Sony reveals waterproof Xperia Z with 5in 1080p screen and 13MP camera

The Sony Xperia Z (aka the worst kept secret of CES 2013) has been officially unveiled by Sony after months of leaks, and its spec sheet will have gadget fans drooling with tech lust.

The Xperia Z kicks things off with an eye-watering 5in 1080p ‘Reality Display’ powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, which smashes though Apple’s retina resolution barrier and joins the likes of the HTC Droid DNA in the 1080p smartphone club.

Qualcomm’s mighty 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor (also found in the Google Nexus 4) and 2GB of RAM will be powering Android Jelly Bean 4.1, and Sony has promised an upgrade to Android 4.2 shortly after launch.

Shutterbugs will also be pleased to hear that the Sony Xperia Z will be packing an impressive 13MP camera with an Exymos RS sensor – the world’s first image sensor to offer 1080p HDR video for smartphones. A 1080p front-facing camera and a host of imaging tricks from object tracking to sweep panorama are the icing on an already tasty cake.

All of that will be packed into a 7.9mm thin tempered glass body with anti-shatter film on the front and back for extra protection. And if you’re particularly clumsy, the Xperia Z is also dust and water resistant and can survive in 1m of water for 30 mins.

Throw in NFC, 4G, 16GB memory with expandable microSD slot and a 2330mAH battery with Sony’s Battery Stamina mode (which can improve standby time by four hours) and we have ourselves one of the most desirable phones we’ve seen this year so far.

UPDATE: Read our full Sony Xperia Z review for the Stuff verdict.

Another handset called the Sony Xperia ZL will also be released in selected countries which packs in the same specs as the Xperia Z (including its 5in display) into a smaller body, though it will presumably lose out on the water resistance and battery size.

There’s no news regarding a specific release date or price at the moment but Sony have told us that the Xperia Z will be out in the first quarter of this year, matching up with a previously rumoured March release date.

Stay tuned for our impressions, pricing information and full review.

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.