Sony is known for launching its smartphones twice a year.Blackberry, on the other hand, is still striving to regain its old popularity among the masses by introducing many appealing smartphones. The Blackberry Passport and the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphones are among the two newest smartphones by the manufacturers in September 2014. What makes a good observation point is that apart from sharing the same release date, both the smartphones also have more or less the same specifications. While the Xperia Z3 is a follow-up of the Xperia Z series, Blackberry lovers might find it interesting to note that the Blackberry Passport is so named because it has exactly identical dimensions as that of the United States passport. Both gadgets are loaded with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, an Adreno 330 graphics processor, 3GB of inbuilt RAM and 32GB of internal storage. They also support expansion of memory up to 128GB.
Body Material, Dimensions and Weight
The Sony Xperia Z3 has the same body material as its predecessors. Housed with a glass top and bottom, the smartphone has an aluminum band on its side. The aluminum band is intended to protect the device from damage when it is dropped on the side. The Blackberry Passport features a metal frame and excellent quality polycarbonate material on its rear. Also, while the Blackberry Passport depicts a physical three-row QWERTY keypad, the keypad is part of the screen in the Sony Xperia Z3. It is worth noting that the two smartphones find their place among the large sized smartphones and are not actually light weight. While the Blackberry smartphone is not as tall as the Sony smartphone, it is definitely wider and thicker. The Passport is also reasonably heavy with a weight of 190g when compared to the Xperia Z3 that weighs 152g. Additionally, Sony offers the added advantage of giving its smartphone an IP 68 certification for its users.
Verdict: The odd size of the Blackberry Passport smartphone coupled with its weight makes it fairly difficult to operate with one hand. Additionally, the fact that the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone is dust and water resistant, gives it an upper hand. However, those who prefer using a physical keypad, instead of the touch keypad, the Blackberry Passport is a good option.
Screen Display
Both Sony Xperia Z3 and Blackberry Passport incorporate LCD displays. However, while the Sony smartphone portrays a Triluminos IPS LCD display, the Blackberry smartphone houses an ordinary IPS LCD display. The 5.2-inch size screen of the Xperia Z3 is definitely bigger than the 4.5-inch screen of the Passport. But, the Passport has a better pixel resolution of 1440 x 1440 and pixel density of 453ppi than the 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution and 424ppi than the Xperia Z3. Additionally, the Blackberry Passport encompasses a scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The screens of the two smartphones also feature a proximity sensor and a light sensor.
