The Sony Xperia Z1 will be available in Singapore (S$998 without contract) on 4 October. SingTel will accept pre-orders for the waterproof Android smartphone from 2 October.
The Xperia Z1 is available in white, black and purple, from Sony stores, Sony centres, Xperia concept stores, authorised outlets as well as all telco operators.
First announced at IFA 2013 in Berlin in early September, the Xperia Z1 includes Sony’s “G Lens” with a 27mm wide angle and bright F2.0 aperture.
Custom-made apps
Social live allows users to broadcast precious moments live from Xperia Z1 to Facebook and get your friends’ comments right on the screen.
Info-eye is a visual search function that provides related information on landmarks and on items such as books or wine simply by capturing them with the camera.
The smartphone’s camera has a large custom-made 1/2.3-type CMOS image sensor Exmor RS for mobile with 20.7 megapixels, and a BIONZ for mobile image processing engine.
The dust-resistant and waterproof 5-inch device utilises a fully integrated Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 3000 mAh battery and 4G LTE.
Software wise, the phone features Xperia Camera apps such as Social life, Timeshift burst, Info-eye and AR effect – custom-made apps that were designed exclusively for Xperia Z1 and the smartphone’s optimised camera.
From 2 October, SingTel will accept pre-orders for the Sony Xperia Z1 online.
Pre-order customers will enjoy the following freebies:
- Exclusive Justin Timberlake “The 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience” part 1 & 2 CD album (worth $21.90) (The album is only available from CD shops from 1 Nov).
- Sony Social Live Premium Account subscription for 3 months (worth S$8.16)
- Sony Stereo Bluetooth Headset worth $108
- Official guide to Xperia Z1 (worth $40)
Those who purchase the Xperia Z1 before 6 Nov can enter a lucky draw to win a pair of tickets to Las Vegas to watch pop superstar Justin Timberlake perform in his first solo tour in six years.
Two pairs of tickets are up for grabs.
SingTel’s price plans for the Sony Xperia Z1 is tabulated below.
| Sony Xperia Z1 | Lite$39.90/mth | Value$59.90/mth | Plus$99.90/mth | Prestige$239.90/mth |
| $498 | $228 | $88 | $0 | |
| Free Local Outgoing Calls (anytime) | 100 mins | 200 mins | 500 mins | Unlimited |
| Free Local SMS/MMS | 800 | 900 | 1000 | Unlimited |
| Free Local Data | 2GB | 3GB | 4GB | 12GB |
Tags: Android, Android 4, availability, Jelly Bean, launch, Singapore, Sony, tablets, waterproof, Xperia