Sony Xperia Z5/Compact Now Available in U.S.

After announcing it a few weeks ago, Sony has begun to sell the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact at online retailers in the United States. The three known retailers at this time are Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H, however they’re all not selling them at the suggested price, for example Best Buy has already discounted the Compact by $50.

Kunihiko Shiomi, president of Sony Mobile Communications North America, sums it up perfectly when he said: “Building a stable business in the U.S. market continues to be an important area of focus in helping Sony Mobile pursue profit by optimizing business scale. We are excited about the introduction of Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact unlocked in the U.S., particularly as we see a growing trend in the unlocked market.”

The smartphones are only being sold online, so don’t think you can walk into a Best Buy and walk out with a Z5. At least not yet, anyway.

Another point to note here is that the phones don’t have fingerprint sensors built into the power button on the U.S. version, unfortunately. You’ll either have to buy one straight from Sony which’ll run you lots of cash since you need to have it shipped very far, or you’ll need to find one on a site like eBay that has a fingerprint scanner.

Price wise, we’re looking at anywhere from $449 (thanks to Best Buy’s $50 reduction) to $599 for either the Z5 or Z5 Compact unlocked. The phones aren’t available on any carriers, which is kind of bitter sweet since you have the freedom of picking up one of the smartphones and bringing it to any carrier you like, but you don’t have the convenience of picking up the phone right there at your carrier’s retail location for possibly a special price.

Xperia Z5

• Amazon – $599 (black only)
• B&H – $599 (black, white, green and gold available)

Xperia Z5 Compact

• Amazon – $499 (black only)
• Best Buy – $449 ($50 off full price + free shipping, black only)
• B&H – $499 (coral, yellow, white and black graphite available)

As we move down the road, Sony will no doubt eventually drop the price of their Z5 handsets in favor of a more pleasing price such as $349 or so. And this may happen sooner than we expect, what with MWC 2016 set to take place in less than 2 weeks, which, incase you weren’t aware, is where both Samsung and LG are set to debut their newest handsets, which will will no doubt be much better than Sony’s current flagships.