The Sony Xperia Z is widely touted as the company’s best smartphone released to date. The phone’s unique selling point is no doubt its water and dust resistant capabilities. Yes, we have had other water-resistant Xperia phones in the past, but none that look as sleek as the Xperia Z and wrapped in cutting edge specs.
The Xperia Z looks like a premium handset thanks to its OmniBalance design and use of glass, however the handset is priced accordingly. Looking at pricing in the UK, we have never had an Xperia phone costing above £500. Last year’s flagship, the Xperia S could be bought for around £400 on release, whilst the year before the same applied to the Xperia arc. The Xperia PLAY has been the most expensive to date at £450 on launch, which was released at the same time as the Xperia arc.
The Sony Xperia Z on the other hand costs £529 on the official Sony site and around £525 at Amazon. This is easily over £100 extra compared to the Xperia S and Xperia arc, when they originally launched. Sony has made a number of comments about attacking the premium segment, which will help to drive margins and this is evident in the retail cost of the handset.
The question we have for you today is, does the Xperia Z cost too much? In the current economic climate, is Sony making a big ask of people to pay so much for a phone? After all, one can argue that the Nexus 4 changed the perception of value in the smartphone space – offering good specs for a relatively cheap price (£239 for the 8GB version).
Or does the price, reflect the premium materials and build quality? After all, the 16GB iPhone 5 costs a similar price at £529 and they continue to sell by the bucket load. Doesn’t Sony’s price point deserve to be in line with Apple’s? We’d love to hear your views below.
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