Lumia 830 vs Z3 Compact

[angusdegraosta]

Good to see others are looking at the differences between these two. I like them both. I think the cameras will probably be equally good in many cases, at least for casual use, but from the small clips of video shot with the two devices that I've watched on YouTube, the Lumia 830 looks as if it does a better job. The OIS especially looks as if it does its job well.

Just how much better the Z3 Compact handles web pages and basic tasks is another story. Unfortunately, I might not get to judge that first hand, because the phone is being neglected by carriers in the US right now. I don't know if I'll buy that D5803 model unlocked, but I certainly won't do it before trying the 830 in a Microsoft Store.

A conveniently sized, powerful phone with epic battery life or a larger square one that (more than likely) shoots better video... decisions, decisions.

Then there is the price to consider. We'll see what the AT&T version of the 830 costs.

My 920 is still a gem, but the battery life is starting to grow annoyingly short. There's where a removable battery comes in.

But you can't go swimming with an 830...

 

[broar94]

Z3 compact is smaller, beats 830 in battery life 2-3x for sure. Go for the x3 compact.

 

[Poirots Progeny]

The z3 compact has the same internals as the galaxy s5 and mate! Sure, battery and screen are different but camera is better.

And, on the UK amazon site, the z3c and 830 are priced to within ?20-30 of each other!!!! Now I don't know what is going on there but at that price the z3c is the obvious choice. Especially given the Moto g is more than half that price and is basically the same as the 830, bar camera. The Moto g is more than half the price of the 830.

MSFT need to sort their pricing out.

The lg g3 is an awesome device, would love to see it come to wp. But given the 730 & 830 releases, I have a feeling msft might pull something special out the hat, in April 2015, with windows 10... Something like what they did with the surface. I think msft has to set the benchmark for all the oems to follow, and hit it out the park. Make a statement. But then they also need to get the UK banks properly on board too.

 

[Tellus82]

Two things:
The Z3 Compact is as it's predecessor prone to having it's glass covering cracked, in some cases without force applied, this results in a not so cheap repair due to it's IP classification

The camera, while being a 20MP shooter the current state of stills it produces is very subpar in one area, compression. As it is now the pictures you get seem very heavily compressed and there is traces of overly heavy sharpening going on.
Here you can see a comparison to a note 3

 

[Poirots Progeny]

Good point tellus82! The z2 had issues. I'm hoping the z3 has resolved this, it being new and all. And yeah, the thing that's always turned me off the xperia line is the compression algorithms. There are mods to fix it but there goes the the warranty :/

 

[kevm14]

It's funny. Nikon always did a better job processing raw sensor data and turning it into a JPEG with a Sony sensor, than Sony did with their own sensors.

 

[grininja]

I'm in a similiar situation.
I bought a Lumia 830 but I don't hink I can get over the size. I come from a Lumia 720 which I handled easily with one hand. Now, the only phone that I found small enough an with an ok design is Z3C. But I am not fond with the glass back.

 

[Martin Spilovsky]

Hi guys,

Really first all how can you compare z3c with L830? think that the L830 was not designed to compare with z3c.

Regarding hardware specs, who DFQ cares if you have 1.2 Ghz vs 2.5 Ghz?, what is most important for the end user is, how does the phone fast react, battery life, camera and some game experience, who cares about 3GB vs 1GB, if the system can work with 1GB, tells you something about the optimalisation, have an ipad mini with 2x 1Ghz and 512MB and all is working fine

The only benefit if you get 2.5 Ghz Quadcore is that your battery life is shorter with the nice screen, and question is how hot gets the phone after few gaming minutes. I dont know how the Z3C shoots, but read on the xperia community really huge complains about the Z1C photos in worst light conditions, dont think that the Z3C made a huge improvement Z1C, besides what happened to the Z2C?

In the end, its not only the hardware but also the OS, Im using L920, dont have to cleanup RAM dont have to cleanup some cache files, battery life even after 1 1/2 years is pretty decent, 2-4 days

If you think that L920 is a brick, check out LG G3 with 9000mAh battery, thats a f.... brick xD

 

[iliramove]

I think it's unfair to compare the 830 with Xperia Z3 Compact. However, it's also unfair to write off Z3C since this is a WP community forum.

