Sony has officially announced the US availability of the Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra smartphones. The handsets are both arriving unlocked and by way of the online Sony store and in select Sony retail stores. And similar to what we have been seeing from Sony, both of these have arrived as waterproof. Not to mention, available in a variety of colors.
Beginning first with the Sony Xperia Z1 and those considering a purchase have options for black, white or purple. Perhaps more important though, the specs. In the case of the Xperia Z1 that means a 5-inch Full HD display and 20.7 megapixel rear-facing camera. The camera also has some software perks which in this case means the ability to do live social broadcasting as well as Augmented Reality, time shift burst and more.
Shifting over to the Xperia Z Ultra and we are looking at a handset with lower megapixels in terms of the camera, but with a big step up in terms of display size. The Xperia Z Ultra has an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with Exmor RS for mobile and a 6.4-inch Full HD display. The Xperia Z Ultra also brings some competition to the Galaxy Note 3 and users can write and sketch with a pencil or select stylus.
Similar to the Xperia Z1, the Xperia Z Ultra is available in black, white and purple. The Xperia Z1 is priced at $669.99 and available with HSPA+ connectivity. The Xperia Z Ultra has options for LTE or HSPA+ connectivity. The former is priced at $649.99 (C6802) and the latter is $679.99 (C6806).
Otherwise, touching back on the water-resistance. In this case both handsets have the IP55 and IP58 ratings which means they are both waterproof and dustproof.
LTE connectivity? Bot not Verizon LTE connectivity right? There’s no way, we won’t get a nice phone :(. Oh how I wish I could get anything besides Verizon where I live…
Is HSPA+ connectivity = LTE for AT&T? what does this mean?
not quite. HSPA+ is called “4G,” but it’s not quite as fast as AT&T’s remarkably fast LTE network. The Z1 has only HSPA+ but it’s reasonably fast, but it’s not LTE.