Bell, together with Sony, has officially announced that the flagship Xperia Z will be hitting Canada as a Bell exclusive later this month. We are unaware of the specific release date at present, but an official launch date should be announced pretty soon.

The Xperia Z packs a 5-inch HD TFT capacitive touchscreen, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2330 mAh battery and IP55 & IP57 ratings for water and dust resistance.

The full press release can be read below:

Sony Xperia™ Z – coming to Canada exclusively with Bell

Water resistant and new stand-out Sony design
Full HD 5″ Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 for super brightness and clarity, perfect for Bell Mobile TV

TORONTO AND MONTREAL, July 15, 2013 /CNW/ – Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) and Bell today announced the highly anticipated flagship water-resistant Android smartphone, Xperia Z – launching later this month exclusively with Bell Mobility.

Xperia Z has all the specifications expected from a premium smartphone plus water-resistance to handle whatever life throws at you. Precision engineered with premium materials, Xperia Z has a unique design with subtly rounded edges and smooth reflective surfaces on all sides. Despite its slim 7.9mm body, Xperia Z is highly durable with tempered glass and anti-shatter film on the front and back, as well as the highest levels of dust and water resistance*** (IP55 and IP57) found in a premium smartphone.

“With Xperia Z, we are thrilled to bring a breakthrough superphone to Bell in Canada,” said Tim Hernquist, Vice President of Marketing for North America, Sony Mobile Communications. “The Xperia Z brings over half a century of Sony innovation to a superphone for an experience that truly stands out.”

“With its amazing durability, Xperia Z raises the bar for superphones and Bell is proud to be the exclusive Canadian carrier of this innovative and much anticipated mobile device,” said Adel Bazerghi, Senior Vice President of Products at Bell Mobility. “Combined with the largest LTE network and Bell’s Mobile TV, which includes more than 30 news, entertainment and sports channels, Bell and Sony are making the mobile experience even better.”

Intelligent Sony Technology

Since it was announced in January, Xperia Z has won 13 awards and received the widest ranging of any Sony smartphone to date with 140 sales channels in 60 markets across the globe. Xperia Z’s razor-sharp Reality Display, powered by Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2, brings Sony’s long-standing TV expertise to the smartphone and delivers an immersive viewing experience with super brightness and clarity. Xperia Z shares capabilities with Sony digital cameras and features Exmor RS for mobile, the world’s first image sensor with High Dynamic Range (HDR) video for smartphones. HDR technology gives clear images against strong backlight, so users can capture razor sharp pictures and videos whatever the conditions.

Xperia Z also includes Battery STAMINA Mode, which can improve the standby time by four times or more* by automatically shutting down battery-draining apps whenever the screen is off and starting them up again when the screen is back on.

Discover, enjoy and share entertainment with Sony’s media applications and One-touch functions
Sony media applications offer a consistent entertainment experience across a range of Sony devices. Preloaded on Xperia Z, the “WALKMAN”, Album and Movies apps enable discovery of online and offline content through a single access point with new ways to enjoy and share that content. The “WALKMAN” application provides access to all your downloaded music, a library of 18 million songs to explore from Music Unlimited and Facebook social integration. The Movies application gives consumers access to over 100,000 movies and TV series from Video Unlimited while the Album application enables easy access to Facebook friends’ photos as well as browsing photos by location.**

One-touch functions enable consumers to easily share music, photos and videos from their smartphone to an array of NFC-enabled Sony devices, including speakers, headphones and TVs.

Key features for Xperia Z

• 5″ 1080 x 1920p full HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2
• 13MP Fast Capture camera with Exmor RS for mobile, HDR video, Superior Auto and Noise Reduction to effortlessly capture razor sharp pictures and videos in any conditions
• Water and dust resistant (IP55 & IP57) with a durable glass display
• 1.5 GHz asynchronous quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 2GB RAM
• Battery STAMINA mode improves standby time by at least 4 times
• Available in black, white and purple

Sony Xperia Z will be available across Canada exclusively from Bell Mobility later this month at Sony and Bell stores, The Source locations as well as many select retailers, online or by calling 1-888-4MOBILE.

To learn more and pre-register, please visit Bell.ca/XperiaZ

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/SonyMobileCA

Follow up on Twitter: @SonyXperiaCA

* Based on testing done with default settings, default accounts and applications for Skype™ and Twitter downloaded to the phone. The more applications installed, the bigger the effect of Battery STAMINA Mode.
** Sony Entertainment Network services are subject to availability by region, please see www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com for more details.
*** In compliance with IP55 and IP57, Xperia Z is protected against the ingress of dust and is water resistant. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) protected against low pressure jets of water from all practicable directions in compliance with IP 55; and/or (ii) can be kept under 1 meter of freshwater for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP 57.

About Sony Mobile Communications
Sony Mobile Communications is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation, a leading global innovator of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for both the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Through its Xperia™ smartphone portfolio, Sony Mobile Communications delivers the best of Sony technology, premium content and services, and easy connectivity to Sony’s world of networked entertainment experiences. For more information: www.sonymobile.com

If you’re thinking about picking up the Xperia Z, be sure to check out Cult of Android’s review beforehand.

• SourceBell