Sony Xperia Z official: specs, features, pricing and release date

While we didn’t expect Samsung to unveil its 2013 flagship device at CES, we certainly waited for Sony to announce its own high-end super Android phone at this year Las Vegas trade show. And Sony delivered, presenting to the world a very interesting new device, the Xperia Z that was featured in so many rumors in the preceding weeks – you may know it as the Yuga.

Xperia Z, specs and Features 

So what is the Xperia Z all about? We’ll show you its most important features now that the handset is official.

5-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2
13-megapixel Fast Capture camera with Exmor RS for mobile, HDR video, Superior Auto and Noise Reduction to effortlessly capture razor sharp pictures and videos in any conditions
Dust and water resistant (IP55 & IP57) with a durable glass display
1.5 GHz asynchronous quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor
2GB RAM
microSD support
4G LTE support
NFC support
Battery STAMINA mode improves standby time by at least 4 times
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgradeable to Android 4.2 “shortly after launch”
Size: 7.9mm thin
The device certainly look interesting, and we’re particularly impressed with that home button that’s placed on the side of the handset, not under the display as you would have expected. Is this an anti-patent action measure?

Pricing and Release date

While we don’t have pricing details for the Xperia Z at this time, we do know it’s launching globally in Q1 2013 – one rumor did say the Xperia Z is going to be released a week after CES, but that doesn’t appear to be the case yet. In fact, it looks like the phone will hit stores at some point in March.

In addition to the Xperia Z, a smaller Xperia ZL will also be available in “selected markets” and will launch around the same time.