I have a baby doll obsessed 7 year old that plays with nothing else so I think we've had nearly all of them. By FAR her favourite is Baby Born. It is really overpriced for what it does, but I think it is the open ended aspect that makes them so popular. Ones with interactive features are good for very young toddlers, 18 months to 2, but they are gimmicky and don't allow as much imaginative play as they get older in my experience so they tend not to take to them as well. Often those that love Baby Annabel play with her more turned off.
At three, my dd struggled to hold Baby Annabel and Baby Born. There is a new Baby Born that is smaller than the standard Baby Born, I think it is called Baby Born little sister and I think it does all the same things as Baby Born. That is what I would recommend at 3.
My daughter's second favourite doll is the Argos Tiny Treasures doll, which is a realistic weighted doll, similar to a reborn. They also do a smaller version, my son got one aged 3 and it was a great size for him.
The benefit of a hard bodied doll over soft is being able to take it in the bath, take it swimming, take it to the beach etc. My daughter says hard bodied ones feel more realistic and soft bodied ones more like a teddy, but I guess it's individual.
If you really want a sound feature I'd suggest looking at the Baby Alive range, some talk or cry, and they are all a good size for a 3 year old and not too expensive.