Lumia 830 vs Xperia Z3 – price, specs and features compared

The Nokia Lumia 830 is one of the more affordable flagships of the year, while the Sony Xperia Z3 is one of the best smartphones of the year. These two are stepping stones in the development of smartphones, both exemplifying how a company can make a pretty high quality, yet affordable handset and a feature-packed, powerful smartphone with great battery life and practical functions. While neither the Lumia 830 or the Xperia Z3 are the newest smartphones you can buy, they are still among the best. Comparing these two would be a fun feat, to see how they size up next to each other.

When smartphone shopping, one usually pays attention to price, specs, features and battery life. These two devices are leaders when it comes to a field or another, so they are both worth checking out. The Lumia 830 is one of the cheapest flagships you can get your hands on, while the Xperia Z3 has the best battery life on a smartphone that you can find. The Galaxy Note 4 is coming close to that performance, but the Xperia Z3 is still at the top. Positive reviews are surrounding both the Lumia 830 and the Xperia Z3, to be fair. The major difference between the two is their target consumer.

While the Lumia 830 is targeted at Windows fans and enthusiasts and at people who use their phones in more practical ways, the Xperia Z3 targets power users with a flare for gaming and Android. Both flagships are great phones to own, but when choosing between them, you need to consider your own needs. If you are more of a medium smartphone user, the Lumia 830 should be perfect for you, but if you are a power user and love gaming, the Xperia Z3 should be the perfect phone for you.

Nokia Lumia 830 specs, price and features

CPU – quad core Snapdragon 400, 1.2 GHz
GPU – Adreno 305
DISPLAY – 5 inch IPS LCD, 720*1280, 294 ppi pixel density
MEMORY – 1 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, microSD card slot available, expandable to 128 GB
BATTERY – removable 2200 mAH
CAMERA – 10 MP Carl Zeiss sensor on the rear, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash and 0.9 MP sensor on the front
VIDEO – 1080p@30fps, optical stabilization, stereo sound rec
BODY – 139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5 mm
WEIGHT – 150 g
WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
PRICE – $430 unlocked
FEATURES – Corning Gorilla Glass 3. ClearBlack display, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE, wireless charging, FM Radio, GPS
OS – Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1

Sony Xperia Z3 specs, price and features

CPU – quad core Snapdragon 801, 2.5 GHz
GPU – Adreno 330
DISPLAY – 5.2 inch IPS LCD, 1080*1920, 424 ppi pixel density
MEMORY – 3 GB RAM, 16/32 GB ROM, microSD card slot available, expandable to 128 GB
BATTERY – non-removable 3100 mAH
CAMERA – 20.7 MP on the rear, 5248*3936 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, 2.2 MP sensor on the front with 1080o@30fps
VIDEO – 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR
BODY – 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm
WEIGHT – 152 g
WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
PRICE – $600 unlocked
FEATURES – Shatter proof glass, Triluminos display, X-Reality engine, IP68 certification, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE, Sony PlayStation 4 Remote Play, fast charging, FM Radio with RDS, GPS
OS – Android 4.4.4 KitKat, upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop

While the Lumia 830 is considerably thicker than the Xperia Z3, it does fit a bit more comfortably in your hand. As you review the specs and features above, you can probably deduce which could be considered the better phone out of the two. Nonetheless, that’s when the price comes in. While the Lumia 830 is an affordable flagship with pretty good specs, the Xperia Z3 has a better bang for buck ratio. For the extra money, the Xperia Z3 brings you a waterproof phone with Remote Play and an excellent camera. Even though the Lumia 830 camera can certainly compete with the Xperia Z3 camera, its other features pale in comparison to the Sony flagship. Nonetheless, Windows 8.1 is a plus for the Lumia 830 because it offers good integration and the app store has been evolving a lot lately.

At the same time, the Xperia Z3 is scheduled to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop in a couple of weeks, so we are tremendously excited to see how that will work on the phone. Battery life on the Lumia 830 has been average – nothing to write home about. At the same time, Lumia Denim improves the user experience greatly, which is once again, a plus for the Windows phone. It also has a metal design which flatters the eye, and it is available in a wide range of colors so that you can choose the one you truly like. The Xperia Z3 has impressed with a 2 day battery life and great waterproof, dustproof and just idiot-proof certification. Might sound harsh, sorry. Nonetheless, Remote Play, a great camera, great design and impressive battery life make the Xperia Z3 the phone of many dreams.

In any case, both phones have great features to tout with, and both would be excellent choices. Naturally, the Xperia Z3 is made for a different type of user than the Lumia 830, so opinions on which would be the best choice for a certain group of people are entirely subjective. That’s why when choosing between the two flagships, you should put your needs first and weigh them against your investment. Which would you choose? I would go for the Xperia Z3, because it has a slightly better and larger display, Remote Play and IP68 certification, since I can be an idiot with my phone in my hands sometimes. It also offers the better CPU and GPU which make for better performance in the long run. At the same time, I would also choose the Lumia 830, because of Windows 8.1, great camera, Lumia Denim and metal design.