You may remember that just a little while ago in April, Sony announced the Xperia Z4, then named it the Xperia Z3+ in other countries shortly after. We were waiting to hear if the device would make it stateside, as typically every other Xperia Z flagship has made it over here. With the Xperia Z, Z1s, and Z3 on T-Mobile, while Verizon got their own variant in the Xperia Z3v. Now it looks like Verizon will be getting the Xperia Z4, in the form of the Xperia Z4v. Pretty confusing right?
As expected, there are some changes. The specs are largely the same, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, along with a 20MP camera which we’ve had since the Xperia Z1. It also has a 3,000mAh battery inside, which is a bit smaller than the Xperia Z3 had. Sony has also gone QHD this year with a 2560×1440 resolution display. The regular Xperia Z4 still has a 1080p display though. Additionally the Xperia Z4v will be running Lollipop with Sony’s skin on top.
It appears that Verizon likes the design of the Xperia Z2 more than the Z3 or Z4. With the Xperia Z3v, Verizon made it look more like the Xperia Z2, but with Xperia Z3 features and specs. It’s the same story with the Xperia Z4v this time around. It’s a thicker and chunkier version of the Xperia Z4. It doesn’t look completely terrible – better than the Galaxy S6 Active – but that’s just us looking at pictures. We’ll reserve judgement for when the device is available and we can see it in person. You’d think with making the Xperia Z4v about 2 millimeters thicker that Sony would have increased the battery size.
All we’re hearing on a release date is “later this summer”. So there’s no word on exactly when we’ll see it available. Hopefully it won’t be too late in the summer, considering the Xperia Z4 is available now in countries in Europe and Asia, or will be available in a few weeks. There’s still a chance that the Xperia Z4 could be coming to T-Mobile, but currently, there’s no confirmation of that happening.