Sony is returning to the U.S. market, having secured a deal with the country’s largest mobile operator, Verizon Wireless.
Under the deal, Verizon will get its own variant of the Xperia Z3 — called Xperia Z3v — as well as the Sony SmartWatch 3. Unlike the regular Z3, Verizon’s model will come with support for Qi wireless charging, whereas the rest of the specs will remain unchanged.
Arguably more interesting is Verizon’s willingness to sell Sony’s SmartWatch 3, which as you may know, breaks the Japanese company’s tradition and is now running Android Wear rather than Sony’s own flavor of Android. The device will cost $249 and work with different Android smartphones, though for the best experience Sony would like you to go for the Xperia Z3v.
Sony’s smart watch is competing with Samsung’s Gear series, LG’s G Watch and G Watch R, Pebble, Intel’s Basis Peak and few other less-known devices; the Apple Watch won’t available until early 2015. It doesn’t look as fancy as Samsung’s Gear S or LG’s G Watch R, but we tend to think it will find its audience among sporty fans of Sony. We’ll see how that goes.