Xperia Z4 vs Xperia Z3: What's New in Next Gen Sony Smartphone?

Japanese consumer electronics major Sony unveiled its new generation flagship smartphone Xperia Z4 on Monday, 20 April. 

The new Xperia Z4 comes packed with some upgrades over its predecessor Xperia Z3. New features include slimmer sleek body, new-generation 64-bit class SoC (System on Chip) and a bump in front-camera pixel configuration and internal storage.

With few improvements in the fourth generation Xperia Z4, a debate has started whether owners of Sony Xperia Z series handset, who are due to end their contract with network carriers, need to go for the new Xperia Z4 or look for an alternative brand.

To get a better perspective between the two Xperia Z siblings, we have done a quick specification rundown of Xperia Z4 and its predecessor Xperia Z3.

Display and Design:

The new Sony phone resembles its predecessor Xperia Z3 in terms of outlook with trademark Omni-balance design, but boasts of thinner body (0.9mm slimmer than Z3) with curved corners and an aluminum frame on the edge. The company has also incorporated glass cover on the rear-side to give a glossy look.

Both Xperia Z4 and Z3 sport 5.2-inch full HD (1920x1080p) screen. A difference between the two devices is that the former boasts of a new-generation with Birds LUMINOS display technology, whereas the former features with TRILUMINOS and X-Reality display technology.

Processor, RAM and Storage:

Compared to other departments, Sony has incorporated major upgrades, bringing Xperia Z4 on par with rivals HTC One (M9), Galaxy S6 (& S6 Edge) and the soon-to-be released LG G4.

Xperia Z4 boasts of 64-bit class Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC (System on Chip) Octa-core (Quad-core ARM Cortex A57 and quad-core A53) backed by Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB RAM and 32GB (expandable up to 128GB).

Xperia Z3 houses 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 series quad-core CPU with Adreno 330 graphics engine.

Camera:

In this department, Sony hasn't incorporated much upgrade as anticipated by fans prior to the launch. Only change we see is that the front-camera has been bumped to 5.1-megapixel to appease selfie aficionados.

Xperia Z3 features 2.2mp snapper on the front side.

On the rear-side, Xperia Z4 houses pretty much same the camera specifications as seen inside its predecessor. It boasts of 20.7 megapixel camera with auto-focus, Exmor RS sensor, pulsed LED flash, 4K resolution video recording and a back-illuminated stacked CMOS sensor.

Xperia Z3 also comes with IPX5 / 8, IP6X water and dust-resistant certifications, the highest rating in the smartphone industry.

This certification allows users to take the new Sony phone for a dip in the swimming pool (or any other water-body), 1.5 meter (up to five feet) under water for close to 30 minutes, provided all the open ports are closed by the flaps provided in the package. ]

Mobile Operating System:

With the latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop OS update already seeding to Xperia Z3 across the world, there is no added advantage in owning the new Xperia Z4.

[Read more: Sony Officially Launches Xperia Z4; Specs, Features, Design and Availability]

Battery:

In this department, Sony has downgrade the battery capacity from 3100 mAh (Xperia Z3) to 2930 mAh in Xperia Z4. Though this may sound odd, the company believes that after the incorporation of Snapdragon Octa-core CPU, the power utilization will be more optimized in 8-core chipset compared to quad-core processor powered smartphone.

Key specifications of Sony Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z4: