No, you got that one right. We're, indeed, about to discuss the upcoming
Xperia Z3, and, alongside it, the Xperia Z3 Compact. And no, it's not
too early, as notable information about the two has already found cracks
within Sony's hopelessly insecure internal world, not to mention that,
as fans of the company will know, it has officially transitioned towards a 6-month flagship release cycle.
Six months isn't a whole lot when talking about processors, and that
means that Sony will perhaps run into consecutive flagship releases that
see no major changes in terms of the chipsets powering the devices. The
Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact could very well be on that path.
Sony
has its reasons for that, though it would be misleading to say that
consumers are necessarily happy about this type of arrangement. That's
not surprising, especially given what now feels characteristic of Sony
devices -- their global roll-outs are a snooze fest, and it usually
takes months for certain regions to get the latest. Case in point: the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
just became available exclusively through Sony's US store -- and it was
announced over 7 months ago. Worse yet, Sony typically struggles
getting carriers on board, so buyers who prefer subsidies at the cost of
a 2-year commitment are sometimes out of luck. Let's hope that this
ceases to be the case sooner rather than later.
In
any case, Sony considers a 6-month release cycle crucial to maintaining
a flagship. And this more than likely means that the Xperia Z3 and the
Xperia Z3 Compact (yes, even though a
Z2 Compact is yet to appear) are now well into development. After all,
August will mark 6 months since the announcement of the Xperia Z2, and that means Sony's new crop is just a few short months away from release.
1. Design and display
Much
alike to the Samsung Galaxy series, Sony's OmniBalance design language
that characterizes each and every of its modern devices is said to also
be the inspiration for the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact's looks, with a few
changes.
Xperia Z3
Looking
at the Xperia Z3 first, the combination of leaks and rumors suggest
that the upcoming flagship will try to improve in several key design
areas: thickness and size of bezels. Indeed, both according to tipsters,
a CAD drawing, and from the few alleged images of the Z3 that have
already cropped up, it would appear that Sony is finally making progress
in terms of bezels, and we're also told to expect a much thinner
device. Currently, we're told to expect dimensions of 146.46 x 72.09 x
7.3 mm, though the a Sony teaser from August 28th suggests a thickness of 7mm.
That would be a pretty impressive engineering achievement, especially
if we take it for granted that the Z3 will be dust- and water-resistant
like the flagships before it. Another image leak also suggests that the
Z3 will be encased within a more-rounded-than-before metal frame, coated
with PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition). This will apparently make it more
resistant to scratches and upon impact. Lastly, said images seem to
confirm that Sony will, again, adopt dual front-facing speakers.
As
for the display panel that Sony is planning on using with the Z3, we
have considerably less information. That said, some may be relieved to
hear that, at this point, multiple sources refute the possibility of a
super pixel-dense, Quad HD (1440 x 2560) resolution display. Instead, a
more standard, 1080p screen (likely the IPS type) is what's currently
expected, though we don't yet know of the kind of diagonal those pixels
will be stretched over.
A collection of leaked Xperia Z3 images
Xperia Z3 Compact
The mini version of the
Z3, likely to be commercially known as the Z3 Compact, will mimic the
design (from what we've seen) of its bigger sibling, and also sport
smaller bezels, a relatively thin form factor, and perhaps even a duo of
front-facing speakers. If the Z1 Compact is any indication, then we'd
also expect the Z3 Compact to also come with dust- and water-resistant
body (IP68). And the physical footprint? 129 x 64.9 x 8.8 mm, according
to a leaked CAD drawing of the Z3 Compact, though a more recent leak
suggests dimensions of 127 x 64.9 x 8.6 mm (5 x 2.55 x 0.33 in), and a
weight of 129 g (4.55 oz).
Unlike the Xperia
Z3, we already have some indication as to the size of the Z3 Compact's
screen -- 4.6 inches, and a 720 x 1280 resolution, or a pixel density of
326 ppi. Seeing as how the Z1 Compact was the first Sony device to
arrive with an IPS panel, we'd expect no less from the Z3 Compact.
A collection of leaked Xperia Z3 Compact images
2. Processor and memory
Xperia Z3
From what we know so far, Sony may well be in for some criticism
from fans, as certain sources (including an alleged AnTuTu benchmark
pass) suggest that the chip powering the Xperia Z3 is none other than
the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8974AC. That's the highest bin of the SD801,
and it makes use of four Krait 400 cores, clocked at 2.5GHz, and an
Adreno 330 GPU, flying at 578MHz. As some of you will probably know,
that's the exact same chip powering the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the LG G3.
Obviously,
such a development would be hard for fans to stomach, though it should
be pointed out that the performance of such a high tier chip leaves
absolutely nothing to desire. In terms of RAM, we're currently expecting
a 3GB unit, though you never know. And that last part is applicable to
the processor, too -- after all, the Snapdragon 805 has already seen its
official debut with the Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A.
Internal memory is said to be 16GB, with an option for expansion through a microSD card (up to 128GB more).
Xperia Z3 Compact
As
for the Xperia Z3's smaller brother, XDA developer DooMLoRD claims the
Z3 Compact will also pack the very same, 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801
chip, but will keep the RAM locked at 2GB. As for built-in storage,
we're told to expect 16GB and a slot for a microSD card (up to 128GB
more).
Such a small upgrade, however,
definitely begs the question: will we even see a Z2 Compact? Or is Sony
about to skip ahead? We just don't know yet.
3. Camera
Soon after Sony released the Xperia Z1, the 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS
sensor found within quickly turned into its most stand-out feature.
Indeed, the sheer number of available pixels is usually enough to get
most sold on the Z line's cameras, even though advanced users know that
these do not necessarily translate into an awesome snap. To avoid
confusion, this is not to say that the images that the Z1 -- and even
more so, the Z2 -- produce are disappointing at all. In fact, in our
experience they're just shy of costing the Galaxy S5's crown in the
camera department.
All this talk about the
20.7MP snapper on current Sony devices probably was clue enough for some
of you, but here goes: right now, we're led to believe that Sony will
stick with it for another generation, and both the Xperia Z3 and Xperia
Z3 Compact will sport one. That's not necessarily a bad thing,
especially considering how important camera software has become, so
there's probably room for improvement anyway.
On
an equally speculative note, Sony has revealed that it's making good
progress on a new kind of CMOS sensors that are curved, much alike to
the human eye. The company says that the new piece will introduce
minimal vignetting and aberrations at the corners of images, which is
usually a problem with flat sensors. Even better, Sony is apparently
ready to produce a full-frame curved sensor, along with a 1/2.3''-sized
one for smartphones. Said otherwise, Sony may have a surprise up its
sleeve, so we may end up seeing this new tech in action sooner rather
than later.
4. Price and release date
Considering
that Sony has officially confirmed that it's going after a 6-month
flagship release cycle, it's not too hard to imagine that the Xperia Z3
and Xperia Z3 Compact will be announced in the August-September span. As
we now know, Sony has set an event for September 3rd at IFA 2014 in
Berlin, and will, indeed, unveil both the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3
Compact.
As for pricing, Sony has been fairly
uniform as of late. To be completely fair, the price Sony charged for
the Z1 and the one it set for the Z2 is pretty much identical. This
gives us reason to believe that the Xperia Z3 will go on sale commanding a price tag of about $699 unlocked in the US (apparently with T-Mobile), and anywhere between €599 and €699 in Europe.
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