Sony has launched Xperia Z3+, its new flagship phone in India at Rs 55,990. The phone will be available starting today. However, only the 32GB variant will be available in India. The Xperia Z3+ was announced late-May. The model had earlier been launched in Japan as Xperia Z4, but Sony renamed it as Xperia Z3+ for the international release. That launch event was not hyped up by the company, and only a few news outlets knew about it. There are no differences between the devices either than network bands they support, and their naming. That being said, Xperia Z3+ is already available in a number of markets, and India has just joined that list. The Xperia Z3+ comes in Black, White, Copper and Aqua Green color options. Those who purchase the phone will get a free Quick Charger bundled in, along with a screen protector already applied on the phone. 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+ 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. In spite of these differences, the new model is considered a minor update over Xperia Z3 as the two share many features. According to Sony, Xperia Z3+ has a 5.2-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS screen and glass-and-metal body; the glass used in the smartphone is unbreakable. Also, 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. That’s more or less folks, the Xperia Z3+ is the premium offering by Sony and those of you who live in India can now purchase it for Rs. 55,990 ($881). Xperia Z3+ is a good smartphone but not something to write home about. Also, the company has failed to get the pricing right yet again. The Xperia Z3+ at Rs. 55,990 ($880) is far more costlier than rival Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which in comparison are available for around Rs 40,000 ($630) in India. Even the iPhone 6 is available for a lesser amount. Keep this up and Sony will end up with a fate similar to BlackBerry which had similarly failed to gauge the street signs around 7 years ago.
