This week we take a look at Sony’s latest top end device the Xperia Z3 and see how it stacks up against the market just six months after Sony’s last release. Huawei has released their latest midrange device, but will it be able to stand out from the crowd...find out below.
Sony Xperia Z3
I took a look at the last Xperia model (Z2) earlier in the year so when the Z3 popped up for review I was a little surprised that Sony had launched this in the market so soon. There is one thing you can be certain of before you buy an Xperia and that is it will usually be a solid device.
One of the key features of the Z3 is its waterproof and dust resistant, it has gained accrediatation IP65 and IP68 which apparently means it can withstand more water and dust than ever before! This will probably only be of use if you are Aqua Man or Captain Nemo but it’s still nice to know if you drop it in the bath then it will be safe and sound, at a depth of two metres for up to sixty minutes to be precise!
The screen is breathtaking; Sony has stuck with the 5.2 IPS LCD inch display that came with the Z2. Despite the lack of upgrade it still packs 424 ppi and is one of the sharpest on the market. Sony have fiddled with the brightness settings and it is impressive, although I’m fairly sure if I looked at the screen for too long I would end up with a sun tan.
Battery life on the device has got to be one of the most impressive on the market, Sony has claimed it can last for up to two days from a single charge from normal use. A bold claim, and as usual reality doesn’t match up to the manufacturers claim but I did get a solid day and a half which is still impressive in my books.
Like the Z2 Sony has also billed the Z3 as a 4K device, it can still record and play in 4K but the app is still full of bugs which kept throwing me out all the time. Despite this Sony has built a premium device here that deserves to do well. It’s definitely an upgrade on the Z2 but not a huge one, and being released only six months later could be a bit of a clanger. Sony are obviously adamant it’s all part of the plan to compete at the top end of the market.
Pros – Battery, design and feel, waterproof, screen
Cons – 4K isn’t a polished product, feels buggy in places, not enough of an upgrade
Huawei Honour 6
Huawei are consistently good at packing good specs into affordable phones and the Honour6 is no different. Coming in at just £250 Huawei has called this the ‘world’s fastest phone’ due to its octa-core CPU and LTE connectivity... I have to admit, I was a little sceptical from the outset!
If I could guess the amount of the development budget that went on design I would have to say 0%, or less (if that’s possible). It’s truly uninspiring to look at and hold but after holding the Sony Z3 the bar had been set pretty high.
The screen is a good quality IPS LCD with a 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution. It offers a crisp picture, with a decent 441pp. Although colours are not as vivid as the Sony Z3 it was still decent enough. It comes with a 13MP camera too which would have blown many folk away not too long ago, although a very decent camera the cutting edge moved beyond this benchmark about twelve months ago.
Huawei has created a very uninspiring but solid device here. Great specs for just £250 on the Android platform. Although it may look a little dull the performance is great, I had no issues whizzing around the interface and it did seem speedy. Is it the ‘fastest’...the jury is still out! As for its business uses, there is no reason to look beyond a handset like this one unless you are worried about style and have an unspent IT budget!
Pros – Cheap, speedy performance, 4G enabled
Cons – Looks and feels cheap, feels like a generic Android phone