Bravo, Bravia - Sony Xperia XZ3

Can a Bravia-engineered display return Sony Mobile to the big time once again?

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There’s no doubting the Sony Xperia XZ2 was a technical powerhouse when released earlier in 2018, yet it fell down in terms of design, aesthetic and software, which still needed work to bring them up to a level where they could compete with the flagship Android devices.

Fast-forward six months, and Sony has returned with the Xperia XZ3, a new device that has re-engineered that phone’s DNA to produce a handset that, at least on the outside, looks different to its predecessors. Has Sony produced a flagship killer that returns it to the top table, or has the device got lost in its evolutionary leap forward?

A modern, lithe design

Pleasingly, the Sony Xperia XZ3 has had a total redesign, with a tall new 18:9 form factor, Samsung-style curved display, and lush new aluminium frame. The phone feels very premium, and has a pleasingly dense presence in the hand.

The aluminium frame is constructed from the same grade of metal as aircraft, and it certainly feels the part, radiating a coolness and rigidity that more plastic-heavy phones can lack.

The rear of the phone features a shiny gloss back plate, while the layout of the phone’s rear camera and circular fingerprint reader remain in the same central locations as on the XZ2 range. The fingerprint sensor positioning is okay, though we do prefer facial recognition these days most of the time, to be honest.