At their event in Sydney tonight, Sony Australia has unveiled their plans for the local launch of their Xperia Z5 range of phones.
All three phones in the Xperia Z5 range will all be coming to Australia, with the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact launching in retail and at Telstra next week. The Xperia Z5 Premium with its incredibly high resolution 4K display will also be launching in Australia, but not until November. The Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact and Z5 Premium will be available through retailers JB Hifi and from Sony Kiosks and online, with Dick Smith only selling the Xperia Z5 Premium in November.
| JB Hifi | Xperia Z5(Black/White) Xperia Z5 Compact (Black/White) Xperia Z5 Premium (Chrome) |
Xperia Z5 Compact: $849 Xperia Z5: $999 Xperia Z5 Premium $1,199 |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Kiosks and online* | Xperia Z5 (Black/White/Gold/Green) Xperia Z5 Compact (Black/White/Yellow/Coral) Xperia Z5 Premium (BLack/Chrome/Gold) |
|
| Dick Smith Electronics | Xperia Z5 Premium (Black/Chrome/Gold) |
* Sony expects stock at Sony Kiosks by Tuesday next week.
Carrier wise, the Xperia Z5 Compact is heading to Telstra as an exclusive, while the Xperia Z5 will be available on all three carriers. Vodafone and Optus have given indicative plan information but unfortunately Telstra has not given any details as yet but should in the coming week.
| Optus | Xperia Z5 Black | $5 per month on an $80 My Plan Plus or $984 outright |
|---|---|---|
| Vodafone | Xperia Z5 White | $10 per month on an $80 Red Plan |
| Telstra | Xperia Z5 Compact (Black, White and Coral) Xperia Z5 (Black, White and Green) |
The Xperia Z5 series are all extremely well designed, with the IP 65/68 dust/waterproof rating attached. The phones are also carrying an extremely great camera which recently took out the top spot on DxOMark list with an extremely good report card something the sample photos provided by Sony attest to.
But as usual with cameras we like to test these things ourselves, but having seen this comparison of the Xperia Z5 against the iPhone 6 at night, we’re quietly confident that this camera will be a very impressive one – (Xperia Z5 on the left).
Two photos. Same circumstance. No flash, low light, night photo. The Sony Xperia Z5 vs iPhone 6 – amazing difference pic.twitter.com/yn6N0OAC1i
— Trevor Long (@trevorlong) September 2, 2015
The video on the Sony Xperia Z5 series also features some impressive video stabilisation with SteadyShot that includes an ‘Intelligent Active Mode’. The net effect of this Intelligent Active Mode is a smoothed out ‘hyperlapse’ like effect that means less shake in your videos and less blur for low-light shots.
As well as great camera and design, Sony are also pushing the 2-day battery life of the Xperia Z5 series, something Chris has absolutely loved on his Xperia Z3. Sony has again returned with the Stamina mode on the Xperia Z5 series and we hope to get great results out of the range this year. With the Snapdragon 810 processor on board, you will also get the benefit of Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 2.0 for an extremely fast charge.
Full Specs for the Xperia Z5 series :
| Xperia Z5 Compact | Xperia Z5 | Xperia Z5 Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.6″ HD 720p (1280×720) Triluminos display for mobile X-Reality for mobile Dynamic Contrast Enhancer |
5.2” FHD 1080p (1920×1080) Triluminos display for mobile X-Reality for mobile Dynamic Contrast Enhancer |
5.5” 4K UHD (3840×2160), 806 PPI Triluminos display for mobile X-Reality for mobile Dynamic Contrast Enhancer |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)64 bit Octa Core processor | ||
| RAM | 2GB RAM | 3GB RAM | |
| Storage | 32GB Onboard storage with up to 200GB microSD Card | ||
| Rear Camera | 1/2.3” 23 MP Sony Exmor RS™ for mobile sensor Hybrid Auto Focus 0.03 sec 5 x Clear Image Zoom Up to 8x Digital Zoom Wide angle G Lens (24 mm) Up to ISO 12800 Photo / 3200 VideoSteadyShot™ with Intelligent Active Mode – video stabilisation 4K video recording Pulse LED Flash |
||
| Front Camera | 5 MP front camera Sony Exmor R™ for mobile sensor Full HD video SteadyShot™ with Intelligent Active Mode – video stabilisation Wide angle lens (25 mm) |
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| IP Rating | IP65/68 | IP65/68 with capless microUSB | |
| Bands | GSM GPRS UMTS HSPA (3G) LTE (4G)/ LTE (s4G) Cat 6 |
||
| Sensors | aGPS Bluetooth 4.1 wireless technology DLNA Certified® WiFi SISO MHL 3.0 NFC |
||
| Battery | 2700mAh Battery with Quick Charge 2.0 | 2900mAh Battery with Quick Charge 2.0 | 3430mAh Battery with Quick Charge 2.0 |
| OS | Google Android™ 5.1 (Lollipop) | ||
| Dimensions | 127 x 65 x 8.9 mm @ 138 grams | 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm @ 154 grams | 154.4 x 76.0 x 7.8 mm @ 180 grams |
We have an Xperia Z5 review unit on hand and we’re looking forward to putting it through its paces in the next couple of weeks, but after a play with the phones at IFA last month and at the launch tonight, if you’re looking for a phone you’re definitely going to have to check these out before you look elsewhere.
