[Xperia Z4/Z3+ General] ChiDi9901:
Hello,

You're lucky that you asked the person that had switched from a Zenfone 2 to Xperia Z3+.

I am going to list some points that (in my opinion and from my personal experience OR in the theoretical sense) may be upgrades(+) or downgrades(-) or neutral(~), it could also be a mix:

I start with neutral:

~) screen resolution (not quality meant here) is full HD.

~) front facing camera is 5MP max.

~+) snappieness of processor. Both the Intel and Qualcomm perform well and fast. I noticed that transition animations on the Z3+ is faster (I didn't change the speed in the developer settings) but the difference is in reality usage not big.

~) both have NFC

~) screensize is a personal taste (5.2 vs. 5.5) you choose. I liked both but 5.2 is definitely handier.

~) capacity vs. in-software navigation bar (you choose)

~) SIM card size support (ZF2 has micro, Z3+ has nano, you choose)

The negative (in a theoretical sense):

-) Z3+ has 3GB of RAM in contrast to Zenfone 2's 4GB

-) Camera of Z3+ has only a single flash, ZF2 has dual tone.

-) ZF2 has two SIM cards support the Z3+ only one

-) The processor on the Z3+ gets pretty warm when using camera or doing some intensive work compared to ZF2, sadly you can't really make long 4K videos before the camera closes itself. But I didn't experience any app crashes other than that.

-) The battery capacity of the Z3+ is a tiny bit smaller

-) custom ROM support is not that well though because many developers and users on XDA don't like unlocking the bootloader and loose DRM keys a.k.a. Sony goodies (unlocking bootloader is officially supported by Sony though, the same on Asus' side)

The positive:

+) the built quality of the Z3+ is far better, it's some kind metal/aluminium against plastic of the ZF2. I trust built quality of Sony's devices in general because I also have Z3 tablet and it's in a good shape too.

+) despite the aluminium body, it's surprisingly bit lighter than the ZF2

+) Screen/display quality is gorgeous on the Z3+. I sadly had bad experience with the ZF2's display, but it might be because my unit is faulty (screen is vertically a bit washed out). In addition the Z3+' display is brighter when set to max.

+) official announced expandable storage size is 128GB on The Z3+ in comparison to 64GB

+) camera has 20+ MP vs. the 13MP (keep in mind though more pixels does not mean better all the time, you need to decide when a photo is good or bad)

+) front facing speakers that are decent. ZF2 only has a mini speaker on the back.

+) the placement of the power and volume buttons, you can access power button when phone is on the table (although you decide again)

+) dedicated camera bottom with half press to focus function

+) Z3+ is water resistant at some point

+) less bloated software from Sony than ZF2. The UI is in my opinion more professional looking. (UI preference is a personal decision, it's up to you)

+-) Sony's official software support is better. The Z3+ has Android 6.0 already while the ZF2's is still on 5.0. Also rumors exist that Asus will not provide any major updates after Android 6 anymore, thuogh they will give out monthly security updates. The possibility that Z3+ will see Android N is high. BUT, Asus provides more up-to-date security updates than Sony.

+~) the back of the Z3+ is flat, you can put it on the table properly

+) the Z3+ has a newer Bluetooth version

There are surely more points that I could mention but I can't think of any now. I am with my Z3+ much happier than with the Zenfone 2 mainly because of the better build quality and software implementation. It's also because of the drastic price drop that I got this phone otherwise the ZF2 is a really good device for its price too.

Sorry for letting you read so much, I just want to give you my honest opinion about whether it's an upgrade or not and I don't want to behave fanboy-ish. I don't tolerate fanboy-ish behaviour and I hope that I could help you a bit further.

Have a nice day![emoji1]

Edit: and sorry for strange English mistakes, I know that sentence placement might be funny or illogical

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