The new Sony Xperia XZ3: A 6-Month Update and Review

Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap, and this is the new Sony Xperia XZ3.

It feels just like yesterday, well, April, that we were talking about the XZ2. But 6 months on, and here we are again. So, what's new on the XZ3? Is it any good, and should you consider buying it?

The Xperia XZ3 will set you back £700, or a whopping $900 in the U.S. And for that, you get a 6-inch display.

(Note: I rearranged the sentences to make them more coherent and readable, while keeping all the original words intact.)

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys I'm Tom the Tech Chapand this is the new Sony Xperia XZ3It feels just like yesterday, well, April,that we were talking about the XZ2but 6 months on, and here we are again.So what's new on the XZ3,is it any good, and should youconsider buying it?So the Xperia XZ3 willset you back 700 pounds,or a whopping 900 dollars in the U.S.And for that you get a 6\" quad-HD+OLED screen that supports HDR,a Snapdragon 845 processor, 4 GB of RAM,64 GB of storage with room for an SD-cardand it comes running the latestAndroid 9.0 Pie software.It's also got a few tricks up its sleeve,like being able to record HDR video,960fps super slow motion at full HD, dual-speakersand Sony's fancy dynamic vibration systemthat gives you haptic feedbackwhen watching videos and playing games.Now that all sounds great,but it's not a huge upgrade over the XZ2,which is about a 150 pounds less now.The main differences are the bigger andhigher resolution OLED screen, slightly thinner bezels,an upgraded selfie camera, and the factthat it ships with Android 9.0 out of the box.But if those things aren't that important to you,then the now-discounted XZ2 may be a better option.But back to the XZ3, and while it's not perfect,I have to say I am really impressed by it.In terms of design, I havekind of a love-hate relationship with it.Picking it up, it does feel premium,it feels well-built and comfortablethanks to the rounded corners.But it's also incredibly slippery. Seriously,put a case on this thing to avoid dropping it.The dedicated camera shutter button is a nice extra,but I can feel it dig into my right hand.The fingerprint reader is fast,but it's still uncomfortably low-down.I keep tapping the camera lens instead.The good news though is it's IP68water-resistant and it doesn't have a notch.But then again on the flip side,the bezels are relatively chunky for a 2018 phone.Plus, there's no headphone jack.Overall though, I think it looks good,and it does definitely stand outfrom the notch crowd.But it's that screen which is reallya standout feature.As I said, it's Quad-HD+, it supports HDR10,which is great for Netflix,and it's Sony's first phonewith and OLED screen,which gets you infinite contrast,and really vibrant colors.You still have the option to switch betweenaccurate sRGB and vibrant display modesin the settings though.Pair that beautiful 6\" screen withsurprisingly good stereo speakers,and it becomes a great device forwatching movies and playing games.But if you want to take it a step further,turn on Sony's Dynamic Vibrationto get some haptic feedback.If I'm honest, I do think it's a bit gimmicky,but keeping it on low does adda bit of 'oomph' to what you're watchingor playing.Even if it can be a little inconsistentwith when it vibrates.Now in terms of performance, it doesn'tfeel as nippy as say the latest Pixelor OnePlus phones, which are closer to stock Android,but it's still extremely fast and responsive,and I really do prefer Sony's softwareto Samsung's, LG's or Huawei's.You get a few extras too, like Side Sense,which, to be honestI found more annoying than useful.It's basically the same as HTC's Edge Sense,tap or squeeze a side of the phoneto bring up some app orsetting shortcuts.But I kept accidentally opening it,which was frustrating,so I turned this off pretty quickly.Now in terms of battery life, the 3,330mAhcell is slightly bigger than the XZ2,but then again, so is the screen.So I actually found battery life to beabout the same as before.But that's no bad thing.1h of YouTube at 50% brightnessused 11% of the batteryand after 1h of YouTube, 1h of Asphalt 9and 1h of Instagram, I had 64% of my battery left.Which is definitely above average,if you compare it to these phones, after the same test.So you get a little over a daywith the XZ3, but not much more.Although it does support fastand wireless Qi charging.Now let's talk about the camera.And unlike a lot of 2018 flagships,there is just one lens here,so there is no wide angle or optical zoom options.But it does have some fancy HDRand slow motion tricks, but we'll get to that.The 19 MP F2.0 camera on the XZ3takes fantastic photos.They're detailed, vibrant, while retainingcolor accuracy,and it handles dynamic range really well.So photos look great in isolation, buthow does it compare to, say, the Galaxy Note 9?Well side by side, I think I actuallyprefer the XZ3.It seems to offer better dynamic range,for example the menus in this picture,and the flower in this one, aren't as blown outon the XZ3 as they are on the Note 9.Although an upcoming camera updateon the Samsung should improve this.But one of the big upgrades this year,on the XZ3, is the front facing camera,up from 5 MP to 13 MP,and now with a wider F1.9 aperture.In good light, it takes a fantastic selfie,with impressive colors and exposure.The selfie portrait mode though,is less impressive.Which kept producing blurry,and slightly washed out shots.The Note 9 does look overly smooth,but I prefer it to the XZ3's.Moving on to video, and the XZ3produces some really crisp and colourful footage.And at 1080p it's super smooth,thanks to the intelligent stabilisation feature.But unfortunately, you don't get this at 4K,so moving on to the higher resolution,while it does definitely look more detailed,it's noticeably less smooth.It's still good though, but most other flagshipsdo offer smoother 4K video,and give you the option of 4K 60fps,which is just something the XZ3 doesn't offer.What you do get though, is HDR.Turning this on can cause some stuttering,and next to regular 4K video it doeslook over-exposed and washed out,but assuming you play it back onan HDR-compatible screen,and maybe even colour-correct it in post production,it's an interesting option to have for content creators.And finally we have super slow motion.The XZ3 can shoot 960fps slow-mo at Full HD.But to be honest though, even in very good light,it still looks noisy and just a bit rubbish,and is virtually unusable in low-light.You do still have the option of 120fps slow-mo,which is much better quality,and just easier to use,considering you only get 0.1sof actual footage at 960fps.So it's a cool feature, but I don't knowhow often I'd use it, and it can be really hardto capture the right moment.So the big question then,should you buy the XZ3?While I think it's a great phone,it's lovely to use, has a solid battery lifeand more camera features thanyou can shake a stick at,But it's not cheap, and there's a lotof strong competitionincluding the Galaxy S9+, the new LG V40, and of coursethe OnePlus 6, or even the upcoming OnePlus 6T,which I think will be a better optionfor a lot less money.Or maybe even wait for the XZ3 Premium,which will probably only cost 100 more.But if you are a fan of Sony's software,you think HDR and slow-mo video will come in handy,you like the design and you can't really waitfor anything else,then, yeah, I do recommend the XZ3,it is a great phone.But what do you think? Would you consider buying it?Let me know in the comments below.I have also put links in the descriptionif you want to check it out,and don't forget to click Like and Subscribeif you found this video helpful.Thank you so much for watching guys,and I'll catch you next time,right here, on The Tech Chap.\n"