A couple of months ago, HTC released its Desire 816 smartphone – running on mid-range specs, it has been packaged in a great design. We loved the overall performance and came to the conclusion that it was a very good phone if you’re not looking for a number-crunching workhorse such as the Moto X. Plus the HTC’s got a big, 5.5-inch screen.

It took Sony two months to pick up the gauntlet, and the response is in the form of the new Xperia T3 – similar specs, similar screen size, and almost identical pricing as compared to the HTC Desire 816. So is this a good option for those looking for a big screen smartphone in the sub-₹30,000 segment? We spend some time with the T3 to find out.

Design and build The first thing that you notice with the T3 is that the phone is huge. It packs a 5.3-inch IPS LCD screen – that’s just a bit bigger than the Nexus 5’s screen but the bezel around the screen is so thick that the smartphone acquires a very largish form factor. Inclusion of this wide bezel, especially at the top and bottom, seems pointless considering that there are no physical or capacitive touch buttons on the fascia.

We loved the aluminium and glass combination design on the Z2. But the T3 is no flagship, so expecting a design and build quality like that would be expecting too much. But, the T3 does carry forward similar design lines, albeit with a stainless steel frame and a plastic body. Thankfully, the phone’s back panel is very ergonomically designed. The subtly curved back makes the phone fit very snugly in one’s palms, and the matte plastic texture offers additional grip.

The microSD and single SIM card slots are covered by a single hatch, as the back panel is non-removable. We’re glad Sony has included the dedicated camera button – it can launch the camera app even from a locked screen, and a half-press of the button also aids in auto-focus.

Specs and performance The T3 comes with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box – a good thing because Sony usually takes a little long to bring the updates to India. The India-spec variant (D5102) runs on a Qualcomm MSM8226 quad-core chip that clocks up to 1.4GHz (international variants get the Snapdragon 400). There’s 1GB of RAM onboard, and an internal storage memory of 8GB. Fortunately Sony has cut down on bloatware, but the expandable memory is only up to 32GB (Desire 816 can be expanded up to 128GB).

The device runs quite smoothly, and we liked the overall app-handling capacity. But the difference in numbers shows on the Quadrant Standard benchmark test – the T3 scores 10,200 points on an average, as opposed to the Desire 816’s 12,400 points.

The 1280x720 pixel display is bright and colourful – an expected benefit, considering Sony’s track record and its Mobile Bravia Engine 2. But we weren’t so satisfied with the imaging quality of the T3, as we were with the Desire 816’s. The T3’s 8MP rear camera lacks sharpness, despite capturing colours perfectly under varied lighting conditions. The 1.1MP front camera too, is very grainy indoors. Coming from a Sony product, the sound reproduction too, is a tad bit disappointing. The battery life is decent, providing almost a full day of charge.

Verdict For its pricing, the Xperia T3 failed to excite us – we expected at least a better camera. We also don’t like it when the India-spec variant gets a slightly different (usually inferior) processor. However, the device isn’t bad. It looks great, and loyalists who are planning to move to a bigger screen will love the T3 for its Sony specific features. But for the rest, HTC just did a better job in this price segment.

₹27,990

Love – Great design; good display

Hate – Disappointing camera, speakers

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