September 2014 saw two smartphone giants face off against each other in the phablet market: the Sony Xperia Z3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Z3 had huge shoes to fill, as its predecessor, Z2, served as the rebounding smartphone that put Sony back in the game. Fans aren't disappointed, for Z3 indeed lived up to the public's expectations.

Let's dive in to the complex yet good stuff.

Xperia's 20.7MP rear camera tramples that of Note's 16MP. While Samsung has its Smart Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), Sony also has its own version of image stabilizer, SteadyShot, which are both incorporated into their respective smartphones. However, Note's front camera, 3.7MP, is of higher quality than Xperia's 2.2MP, but both qualities are decent enough for a selfie.

Note 4 is especially bulky, but its 1440x2560 QHD SUPER AMOLED makes up for the phablet's 8.55mm thickness and 5.7-inch screen, altogether weighing 176g. On the other hand, Xperia Z3's screen is only 5.2 inches, with a slightly lower 1080x1920 Full HD resolution, and 7.3 mm thickness, landing at 152g, which is fairly light.

These two both have 3GB of ram and run on Android 4.4 Kitkat, although they use their own User Interface (UI), TouchWiz for Note 4 and Xperia UI for Z3. They also have 32GB of internal storage with slots for microSD card that can boost it to 128GB. Note 4 runs a little longer than Z3, with the former having 3220 mAh and the latter 3100 mAh. The Snapdragon 801 quad-core clocked at 2.5GHz powers the Xperia, while Snapdragon 805 quad-core clocked at 2.7GHz powers Note 4.

Perhaps Note 4's biggest upgrade is its S Pen, the highlight of the Galaxy Note phablet line. Samsung boasts of enhanced pressure sensitivity for a more precise expression, and its tip is also detachable. Xperia Z3 wouldn't allow it to be upstaged. Apart from its premium glass and metal material, it's also waterproof and sports stereo speakers at the front, plus it's PS4 compatible.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 requires you to dole out $600 (off contract) or $300 (on contract), and comes in four colors with sophisticated names, but mainly: black, pink, white, and brown. Xperia Z3 is up for grabs for $530, offering the model in white, copper, black, and mint.