Rogers-locked Sony Xperia ZL up for pre-order by Sony; will ship on April 2nd

Sony's web site is showing that pre-orders are available for the Rogers-locked version of the Sony Xperia ZL, the non-water and dust resistant brother of the Sony Xperia Z with a slightly smaller footprint. The device is being offered for $674.99 without a contract and is expected to ship on April 2nd. Rogers is far from being the only Canadian carrier that will offer the phone with Bell, Mobilicity, MTS, Rogers, Videotron and WIND Mobile also beginning the arduous journey toward the release of the phone by starting to train reps.

While most phones have a ratio of screen to phone size of 60% to 68%, the Sony Xperia ZL's ratio is 75% making it the most compact 5 inch FHD phone available. The Battery STAMINA Mode makes sure that those power-draining apps are shut down once the screen goes off. That's clever because with the screen off, why waste battery power on apps you can't see to use? The 13MP Exmor RS camera on back takes sharp pictures while flooded by sunlight or moonlight. Android 4.1 will be installed out of the box with a quick update promised to Android 4.2.

source: SonyCanada via MobileSyrup