With Sony’s financial problems and plummeting smartphone business, they realized it’s time for change. The Japanese manufacturer has discontinued several models from the lower and mid-range class in order to keep its mobile business up and running and focused mainly on its high-end Xperia Z lineup. How has that worked for them so far? It’s too early to tell, but we do hope that the Xperia Z3+ doesn’t stand for another half year upgrade to the original Xperia Z3.
At first glance, it’s rather difficult to spot the difference between the Xperia Z3 and Z3+ especially when it comes to design and overall appearance. This is because Z3+ inherits the very same OmniBalance design signature with a few cool tweaks like removing the cap that keeps the water and dust build inside the micro USB port while still having IP68 certification. Furthermore, Sony has trimmed down the thickness of the device from 7.3 mm to 6.9 mm, but this goes at the expense of battery capacity and we really hope that the Xperia Z3+ will have at least the same battery performance as last year’s model. Also, the SoC is upgraded going from Snapdragon 801 to 810, but we expect some overheating problems especially when Sony has acknowledged the problem and we can expect a future update to solve the issue. However, we put that to the test to see if the overheating is really that bad.
Contents
Retail package
The device comes in a relatively small package with the usual user manuals, USB cable, AC adapter and headphones inside.
Design and construction
Following the all well-known OmniBalance design, the Xperia Z3+ features high-quality build with premium materials as well as thin and light design. Practically, it’s the same as last year’s model, Xperia Z3, but with a few very welcome improvements. We are referring to the missing cap for the micro USB port, the magnet charging slot and thinner chassis.
Starting with the back of the device carrying the same scratch-resistant glass that this time covers the entire back surface of the smartphone. Small, but noticeable change. In comparison, the Xperia Z3’s camera lens was somehow separated with a metallic ring, but the Xperia Z3+’s sensor is “built-in” behind the glass panel. This actually feels more in line with the OmniBalance design signature as it makes the phone “the same” no matter how you hold or look at it. Under the sensor, you will find the usual LED flash, Sony’s logo, and the NFC mark.
The front panel doesn’t differ from the back as well. Completely covered in glass (interestingly, Gorilla Glass 3 or 4 is nowhere to be mentioned by Sony) and beneath is the 5.1-inch screen with relatively thin bezels, the front-facing shooter, proximity and ambient light sensor. On the top and bottom side, you can barely see the front-facing stereo loudspeakers – a good finishing touch in our subjective opinion.
Going around the sides you can feel the curved aluminum edges that are quite slippery to be honest. The flat panel on the back and thin profile don’t make the situation better either. Actually, this has always been a problem for the Xperia Z smartphones. Sleek design and build quality are the order of the day as it seems. However, the left side is missing the magnet charging slot but keeps the cap that protects the SD card and SIM card. The right side features the usual circular power button, volume rocker, and dedicated camera button. The top goes only with the 3.5 mm jack for headphones and noise cancelation microphone. As for the bottom, the stripped naked micro USB port is showing and there’s no need of opening a cap when charging your phone – finally! Some users report the caps losing its properties after continues usage and charging.
By looking at the device, the only thing that stands out is the corners. They are the same as last year – rounded, but this time we suspect them being aluminum. We can’t put our finger on it, but the material here is either aluminum or chrome plastic imitating metal. Sony claims that dropping the phone on the edge will not damage the smartphone or ruin the overall appearance. We can’t imagine how that works unless the edges are actually plastic as we all know polycarbonate can take more beating than aluminum or glass and still looks good. With that being said, we are betting on plastic corners.
Once more, we are happy with the design and construction. The chassis is solid, stylish and premium. Holding the Xperia Z3+ with one hand is a struggle and sometimes feels slippery, but this also depends on user’s hands. The glass panel is again fingerprint magnet, unfortunately, but it’s easy to clean. While it’s not noticeable at first glance, the Xperia Z3+ brings several neat improvements to the table that are worth the upgrade from last year’s model – removed micro USB cap while keeping IP68, thinner and slightly lighter design, magnet charging option is removed (who used these anyway?), and the sensor on the back is completely “built-in” under the glass panel. We hope that our tests show better overall performance or the Xperia Z3+ will remain just a negligible upgrade.
Display and sound
As from few generations until now Sony uses multi-touch IPS panel with 5.2-inch diagonal with Full HD (1080×1920) resolution and pixel pitch of 0.06 x 0.06 mm or in other words – 424 PPI density. The screen can be considered retina when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 20 cm.
