Sony has just announced the Xperia Z3 smartphone, which replaces the less-than-a-year-old Xperia Z2 with a slimmer, lighter and more powerful handset. But is the Xperia Z3 any match for the Lumia 930? Should you buy the Xperia Z3 or the Lumia 930? Let's break down the spec differences and take a look.
Display
Display-wise, the Xperia Z3 has an extra 0.2 inches to play with here, but in terms of ppi the Lumia 930 packs more into its 5in screen, suggesting a superior image quality. What with both smartphones boasting a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, the ultimate difference in quality may come down to the display type - TRILUMINOS for the Z3, and AMOLED for the Lumia. The Z3's "crisp" TRILUMINOS technology claims to display high-definition colours in their most natural tones, while AMOLED technology is ideal for larger higher definition displays with a lot of pixels.
Size and weight
Sony have managed to create a device that is both 17g lighter and 2.5 mm slimmer than the Lumia 930, though the Z3 is 11 mm longer. The Xperia Z3 is 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm and the Lumia 930 is 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm.
Battery
The Xperia Z3 has a big ol' battery, and I thought the 930's was quite large. At 3,100 mAh it's a packhorse, yet strangely the Z3 only offers 14 hours 3G talktime. The Lumia offers 14 hours and 30 mins with a smaller battery.
Cameras
This is where these two smartphones pit it out. The Xperia Z3 and Lumia 930 house 20.7-megapixel and 20-megapixel cameras respectively, so not much difference there. Z3 users can enjoy 4K video though and a 2.2-megapixel front facing camera (to take selfies with jealous Lumia owners).
Conclusion
These two smartphones are camera behemoths and are both consequently quite heavy. The Lumia 930 is especially chunky for a smartphone and boasts 32 GB of storage - double that of the Z3 - but most of the Sony handset's features are marginally better than the Lumia's, including a whole lot more RAM and the option of microSD storage. Logically, the Z3 has it, but if you're driven by passion, go for the Lumia (it's much better looking).
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Specifications
Sony Xperia Z (opens in new tab)3 | Lumia 930 | |
Display | ||
Screen size | 5.2in | 5in |
Resolution | 1,920 x 1,080 pixels | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
Pixel density | 423.64ppi | 441ppi |
Type | TRILUMINOS | AMOLED |
Processor and battery | ||
Family | Snapdragon 801 | Snapdragon 800 |
CPU | Krait 400 | Krait 400 |
Cores | Quad-core | Quad-core |
Clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 2.2Ghz |
GPU | Adreno 330 | Adreno 300 |
Battery | 3,100 mAh | 2,420 mAh |
Claimed 3G talk time | 14h talktime | 14h 30m talktime |
Storage and memory | ||
RAM | 3GB RAM (opens in new tab) | 2GB |
Internal storage | 16GB | 32GB |
microSD | Yes | No |
Camera | ||
Rear | 20.7-megapixel | 20 megapixel |
Video | 4K | 1080p @ 30fps |
Front | 2.2-megapixel | 1.2 megapixel |
Wireless | ||
Standard | 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
Wi-Fi | WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac | WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac |
NFC | Yes | Yes |
Bluetooth | v4.0 | v4.0 |
Integrated wireless charging | Yes | Yes |
Dimensions | ||
Size | 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm | 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm |
Weight | 152g | 169g |
Operating System | Android 4.4 KitKat | Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 |
Price (SIM-free) | £549 | 440 |
Availability | September 2014 | Now |