[Xperia Z3 Accessories] jonmorris:
I too got mine today (quite mad for Sony to have kept us waiting this long - and given the two day delivery, Amazon has clearly got these from elsewhere in the EU so they're probably STILL not on sale in the UK officially yet).

I got mine in copper, to match the phone. Let me just say this - DON'T GET COPPER! It is indeed quite shiny and actually looks quite tacky, but having waited so long I decided to unpack it and set it up, so I guess I'm stuck with it.

If you have the copper phone, I'd say go for black. It will contrast nicely and look a whole lot more professional. This case looks like something you'd get from a market.

As has been said elsewhere, including YouTube video reviews, the cover doesn't sit flat unless it's flat on a desk - and even then it raises up a bit because there's no magnet or sufficient weight in the front cover to hold it down.

I downloaded the app and basically it's just like a lock screen with the usual lock screen widgets. No major problem there, and from the home panel you can also launch the camera in a mini view - but it also takes 4:3 pictures and doesn't let you change modes. I assume it uses the superior auto mode, but it doesn't say if it detects the scene or anything. Frankly, just use the normal camera button if I were you.

It also comes with a new dock insert, which is good. You keep the cover closed when it's docked, unlike the Roxfit flip cover (that also acts as a stand, which this does not because it's glued on the back of the phone) and when it's docked, the cover falls forward a bit - which isn't exactly helping stop it gradually getting looser and looser. And I used a Daydream 'screen saver' on the phone before, to show a clock and weather. It still loads, but as you might have expected - it doesn't resize and is now useless. There's no Xperia Daydream mode so the best thing I've found so far is Timely and using that to show the time/date.

As for the way it's stuck on the back.. I removed my rear film protector as I didn't want that peeling off with the cover - but even now it doesn't feel like a rock solid adhesion. If I dropped this phone, would it realistically hold in the case? I expect not and most likely it will fly off if you did drop it.

Worse still, if I want to take it out of the case then how many times will I be able to re-stick the case to the phone before the glue has all gone? There's no way to change this, so are you supposed to just bin it and buy another one? To me it seems like an insane way to connect to the phone. Why not the usual grips around the edge? To keep it thin? That could come at a huge cost.

Anyway, despite all the negativity I've just pointed out, it's quite nice to have the window showing key info at a glance (and to finally turn the screen on/off by opening the cover) - but you do still need to open the cover to do anything beyond seeing a notification or info on a widget (e.g. BBC News headlines). Given how few are likely to sell, don't expect loads of developers to be queuing up to modify apps to show through the small window either. What you get now is probably what you'll ever get.

That said, if anyone does find any other good apps/widgets that work well with this cover then please do post here. I can't help but feel this case will drop in price fairly quickly.

Edit: Another thing; when a call comes in, you can answer from the window - but with the cover on the proximity sensor obviously can't work. Thus you can't get the screen back on (it had gone off on mine, presumably after the usual timeout) without opening the phone, or using the power button.