Image quality remains the same when viewed from a 45-degree angle.
The maximum brightness of the display is 525 cd/m2 assuring comfortable reading even under direct sunlight. The color temperature is 10460K – cold type of light and far away from the optimal one of 6500K(D65). Furthermore, the contrast ratio is 950:1. All tests were performed with Image enhancement off as the smartphone offers white balance adjustment as you can see from the image below. Using the color meter we tuned the display to match the optimal color temperature of 6500K.
Color reproduction
To put things into perspective, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and the Web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. used for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy.
The yellow triangle represents the area which Xperia Z3+’s display covers – 98% of the sRGB and 82% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. But at the same time the triangle is a little distorted and it covers more than 130% of the sRGB, but in practice the actual percentage is 99. This means that some colors may feel a bit unreal.
The image below is practically the same but with the recorded results – the one on the left before calibration and the one on the right after. Color circles represent the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see mainly additional colors with 100% and 50% saturation inside the sRGB gamut.
With the help of 24 commonly used colors we checked the color accuracy of the panel. Colors that we used represent skin tone, grass, blue sky, orange and etc. The average DeltaE 2000=3.36. Lower score is desirable.
The gamma curve is relatively accurate, but brighter images will appear a bit lighter and darker images at the same time will be dimmer.
Pulse-width modulation (PWM, Screen flickering)
We didn’t detect any aggressive light pulsation throughout all brightness levels, thus the display is harmless to your eyes.
Gaming capabilities (Response time)
We recorded the refresh time of the pixels from black to white and white to black for 10 to 90%. So we were able to measure Fall Time + Rise Time = 26 ms
Conclusion
We can’t say anything rather than flattering words about the display. It’s practically the same as last year’s model, but why change something that obviously works perfectly. We’ve recorded high maximum brightness, high contrast ratio, good color reproduction and it’s harmless to your eyes. Our only complaint is about the color temperature, but this can be easily fixed since the model offers this option in the settings menu.
Display comparison
If we assume a distance of 38cm (~15 in) between the human eye and the smartphone’s display to be optimal, then normal (20/20) vision would require a pixel density of at least 230ppi in order to interpret an image as perfectly detailed.
| Smartphones | Results (ppi) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 5.2-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, | 423.64 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 5.2-inch, IPS, 1920 x 1080 pixels, | 423.64 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Gorilla Glass 4 | 575.92 | 35.95 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 534.04 | 26.06 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Dura-Glass by LG | 400.53 | - 5.46 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 4.7-inch, IPS, 750 x 1334 pixels, Ion-strengthened glass | 325.61 | - 23.14 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 494.48 | 16.72 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 5.5-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 400.53 | - 5.46 % | Check price |
Higher panel brightness is of key importance for visual comfort when working outside or in a brightly lit room.
| Smartphones | Results (cd/m2) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 5.2-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, | 525 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 5.2-inch, IPS, 1920 x 1080 pixels, | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Samsung Galaxy S6 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Gorilla Glass 4 | 349 | - 33.52 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 515 | - 1.9 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Dura-Glass by LG | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Apple iPhone 6 4.7-inch, IPS, 750 x 1334 pixels, Ion-strengthened glass | 512 | - 2.48 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 268 | - 48.95 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 5.5-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 335 | - 36.19 % | Check price |
Delta E (CIE 2000) is a CIE measurement unit of color difference. Higher values indicate that the display produces less accurate colors. (lower results are desirable).
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 5.2-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, | 3.36 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 5.2-inch, IPS, 1920 x 1080 pixels, | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Samsung Galaxy S6 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Gorilla Glass 4 | 1.20 | 64.29 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 2.12 | 36.9 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Dura-Glass by LG | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Apple iPhone 6 4.7-inch, IPS, 750 x 1334 pixels, Ion-strengthened glass | 1.45 | 56.85 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 1.29 | 61.61 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 5.5-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 5.0 | - 48.81 % | Check price |
The coverage of the sRGB color gamut, introduced as a standard for the Web, shows the percentage of colors used on the Web that can be displayed on the screen of the device being tested (higher values are better).
| Smartphones | Results (%) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 5.2-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, | 98 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 5.2-inch, IPS, 1920 x 1080 pixels, | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Samsung Galaxy S6 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Gorilla Glass 4 | 99 | 1.02 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 97 | - 1.02 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Dura-Glass by LG | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Apple iPhone 6 4.7-inch, IPS, 750 x 1334 pixels, Ion-strengthened glass | 96 | - 2.04 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 100 | 2.04 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 5.5-inch, IPS, 1080 x 1920 pixels, Gorilla Glass 3 | 94 | - 4.08 % | Check price |
Sound
All frequencies sound fine with no distortion. The sound is full, rich and clear.
