Sony's High-End Xperia ZL Comes to U.S., but at a Hefty $719

Sony's High-End Xperia ZL Comes to U.S., but at a Hefty $719

Sony’s latest smartphone is coming to the U.S. with both an eye-popping screen and an eye-popping price.

Once again, the Japanese phone maker has found little carrier support and is instead selling its device unlocked. That means that the Xperia ZL will sell for a whopping $ 719 ($ 40 more for the LTE version).

For that price you get a device with some pretty nice specs, including a 5-inch screen, a 13-megapixel camera, 1.5GHz quad-core chip, etc. Other features include near-field communications (NFC) and a battery-improving Stamina mode that turns off power-draining applications when the screen is dark.

And, of course, you aren’t tied to a contract.

The phone is set to be available for pre-sale Monday on Sony’s online store and will be coming soon to “select online retailers,” Sony said.

Sony also plans its Xperia Tablet Z to hit the U.S. in May. On the tablet side, however, the company has the benefit that most devices are sold without a subsidy.

Globally, Sony is hoping that Z series will help revive the company’s mobile business.

The company bought out its former joint venture partner Ericsson and has now re-integrated the mobile business with other parts of its electronics business, but it has yet to see a hoped-for boost in business.