James Bond’s ‘phone, the new Sony Z5 range, actually consists of three individual models: the Z5 Compact, Z5 and Z5 Premium, and these have been filtering down into the various markets. In the United Kingdom, Carphone Warehouse have just announced that they now have the Sony Xperia Z5 in stock in all colors. As a recap, the Xperia Z5 is the current flagship device in the Sony Xperia Z range, which started in early 2013 with the original Sony Xperia Z. The Z5 follows the original Z, Z2, Z3, then the Z3+ or Z4 (depending on the market). It has a similar design but a number of enhanced or new features. For the Z5, Sony based the device around a 5.2-inch, 1080p resolution display panel, which features Sony’s TRILUMINOS technology. Under the skin, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 System-on-Chip, which has eight processor cores arranged using a big.LITTLE architecture. The Snapdragon 810 is supported by 3 GB of RAM and the device has 32 GB of internal storage, plus a MicroSD card so customers can add additional space for media and some applications. There’s a 23MP rear camera complete with various Sony camera enhancement technologies, a 2,900 mAh battery that Sony reckon is good for a couple of days, and the device runs Android 5.1 Lollipop under Sony’s software overlay. New to the Sony Xperia Z range is a fingerprint sensor, but the Z5 include Sony’s waterproofing and dustproofing chassis. The Z5 is available in black, white (as a Carphone Warehouse exclusive), gold and green.
As far as pricing goes, the SIM free price is £549.99 (the equivalent of €740 or $830). The ‘phone is also available on a number of contracts; it’s free for £41.99 a month, which comes with unlimited domestic minutes and texts plus 2 GB of data on the EE network, or it’s £59.99 up front and £36 a month with O2, coming with 3 GB of data and again, unlimited domestic minutes and text messages. Carphone Warehouse also remind customers that if they want the same experience, but in a smaller package, they have the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact available, again in all colors. Carphone have the exclusive on the Z5 Compact in coral (pink) and white colors and the Z5 Compact is a little cheaper, available free from £33.50 a month. Currently, Carphone Warehouse are the only high street retailer in the United Kingdom offering the Xperia Z5, but the carriers are expected to start selling the device in the coming week. It has been on sale in a number of European countries for a few days.