Sony Xperia XZ3: Is one camera enough?
2.9.2018
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
Just a few weeks after the launch of its latest flagship, the XZ2 Premium, Sony is making a name for itself with a new flagship. The Sony Xperia XZ3 is set to prove that the old still has a place on the market.
Sony does good things, basically. Video producer Stephanie Tresch swears by the brand when it comes to cameras for filming. I only shoot on a Sony a7sii and am learning the craft of filming on my own. The new WH-1000XM3 headphones are impressive.
The Sony XPeria XZ3, on the other hand, does not. Or not at first glance.
What appeals?
At first glance, the colours catch the eye. The XZ3 comes in four colours:
- Black, simply called "Black" by Sony
- White aka "Silver White"
- Red aka "Bordeaux Red"
- Green aka "Forest Green"
All four phones come with a glossy back plate, which readily accepts fingerprints. Black and white are common, but green and red look spectacular. Stephanie likes red better, I like green.
Source: Dominik Bärlocher
On the other hand, Sony has finally installed an OLED display with a six-inch screen diagonal. That makes a big difference, because who wants a phone without an OLED screen? All in all, the Sony shines on the outside. Inside is a Snapdragon 845 system-on-a-chip (SoC), which certainly delivers decent computing power. Plus 4 GB of RAM, which is sufficient for a phone, but will probably quickly become outdated.
Is Sony forgetting its old strengths?
Sony smartphones have a reputation for impressing with their camera. Every now and then, scene observers jokingly claim that Sony builds small cameras and then builds some phone features around them to pretend that they are selling a phone. In fact, the cameras in Sony phones are so good that the phones survived until the XZ2 generation without a dual cam. The XZ2 Premium seemed to put an end to this, as the phone delivered the first dual cam in a Sony phone. A short test by the editorial team in Berlin shows: Meh, it's fine.
The XZ3 only has one camera again. Why is that? Because Sony could have ironed out the teething troubles of the dual camera system, tweaked the AI to improve the images and possibly dialled back the automatic ISO a little.
Source: Dominik Bärlocher
depending on the incidence of light.
This is the camera's biggest weakness. You have to shoot in Pro mode, otherwise practically every image will be grainy. In auto mode, the camera delivers beautifully bright images, but when you zoom in, the image quickly looks like it's made up of grains of rice. Sure, it's okay if a smartphone camera only shines when you use it in Pro mode. With most phone cameras, Pro mode helps to get a little more out of the camera. But Auto mode should deliver images in the top third of the camera's capabilities.
At first glance, that's exactly what I don't buy about the XZ3. There is so much more to it. I'm convinced that the 19-megapixel rear camera and the 13-megapixel front camera in Sony quality can do more. Since this is hardly due to the hardware, because I have no doubts about that with Sony, I believe in a software problem. And that can be fixed via an update.
It would be a shame if Sony didn't work on the camera. Because if the company neglects the camera, then the biggest feature of the "camera they built a phone around" will be lost. That would not only be a shame for Sony fans, but also for the world of smartphones.
Source: Dominik Bärlocher
The XZ3 is also heavy. It weighs 193 grams. That doesn't sound like much, but when I hold it in my hands, I think: "What a brick". My current daily driver, the Huawei P20 Pro, feels much lighter, even though it only weighs 13 grams less. However, it is 3 millimetres shorter, 0.9 millimetres wider and 2.1 millimetres thinner. I think it's the latter measurement that makes me think it's a brick.
In short: The first impression of the XZ3 is mixed, but the excitement is there. Because the phone can hardly impress with looks, but could do so with raw performance and great pictures. Just two rather unusual and successful colours are not enough.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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