Xperia Z3V Vs Z3 Camera Battle: The Quality Drop

The following is a brief exploration of the back-facing cameras on the Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3V. While the hardware is supposed to be essentially identical in this area, we know for a fact that we're working with slightly different builds in the software department. The Z3V is Verizon's unique version of the Xperia Z3 from Sony, bringing a slightly thicker build and the built-in ability to wirelessly charge its battery. The Z3 we have is T-Mobile's model, the same model you'll find off-contract straight from Sony.

First you're going to see two scenes looking relatively similar. This shot was taken by both phones in the same place propped up in the same corner of a window, looking outward. Up close on the bricks you'll find the Z3 to be a bit sharper, the Z3V to be a bit more noisy.

You'll find this close-up image of a group of LEGO bricks to be a similar situation, with the Z3V delivering a slightly more noisy image. The lights are also slightly lighter here with the Z3.

The image of the fan you see here shows how the Z3V brights a slightly warmer, slightly more yellow image. The Z3 also appears ever-so-slightly sharper, once again.

The yellow situation continues here with this image of a cat in the same room with the same lighting as the fan above.

Then there's black. These two photos might not seem different to the naked eye – your monitor might not even be able to tell them apart. Both photos were taken with the lens of the smartphone's camera completely covered, making the light captured entirely non-existent. It's the software, then, that decides what black is black – they're different here, according to Photoshop.

Last what you're going to want to see is the difference in software versions on these devices. The Build numbers and Kernel versions are different, with the Z3 getting the slightly higher-numbered build.

Could it be that the Verizon version will see an update that tweaks its camera to be exactly the same as the Z3? Could this be a situation similar to what we saw with the Verizon HTC One M7 vs the Google Play Edition? Have a peek at the Moto X vs DROID Turbo camera battle from last month and see if anything rings a bell.