A little more light has surfaced on last month’s rumor that T-Mobile will eventually be offering the Sony Xperia Z1 to its customers. Among the list of Bluetooth enabled devices on its website, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group posted a rendering of the Z1, complete with the T-Mobile US label and model number “C6916.” Other than the entry being titled “Xperia Z1 TMO US” there is no more proof that T-Mobile will in fact get the flagship device – not even a carrier branding is visible on the picture, though Sony has often resisted these in the past.
An unlocked version of the GSM smartphone was made available through Sony’s website in October with a huge price tag of $649 – just what you would expect for an unlocked device of this caliber. However, for the standard user to get his or her hands on the Z1, purchasing it directly from the manufacture might be out of the question. The Xperia family of devices are some of the most feature-packed on the market today however, they very rarely make their way stateside.
During an announcement about its new JUMP! Program, T-Mobile announced in July that it would be carrying the Z1’s predecessor, the Xperia Z. Through the jump program, the device was offered for a down payment of only $100, with monthly installments of $25. While the final price totaled close to the amount of an unlocked Z1, JUMP! made it possible for those who could not afford a huge lump sum payment to buy the phone. If T-Mobile does in fact stock its shelves with the Z1, it is likely to follow the same payment pattern as its sister-phone.
The Z1 comes packed with some great specs such as:
- 5-inch 1920—1080 TFT Capacitive, Triluminos display
- 16GB of internal storage, microSD card supported
- 2GB of RAM
- Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked @ 2.2GHz
- IP58 certified – dust proof and water-resistant over 1 meter and 30 minutes
- 20.7MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera
- Android 4.2
- 3000mAh battery
With the recent release of Android 4.4 (KitKat), it is also quite possible that the T-Mobile version will already come pre-loaded with the delicious chocolaty treat. There has been no actual confirmation on the American carrier release, so until then, all we can do is speculate, but it’d be great to see another Sony flagship reach a US carrier.