The smartphone has just been introduced at CES 2013

Jan 8, 2013 12:40 GMT  ·  By

O2 is the third UK-based operator to confirm that it will carry the Sony Xperia Z, after Vodafone and Three made similar announcements earlier today.

According to O2 UK, the Xperia Z will be available for purchase beginning with February, but the carrier does not offer more details on the phone’s exact release date and pricing options. Keep in mind the Purple version of Xperia Z will be exclusive to O2 UK.

However, we expect that the smartphone will be available for free on 24-month contracts. Clove and Expansys claim that Sony Xperia Z will cost around £530 outright, which is about $850 or €650.

The handset will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, but Sony has already announced that an upgrade to Android 4.2 would be available shortly after launch.

Other highlights of the Android flagship smartphone include: 5.0-inch full HD (1080p) display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory and 13-megapixel rear camera.