Sony Xperia XZ Premium Now Available in the US for $799

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is finally available in the US for $799, unlocked. The Japanese smartphone manufacturer is launching the device at Amazon, Best Buy and Fry’s in the US. It’s the company’s latest high-end flagship smartphone, which includes the Snapdragon 835 inside, making it the company’s first Snapdragon 835-powered smartphone. It also sports 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, there is also a micro SD card slot available for expanding that storage.

What’s special about the Xperia XZ Premium is the display. It’s a 5.46-inch 4K display, however, like the Xperia Z5 Premium that the company launched a couple of years ago, the display is not always in 4K. When the device is not showing 4K pictures or video, the screen actually downgrades to 1080p. This is done to save battery life, and help keep the smartphone cooler. Seeing as a 4K display needs more power, and thus makes the device a bit hotter. There’s a 3230mAh battery inside the Xperia XZ Premium, and if this smartphone had a true 4K display, that battery would be tiny, and wouldn’t last long, but since it does down-scale to 1080p for most of the time, it actually lasts really long. With many people saying it offers the best battery life on any smartphone.

This smartphone is sold unlocked here in the US, which means you’ll be able to use it on T-Mobile and AT&T’s networks. Unfortunately it does not work on CDMA networks like Sprint and Verizon in the US. Another thing to note here is that the US model does not sport a fingerprint sensor. Or rather, the fingerprint sensor is physically there, it’s just not activated. This has been the case for over a year now with Sony’s smartphones in the US, and that’s the case again this time around. Fortunately, if you are willing (and brave enough) to flash the UK version onto the US model, you can get the fingerprint sensor working, and everything else works the same as well. So those that are tinkerers, that won’t be a big issue. The Xperia XZ Premium is available today for $799, and if you purchase from Amazon, it’ll be at your doorstep as soon as tomorrow.