After the long wait, Sony will finally release its Xperia Z5 flagships in American stores. The company has also confirmed which versions of the Android phone will be available.
The unlocked variants of the devices are all set to make their appearance on Feb. 7, 2016, marking the first Sony handset release in the U.S. after the Xperia Z3.
Thanks to one of B&H Photo Video's placeholder listings, we now know precisely that the Xperia Z5 E6603 model will be the one available for purchase. The model's extended band support might have led Sony to select this variant.
This would mean that AT&T and T-Mobile, two big carriers from "The Land of the Free," should work well with the device. Just as a reminder, T-Mobile has no support for 3G connectivity on 1700MHz.
The E6603 sports the same frequencies as the E6653 model. In October last year, the Xperia Blog compiled a list of recommendations for U.S. buyers of its handsets, where the E6653 Z5 came out on top.
The two phone models differ significantly in their LTE speeds. The E6653 has a LTE Cat 6 speed of 300 Mbps download, whereas the E6603 limits itself to LTE Cat 4 speed of 150 Mbps download.
Sony, however, decided to send the E6603 to the United States.
Here is a full description of Xperia Z5 E6603's frequency support:
LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 28, 38, 40)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz
B&H will sell the Xperia Z5 for a price of $599.99.
It should be mentioned that Sony's flagship packs a pretty formidable hardware under its hood.
The Xperia Z5 comes equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU that is backed by 3 GB of RAM. Its 5.2-inch screen is capable of displaying visuals at a resolution of 1080p. The smartphone holsters a camera combo consisting of a solid 23-MP main cameras and a 5.1-MP selfie snapper.
Although the back of the device is manufactured out of frosted glass (read: don't drop it or it will gain the "shattered" texture), the handset is waterproof.
With a juicy 2,900 mAh battery, the device should work for two days without recharging. Seeing how most smartphones in the Xperia Z5's class only last for one day per recharge, this could considerably help Sony's sales.
Only time will tell if the features and specs of the Xperia Z5 will be convincing enough to boost the flagship's sales figures in the U.S. Earlier this year, new surfaced that the American Xperia Z5 will lack the fingerprint sensor, one of its strongest selling points.
The Japanese-based OEM did not explain in detail why it chose to remove the fingerprint scanner from the American Xperia Z5 model. However, the security option is increasingly common among flagship devices currently out in the market, and its absence might take its toll on the Z5's success.