Coinciding with the earlier rumours of the Z4 launching in China, Sony have introduced a new addition to their flagship range. Put simply, Sony have done an Apple with the Z3+ which by all accounts is the Z4, which Sony announced for the Japanese market last month, but by a different name.
The Z3+ is slightly thinner (6.9mm) and lighter (144 grams) than the Z3, which also unfortunately means that the phone has less room to pack in battery. The Z3+ takes a hit, coming with a 2930mAh battery, almost 200mAh less than the Z3, though how this affects the vaunted 2-day battery life of the Z3 is yet to be seen.
Design wise, the Z3+ also continues where the Z3 left off with similar looks, and will also carry the same IP65/68 waterproof and dust-tight rating of the Z3 series and will thankfully be offering this without the flap over the microUSB port that’s been previously required. The Z3+ will be available in white, black, copper, and aqua green and sports a host of camera tricks that make the Xperia range a favourite of many photographically inclined users.
Device Specs:
- 5.2” 1080p FHD, IPS display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 Octa-core 64 bit processor / Adreno 430 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB Storage + MicroSD up to 128GB
- 20MP Rear Facing/5MP Front Facing Cameras
- Connectivity: ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, LTE
- Nano SIM
- Android 5.0 Lollipop
- 2930mAh Battery
- 146.3 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm, 144 grams
Whether or not the Z3+ will be a winner is yet to be seen, the specs suggest its an evolutionary development of the device rather than anything revolutionary.
Does the Z3+ have a market in Australia, or are Sony heading up the wrong path?
Getting a little tired of Sony not releasing products to Oz. I’m in the market for a high end phone, and would go with the Z3+ but might be forced to go elsewhere.
Any news when this will come to Aus?
Also when is the Z4 tablet getting released here??
I thought the Japanese tended to avoid the number four because the character/word resembled the one for death… Weird that it’s the Z4 there and the Z3+ everywhere else! In any case, I don’t see why people have an issue with iterative improvements, particularly this time when they’ve named it accordingly. If Apple can get away with it (with only yearly releases no less) then why can’t Sony? That being said, let’s hope the SD810 chipset and smaller battery aren’t a step backwards! One thing I’m glad to see is the positioning of the front-facing speakers back to the edges… Read more »
I’m not familiar with the Japanese numeral system, but the Chinese sometimes skip the number four because of the reasons you mentioned. Not all the time though.
While I don’t have an issue with Sony releasing iterative phones on a half yearly basis in principle, in the grand scheme of things, I believe it makes potential customers confused, gives the impression that their phones will be outdated in just a couple months of usage, and it also results in more phones for Sony to issue major updates to.
I’ve had the Z3 since launch, it’s a brilliant device but also the first Sony that I wanted because the original was terrible in comparison to competitor offerings and then the Z1 and Z2 weren’t big enough upgrades to warrant taking a look at them.
Sony need to do something innovative every iteration, not every 4th.
I would’ve been interested (as a secondary phone, iPhone is primary) if screen was 1440p,
Will be interesting to see if the SD810 overheats like the M9.
At 1080p, its just not worth getting over the S6/Edge