Sony has just officially announced a successor to its ZL-line with the Xperia ZL2 for the local Japanese market. Much alike to the first Xperia ZL, which was a slimmed-down version of the waterproofed Sony Xperia Z, the ZL2 also comes in a more manageable package which measures in at 137 x 72 x 10.8 mm and weighs 167 grams (5.39 x 2.83 x 0.42, 5.89 oz.). Unlike the previous ZL, however, the ZL2 is water- and dust-resistant.
The ZL2's internals, however, stay true to Sony's approach with the ZL line -- you're getting top-of-the-line hardware, but slimmer bezels. To that end, we have a 5-inch, 1080x1920 pixel resolution display (441 pixels per inch) powered by a powerful, quad-core Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AB) and 3GB of RAM. At the back, we have that impressive 20.7-megapixel, 1/2.3'' sensor with G Lens and a fixed 3000 mAh cell. The usual connectivity options, like Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, and NFC, are also all on board. Last, but not least, the Xperia ZL2 comes with Android 4.4 KitKat installed out of the box.
The ZL2 comes in three color options -- black, white, and turquoise. Sony is mum on price and exact release date, though we can't imagine either of these two details are too far off from becoming public knowledge. On the other hand, international unavailability remains a big question mark.
Update: this article previously stated that the Sony Xperia ZL2 is not IP-certified, which is incorrect.
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