To easily spot the differences, we created a quick comparison of the key specifications of Sony's newest flagship, the Xperia Z3+, and its predecessor, the Xperia Z3.
Sony Xperia Z3 vs. Sony Xperia Z3+: Design, Build and Display
The design of the Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Xperia Z3+ is almost identical, with the same front and rear glass panels, boxy corners, rectangular shape and rounded edges.
The Xperia Z3+ and Xperia Z3 also share similar width and height dimensions, but the Z3+ is thinner at 0.27 inches (6.9 millimeters) compared with the Z3's 0.29 inches (7.3 millimeters). The Z3+ also boasts a lighter build at 5 ounces (144 grams), while the Z3 weighs 5.36 ounces (152 grams).
The screen is the same for both the Xperia Z3+ and Z3. Sony opted for the effective 5.2-inch full HD IPS touchscreen, which is equivalent to a 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution with 424 ppi.
A minor change in the design of the Z3+ model includes the loss of the little flap covering the mini-USB port, and there is now one single cover for the joint microSD card and nano SIM slots.
Both the Z3 and Z3+ boast IP65/IP68 certification for waterproofing and dust protection, which translates to a submersion of up to 59 inches or 1.5 meters for 30 minutes, according to Sony.
Based on the website, color options available are black, white, green and copper for both models.
Sony Xperia Z3 vs. Sony Xperia Z3+: Hardware, Performance, Camera and Audio
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with Adreno 330 graphics powers the Sony Xperia Z3, and its storage is only 16 GB.
Powered by 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor and Adreno 430 graphics under the hood, the Sony Xperia Z3+ is faster and has 32 GB of storage.
The battery capacity is slightly different, as the Z3 has 3100 mAh, while the Z3+ has a smaller 2900 mAh battery.
Both models have 3 GB of RAM, boot Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box and include microSD expansion slots that accept cards of up to 128 GB.
Both models have the same rear shooters of 20.7 megapixels with autofocus, but the Z3 only has a 2.2 megapixel front-facing camera, while the Z3+ has a better one at 5 megapixels.
The Sony Xperia Z3 has excellent audio quality, and Sony brought a couple of enhancements for the Xperia Z3+ with AHC (Automatic Headset Compensation) and LDAC.
Conclusion
The Xperia Z3+ has made minor improvements over the Xperia Z3 as expected from a succeeding flagship, but no major changes. They have retained the features that worked for the Z3 and refined the current flagship, hopefully to the consumer's delight.
