In Depth: Sony Xperia Z3: what we want to see

It seems like the Sony Xperia Z2 has barely been available any time at all and yet already there are a few rumors circling around the Sony Xperia Z3.

That's not entirely surprising, the smartphone world is fast moving at the best of times and while most companies bring out one flagship a year Sony has started releasing one every six months or so, which means the Xperia Z3 may not actually be all that far off.

In fact, early rumors point to a launch as soon as August, while also claiming that the Xperia Z3 will have a metal frame, just like its predecessors, except that this time around it will be coated in PVD, which should make it more environmentally friendly, corrosion and scratch resistant and give it increased impact resistance.

The same source (Chinese site IT168) claims that it will have a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 graphics chip clocked at 500MHz. However it will apparently only have a 1080p display. The source even supplied some images which supposedly show the phones super-slim metal frame.

However Twitter tipster DooMLoRD disagrees slightly, claiming that the Xperia Z3 won't have a Snapdragon 805 chip, which suggests it will instead be stuck with the same Snapdragon 801 chip as the Xperia Z2. But he does say that it will be just 7mm thick, which fits with the slim line frame images we've seen.

According to DooMLoRD the Xperia Z2 will also have a new design and slim bezels and will be out in September, not August as the initial rumors suggested.

That's all we've heard so far but with the Z3 potentially launching just a few months from now we expect that more leaks and rumors will start pouring in soon. In the meantime, this is what we want to see:

A sleek design

There's no denying that the Sony Xperia Z2 looks good with its metal frame and glass back, but it also looks a bit industrial and its angular design can make it uncomfortable to hold.

Not to mention the fact that the large bezels above and below the screen detract from the otherwise premium design and make the whole handset bigger than should be necessary.

So for the Xperia Z3 we'd love to see more curves and smaller bezels. The good news is that we may well get that, as one of the rumors doing the rounds is that the Z3 will have slimmer bezels and a new design.

Improved 4K video recording

The Sony Xperia Z2 can record high quality 4K video, but the phone gets worryingly hot in the process and longer videos can cause it to crash, so hopefully Sony will sort out these quirks for the Xperia Z3 or the 4K functionality may remain little more than a novelty.

More power

While the Sony Xperia Z2 is certainly a powerful phone there are times when it struggles a little, such as when using Background Defocus on the camera. Its Geekbench 3 score also puts it a little behind the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8, so a bit more power would be desirable.

With so little time between the Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z3 we can't realistically expect a huge difference here, but giving it a Snapdragon 805 processor and a slightly faster clock speed would surely help as perhaps would some software optimisations.

A 5.2-inch screen

This might seem an odd thing to wish for given that the Xperia Z2 already has a 5.2-inch display, but smartphone screens are growing at a worrying rate.

While there's certainly a market for phablets we're not convinced that 5.5-inch screens and above have the same mass market appeal as say 4.7-5.2 inch displays.

5.2 inches is a good size. It's big enough to comfortably watch videos, play games and browse the web and is still just about compact enough to operate with one hand. Any bigger and it risks becoming cumbersome, so we hope Sony resists upping the screen size again.

More built in storage

Sure, the Xperia Z2 has a microSD card slot and we fully expect the Xperia Z3 to follow suit, meaning that storage isn't a huge issue. But it would still be nice to have a decent amount built in rather than feeling like a microSD card is essential from almost day one.

The Xperia Z2 only had 16GB of built in storage and we'd like to see the Sony Xperia Z3 double that at the very least.

Better battery life

The Sony Xperia Z2 already has great battery life by smartphone standards but smartphone standards just aren't good enough. We want a phone that can last all week and while it's not realistic to expect that from the Xperia Z3 we'll take any improvements we can get.

A QHD display

LG has brought Quad HD (QHD) smartphone displays to the mainstream with the LG G3 and while it's questionable how much difference it really makes on screens this size it's certainly a selling point.

Now any phone that doesn't have a QHD display risks being unfavourably compared to the G3, so Sony won't be doing itself any favours if it sticks with a 1080p screen.

• We're dreaming about the Samsung Galaxy S6 too.

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