Never mind what Sony tries to tell you about the premium nature of the 5.2-inch Xperia Z3. That phone’s supposed understudy, the Z3 Compact, is the real star of Sony’s IFA 2014 lineup. It’s the same size as the excellent Xperia Z1 Compact, but fits a bigger 4.6-inch screen into a body that’s 9 percent thinner and 6 percent lighter. Those sound like small improvements, and the phone itself doesn’t look dramatically different, however the sum of Sony’s changes makes the Xperia Z3 Compact feel like a much more refined smartphone.
So far, nothing else has impressed me.