The Sony Xperia Z2 is the third iteration of Sony’s flagship Xperia series and this one is better than ever. It’s smarter, lighter, brighter and faster than its predecessors and it looks pretty good too.

The Z2 has to deliver the goods if it is to go up against the excellent Samsung Galaxy S5, the new HTC One M8 or the Nokia Lumia 930. So is it up to the task?

Side by side, the Z2 is little different than the Z1. They are about the same size and shape, only the Z2 is a little lighter. However, under the hood, there are big changes.

The all-new 5.2-inch IPS display is brighter and suffers none of the viewing angle limitations of the Z1. It’s a full 1080p screen that uses Sony’s Live Colour LED to make it richer than ever. It reacts quickly, offers amazing detail and looks great.

The Z2 uses a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor with 3Gb of RAM in support, which is plenty of grunt to run even the most challenging games. It’s unlikely that any app will challenge that amount of RAM, but smartphones play a numbers game and the more, the better.

The chassis sits in the hand nicely, although it isn’t shaped or angled to fit comfortably in the palm. You need a good grip to keep the phone steady, but ergonomically it’s comfortable to use with one hand. You will be forever wiping fingerprints off the glassy surface though, but that’s nothing new.

The Sony Xperia Z2 retains its waterproof and dustproof credentials, making it a very usable and flexible device. The chassis screams quality, the processor and new screen are excellent, and all the ingredients are there for the Z2 to be a hit. Add Android 4.4 Kit Kat into the mix and you have a contender for smartphone of the year.

Jesmond Darmanin is a technology enthusiast who has his own blog at www.itnewsblog.com.