Specs sheet
| Operating system | Android 5.0 (Lollipop) + Xperia UI |
|---|---|
| CPU | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 (8-core, 4x 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A57) |
| RAM | 3GB RAM |
| Storage | 32GB flash memory + microSD card up to 128GB |
| GPU | Adreno 430 |
| Display | 5.2-inch Triluminos IPS LCD with FHD resolution (1080×1920) |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, WiFi Direct, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Bluetooth v4.1, A2DP, LE, NFC |
| Cameras | 20.7MP Sony Exmor RS sensor + 5.1MP front-facing |
| Features |
|
| Battery | 2930 mAh |
| Dimensions (W/H/D) | 146 x 72 x 6.9 mm (5.75 x 2.83 x 0.27 in) |
| Weight | 144 g (5.08 oz) |
Battery life
Sony has always excelled in terms of battery life and easily beating most of the flagships out there. However, this year’s Xperia Z flagship is a bit of a letdown. The battery life is still great, but significantly lower than last year’s model. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the profile has been trimmed down at the expense of battery capacity, but the decline is only 170 mAh, which should be barely noticeable. Secondly, the SoC. Obviously the main thing that Sony changed in this year’s flagship is the Snapdragon CPU that turned out to be less energy-efficient than Qualcomm claims it is. You can see from the results below. All tests were performed under the same conditions – Wi-Fi turned on, Bluetooth is off, GPS is off and screen brightness is set to 120 cd/m2.
In this test the screen doesn’t affect the battery life, since the proximity sensor turns it off during phone calls.
| Smartphones | Results (min.) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 1346 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 3100 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) | 1750 | 30.01 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 2550 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) | 1082 | - 19.61 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) | 1000 | - 25.71 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 918 | - 31.8 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 1810 mAh, 4.7-inch, IPS, Apple A8 (APL1011) | 857 | - 36.33 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 3220 mAh, 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) | 979 | - 27.27 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Intel Atom Z3580 | 947 | - 29.64 % | Check price |
We run our Web surfing test with a custom-made script, which browses through 70 popular web pages.
| Smartphones | Results (min.) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 600 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 3100 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) | 706 | 17.67 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 2550 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) | 620 | 3.33 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) | 470 | - 21.67 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 445 | - 25.83 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 1810 mAh, 4.7-inch, IPS, Apple A8 (APL1011) | 573 | - 4.5 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 3220 mAh, 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) | 517 | - 13.83 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Intel Atom Z3580 | 562 | - 6.33 % | Check price |
This test uses the same custom-made script, but we use 3G connection instead of Wi-Fi.
| Smartphones | Results (min.) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Sony Xperia Z3 3100 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Samsung Galaxy S6 2550 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) | 429 | 0 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) | 400 | 0 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Apple iPhone 6 1810 mAh, 4.7-inch, IPS, Apple A8 (APL1011) | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 3220 mAh, 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) | 511 | 0 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Intel Atom Z3580 | 280 | 0 % | Check price |
For this test we use a looping 720p movie.
| Smartphones | Results (min.) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 513 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 3100 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) | 615 | 19.88 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 2550 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) | 670 | 30.6 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) | 478 | - 6.82 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 673 | 31.19 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 1810 mAh, 4.7-inch, IPS, Apple A8 (APL1011) | 594 | 15.79 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 3220 mAh, 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) | 672 | 30.99 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Intel Atom Z3580 | 860 | 67.64 % | Check price |
In order to simulate 3D gaming, we use Epic Citadel cycles at High Quality setting.
| Smartphones | Results (min.) | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 181 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 3100 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) | 300 | 65.75 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 2550 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) | 250 | 38.12 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, LCD IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) | 188 | 3.87 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, Curved P-OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) | 261 | 44.2 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 1810 mAh, 4.7-inch, IPS, Apple A8 (APL1011) | 258 | 42.54 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 3220 mAh, 5.94-inch, Super AMOLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) | 212 | 17.13 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 3000 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Intel Atom Z3580 | 167 | - 7.73 % | Check price |
Software
As usual, Sony’s latests flagship comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop with the latests version of Xperia UI out of the box. As we mentioned in our other reviews, we really liked the integration of the Material Design signature of Lollipop on top of the Xperia UI. Something other brands are still struggling with that. However, if you’ve owned an Xperia device you will find your way around quite easily.
