Sony Xperia T3 review: A solid mid-range large-screen phone

Sony's Xperia T3 is a mid-range 5.3-inch Android handset aimed at those seeking a big-screen smartphone at a reasonable price. The design is unmistakably Sony, and it also comes with a range of Sony-specific UI tweaks and add-on apps.

Design

The Xperia T3, which costs £299 (inc. VAT, or £249.17 ex. VAT), is a distinctive-looking handset. The blocky outline and Sony's trademark circular power button a little over halfway down the right edge are just two of several distinguishing features. Sony also likes to provide a physical camera button, which sits at the bottom of the right edge. There's also a volume rocker here.

Silver panels along all four thin edges of the handset look particularly striking on our black review unit -- the Xperia T3 is also available in white and purple. Because they are much narrower than the 7mm-thick edges, these panels emphasise how thin this phone is. It isn't flimsy, though; the build feels quite robust.

These features are welcome, but there's one design feature of the Xperia T3 we don't care for -- the over-large bezels above and beneath the screen. This can be useful when you hold the phone in widescreen mode, as it stops fingers accidentally prodding the screen. But it also adds to the height of the handset, making it overly tall at 150.7mm and harder to fit into a pocket.

Sony uses glass for the back of its flagship Xperia Z2 (soon to be updated by the Xperia Z3), but the back here is a less expensive rubbery material that curves slightly into all four edges. We prefer this, as it makes the handset easier to grip and the finish is less showy.

There is no waterproofing here, as you'll find on the Xperia Z2, for example. The back is not removable, and your MicroSIM and MicroSD slots sit under a long protective cover on the right edge of the handset.

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The 5.3-inch screen will defeat most people who try to reach across it one-handed. The screen resolution is 720 by 1,280 pixels, giving a pixel density of 277ppi. We browsed web pages, read ebooks and watched video with ease. Sony's Triluminos and Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technologies are employed to enhance colour reproduction and sharpness respectively.

We did find viewing angles a bit lacking, and while there's nothing wrong with legibility on the Xperia T3, 277ppi is a relatively low pixel density for a modern handset. It's not difficult to get a higher-resolution screen if you prefer: Google's Nexus 5 offers full-HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) in a slightly smaller 4.95-inch screen at 445ppi, while the 5.2-inch Xperia Z2 also delivers full-HD at 424ppi.

Features

Sony powers the Xperia T3 with a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 1GB of RAM. This combination did not trouble us with performance glitches, and is about right in a handset at this price. However, it's disappointing that there is just 8GB of internal storage. Sony's various embellishments take their toll on this, leaving just 4.9GB accessible for your own use. You can add a MicroSD card, of course, but the Xperia T3 only supports up to 32GB of external storage.

This is a 4G (LTE) handset with dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n (but not ac) wi-fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. The main 8-megapixel camera has an LED flash, and the side button means you can launch it quickly. There are plenty of shooting modes: Superior Auto makes settings for you, but turn this off and you can adjust white balance, select a scene mode, set the flash, select HDR shooting and even set the ISO. Other settings allow you to take burst-mode shots and select the one you want to keep, add virtual scenes, take a panorama shot and more.

Android 4.4.2 is embellished with Sony's skin and a multitude of apps. The skin includes a Simple Home screen offering a single screen of options and choices, eliminating a lot of the complication -- or features, depending on how you look at it -- from Android.

Sony adds a selection of what it calls 'small apps', which you can open up on top of whatever you're doing at the time. Accessed via the multitasking button, they include a web browser, a calculator, a calendar, a timer and Gmail. Only some can be resized, and they can't be made transparent like the QSlide apps on the LG G3 .

Sony's add-on apps fall into several categories. Its Walkman, Movies and Album apps are music, video and photo apps that duplicate Android app features, while adding in extra capabilities. Sony also offers stores such as Video Unlimited and What's New.

Third-parties provide a mix of free (eg, File Commander file manager), trial (eg, Garmin Navigation) and feature-limited (eg, OfficeSuite Professional, which offers read but not write document access) apps. First-time Android users, or first-time Sony Android users, may be somewhat overwhelmed by the software choices on offer.

Conclusion

Sony's Xperia T3 is a distinctive-looking and well-built large-screen smartphone with no serious failings. But it isn't great value at £299 (inc. VAT, or £249.17 ex. VAT). If you like Sony's style and want a really large screen, then the even bigger 6.4-inch first-generation Xperia Z Ultra might be worth a look: now selling for around £250 (inc. VAT, or £208 ex. VAT), the Ultra runs Android 4.4 on a quad-core processor.

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