Sony is known for releasing flagship phone versions every six months or so and is at it again, it seems, with an Xperia XZ3 just around the corner, after the XZ2 got announced as recently as the MWC expo back in February. There are already plenty of rumors and leaks fleshing out the XZ3 handset that will likely see the light of the day for the first time at the IFA expo in Berlin at the end of August, as has become a tradition with Sony. This is why we are rounding up everything we know so far about Sony's upcoming nth flagship for the year.
Design and display
A slimmer, lighter love child of the XZ2 and Premium
Judging from the claimed design leak, Sony's Xperia XZ3 will house the XZ2 Premium specs in an XZ2 body. It's got the same taller and narrower design, compared to previous Sony flagships, with thinned-out yet still significant top and bottom bezels. Moreover, it seems to inherit the same soapy-shaped, fairly chunky glass body of the XZ2, and will reportedly carry over the same 5.7" FHD+ LCD display as well, not the 5.8" 4K panel of the Premium.
The XZ2, however, has a single camera on the back, while the XZ3 seems to be landing with a dual-camera effort, perhaps borrowed directly from the XZ2 Premium, whose first camera samples we were treated with not long ago. Still, the alleged XZ3 specs tip a thinner body - 10mm vs 11mm - and a lighter weight. That's welcome news, as the XZ2 is pretty chubby for what it is, compared to other flagships out there.
Specs
More than an XZ2, less than a Premium
A claimed specs sheet of the phone has leaked out of Japan, and it lists a handset that shares a screen panel with the XZ2, but is thinner, lighter, with more RAM, and а slightly larger battery.
You can still expect the lightning fast Snapdragon 845 chipset, but there's a move to 6GB RAM from 4GB, and a 3240 mAh pack, relative to the XZ2's 3180 mAh, though this might just be the actual capacity, as these things go, we doubt that Sony will develop a separate battery just to squeeze 60 mAh more in it.
Bummer, but Sony's phones usually have very, very frugal displays, resulting in surprisingly good endurance out of average battery capacities, so we keep our hopes high for the eventual XZ3 as well.
Cameras
Here Sony really stomps its high-end foot
It seems that Sony has pegged the star of the XZ3 show to be a camera set taken directly from the Premium version of the XZ2, which scored the company's first mobile effort in dual camera shenanigans.
While the Xperia XZ2 carries a single 19MP camera on its back, with F/2.0 aperture, the eventual XZ3 is listed with a dual camera - the same 19MP sensor, but with wider F/1.8 aperture, and a 12MP sidekick with an even wider F/1.6 lens.
The front camera seemingly will also get a bump, to 13MP this time, and this is exactly what the XZ2 Premium carries, so the samples from the XZ3 might look pretty close to the ones in the slideshow below.
Price and release date
Sub-$800 is today's bargain hunting
With a few minor but meaningful hardware upgrades from the Z2, a more refined design, and a huge improvement in the camera area, the XZ3 may be the Sony you might have been waiting for this year.
If this rumor review holds water in the end, the Xperia XZ3 may turn out to be Sony's love child of the Z2 and its Premium offshoot, so we expect the price at launch to be between the $680-$800 that the two predecessors currently command. We'll keep our eyes peeled and ears to the ground when we land at the IFA expo in August, as that's when Sony usually unveils its semi-annual flagship upgrades.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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