Newsletter 
Before the Xperia Z4 was launched in Japan, speculations and rumors about Sony’s next generation flagship seemed to indicate that the Z4 might be a completely redesigned new device with a metallic built and QuadHD display, but it did not turn out to be that way. The device turned out to be only an incremental upgrade over the Z3, and even Sony is struggling to call it the new flagship internationally; hence, the Z3+ moniker. Now we know the Z4 moniker is only reserved for Japan, while Sony will market the device as the Xperia Z3+ in the rest of the world. Sony officially calls the Z3+ “a premium addition to our existing flagship Z3 series”, and not the standalone flagship. The Japan-centric Z4 and the international edition Z3+ are essentially almost identical, apart from the small matter of the Japanese version featuring Digital TV and FeliCa (contactless RFID smart card system), neither of which are available in the international edition. Either way, the devices are only a minor upgrade over the Xperia Z3, which will still be the official flagship of the company alongside the Z3+ till the next generation Xperia flagship is launched later this year.
Even though Sony has landed itself in a hot mess with the strange nomenclature, both the Z3 and the Z3+ still remain stellar devices in their own right. With the Xperia Z3+ already launched in the UK, and about to be launched in the rest of the world, Sony is offering netizens a chance to win the Z3+, in an effort to spread the word and get the right buzz before it launches the device worldwide. The contest is open for everybody on Facebook, and requires you to go to the Facebook page of Sony Mobile, fill out a form and answer a few questions. The contest will require the user to grant permission to the Sony app to access their Facebook account, but that permission can be revoked at any time at the discretion of the user.
As a refresher, the Xperia Z3+ features a 5.2 inch display with a 1080p resolution. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC with the MSM8994 CPU and an Adreno 430 GPU. The devices comes with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage, and features the same 20.7 megapixel camera from the Z3, with autofocus and LED flash, but without Optical Image Stabilization. The battery on the device is rated at 2920mAh, which is less than the Xperia Z3, but Sony claims it will still last two full days because of various software optimizations. The device also comes with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance.