14 DAY TRIAL // Unveiled earlier last month at Consumer Electronics Show 2013, Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL are expected to go on sale within the next few weeks.
In fact, the former is already available for purchase in Japan via NTT Docomo and is likely to hit shelves in the UK around February 28.
However, little is known on the Xperia ZL, which is aimed at other markets such as Canada. Sony Mobile confirmed the Xperia Z would not be available in all regions, but that those countries will get the Xperia ZL instead.
One such country is Canada where Sony Xperia ZL will be released at most major carriers in the next few weeks. The good news is that the smartphone has been recently confirmed in Europe as well.
Telecompaper reports German retailer Phone House announced it would offer the Xperia ZL beginning April. That’s one month later than Xperia Z’s release in Germany which is set for March.
The bad news is Xperia ZL has been priced at €600/$805 off contract, which is almost similar to Xperia Z’s price. If both smartphones will be available for the same price, the obvious choice would be Xperia Z given the fact that the phone is IP57 certified (dust and water resistant).
Aside from that, both Xperia ZL and Z are similar when it comes with specs and software. Both will ship with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system, though Sony promised an Android 4.2 upgrade would be available soon after launch.
Sony Xperia ZL packs a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD memory card.
The phone also boasts a 13-megapixel rear photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, as well as a 2-megapixel front facing camera for video calls.