Sony didn't spend much time talking U.S. availability for the Xperia Z or Xperia ZL when it introduced both handsets at CES 2013, but it looks like the company is planning to offer at least one of the models in an unlocked form here. The Xperia ZL is now listed on the U.S. Sony Style online store, and interestingly, the handset is shown in both the black and white variants that Sony previously announced as well as the red version that we got a look at in January.
The Xperia ZL features specs similar to the Xperia Z, including a 5-inch 1080p display, 13-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras,1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. There are some differences between the two models, though, with the Xperia ZL missing the waterproofing of its Xperia Z sibling but gaining a smaller form factor. The unlocked version of the Xperia ZL that's listed on the U.S. Sony Style website features support for UMTS HSPA+ 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz and LTE Band I, Band II, Band IV, Band V and Band XVII, meaning that it should play nice with AT&T and T-Mobile here in the U.S.
Just like when the Xperia ZL was first announced at CES, Sony isn't quite ready to talk launch date or pricing for this unlocked ZL, saying only that it's coming soon. Anyone interested in the device may have to quickly gather up some cash if they want to snag the Xperia ZL as soon as it's available, though, as XperiaBlog has heard that the device might actually be released into the U.S. Sony Style website within the next month with a price tag of $759.99. That's not exactly cheap, but high-end, unlocked smartphones rarely are. Whatever the cost of the Xperia ZL actually is, it's just good to see that Sony is continuing to offer unlocked handsets to those of us in the U.S. like it did last year with the Xperia S, P, U and acro S. Any of you thinking about opening your wallet for the unlocked Xperia ZL once it becomes available?
Via XperiaBlog, Sony Style
