Sony Xperia Z3 vs Samsung Galaxy S5 – Clash of the Titans

Today we have the Sony Xperia Z3, which has been announced at IFA Berlin 2014 and we are putting it side by side with the Samsung Galaxy S5. One is a little old, one’s brand new, lets see which comes out on top of today’s side-by-side comparison.

Xperia Z3 vs Galaxy S5 – Design

You can see straight away that design stands out, being one of the major differences. The Xperia Z3 has some sturdy square corners and much larger bezels, while the Galaxy S5 is much more rounded and you can see that it’s actually a smaller device. The Xperia Z3 has a slightly larger LCD screen, the S5 on the other hand has a Super AMOLED screen, which  is slightly smaller, making the S5 a bit smaller than the Xperia Z3. If we put them together we can see size-wise there is not much to it, but the Xperia Z3 is definitely larger even though they are about the same width. If we look at the edges we can see the balanced design approach from Sony, and the nice brushed metal on the side which is pretty nice, while the plastic-metallic feel on the Galaxy S5 is slightly less appealing. Both have ports on the top for headphones and mice and the S5 has an infrared blaster while the Xperia Z3 does not. On the other side we have the water-proof ports for the Xperia Z3 and the dedicated camera shutter button. On the Galaxy S5 we don’t have any shutter button, but we do have a removable back panel which will give you access to the microSD card, and of course the removable battery which the Xperia X3 does not have.

Xperia Z3 vs Galaxy S5 design

Xperia Z3 vs Galaxy S5 – Camera

When we take a look at the cameras, we get the 20.7 MP Sony G lens on the Xperia Z3 and a 16 MP ISOCELL sensor on the Galaxy S5, to be detailed in a little bit. Just underneath the camera on the Galaxy S5 we can see the LED flash and the heart-rate sensor. When we take a look at the Camera Apps, we can see that the Xperia z3 camera app loads up much faster than on the S5, of course the Galaxy S5 has some pretty fantastic camera capabilities, but than again the Z3 is not that far behind.  In low light situations you can see the Xperia Z3 definitely destroys the Galaxy S5, which you can barely even see below.

Xperia Z3 vs Galaxy S5 low light shooting

If you take a look the gallery bellow  you will see the differences in color, of course a little bit richer on the S5, but the Xperia Z3 handles them quite well, too. In HDR mode the Galaxy S5 handles the brightness outside a little bit better than the Xperia Z3 which is a little washed out. In normal mode they are both struggling. Color reproduction is nice but the Xperia Z3 is a little bit on the dark side and you can see the color differences in full day light as well. The Z3 produces a little bit more redish pink versus a slightly more realistic tone on the S5, but generally speaking the Galaxy S5 will produce much more realistic colors on skin tone which is a bit washed out on the Xperia Z3. While colors nice and bright on both, you get less contrast on the Xperia Z3 than you will on the S5.

Xperia Z3 vs Galaxy S5 – Specs

Internally there are quite a lot of things that are actually the same. They have the same processor and there is lots of other things that are similar like the screens are very similar other than the technology type and a very minor change in size. The storage capacity is the same, both having microSD card slots and of course the Xperia Z3 has a water-proof flap, while on the S5 you can remove the back-plate to access your microSD and the battery. The Z3 doesn’t have a removable battery which may be a problem for some. The Z3 has 3 GB of RAM and the S5 only has 2GB of RAM. The Sony of course beats the S5 in camera resolution and as far as interfaces go that’s kind of up to you, it all depends on what you like to see, whether you like the slightly more minimal look of the Xperia UI or you like the more colorful and bright TouchWiz UI.

Xperia-Z3-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-S5-specs

Sony features the new LifeLog App and Samsung has the S-health App for all of your wearable needs. When it comes down to it, both devices are pretty fantastic and the Galaxy S5 has been out for a bit  longer than the Xperia Z3. Some things are better in the Z3, such as more RAM, bigger battery, higher resolution camera although I do think the Galaxy S5 camera is a little bit better when it comes to performance. There are a few more gimmicks in the S5, it that is the kind of thing you are after, but if you are a gaming fan and you like the PlayStation 4 connectivity with the Xperia Z3, there is a soon to come game-controller adapter so you can actually play on your phone as well. So it all comes down to what you want, if you think the Sony Xperia Z3 is good enough to take down the Samsung Galaxy S5 tell us in the comment section below.

[ads2]