Gadgetory

this episode of Android Authority is brought to you by Norton security hey what is going on guys long hear from Andrew Authority and the Sony Xperia z3 is Sony's latest flagship and it has come to the United States for anyone on Verizon as the Xperia z3 V but is it better is it worse well that's what we're here to find out with the Sony Xperia z3 V usually when Verizon picks up a flagship phone they're known for altering the design of the phone in one way or another and they've done the same thing here with the Xperia z3 v the front and back are still solid pieces of glass but gone are the all-metal curved frame and sides from the original z3 instead the frame is plastic with metal inserts and they are now flat which makes it more reminiscent of the Xperia z2 and other previous Sony devices and not so much like the z3 Verizon's change on the design feels like a step backwards but I guess if you prefer the flat sides then you might look at it as a good thing it's a little bit thicker and heavier than the z3 but not by much and it's still pretty thin at 8.9 millimeters and overall it has the same build quality that you expect from Sony other than the flat sides everything else about the hardware has remained intact it's IP 68 so it's dust and water resistant and you still get front-facing stereo speakers which makes Sony one of the few OEMs that can give HTC zone boomsound speakers a run for its money when it comes to audio quality you still get the same 5.2 inch 1080p display on the front with Sony's triluminos technology and even though 2k displays are starting to become a new standard on smartphones the 1080p panel on the z3 v is no slouch it's very sharp bright beautiful and vivid with great viewing angles so unless you absolutely have to have a 2k screen you're not going to find much that's wrong with the z3 V's display also like the Xperia z3 the z3 V is packing the Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5 gigahertz with three gigs of RAM just like many other flagships powered by the Snapdragon 801 the z3 v will deliver a very fast and responsive experience and with three gigs of RAM on we're switching back and forth between apps and multitasking will be a much more seamless experience while it's a step behind the Snapdragon 805 the Snapdragon 801 will still provide more than enough power and performance for even the most demanding users there's also no surprises here when it comes to the camera the 20 point seven megapixel sensor makes its return on the z3v and the software as you would expect remains unchanged Sony's camera app is packed with a ton of features some are useful and some are sort of just for fun but with all the different levels of control that Sony's camera UI provides this will satisfy both the casual and the serious smartphone photographer the only quirk with the camera and this isn't specific to just the Xperia z3 V but Sony phones in general is the fact that you can only take advantage of all 20.7 megapixels in manual mode which also limits you to shooting in a four by three aspect ratio one minor difference with the camera on the z3v is the iso caps out at 6400 which is a step less than what the z3 is capable of but with an aperture of f28 to capture some decent looking low-light shots with a minimal amount of noise other than that you can expect pretty much the same level of picture quality with very sharp and detailed images with a great amount of color so I mentioned a little bit earlier that the z3 V is actually a little bit thicker than the z3 and this is for a couple of reasons one is the battery so it's a 3200 milliamp hour battery versus the 3100 milliamp hour battery in the z3 so it's slightly larger but you probably won't notice too much of a difference in battery life between the two one thing is for sure though is that the z3 v will easily get you through a full day on a single charge and possibly even into the better part of a second day depending on your usage reason number two is wireless charging so the z3 v has qi wireless charging built in so it's compatible with any qi wireless charger so this is a definite plus if you enjoy the benefits of wireless charging taking a look at the software the experience is practically the same as many other Sony phones looking at android 4.4 kitkat with Sony's Xperia U I and just as a side note the Easter Egg actually shows a - instead of a three so it kind of makes you wonder if this was really supposed to be a z2 variant and they maybe just slapped on the z3 name at the last minute either way the expiry why if you don't already know preserves a somewhat stock looking feel of Android which is great because it keeps things relatively lightweight and fast there are a few customizations from Sony built-in like these small apps in the recent apps menu that give you some extra multitasking capabilities and you also get an entire suite of Sony applications like Walkman movies and places your mobile for integrating your experience agent console since this is a Verizon phone there's also no shortage of Verizon bloatware pre-installed so on top of dealing with Sony's own apps you're going to have to put up with Verizon's which really takes away from what would otherwise be a very clean Android experience you can pick up the Xperia z3 be right now on Verizon for $200 on a two-year contract or $600 if you want to buy the phone outright and if you're looking for that Sony flagship experience on Verizon the Xperia z3 V is going to be your best bet and there you have it for the sony xperia z3 v sony's flagship has finally hit another carrier in the United States on Verizon and even though the z3 v is an extremely solid smartphone in its own right it feels a little bit more like a beefed up z2 than it does a z3 but with that being said it's almost just as good as the original anyways guys hopefully you enjoyed this review if you did please give a thumbs up down below we definitely appreciate that and also subscribe to the channel which is also down below if you haven't already and once you're done with all that check out our website at android comm for more in-depth coverage because we are your source for all things Android this episode of Andrew thority was brought to you by knowing security