Release date, price, display and design

Sony is serious about becoming a heavy weight smartphone player. While most companies are content with releasing one flagship each year, Sony has started bringing a new one out every six months or so.

As the Sony Xperia Z2 hit shop shelves early this year we're already looking ahead to what Sony will launch next, namely the Sony Xperia Z3 (or we're guessing that's what it will be called anyway) and we might not have long to wait for it either.

The Sony Xperia Z3 has apparently been spotted several times, with handsets holding the Sony D6633 and D6603 monikers appearing on a site in Russia alongside the Sony D5803, which is being touted as the Xperia Z3 Compact.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The successor to the Sony Xperia Z2
• When is it out? Launch is expected in September
• What will it cost? Around £550 / $943 / AU$1006 we reckon

Sony Xperia Z3 release date

The Sony Xperia Z3 could be with us as soon, although the August release date claim by IT168 looks to be wide of the mark.

It's far more likely that it will be announced at IFA 2014 in early September, as the 2013 show was when the Xperia Z1 was announced and an invite to Sony's press conference at the show hints at new smartphone hardware.

There's other evidence for a September launch too. DooMLoRD claimed on his Twitter feed that we'll see it in September, while a competition held by the German branch of Vodafone runs till the end of September and involves buying an Xperia Z3, suggesting that it will be launched before the end of September.

Sony Xperia Z3 price

Nothing has yet been whispered regarding the price of the Sony Xperia Z3, but with most recent flagships retailing for around £550 / $943 / AU$1006 SIM free at launch, we'd imagine the Xperia Z3 would be priced at around that too.

Sony Xperia Z3 display

It's not looking like much is going to change on the display front. Early rumors from IT168 suggest that the Xperia Z3 will be getting a 1080p screen and DooMLoRD agrees. That would be the same as the Xperia Z2 and most other flagships out there, but a fair bit lower resolution than the QHD LG G3.

Since then Xperia Blog has leaked a screenshot supposedly snapped on an Xperia Z3 and it has a 1080p resolution, again pointing to a full-but-not-quad HD screen.

We can't be too harsh on it, as many other phones still have 1080p screens, but we're expecting the next wave of flagships to largely be equipped with QHD displays, so it's a bit disappointing.

As for the size of the screen, that's probably going to be the same as the Xperia Z2 as well. A phone believed to be the Z3 has been certified by TENAA in China, where it's listed as having a 5.2-inch 1080p display.

Even if that turns out to be false it's unlikely to be smaller than the 5.2-inch Xperia Z2, but it may not be much bigger either. That's ok though, having the screen size increase with each generation could get highly impractical very quickly.

Sony Xperia Z3 chassis

It seems like the Sony Xperia Z3 might look a lot like its predecessor, the Xperia Z2, which wouldn't exactly be surprising given that the Z2, Xperia Z1 and the Xperia Z all look a lot alike too.

We first got a proper look at it, or at least at something that's supposedly the Z3, at the beginning of July, when an image of it popped up on Digi-wo side-by-side with another phone, believed to be the Xperia Z3 Compact.

The phone in the image is certainly reminiscent of the Xperia Z2, though the position of the earpiece actually makes it look more like the Sony Xperia T3.

Since then we've got some slightly clearer images of what's apparently the Z3, including some with the screen on, from Weibo.

It's in a different colour this time, suggesting that the handset might be available in both black and white, but otherwise it seems to match the previous image.

Digi-wo gave us a look at the side and back of the handset, revealing a slim build and what appears to be a glass back and rounded metal frame. The Xperia Z2 isn't quite as rounded as this looks, so that's one possible design difference.

However the image of the back of the phone also reveals a 20.7 megapixel camera lens, which is the same as the Z2 and Xperia Z1 before it had.

It also looks like the speaker has been moved to the left of the handset and what appears to be an NFC symbol is adorning the back, not that there was much doubt we'd get NFC.

We've also seen a photo of it next to a Samsung Galaxy Note, courtesy of Xperia Blog. As you can see it appears to be around the same length as the 146.9mm Note, but quite a lot thinner than Samsung's handset, which comes in at 83mm across.

In fact a certification from TENAA in China reveals that it might be 146.5 x 72.4 x 7.35mm, so it would indeed be a similar length to the Galaxy Note in that case, as well as being slightly smaller and slimmer than the 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm Xperia Z2. The listing goes on to say that it weighs 158.4g (the Z2 weighs 163g).

Xperia Blog has also got hold of another image showing what seems to be a notification light on the top left of the handset.

We've also now seen an image supposedly showing the rear of the phone on a production line, courtesy of Nowhereelse.fr. Not only does this suggest that Sony has started mass producing the thing, but it gives us one of our clearest looks yet at the back, showing a glossy finish and a very familiar design.

But before all these images flooded in we saw a photo that was purportedly of the Z3's metal frame. In and of itself it didn't reveal much, beyond the fact that it's seemingly very slim, which is looking increasingly likely to be true, as Twitter tipster DooMLoRD claims that it's just 7mm thick, which more or less matches the 7.35mm claim from TENAA.

But IT168, the site that shared the image, also revealed that it will apparently have a PVD coating, which could give it a mirrored, stainless steel look.

That's not the only advantage of PVD either, as it would also make the Xperia Z3 more environmentally friendly, corrosion resistant and resilient to scratches, as well as giving it improved impact resistance.

So there are a whole lot of benefits to it and while we haven't heard anything yet we would assume that the Z3 will be dust and water resistant like its predecessor, which in combination with a PVD coating could make it one of the more durable phones around.

The only thing which doesn't quite match up so far is that DooMLoRD claims the Xperia Z3 will have a new design, yet everything we've seen so far looks similar, albeit not identical to the Xperia Z2.

He could be wrong or overstating the changes or it could be that the images we've seen so far are fake, right now anything is possible, but we'd be surprised if it looked radically different to the Xperia Z2, given that Sony has used variations on that design a number of times.

Power, operating system and camera

Sony Xperia Z3 power

There's some dispute as to whether the Sony Xperia Z3 will be a modest upgrade over the Xperia Z2 or not really an upgrade at all. Sadly nothing so far points to an enormous boost in power though.

On the one hand we've got Chinese site IT168, which claims that Sony's new phone will have a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 graphics chip clocked at 500MHz.

That would be the modest upgrade we were talking about, as the Xperia Z2 has a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 graphics chip clocked at 578MHz.

On the other hand DooMLoRD reckons that it won't have a Snapdragon 805 processor, which given the comment was accompanied by a frowny face suggests it will have something worse, in all likelihood a Snapdragon 801, just like the Xperia Z2.

Unfortunately that second rumor is gaining traction, as Xperia Blog got hold of an image supposedly showing the 'About Phone' screen on the Xperia Z3 and it listed a Snapdragon 801 chipset, which along with the rumors of a 1080p screen and 20.7 megapixel camera make it sound a lot like its predecessor.

Since then Chinese certification agency TENAA has revealed a device, believed to be the Xperia Z3, with a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, which would be a very, very slight upgrade over the 2.3GHz Xperia Z2. It's also said to have 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a microSD card slot, all of which is the same as the current model.

A device believed to be the Xperia Z3 has also popped up at the FCC, revealing LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS support, along with a microSD card slot, none of which is terribly surprising.

Sony Xperia Z3 operating system

The Xperia Z3's operating system might get the ever so slightest of bumps, as Xperia Blog has got hold of a screenshot showing it as running Android 4.4.4, while the Xperia Z2 runs Android 4.4.2.

That would make for a negligible difference but it's all that can be expected given that the next major release, Android L, isn't out yet and may not even launch until after the Z3.

We'd wager Sony's new flagship will be in line for an upgrade though soon after it does launch and you never know, Sony might make some big changes of its own to the interface, but we haven't heard about any yet.

Sony Xperia Z3 camera

There's not much information on the Xperia Z3's camera yet, but we have seen an image taken from Digi-wo supposedly showing the back of the handset and visible above in the chassis section.

On it you can clearly see a 20.7 megapixel camera with a G lens and a 1/2.3-inch sensor, all of which is an exact match for the Sony Xperia Z2.

Since then some camera specs have popped up on TENAA in China, again pointing to a 20.7 megapixel sensor, along with a 2 megapixel sensor on the front.

• Samsung has a new flagship in the works too.

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.

You've read 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.