Sony Unveils 3 New Xperia Smartphones: Z3, Z3 Compact, E3

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Sony Corp has fired the next shot in the great smartphone war.  As Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Edge, Sony unveiled three new Xperia models: The Xperia Z3, the Xperia Z3 Compact and the Xperia E3.

Sony Xperia Z3 specs and features

The Sony Xperia Z3 doesn’t offer much of an upgrade from the Z2, although it does have one big feature its predecessor lacks. The smartphone allows users to actually play games on their PlayStation 4 remotely.

It sports a 5.2-inch full HD 1080p resolution display and runs Android 4.4.4 under a Sony skin. The handset has a waterproof rating of IP65-68, which is currently the highest rating at the consumer level, according to Gizmodo. The processor is a 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801, and it has 3 GB of RAM. It also sports an aluminum frame, nylon caps on the corners, and a glossy back casing.

The phone has a 3100 mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than the 3200 mAh battery in the Z2. However, Sony said it should last up to two full days on average. This is because Sony has utilized a new “on-display memory technology” that enables the phone to reduce its refresh rate according to the user’s typical usage. The company also said the display is its brightest. The handset will be available in black, white, copper and silver-green.

The Z3’s camera is 20.7 megapixels and has an ISO sensitivity range of 12800, enabling users to take better photos in dim lighting. There’s also a 2-megapixel front-facing camera with a special selfie mode that uses both cameras at the same time to put faces over snapshots.

The smartphone will go on sales around the globe starting in October.

Sony Xperia Z3 plays PS 4 games

Sony is certainly targeting the gaming crowd with the Z3, which makes sense because the company has a very loyal user base in the PlayStation 4. Now that the Z3 allows remote PS4 gaming, the company could indeed pose a threat to Samsung and possible Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as well—at least among gamers.

Starting in November, the current second screen PlayStation app will make it possible to play games on the PS4 using the Xperia Z3. The app will be able to verify a user’s smartphone and then unlock remote streaming over the same Wi-Fi network the phone is on. It should be similar to how the handheld PlayStation Vita works but should offer better controls than the handheld system because it requires a DualShock 4 controller to play games.

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact specs and features

Unlike the smaller versions of other manufacturers, Sony has decided to keep the Z3 Compact mostly the same as the flagship model without watering down most of the specs and features. The design, processor and camera are the same as the flagship model. The smartphone is simply a smaller size, with a 4.6-inch display, although it has a 720p resolution, which isn’t as good as the resolution of the phone’s big brother. Like the flagship Z3, it’s waterproof and can play PlayStation 4 games. However, it has 2 GB of RAM, compared to the flagship’s 3 GB.

The Xperia Z3 Compact goes on sale starting in October.

Sony targets the budget-conscious with Xperia E3

The third new Xperia smartphone is the E3, which Sony introduced as its less expensive smartphone. Although the pricing on the handsets isn’t available yet, the E3 will be more affordable. It has the same flagship design and can still handle 4G. However, the specs on this one are watered down.

The screen is 4.5 inches in size and has a resolution of 854 x 480. The processor is a quad-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400, and the battery 2,330 mAh. There’s 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of expandable memory. The camera is 5 megapixels

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