Sony is busy tonight, presenting their launch plans for their newest Xperia smartphones, wearables and accessories in Australia. We’ve seen the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact and Smartwatch 3, and they’re all coming your way in the next few weeks.
Xperia Z3 & Z3 Compact
At the launch of the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact at IFA we were advised that both phones would be heading to Australia, with the Xperia Z3 heading to all four carriers (Telstra, Vodafone, Optus and Virgin Mobile) while the Xperia Z3 Compact would be heading to Optus and Telstra.
The Sony Xperia Z3 will be available in four colours: Black, White, Copper and Silver Green, while the Xperia Z3 Compact will be available in White, Black, Orange and Green. Telstra and Optus will get the Black, White and Copper versions while Virgin Mobile and Vodafone will only have the Black versions. All colours will be available from Sony direct or kiosk sales, and buying outright at retailers.
The plans and pricing for both the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact are as follows :
| Sony Xperia Z3 | Sony Xperia Z3 Compact | |
|---|---|---|
| Telstra | $10 per month on a $70 mobile accelerate plan min cost $1920 ($80/month) excess data 3c/MB. 2 min standard call $2.38 |
$3 per month on a $70 Mobile Accelerate Plan min cost $1728 ($73/month) excess data 3c/MB. 2 min standard call $2.38 |
| Optus | $10 per month on a $60 Plan | $10 per month on a $50 plan |
| Vodafone | $8 per month on a $70 Red Plan | N/A |
| Virgin Mobile Australia | $5 per month on a $60 plan | |
| Sony Online and Kiosks, as well as other Telecommunications retailers |
$849 | $699 |
PS4 Preorder Bonus
Pre-orders begin at 9am tomorrow, and Sony announced that there will be a free PS4 as a bonus for the first 400 customers, but didn’t clarify if this was for outright retail purchases or carrier purchases on-contract.
The Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z3 Compact are now showing on the Sony Australia website, but with no option to pre-order yet. You can see the Xperia Z3 here, or the Xperia Z3 Compact here.
Update 1 (30 Sep, 10pm) Virgin Mobile is offering the PS4 deal for only the Xperia Z3 to the first 100 people to pre-order. Pre-orders open at 9am, so get in fast, head over to the Virgin Mobile Website to check it out. It appears this deal might be for on-contract purchases from carriers.
Update 2 (1 Oct, 9am): Telstra is giving away 100 PS4s, but it’s not first-come-first-served. According to this blog post, if you preorder the Z3 or Z3 Compact on contract from October 7 then you can go into the draw but you need to use the #TelstraZ3 hashtag on a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter post and tell them your favourite feature to enter.
Update 3 (1 Oct, 9.20am): Sony’s PR has clarified some details – Virgin Mobile preorders start October 3, while Telstra preorders start October 7. Optus preorders start today, but we haven’t been able to find a preorder page on their site for it yet. Vodafone won’t be offering preorders. Retail preorders start today.
Update 4 (1 Oct, 9.25am): Sony’s Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact listingnow has a preorder button! Preorder for a chance to win one of 100 PS4s, offer ends 11:59am on October 3! If you want a Z3 or Z3 Compact and want the PS4 bonus it looks like this is the place to go to buy off-contract while still going into the running.
Update 5 (1 Oct, 9.45am): Optus has now tweeted the link to its preorder page. It lists the Playstation 4 bonus but doesn’t seem to have any conditions attached. (Confirmed, PS4’s are going to the first 100 preorders on Optus).
Let us know if you find any other good deals on these phones!
Accessories
Looks like there’s some Xperia Z3 accessories on the Sony Australia website, too (thanks Duncan Jaffrey for pointing these out). These include the WCR14 Qi compatible wireless charging case. There’s no price yet, but know that there’s options if you’re a fan of Qi charging.
Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
The Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is at the event, but we haven’t been advised of any pricing or availability information during the presentation, and units on the floor appear to be prototypes. Despite this, the device seems consistent with Sony’s other products – thin and light like the Z2 Tablet, whilst still maintaining Sony’s (in)famous bezels.
The tablet is lovely to hold, and we’re looking forward to checking out Sony’s first small tablet (the Xperia Z Ultra doesn’t count). We hope to get more information in the coming weeks on this.
Update Sony’s PR materials have arrived this morning. It seems the Z3 Tablet Compact is bound for Optus.
The 4G variant of Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact will be available from Optus with the 16GB WiFi variant ranged through Sony online and in Sony Kiosks and Sony Centres.
Sony still isn’t ready to let all the details go public yet, though:
More details on pricing and dates of availability for both variants will be announced at a later stage.
Boo.
Smartwatch 3
The Sony Smartwatch 3 will be available in the next 2-3 weeks from Sony and Telstra for an RRP of $299.
You’ll be able to pick it up with either Black or White “classic” bands, or Pink or Lime “sports” bands. The difference is a gap in the band that should get rid of any sweat that builds up while exercising.
If you didn’t realize, you can change the bands on the Smartwatch 3 so if you don’t like the band you get it with, you can buy a new one. Bands are a proprietary design and Sony has advised that they’ll retail at $49. (Note: This article originally said the price would be $40, but Sony has since clarified the pricing for us)
We’ve also heard that there will be a stainless steel band option for the Smartwatch 3, although we won’t see it until 2015. It’s also not clear whether the band will be available separately or only with purchase of a Smartwatch 3.
Sony has long advised that the Smartwatch will measure heart-rate, but we haven’t been clear on how it will do it. We grabbed a picture of the back of the watch and can’t see any PPG heart-rate monitor, but Sony representatives at the event advised it will be there on retail units.
You know what we did see on the back, though? A micro USB port. Yes, the Smartwatch 3 can be charged from a standard charger – Sony deserves a round of applause for this.
Smartbands
Good news for the original Smartband – it gets a price-drop to just $99, making it quite a decent option for the life-logging enthusiast. Sony recently announced that they would be opening the Lifelog API for access via the web, which solves one of the issues we had when we reviewed the original band.
The Smartband Talk will be available in White, Black, Red/Black, Lime/White and Blue/Black (and probably more) colours at an RRP of $199, with stock expected to be in stores for Christmas.
Update Sony has clarified the pricing and colours for us on the Smartband and Smartband Talk. The Smartband’s bands are Purple/Yellow, White/Pink, Black/Navy in Large, and White, Dark Green and Blue/Maroon in Small, each at a price of $49. The Smartband Talk will have Red/Blue, Pink/Lime in Large and Small at $49 each.
We’re still waiting on an official media release to clarify much of the information in this post, and will update when we have more details.
What do you think of the Z3, Z3 Compact, Smartwatch 3 and Smartband Talk? Which product’s for you? Tell us in the comments!
