Sony officially announces the Xperia Z4, but it’s staying in Japan for now

Sony has (rather quietly) officially introduced the Xperia Z4 to the world.

Before we dive into the specs, it’s worth noting that it’ll only be available in Japan when it launches later this summer, and there’s no word of an international release plan at this stage.

The first thing you’ll notice is that Sony’s sticking with its rectangular metal and glass Omnibalance design, which is now a little thinner and lighter, at 6.9mm and 144g, compared to the Z3’s 7.3mm waist and 152g weight.

More welcome news is the death of the pesky microUSB flap. Despite its loss, the Z4 remains both waterproof and dustproof, making it the only announced 2015 flagship that can survive an accidental dip in the kitchen sink.

Pixel fans might be disappointed at the return of the ‘only’ 1080p 5.2in display, but given Sony’s view that the Xperia series’ impressive battery life is more important than the real-world differences between 2K and full HD, we’re not too surprised.

On the inside, we’re looking at Qualcomm’s new 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM and a microSD slot, all of which match the specs of the HTC One M9.

The Z3’s 20.7MP camera returns, but the front-facing camera has upgraded to a 5.1MP affair with a digitally stabilised 25mm wide-angle lens, for even crisper selfies.

There’s no word on when the Xperia Z4 will venture forth from Japan to international shelves, but we’ll let you know as soon as the expected news comes through.

Source: Sony (Japanese)