I’ve picked up the new Sony Xperia Z3v for Verizon. This is one of the most recent Sony smartphones to hit the US. And this guy right here is customized specifically for Verizon. It has essentially the same specs as the standard Xperia Z3, like the Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM. But with a couple of other Verizon-specific features, like Qi wireless charging and a slightly larger 3200mAh battery.

If we go ahead and take a peek at what lies inside this box, we will first find the Sony Xperia Z3v sitting right on top. I’m going to go ahead and put that off to the side for a moment to take a look at what else lies in the box.

First, we will find the Verizon 4G LTE SIM Card and underneath that, we will have a few more items. We have the standard wall charger to USB port used to charge the Z3v. then we have the standard micro USB cable, once again to charge the device. And then finally, we have a bunch of setup and instructions and get started packets, which we really won’t need to take a look at but they are there.

Now let’s take a look at the Xperia Z3v and take off all that plastic because this is a very good-looking and good-feeling device. Just based off first impressions, this is a hefty device. It’s fairly heavy and it’s a tad bit thicker than some of the other devices I’ve recently been playing with. It’s 8.9mm thin, which isn’t terribly thick nor is it terribly thin. If we take a look around the device, we will find the microSD card slot, the Power/Sleep On/Off button, the volume up and down controls and dedicated camera button on the right hand side. There’s nothing on the left hand side except for the SIM card slot and micro USB port, both of which are covered up because this is IPX67 certified, so it’s waterproof. And then there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack up top with surprisingly nothing on the bottom.

On the front of the Z3v, we’ll find the 2.2MP front-facing camera and ambient light sensors up top with nothing on the bottom since this device uses software navigation buttons. If we flip this guy over, we will find the 20.7MP camera and flash with the glossy glass back cover which resembles the Z1 and Z2 and not so much the Xperia Z3 as the edges are more squared off and not quite as rounded. But nevertheless, it feels very premium that’s for sure. It’s more like a premium feeling Amazon Fire Phone. It’s what the Amazon Fire Phone should have been.

If we power the Xperia Z3v on, we’ll first be greeted with a very nice 1080p IPS LCD display. The colors look very nice and vibrant. It’s a Sony display so you know it’s going to look good. And just by navigating through the operating system, the UI is very zippy. Everything from opening up the app drawer to the settings or just pressing the home button. The response time is almost instant, which is very nice to see. There’s really no lag at all on this phone.

And I haven’t played with too many Sony smartphones simply because they haven’t really been readily available here in the US but from what I’m seeing so far here on the Z3v, I really like it. It’s a good-looking smartphone inside and out. Even if the physical design doesn’t quite resemble the Z3. There’s not as much metal around the sides. The sides themselves aren’t quite rounded. And that’s not to say the Xperia Z3v doesn’t feel good in the hands. It just doesn’t feel quite as good as the standard Z3.

Also, the other main difference is the camera because the 20.7MP camera on the Z3v is the same sensor found on the Xperia Z2. It’s not the same as the Z3 camera sensor which features an updated sensor with a 25mm wide angle lens and ISO level of up to 12,800. The Xperia Z3v uses a 27mm wide angle lens and the ISO levels just aren’t quite as high.

But with that said, I’ll have to test it out in the next few days to really see how much worse it is or if it is even any worse. It does have wireless charging and a larger battery though so those are certainly some good pros. But overall, the Xperia Z3v really seems to have potential. I’m just really looking forward to reviewing it this week.