Sony’s latest flagship duo was originally announced last month at varying times, but up until today, the devices lacked any solid, credible release information. At Mobile World Congress on Monday, the company finally confirmed release information for the flagship devices. The Xperia Z smartphone will be available globally on March 1st, while the Xperia Z tablet will not launch until the second calendar quarter of this year. Sony points out that the Xperia Z handset has won 13 awards since its announcement back in January. The company also says that the device has secured the widest range of retail channels of any other Sony smartphone and will be available in 140 sales channels throughout 60 markets.
The Xperia Z tablet was announced by Sony Mobile of Japan at the end of January to much surprise. The device is the thinnest tablet to date, according to Sony. It comes in at 6.9mm, while the iPad mini comes in at a close 7.2mm. In addition to its aesthetically pleasing design, the Tablet Z is also fully waterproof. The tablet can be submerged in 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes without any effects. The Tablet Z will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, though Sony promises an update to Android 4.2 soon after its launch. Other specs include a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 1080p 10.1-inch display, an 8MP rear facing camera, 2MP front facing camera, and Sony’s S-Force Front Surround 3D audio system.
The Xperia Z smartphone also packs a large punch. The device packs the same 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, an Adreno 320 GPU, 13MP rear camera, 2.2MP front facing camera, and a 5-inch 1080p display. Design wise, the device comes in at 146 grams and is just 7.9mm thin. Like the Tablet Z, the smartphone will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, though Sony promises an update to Android 4.2 soon after launch.
It remains to be seen if Sony’s latest flagship lineup will have what it takes to compete with the upcoming Galaxy S4 and HTC One. Sony has had more than its fair share of troubles securing a U.S. market in the past, though it hopes the Xperia Z lineup will change that.