The notification tray is almost the same as the one on the vanilla Android and we still find it a bit frustrating to have only a few settings shortcuts – there are not enough, at least to our liking. We are also happy to find the same old apps that can be run in windowed mode like calculator, notes, calendar and etc. You can take advantage of the action recording feature that Sony introduced a while ago – this is pretty nifty and can’t be found on other Android devices. The PlayStation 4 direct connect is still in place, the gallery is still as awesome as we remembered in other words – no major changes.
Still we would like to shed some light into the customization of the apps and performance to achieve better battery life. The STAMINA mode is still available with several other tweaks and insights that will help you preserve the battery throughout the day. Detailed information about all the apps and processes that drain the juice combined with cue updating (cues several apps for updates and then wakes up the phone for updating rather than waking up the device every time an app needs updating) will let you play more with the Xperia Z3+. This feature, however, was introduced with Android Lollipop, but Sony has been implementing it from several generations now. The tap-to-wake feature is here to aid you with easier screen unlocking, but we don’t recommend using it as the smartphone unlocks itself quite often inside the pocket. LG has tackled this issue with adding the proximity sensor into the equation so the smartphone will not unlock the screen when an object is in front of the sensor.
Image adjustment is also possible with two main presets and one that lets you adjust white balance, but we already covered that in the “Display and sound” section. And last, but not least – the File Commander app. This is a pretty useful app that will most likely be used from the so-called power users, but it’s good to know that you have a built-in app for browsing in your internal and SD card storage. It also supports syncing with various cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive and etc.
Performance
The performance once again is flawless which is what we expect from a top-tier SoC like Snapdragon 810. The Xperia Z3+ performs blazingly fast without any lags, stutters, and hangs. All of this is thanks to the LITTLE.big architecture that the SoC uses with 4x Cortex-A53 ticking at 1.5 GHz and 4x Cortex-A57 working at 2.0 GHz. For the graphics performance is used the Adreno 430 and 3GB of RAM for fluent multitasking. You can see the results from our benchmark tests below.
CPU
Geekbench 3.0 is Primate Labs cross-platform processor benchmark which simulates real-world scenarios and gives a combined score, based on the results of integer, floating point and memory performance.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 3GB RAM | 3650 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) (4-core, Krait 400, 3GB RAM | 2819 | - 22.77 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) (4-core, 000, 2.1 GHz), 3GB RAM | 4604 | 26.14 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 3GB RAM | 3430 | - 6.03 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 2GB RAM | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011) (2-core, 1.4 GHz), 1GB RAM | 2880 | - 21.1 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) (4-core, Krait 450, 2.7 GHz), 3GB RAM | 3332 | - 8.71 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580 (4-core, Silvermont, 2.33 GHz), 4GB RAM | 2876 | - 21.21 % | Check price |
Metal 3 is the latest version of Vellamo’s CPU benchmark.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1301 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) (4-core, Krait 400, 3GB RAM | 1588 | 22.06 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) (4-core, 000, 2.1 GHz), 3GB RAM | 2678 | 105.84 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 3GB RAM | 2177 | 67.33 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 2GB RAM | 1300 | - 0.08 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011) (2-core, 1.4 GHz), 1GB RAM | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) (4-core, Krait 450, 2.7 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1593 | 22.44 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580 (4-core, Silvermont, 2.33 GHz), 4GB RAM | 1363 | 4.77 % | Check price |
Vellamo 2 Metal measures the CPU subsystem performance of mobile processors.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1387 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) (4-core, Krait 400, 3GB RAM | 1268 | - 8.58 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420) (4-core, 000, 2.1 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1602 | 15.5 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1673 | 20.62 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 2GB RAM | 1400 | 0.94 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011) (2-core, 1.4 GHz), 1GB RAM | 0 % | Check price | ||
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) (4-core, Krait 450, 2.7 GHz), 3GB RAM | 1369 | - 1.3 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580 (4-core, Silvermont, 2.33 GHz), 4GB RAM | 1114 | - 19.68 % | Check price |
GPU
