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Sony Xperia XZ3 goes official at IFA2018

Sony Xperia XZ3 goes official at IFA2018

August 30, 2018


It only seems a few minutes since we reviewed the XZ2 but now, here it is, the Xperia XZ3. It might “just” look like a small upgrade, but there’s actually a lot more to appreciate about this one.

Specs include a 6″ 2880 x 1440 screen – that’s a smidge bigger than the one on the XZ2. However, this is OLED screen on a phone from Sony. It’s been developed alongside the Bravia TV guys, so it’s going to be good. Gorilla Glass 5 protects it and the phone has an IP68 protection against water and dust.

They’ve also borrowed / taken inspiration from HTC with a “Side Sense”. HTC call theirs “Edge Sense”. Here tapping the side of the phone will bring up a new contextual menu filled with apps. This uses some clever AI trickery to open based apps based on predictions for what you’ll be doing next. They’ve also included a Smart Launch feature which knows when you are holding the phone up horizontally (which, of course, is the proper way to take a photo) and automatically fires up the camera app.

What the phone doesn’t have is a notch. There’s also no 3.5mm headphone jack.

Specs include a 3,330mAh battery (again, a tad bigger than the XZ2), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 CPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, NFC, dual-band WiFi, DLNA and a fingerprint scanner on the back.

Cameras? Well, you get a single 19MP Exmor RS MotionEye camera on the rear. This has autofocus that can shoot high dynamic range video in 4K and slow-motion video in 1080p. Up the front there’s a 13 megapixel unit, again this is an improvement on the 5 megapixel unit before. You also get an upgraded S-Force speaker. This gives a 20 percent louder volume than the previous model.

More in the promotional video below..

The Xperia XZ3 will be available in selected markets globally from end of September 2018 and will be among the first devices to ship with the latest Android 9 Pie. Pre-order will be available from 31st August- 5th October and you can get it in Black, White Silver, Forest Green and Bordeaux Red.

In the UK, you’ll get a digital copy of Activision’s new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on release day (12th October), if you pre-order. The XZ3 will cost £699 SIM-free. and will be available from a range of operators and retailers at launch.

Phil Elford, Trading Manager for Mobile Tech at Argos, tells us..

The launch of the new Sony XZ3 is really going to shake things up in the smartphone market this year. It will be interesting to see how the new handset fares against the likes of the Huawei P20 Pro and the Samsung S9. We think customers will particularly love the new “Smart launch” with AI that instantly prepares camera when users hold their phone up in landscape mode for seamless photography.

Full press release below..