Sony unveils smartphone Xperia Z3+

Sony Mobiles has unveiled smartphone Xperia Z3+, which offers only a few small upgrades over last year's Xperia Z3. The model had earlier been launched in Japan as Xperia Z4, but Sony has named it Xperia Z3+ for the international release.

Among the major improvements of Xperia Z3+ over its predecessor is the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor (four 1.5GHz cores + four 2GHz cores). The smartphone also comes with Android 5.0 (Lollipop) out of the box and is thinner (6.9mm vs 7.3mm) and lighter (144 grams vs 152 grams) than the 2014 Sony flagship.

Sony Xperia Z3+ also comes with a 25mm wide-angle 5.1MP front camera for better selfies, compared to the 2.2MP front camera of Xperia Z3. The front facing snapper now has superior auto mode for selfies, including soft snap, night portrait, backlight portrait and infant.

While the microUSB port is not covered by a flap in the new model, it still carries the IP68 rating for resistant against water and dust, likely due to a nano coating. Though Sony has reduced the battery capacity of Xperia Z3+ compared to Xperia Z3 (2,930mAh vs 3,100mAh), it claims that the new smartphone offers up to two days of battery life.

Unlike Xperia Z3, which came with 16 and 32GB storage options, the new Sony smartphone comes in only 32GB capacity.

Despite these differences, the new model is considered a minor update over Xperia Z3 as the two share many features. Xperia Z3+ has a 5.2-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS screen and glass-and-metal body; the glass used in the smartphone is shatterproof, according to Sony. Similarly, both smartphones have 3GB of RAM, support microSD cards of up to 128GB capacities and have 20.7MP rear cameras. Both smartphones also have the same connectivity features: 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and microUSB 2.0.