It all boils down to the users preferences. That being said, I wouldn't fork out money for the 830 as its ridiculously pricey for its specs. With that money, I'm able to get the Z2 in my country. Which is better in terms of value.

 

[oryan_dunn]

I was seriously considering the Z3c, and may still pick one up. I had the opportunity to get one for about $400 new. I didn't for several reason:
The glass back randomly cracking. There are threads on XDA about the issue. Usually one or two new reports per day of this happening.
The camera really needs some work. Again, there are threads on XDA discussing where the camera needs to improve. There is hope that if Sony allows RAW support in lollipop, that 3rd party camera apps may be able to unlock the full potential of the camera.
If you unlock the bootloader, you permanently "break" the device, in that unlocking the bootloader erases the DRM keys on the phone, which are impossible to get back, even if you flash a factory image.

I have been using my old HTC Amaze and my Lumia 620, swapping between them for the better part of a year. I really like the build of the Lumia and WP does most things I need. So, I chose to go with an 830 for now. If Sony enables RAW support and the camera is better, I might take a chance and get the Z3c. I figured if I could still get the Z3c for $400 or so, I'd have two really decent phones, one android and one WP for the price of many new phones.

 

[garry55in]

Beaware of the heating issue in all Sony phones..... I own a Z1 compact..... in outdoor conditions and on warm days...it gets terribly hot....
and after 9 months of using it, the battery life has drasticaly reduced.....
Same thing happend to my Xperia Z i had last year... so its not a conincidence with sony's water proffed phone which dont allow heat dispensation....
None of the reviews mentioned the seriousness of this issue with Sony phones (or infact many phones with powerful processors)

 

[DJCBS]

I was seriously considering the Z3c, and may still pick one up. I had the opportunity to get one for about $400 new. I didn't for several reason:
The glass back randomly cracking. There are threads on XDA about the issue. Usually one or two new reports per day of this happening.
The camera really needs some work. Again, there are threads on XDA discussing where the camera needs to improve. There is hope that if Sony allows RAW support in lollipop, that 3rd party camera apps may be able to unlock the full potential of the camera.
If you unlock the bootloader, you permanently "break" the device, in that unlocking the bootloader erases the DRM keys on the phone, which are impossible to get back, even if you flash a factory image.

I have been using my old HTC Amaze and my Lumia 620, swapping between them for the better part of a year. I really like the build of the Lumia and WP does most things I need. So, I chose to go with an 830 for now. If Sony enables RAW support and the camera is better, I might take a chance and get the Z3c. I figured if I could still get the Z3c for $400 or so, I'd have two really decent phones, one android and one WP for the price of many new phones.

I've switched to a Z3C since it was released in the end of September. Let me address some of your worries:

- "The glass back randomly cracking.". Not a single crack. And I've clumsily dropped the phone twice already without a case. Not a single scratch. Nokia would be proud.

- "The camera really needs some work." True. Sony does need to polish the camera software a lot. Still, it's the best imaging device you'll get on Android and matches easily the quality of the 930 (and surpasses it in things like low light). There are many 3rd party camera apps that do a good job using the Z3C camera. I am very curious to see what Nokia will be releasing imaging-wise for Android.

- "If you unlock the bootloader, you permanently "break" the device". Well, that's normal. Sony has proprietary software in there which they want to protect from possible theft. As they can't go check one by one who unlocks the bootloader for stealing tech and who doesn't, they decided to protect their hardware. Sure, it's annoying if you like to mess up with Android...but honestly, if you want an Android to mess with, you get a Nexus since that's one of the purposes of the line.

Lastly, the Z3C is vastly superior to any of the devices you've mentioned. It's a flagship device. With a 830 and a Z3C you'd have a really decent phone (830) and a really good one (Z3C).

Beaware of the heating issue in all Sony phones..... I own a Z1 compact..... in outdoor conditions and on warm days...it gets terribly hot....
and after 9 months of using it, the battery life has drasticaly reduced.....
Same thing happend to my Xperia Z i had last year... so its not a conincidence with sony's water proffed phone which dont allow heat dispensation....
None of the reviews mentioned the seriousness of this issue with Sony phones (or infact many phones with powerful processors)

My Z3C has never heated up, not even with demanding apps. My 930, on the other hand, heats up in a heartbeat if I turn on AC Pirates or AoE to play for a few minutes.