Sony Xperia Z3v, Black 32GB (Verizon Wireless)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.9 x 0.4 x 5.8 inches ; 6.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00OJPRT0Q
• Item model number: Xperia Z3v
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,459 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)
  • #41 in Cell Phones & Accessories > Contract Cell Phones

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fantastic! Never mind the Z2 body, try it and be glad you did! November 3, 2014

By Therabbitssing VINE VOICE

Sony Mobile has come a long way. Gone are the days of the Sony Ericsson phones, and the latest Xperia Z line phones have really shown Sony trying to get into the flagship smartphone market. Hefty competition with the likes of the iPhone 6, HTC One M8, and the Samsung Galaxy S5. The Xperia Z3 was released around the world just a short time ago, and it got rave reviews. But no US release until they announced a Verizon specific model. The Z3v which has CDMA radios and a body style that is much more in line with the older Z2. So how does this Verizon version stack up? Read on.

Yes, the Z3v a hybrid of the Z2 and Z3. You get the body of the Z2, albeit slightly elongated and thicker (there's a probable reason), the camera and screen carry over as well. You also get the faster CPU from the Z3, Remote Play for your PS4, a better waterproof and dust proof rating, and a feature that none of the other Z3 family has natively; Qi wireless charging. The phone is indeed thicker and larger than the current Z3 or Z2. But it still feels very nice. In fact, it's quite comfortable for a large phone. It's made of glass panels in the front and back, and it just feels wonderful and premium feeling, easily on par with the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6. Blows the Galaxy S5 out of the water there.

The UI is snappy and lag free, and with 3GB of RAM, you probably won't ever bog it down. It is almost stock Android 4.4 but with a light Sony interface over it. It is actually quite nice and polished. Being a Verizon phone, there is bloatware. The usual Verizon apps rear their head, including a Verizon messaging app which replaces the stock text app. I recommend disabling it, but to be fair, it works fine. I just didn't like the look of Verizon's app. You also get several Sony apps, such as Walkman and Album which are their music and photo management apps, the Playstation App, which is a companion PSN app, and the PS4 remote play app which connects to your PS4 and allows you to use your phone as a screen in place of your TV. You also get Lifelog, which tracks your activity daily including steps and calories burned etc, and can be used with Sony's Smartwatch or Smart bands . I tried the lifelong app with no external device and it seems cool.

The screen is nice and big, at 5.2 inches at full HD 1920x1080. Not a quad HD screen, but it's fantastic anyways. Great viewing angles, though I would prefer the auto dimming to be a bit more "dim" when in low light. It is a tad too bright for my taste in pitch black of night.

Sound and vibration: The phone has two forward firing stereo speakers which sound great. It's almost as good as HTC Boom sound..but not quite. It's a very close second. Plus...they are waterproof. Vibration is on the weaker side. It's passable but barely. Headphone output is terrific and there are even specific sound profiles you can use with certain Sony models of earphones. There is a Sony noise canceling headset that will work with this phone that I have ordered and will update when it arrives.

Battery life and Charging : Superb. There's a 3200 mah battery in there and Sony's stamina mode and ultra stamina mode if you need to squeeze even more juice out of it. The original Z3 has a 3100 mah battery and will last two days. This one will go about a day and a half. You won't drain this in a day. This has the Z2 battery and screen, which is a little more power hungry. Also, the CDMA bands take a little more juice as well. But even with that, the phone lasts all day easily with frequent usage. Wireless charging is available if you have a Qi wireless charger. It works great, just like my old Droid MAXX. In fact, this phone stands up to my MAXX in battery life as I tend to come home with similar amounts of charge left at the end of a day(60-70 percent). Without a Qi charger, it charges through USB under a port cover.

Remote Play for PS4: A big selling point for some, it works wonderfully, even better than my Vita. Without a Dualshock 4, you can use the touch screen, but that is very impractical for most PS4 games. Pair a DS4 to it, and you have a mini PS4 you can play in the bedroom when everyone else is watching TV on the main screen. I hope the DS4 mount comes soon.

Camera: It's a 20.7mp with a fairly large sensor. It takes great photos, but to get the full 20mp you need to engage manual mode. Superior Auto which is the default gives you 8mp pics which still are great. There is 4K video if you have the desire to, or standard HD video as well. There are also a smorgasbord of camera modes to play with...almost too many for my tastes. I like things simple. But for those who like to play with their pics, you can do all sorts of things like insert your pic into photos, or have AR objects.

