phone 16 – sony xperia z3 dual

no phone has replaced my sony xperia miro since 2013, despite trying different brands, including nokia, which is my first favorite brand. some other phones have more capabilities, like the nokia lumia 1020 than miro. nokia x2 dual sim supposed to replaced the miro. however, miro proved to be irreplaceable that time for simple and intuitive interface; the social media integration also held me from migrating from miro. so, with such experience on a non-flagship xperia, i bought the sony xperia z3 dual in 2016. the same was released in 2014.

despite almost, 2 years of age when i bought it. my expectations were met, and beyond. no, it was not supposed to replace miro as the main phone. but, it is intended to be my work phone – the first one, despite being slaved, i mean, employed for almost 3 years.

is it still working in 2021? the answer is the battery testing result for 2021 below. last 2020, the 3100mah battery was charged for 3 hours and a little less than 30 minutes. this 2021, it was charged a little bit longer, almost the same, for 3 hours and a little more than 30 minutes. too little, right? this can be charged via usb or by using the magnetic charging i usually use on this. but for such test, i use the usb charging. as for the usage, it managed to last for almost a day, just 2 hours and less than 30 minutes, this phone will cover the entire day, 24 hours. if you remember, nokia lumia 1020 also has similar battery life. close enough.

music play is great, the loudspeaker is not as loud as asus fonepad note fhd6. but the quality is better. clear. i can hear some parts of the song i listened to, clearly. like some musical instruments and even back-up singers. aside from the loudspeaker, there is wireless audio and 3.5mm audio. the latter is the best. it is beyond my expectations coming from miro. the sound is also clear – include the calls, from my boss, since this is a work phone.

for web browsing, there is really nothing i complain about, the 5.2 inches fhd ips lcd display is satisfying. lay flat on the table, and from whatever angle i look at the display, i can easily read the contents. images are crisp. when i am on the road but needs to view some work-related images, i got to see what i needed to see – pixel peeping or whatever, it is okay without my laptop around. sadly there was this news about web browsers not supporting older android devices (in 2021), which standards will be followed by web developers. so this might affect the usability of this phone. but, being bought in 2016, it is still good that i can still browse the web, this 2021 with it.

gaming? just casual gaming. card games. puzzles. jewels or bubbles. you get the idea? these are the games i am sure this phone can run lag-free. but for 3gb/16gb memory configuration (the other variant has 32gb of storage memory), it might run popular games even in 2021. but the snapdragon 801 might struggle and absolutely produces heat faster than the processors in 2021.

for photo shoots. i was able to get some decent shots on good daylight and good details, courtesy of the 20.7mp f2.0 sensor. lowlight shots are decent even on 2016. compare this to nightmode of 2021, the results on this phone can be described as smudgy, blurry and has unresolved details. there are just some niceties the camera modes have. there is “face in picture” which is similar to nokia’s take on bothie. there is an “ar effect”, which becomes popular to phones even after 2016. familiar with camera apps that can make your face like a cat? or that app that can overlay some objects into the view? that is the xperia “ar effect”. there is also the “timeshift video” which lets you shoot at a high frame rate and save it as a slow motion video. that is 120fps, which is nothing compared to 960fps of organic shots, first time on xperia xzs and xz premium. xperia flagships have it up to the xperia 1 i (mark 1). there is also “4k video” capture, but phones were still weak that time, as it gets warmer than usual, using this mode. “timeshift burst” is another mode that is worth mentioning. it takes burst shots, including the shots before you press the shutter button. so, if you press the shutter button quickly after a lightning strikes, chances are, you get one if not more shots of the lightning. nice! i got some lightning shots, but some of them has this rolling shutter effect. it also has “live on youtube” which was not possible on most phones, then. “info eye” mode is like the google lens now. “sound photo” lets you save the ambient sound when you shoot. there is also a “background defocus” for a fake bokeh. “sweep panorama” and “creative effect” too are there. the modes are almost endless as some modes are downloadable. those mentioned were there out of the box.

on videos, aside from those modes, mentioned above, it can record hdr videos. 720p for as fast as 120fps. 1080p for the usual 60fps. 2160p (4k) only records at 30fps. the 2.2mp front camera handles video call and selfies, too. i guess, selfies were not yet popular those days, or at least on xperia devices.

i also enjoyed watching movies, especially when “image enhancement” is turned on. for my own video clips, i turn it off, though. the advantage of clear front facing loudspeaker is also evident when watching movies, especially alone since it is not that loud. for movie sessions with friends and workmates, the asus fonepad note fhd6 is the way to go – it is not meant for solo pleasure (cannot think of other term), but for sharing, so i am not concerned with “quality” on those sessions.

overall, the phone is still usable. it is enjoyable, only when you do not play with demanding games, as the soc and memory configuration, will struggle, if it can still play those. the body is still in pristine condition as i used a case before. now, mostly on my gadgets box, i remove all coverings – from case to screen protector. minimal hairline scratches can be seen but does not affect the experience when watching on the display. there are some cases, when the touchscreen is unresponsive. i guess, this is due to the bulging battery which just started recently. i am not sure, whether to have it repaired or just to remove the battery and lock it until i come up with things to do on it.

reviewing this phone made me remember that xperia was ahead of its time, especially in the camera department. the different modes were brilliant. the default mode even has a “scene recognition” algorithm which is now referred to as “ai camera” by most manufacturers. that 4k video. the youtube live video broadcasts. all these, on a phone released on 2014, experienced on 2016 is just amazing. it comes with a disadvantage though – the technology, hardware and software (by some partners) is not that ready yet to handle the features completely.

since this phone, the brand became my most favorite – ahead nokia. as for nokia, the nokia lumia 1020 might be the last one i would get.