Monday, October 13, 2014

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact now available in the U.S., direct from Sony

Sony has had almost as storied a history of poor U.S. carrier availability with their smartphones as Nokia, so while the Xperia Z3 is actually seeing reasonable carrier pick-up, it’s not shocking that the Z3 Compact was just posted to Sony’s site without any fanfare.

Regardless for Android fans that want a device smaller than 5 inches, the options are dwindling fast, so the positively lilliputian Xperia Z3 Compact coming in at 4.6 inches is bound to be of interest to some U.S. customers. Here are the rest of the specs in case you missed them or tuned them out assuming the Z3 Compact would never come to the U.S.

4.6-inch (1280×720)
Snapdragon 801 (2.5 GHz)
2GB RAM
20.7-megapixel rear camera
2.2-megapixel front-facing camera
Waterproof and dust tight (IP65 and 68)
2600mAh battery
Android 4.4

While our exposure to Sony smartphones has been relatively limited in the U.S., we have been praising them for the last few years as we see the latest and greatest that they have on display at CES. The hardware is second to none and Sony’s attention to the camera experience has been stellar. Just don’t unlock the bootloader if camera performance is of the utmost importance to you.

You can buy the Xperia Z3 Compact today in white, black, orange or green off-contract through Sony Mobile for $529. Unfortunately, the shipping date still shows as “unknown,” but we’re looking into that and will update the post when we have a firm answer.

Anyone considering sticking with a “smaller” device and giving the Z3 Compact a try?