Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Sony Xperia Z3: first look

Design

The Xperia Z3 swings with the ladies while the Galaxy Note 4 plays his burly wingman.

Both the Galaxy Note 4 and the Xperia Z3 are impressive phones that exude premium sheen and hardware prowess. But if we were to judge looks alone (which is, of course, subjective), Sony's flagship is the one that will swing with the ladies thanks to its rounded aluminium frame and tempered glass panels, while the Note 4 plays his burly wingman, dressed in typical Samsung plastic crammed between a metal frame. Both are crafted very well, and have that sturdy feel you'd expect from a high-end smartphone.

There's no getting around the fact that both the Note 4 and the Xperia Z3 are large smartphones. In exact numbers, Samsung's new phablet measures an appropriate 6 x 3 x 0.33 inches, 6.2oz (153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm, 176g), while the new Xperia is a more compact 5.74 x 2.83 x 0.28 inches (146 x 72 x 7.3mm) at 5.36 oz (152 grams). However, when you take into account the Note 4's substantially larger screen (5.7 inches by diagonal versus the Xperia Z3's 5.2 inches), the phablet makes for a compact device in its own class. Samsung went the extra length to produce the most comfortable Note 4 possible, shaving extra weight off its sides and screen bezels. Sony too did an excellent job with slimming the Xperia Z3 from the Z2's 0.32 inches (8.2mm) down to 0.28 inches (7.3mm), but its form stays the same.

The devices are available in Black, White, Gold, and Pink for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, while the Xperia Z3 comes in Black, White, Copper, and Silver Green. But which phone is the one to take on a rainy day? Both are sealed tightly against water and dust, and should be able to survive half-hour underwater dips of 1.5 meters. In terms of sensors, both smartphones feature enough data collectors to use them as portable weather stations. The Xperia Z3, in particular, boasts a step counter and detector to aid your walking consciousness.

As an object of differentiation, the Galaxy Note 4 sports its unique S-Pen stylus that fits snugly into its own slot within the device's body. It also has a fingerprint sensor for secure unlocking and payments, and a heart-rate sensor for, you know, heart rate measurements.

Interface

Samsung's ambition has always gravitated around extensive functionality and deeply structured menus, while Sony is decidedly multimedia-centric.

Both TouchWiz (Samsung, first 9 screenshots) and Xperia UI (Sony, last 11 screenshots) are well-established Android interfaces with distinct visual languages and software features. Visually, both are modern and pleasant to look at, with the Xperia UI having the relative advantage of feeling pretty close to the "stock" Android experience while still having an identity. Software-wise, Samsung's ambition has always gravitated around extensive functionality and deeply structured menus, while Sony is decidedly multimedia-centric. In comparing the Galaxy Note 4 and the Xperia Z3, the main point of differentiation is certainly the former's S-Pen features. Note devices make using the stylus a seamless, natural experience for all users that prefer this form of input. The S-Pen is a true Samsung household that is yet to be convincingly replicated by the competition. Additionally, the Galaxy Note 4 supports features such as swipe gestures and has a fingerprint scanner.

Processor and memory

While the Galaxy Note 4 is better prepared for the graphically-advanced games of the future, the Xperia Z3 will comfortably hold its own for another year or two in most regards.

Holding on to its cutting-edge approach to the Note devices' hardware, Samsung packed a potent quad-core Snapdragon 805 32-bit CPU along with 3GB of RAM in the Galaxy Note 4. This is an extremely powerful and energy-efficient configuration that does short work of demanding games and usage scenarios, even with a display that pushes two times as many pixels as the Xperia Z3's. Talking about Sony's flagship, its internals represent a more restrained and reasonable approach. The combination of a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU and 3GB of RAM is exactly what a high-end smartphone with a 1080p display needs to operate smoothly and have great battery life - anything more would have been overkill! While the Galaxy Note 4 is better prepared for the graphically-advanced games of the future, mostly thanks to the Snapdragon 805's powerful Adreno 420 graphics unit, the Xperia Z3 will comfortably hold its own for another year in all regards.