“The Xperia XZ3 is the latest flagship from the brand and comes with top-notch specifications”
IFA 2018 is all set to kick off on August 31st, but pre-event launches are already underway at Berlin. Among them, Japanese handset maker Sony has gone ahead and launched its next flagship smartphone – the Xperia XZ3 today. The smartphone has been launched six months after its predecessor, the Xperia XZ2 (first impressions). Given the short time gap between the two launches, it’s natural to wonder if the XZ3 brings any substantial upgrade over the XZ2. Naturally, we compared both siblings and this is how they stack up against each other.
Table of Contents
Sony Xperia XZ3 vs Xperia XZ2: what’s different
The first and foremost difference is the display on these smartphones. The Xperia XZ2 comes with a 5.7-inch full HD+ HDR display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The XZ3, on the other hand, comes with a slightly larger 6-inch display with the same 18:9 aspect ratio. However, the game changer here is the screen resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 pixels, which is a major upgrade over full HD+. The next upgrade comes in the form of the selfie shooter, which is a 13-megapixel unit on the new launch as compared to the 5-megapixel shooter on XZ2. The battery also receives an upgrade as the XZ3 is powered by a 3,300mAh cell, while the XZ2 features a 3,180mAh unit.
The major upgrade though has to be on the software front. The Sony Xperia XZ3 is the first ever smartphone to ship with the latest Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. The Xperia XZ2, on the other hand, boots the last generation Android Oreo. Further, the XZ3 comes with support for up to 512GB microSD cards, whereas the XZ2 only supported up to 400GB.
Lastly, the latest flagship comes with touch-sensitive edges, which can be used to trigger various actions like navigating, launching an app or clicking a picture. This feature is missing from the predecessor.
Sony Xperia XZ3 vs Xperia XZ2: what’s the same
The major similarity between the two smartphones is the same 3D curved glass design with an 18:9 fascia. Both these flagships have seamless, curved glass frames, which are IP68-certified for water- and dust-resistance. Moving on to the core specs, Xperia XZ3 and XZ2 are both powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 SoC, which is accompanied by 4GB RAM and 64GB native storage. The rear camera is also identical on both flagships – a 19-megapixel MotionEye shooter.
Both flagships also share proprietary Sony features like the Dynamic Vibration System that lets you ‘feel’ audio through vibrations, TRILUMINOS Display for mobile and X-Reality for mobile, among others.
Closing thoughts
It’s now clear that the Xperia XZ3 is just an iterative upgrade to the XZ2. It comes with a better display and an improved selfie camera. It also brings the touch-sense edges and a slightly bigger battery to the table, however, these shouldn’t be a deal breaker to many. While you get the latest Android Pie out of the box, the Xperia XZ2 is also slated to receive the update in the near future.
TL;DR, the Xperia XZ3 could be a viable option for those looking for a new flagship, however, existing Xperia XZ2 users can give it a skip.
