Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact: Australian release

Xperia Z3
Will third time be a charm for Sony?

Ready for a smartphone upgrade but the iPhone 6 doesn't do anything for you? Sony has announced Australian details for its premium Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact handsets.

The waterproof devices will go on sale in just over a week, and while their appearance remains similar to their predecessors, the internal specs are as first rate as you'd expect.

If you want to pick one up, Optus will be first out of the gate, selling the handsets from October 9. Telstra will follow on the 14th.

Pre-orders open today from Optus and Sony direct, and Virgin will take your order from the 3rd. Telstra devotees will have to wait until the 7th.

Pre-order and win

Sony is offering a PlayStation 4 to the first 100 customers to pre-order a handset from Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone in order to highlight the Z3 range's PS4 Remote Play functionality. This enables games to be streamed from the console to the smartphone, so there's no need to stop playing once your better half's favourite show starts.

If you'd rather buy one of Sony's handsets outright than get caught on a plan, the Xperia Z3 will be available for $849, while its more modestly-sized sibling will set you back $699.

The Z3 will be available in black, white, copper and silver green, and the Z3 Compact will come in black, white, green and orange (this looked closer to red to our eyes). Availability of colours will vary between carriers.

Sony also announced its SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk are on their way, with pricing and availability details yet to be confirmed. For those who don't want to wait, the original SmartBand is taking a price cut and will be available for $99 from today.

  • Interested in Sony's Xperia range? Why not check out our thoughts on the new Z3 Tablet Compact?