The T-Rex 2.7 test is based on ES 2.0/GL 3.0 and includes highly detailed textures, materials, complex geometry, particles with animated textures and a post-process motion blur effect. The graphics pipeline also features planar reflections, specular highlights and soft-shadows.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 45 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC); GPU: Adreno 330, ; 3GB RAM | 27.6 | - 38.67 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420); GPU: 000, 0.77 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 59 | 31.11 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992); GPU: Adreno 418, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 34 | - 24.44 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 2GB RAM | 45 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011); 0.45 GHz ; 1GB RAM | 42.7 | - 5.11 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084); GPU: Adreno 420, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 39.8 | - 11.56 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580; GPU: PowerVR G6430, 533 GHz ; 4GB RAM | 30.21 | - 32.87 % | Check price |
The Manhattan 3.0 test is based on ES 3.0 / GL 4.1 and uses deferred rendering and multi-render target (MRT) for the geometry pass, diffuse and specular lightning. It also features complex effects such as depth shadow map, cloaking effect, post-process effects (bloom, depth of field), occlusion query and animated volumetric light shafts.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 23 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC); GPU: Adreno 330, ; 3GB RAM | 11.4 | - 50.43 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420); GPU: 000, 0.77 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 26 | 13.04 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992); GPU: Adreno 418, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 15 | - 34.78 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 2GB RAM | 22 | - 4.35 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011); 0.45 GHz ; 1GB RAM | 17.8 | - 22.61 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084); GPU: Adreno 420, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 19.3 | - 16.09 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580; GPU: PowerVR G6430, 533 GHz ; 4GB RAM | 13.24 | - 42.43 % | Check price |
In this test, 3DMark’s Unlimited engine uses a fixed frame interval and renders exactly the same frames in every run on every device. The frames are rendered in 720p "offscreen" while the display is updated with small frame thumbnails every 100 frames to indicate progress.
| Smartphones | Results | Result difference |
Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 24005 | 0 % | Check price | |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC); GPU: Adreno 330, ; 3GB RAM | 17269 | - 28.06 % | Check price | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa (7420); GPU: 000, 0.77 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 21662 | - 9.76 % | Check price | |
| LG G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992); GPU: Adreno 418, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 18309 | - 23.73 % | Check price | |
| LG G Flex2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994); GPU: Adreno 430 GPU, 0.65 GHz ; 2GB RAM | 23920 | - 0.35 % | Check price | |
| Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8 (APL1011); 0.45 GHz ; 1GB RAM | 17482 | - 27.17 % | Check price | |
| Motorola (Google) Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084); GPU: Adreno 420, 0.6 GHz ; 3GB RAM | 23594 | - 1.71 % | Check price | |
| ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) Intel Atom Z3580; GPU: PowerVR G6430, 533 GHz ; 4GB RAM | 20234 | - 15.71 % | Check price |
Camera
As always the Xperia Z3+ follows the legacy of its predecessor for being a camera-centric smartphone with the same old Sony Exmor RS sensor with 20.7MP resolution, f/2.0 aperture, and ISO support up to 12800, but only in manual mode. For low-light shots, you can rely on the LED flash placed below the sensor. We are again pleased with the dedicated camera button that allows you to capture moments under water. The devices went through our tests and here are the results.
Resolution
We measure the resolution of the camera with the ISO 12233 table you can see below and the results are recorded in lph (lines per high).
At the center of the table, the Xperia Z3+ reached a maximum of 2820 lph – excellent result for a smartphone.
Using our test composition, we can gain a subjective but fairly accurate view of the resolution, sharpness, color noise and chromatic aberrations.
The text is easy to read without any noticeable traces from the JPG compression.
The low-light parts of the photo are well processed without a lot of color noise.
No chromatic aberrations.
Color reproduction
The smartphone is capable of capturing relatively accurate colors.
| Blue | very good |
|---|---|
| Green | very good |
| Red | Acceptable |
| Yellow | very good |
| Magenta | good |
| Cyan | very good |
| White | very good |
| Gray | Very good |
Our score is 6.2/10.
You can see the results on the color map below.
Camera menu
Sony continues to offer a wide variety of modes and options to capture a good quality image and you can see most of the options on the image below. Nonetheless, we recommend using mostly the manual mode as the Superior Auto has some white balance issues and images appear on the noisy side under low-light conditions.
