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Sony Xperia Z3 Compact: Hands-on

Packing the features of a flagship in the pocketable form factor of a Compact

  • Sales for Sony's Xperia Z3 Compact commence today. This is the flagship smartphone for people with ordinary sized hands, a passion for photography and a never-say-die attitude.

  • Sony's Xperia Z3 Compact is the only mini smartphone not to water down its hardware. Inside is a Snapdragon 801 chipset with a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and support for expandable microSD cards up to 128GB in capacity.

  • Largely differentiating the Z3 Compact from the full sized flagship is the size and resolution of its screen. It has a smaller 4.6in, 720p display and a 319 pixel-per-inch density. The lower screen affords the Z3 Compact a smaller battery at 2600 milliamps-hour.

    The Z3 Compact’s 4.6in screen is larger than its predecessors, but it hasn’t added any size to its body. The body is now thinner at 9mm and lighter at 129 grams.

  • A number of features set the Xperia Z3 Compact apart from the pack. The noble tradition of being waterproof and dust resistant is upheld with its IP68 certification. It is protected against freshwater 1.5 metres deep for a period of thirty minutes.

  • Gamers in Sony’s camp will relish the Z3 Compact's ability to work with a PlayStation 4. An accessory attachment connects the smartphone to a PlayStation 4 controller and makes it possible to view gameplay on the Z3 Compact's display. This feature, known as PS4 remote play, works over a home’s Wi-Fi connection.

  • The exposed and waterpoof 3.5mm headphone jack of the Xperia Z3 Compact is also compatible with Sony's High Resolution Audio (HRA) standard. Sony's Walkman software will also improve the quality of songs in AAC and MP3 format by upscaling them.

  • Improvements have been made to the Z3 Compact's rear camera. Sony claims the 20.7 megapixel shooter will perform better in low-light with an ISO 12800 sensitivity. There’s a new 25mm lens for good measure and support remains for UHD video recording.

  • Sony's Xperia smartphones come with the next best thing to wireless charging. These two contacts work with an accessory dock to charge the smartphone; a worthwhile addition as the microUSB charging port is concealed behind a flap.

  • The Z3 Compact is ripe with connectivity features. It supports 4G Internet, Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.

  • The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, along with the full sized Xperia Z3, go on pre-sale today from Optus. You can read about [[artnid:556269|pricing, colours and availability details here]]

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