To sum up, even though I was a little let down when they announced the Z3v and it's Z2-ness, but after spending a week with it replacing my MAXX, I am sold. I am very happy with the phone, and everything it does. If you are on Verizon, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It's a fantastic phone. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars best overall phone on verizon for 2014 November 8, 2014

By VS

This phone has a lot of pros and cons. I'll list some that I think are somewhat relevant.

Pros:
Great reception, I get speeds(80mbps down and 20mbps up) I couldn't even get with Motorola phones.
Gorgeous screen, perfect 1080 resolution. None of that 2k+ bs that sucks the battery dry.
Dual front facing stereo speakers actually produce very clear sound even at high volume.
160gb of storage, 32 built in and 128 sd card. Can't ever have enough when 1min of 4k takes up 400mb.
Waterproofed! I like to read my phone relaxing in a jacuzzi, no longer have to worry of what might happen and yes I've tested it.
Decent size battery, not as good as droid maxx(720p screen and 3500mah battery) but much better then any other screen/battery combo on the market.
Dedicated camera button. Can take a picture in under 2 seconds from picking up the phone.
Camera is phenomenal! Pics that only take up 2-3mb of space and not 10mb that you can't adjust. Quality is second to none.
Wireless charging, always a plus.

Now on to cons:
Ergonomics are horrible. The sharp edges and flat back make holding the phone uncomfortable and it being so tall will make reaching upper left corner impossible one handed.
Glass in the back. What the hell for? Twice as fragile and slippery in dry hands.
Bloatware galore. I had to disable 30 apps from sony and Verizon before I even logged into Google.
None existant developer and aftermarket support. I can't even find a case for it, forget about root or unlocked bootloader.
Software isn't as user-friendly as on Motorola phones. I miss talking to my phone while driving, now I have to touch the screen first. Might seem like a minor disadvantage till you actually use it daily.
No simultaneous voice and data till software update, but who knows what year that will be in.
Adaptable screen brightness is slow to react and doesn't adjust full brightness range like some other phones.

Seems like this phone is a "dark horse". Plenty of potential and best around device but unknown brand(is that Samsung or iPhone they ask me) with limited exposure. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty awesome phone, some limitations, but overall very nice. December 3, 2014

By C Rollins

Verified Purchase

I bought this phone to replace my dated Droid 3 that I've had for years. Moving from such an old smartphone to the Xperia Z3v is quite an upgrade. Everything about this phone is better, aside from having no physical keyboard.

Pros: Pretty nice camera, I've taken quite a few photos already, mostly just to test the camera out. The camera focuses fast and takes decent pictures. The pictures are great for a smartphone in fact; however, I prefer my Nikon camera for anything in low light, far away, or taking any "important" pictures. For getting quick snaps this phone is perfect, especially with the dedicated camera button.

Call quality is great, I've had no issues. Voices come through very clear and loud enough that I chose to turn the volume down when speaking on the phone.

The touch screen is very responsive and the phone has yet to be slowed down by anything. Everything launches quickly and runs smoothly.

Battery life is okay, not great but will give you a day of miscellaneous use. I've been browsing the Internet, playing games, and watching streaming videos from Netflix and Amazon Instant Video intermittently for a couple hours and still have 54% battery. I really have no complaints about the battery life though, it lasts much longer than my Droid 3 ever did.

The phone is very fast on Verizon's 4G LTE network, I did a speed test and got 19.9mbs, a lot better than expected, I downloaded about 65 songs in just a couple minutes while downloading and updating apps.

There are a lot of features with this phone that seem awesome but I've yet to test them out, Qi Wireless Charging, PS4 remote play, Miracast, PS4 controller pairing, and many others.

Cons: Verizon's bloatware, any Verizon smartphone comes with a ton of preloaded garbage, this phone is no exception. It also comes with a couple Sony apps, like media viewers, lifelog, etc.

The phone seems to get pretty warm sometimes but the only warning I've gotten is from using the camera, it warns you that if the camera starts to get too warm it will shut down the camera app. It hasn't happened, just got warnings saying it could.

My biggest and really only problem with this phone is that I can't use a third party app to broadcast a Hotspot, this; however, seems to be a Verizon/Android 4.4 issue and not particularly this phone.

Anyway I'm very happy with this phone and would really recommend it to anyone. Read more ›