 manages compact on a single charge, is amazing. 3-4 days maturity despite permanent connection to Wi-Fi and mobile data and e-mail retrieval of all 10 minutes along with 1-2 hours of active usage per day are quite in it, and to activate the self without the far-reaching energy-saving options. As you may well overlook the shortcoming of the non-exchangeable battery, because probably you ere already purchased the next-phone before the maturity falls below one day.
Conclusion:
Sony supplies the Z3 from compact a very solid idea. Equipment and battery life are beyond any doubt, the enclosure design is perfect. The camera must be the current top models from Samsung give clearly beaten but is still more than adequate. Really annoying, though, is that it makes Sony the users impossible to solve Google's silly restrictions on Android system.
