It might be a little late to the party, but Telstra has finally started offering the Sony Xperia Z3 for preorder. Get in during the preorder phase and you’ll get a free Sony Smartband and can enter the draw to win one of fifty PlayStation 4 consoles. The phone goes on full sale November 6.
To enter the draw, head over to either Telstra's Facebook or Twitter and say what your favourite Xperia Z3 feature is. The actual wording instructs you to say what your favourite Xperia Z3 Compact feature is, but that sounds like it put in by accident. Use #TelstraZ3 or your entry won't be counted. The most creative answers will be the winners.
The deal is fitting. The Xperia Z3 line has the (currently) unique ability to sync with a PS4 and be used as a sort of emergency screen in the event that your TV is being occupied. It’s called RemotePlay, and it uses your home’s WiFi network to link the two devices and stream your game’s video right to your Z3 phone or tablet.
Come mid-November, there will also be a mount on sale that can connect your phone to the top of a PS4 controller, turning it in to a sort-of portable gaming console, except one capable of playing PS4 games.
The plans
The Z3 is a little pricier than you may expect, being a Sony phone. It’s entering the market on the kind of monthly plan cost usually reserved for more popular brands like Samsung and Apple. Still, it’s a properly top-tier phone with full water resistance so you’re not exactly getting taken to the cleaner, but we wouldn’t have expected it to start at $2 less per month than the iPhone 6 and Galaxy Note 4, or $3 more per month than the Galaxy S5, even if that phone is around 6 months old now.
$75 per month will get you $550 credit for talk & MMS, unlimited SMS and 500MB of data. On top of that you can choose between an extra 500MB or $500 credit. This bonus option doesn’t cost any extra; it’s just a way of Telstra letting you customise the plan more to your personal needs.
$80 per month will get you $700 credit and 1.5GB of data with a bonus option of 1GB or $1000 credit extra. This plan features Telstra’s New Phone Feeling for no added costs. New Phone Feeling means that in 12 months time you can return your undamaged phone to Telstra and sign up to a new contract with a new phone with no early-termination fees.
At $95 per month credit is $950 talk and MMS with 2.5GB of data. The bonus upgrade option again lets you choose between an added 1GB of data or $100 of calls. New phone feeling is included.
Jump way up to $130 per month for the final plan. This one is more aimed at the heavy-caller than the heavy data user. Included data is only 3GB (just 500MB up from the previous plan), but calls & MMS are unlimited. The bonus upgrade option is limited to a choice between 1GB and… nothing. You already have unlimited calls, so really this plan has 4GB of data – it’s just confusingly labelled. New Phone feeling is included.
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
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