Most consumers today know Sony for its PlayStation gaming consoles, TVs, movies, and the legendary Walkman. You’d be forgiven, though, if you didn’t know that the Japanese tech giant also offers a line of smartphones. But just one carrier, T-Mobile, currently sells Sony’s handsets. Until now, that is.
Verizon, which hasn’t offered a Sony smartphone for years, is rolling out its exclusive Sony Xperia Z3v. Available for $199 with a two-year contract, the Z3v is a competitor to mainstream, high-end phones like the Apple’s iPhone 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S5.
The Z3v is a good phone with unique features — it lets you stream PlayStation 4 games! — but compared with those power hitters, it’s not quite in the same league.
Design
Despite its name, the Z3v more closely resembles Sony’s bulkier Xperia Z2 rather than the newer, slimmer, sleeker, and overall better-looking Xperia Z3, which is available on T-Mobile.
In fact, at 0.35 inches thick, the Z3v is thicker than both the Z2 (0.32 inches) and the Z3 (0.30) inches. To compare, Apple’s iPhone 6, which at $199 costs the same as the Z3v, measures just 0.27 inches thick, while Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is 0.31 inches thick. In other words, the Z3v is not for the skinny-jeans contingent.
The Z3v is also relatively heavy, weighing 6 ounces, compared with the iPhone 6’s 4.6 ounces and the Galaxy S5’s 5.1 ounces. It’s worth pointing out, though, that the Xperia Z3v sports a 5.2-inch display, while the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5 have 4.7-inch and 5.1-inch displays, respectively.
So it’s chunky. But how does the Xperia Z3v feel? Not bad. Its heft is noticeable when you pick it up, but it’s not uncomfortable. Built with an aluminum frame and a glass back panel, the Z3v feels like a premium handset. Unfortunately, that glass back also picks up a lot of fingerprint grime. Yuck.
Like the Z2 and Z3, the Z3v is waterproof and dustproof. In fact, you can take this phone down to 5 feet underwater for 30 minutes, and it’ll keep on ticking. The S5 is waterproof up to 3 feet for 30 minutes, while the iPhone 6 models don’t offer any waterproofing. The Z3v does have those annoying port covers over its microUSB, SIM card, and microSD card slots, though, to keep it watertight.