We are again bringing up the overheating issue that comes with the SoC, but this time it has a strong impact on the user experience. Just a few shots, a short Full HD or UHD video will be enough to force close the camera app. The back of the device reaches temperatures near 50 °C which is not only uncomfortable to hold, but ruins the camera experience a lot. Moreover, a full 5 min 4K video is almost impossible to record because the app closes itself after just 3 minutes of shooting. We hope Sony releases an update to fix this issue or at least make it more bearable.
Sample photos
Panorama
Video recording
You can check other testing footage with the Intelligent Active Video stabilization here: http://laptopmedia.com/news/sony-xperia-z3-z4-vs-apple-iphone-6-slow-motion-test/
Slow motion: http://laptopmedia.com/news/image-stabilization-test-sony-xperia-z3-z4-vs-apple-iphone-6/
Conclusion
To be honest, the camera experience isn’t all that great and it doesn’t offer better photo or video quality compared to earlier generations. In fact, it looks like it declined a bit, judging by the noisy and over-saturated colors in Superior Auto mode. We recommend using the manual mode as all of this will be avoided if you know your way around settings like ISO, white balance, exposure and etc. But for a normal user, the Superior Auto mode doesn’t deliver the performance that has been expected from a camera-centric flagship smartphone. Furthermore, the overheating issue gets in the way as well.
Temperatures and comfort
This test is one of the most important ones as smartphones become more powerful and able to handle more demanding applications and games. But this comes at an expense sometimes – overheating. The Snapdragon 810 is known for this issue and Sony has acknowledged the problem promising to release and update to fix that. You can see the results below on the heat maps we’ve created.
Even during light web browsing, installing an app or two or taking still shots rose the temperature of the device. The sensation of the hot surface was even worse due to the glass back of the phone. But before we show you how hot it gets, let’s take a closer look at the CPU and how it handles the usual daily tasks like web browsing, video playback, photo editing, and writing.
After the initial CPU test, we ran Epic Citadel benchmark on a loop that should imitate a long 3D gaming session that lasted for more than 45 minutes. The surface of the phone got quite hot especially near the camera sensor where the SoC is placed. It can get really uncomfortable to hold the phone at some point.
For our final assessment, we started recording 4K video as this is the most demanding task a SoC can handle. Unfortunately, though, the camera app shut down automatically when reached the temperatures you can see below and we recorded only under 4 minutes of 4K video. Other phones that we’ve tested were able to go for at least 10 minutes. We’ve also experienced shut-downs during recording normal FHD videos and taking photos.
Verdict
We are again presented with great build quality and design. Maybe not so practical as the glass on the back is slippery and the thin profile makes it uncomfortable to hold and operate with one hand. However, most users will not notice this as much. On the other hand, a lot of users have reported that the cap for the micro USB port wears off quickly on the Xperia Z1, Z2 and Z3 thus losing its water resistant properties. Sony has eliminated the problem here with removing the cap for the micro USB port – it’s a small but really noticeable change. The screen is again of a great quality and we are happy to see that Sony kept this panel for the release of the Xperia Z3+ – it’s just flawless.
The performance once again is spotless, but the overheating issue of the Snapdragon 810 can get in the way. It greatly affects user experience and even causing trouble when taking photos or recording videos. We really hope this issue would be resolved, because the Xperia Z3+ is not the only flagship device having this issue. However, when it comes to camera performance – it’s a hit a and a miss at the same time. The same old Exmor RS sensor comes with menu full of options and modes, but the most used one, Superior Auto, fails to deliver a decent camera experience. Photos appear to be on the noisy side and white balance is a bit off. So if you know what ISO, white balance and exposure mean, give that manual mode a shot, you will be surprised how much better the camera can perform. And finally the elephant in the room – battery life. While this device delivers excellent battery performance, last year’s Xperia Z3 set the bar too high and goes way ahead of the Xperia Z3+. Again, the Snapdragon 810 is the one to blame here. So is it worth the upgrade from Xperia Z3? Definitely not. In fact, we don’t recommend upgrading from the Xperia Z2. There are too many flaws that can be a deal-breaker.
Pros
- Great design, build quality and removed micro USB cap from earlier models
- IP68 certified – water and dust resistant
- Flawless display quality
- The camera app offers great possibilities, modes and options
- Good overall performance
Cons
- Way worse battery life compared to last generation
- Poor camera performance with Superior Auto (which is believed to be the most commonly used mode)
- Overheating issue of the Snapdragon 810
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