Sony Xperia Z price confirmed: would you pay this much for waterproofing?

The Sony Xperia Z price has appeared on the Japanese firm's official online store, with the SIM-free handset setting you back £529.

In terms of the Sony Xperia Z release date the listing doesn't offer us any clues, simply stating the handset is "coming soon" and providing you with the option to pre-register - although it's expected to arrive at the end of February or the beginning of March.

Update: Sony has now confirmed you'll be able to start pre-ordering the Xperia Z from February 1 - with a free set of Sony MDR-1R headphones for anyone who does.

What the posting does reveal though are that three colour options will make their way to the UK, allowing you to dress your Xperia Z in black, white or purple.

Time to start saving

The hefty price tag sees the Xperia Z line up alongside the lowest-capacity iPhone 5, with the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X+ around £100 cheaper than Sony's new flagship device.

Luckily the Xperia Z has some decent features to help justify parting with such a large chunk of cash, sporting a full HD 5-inch display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 13MP camera, Android Jelly Bean - plus it's both dust and water resistant.

We were suitably impressed during our hands on Sony Xperia Z review, but we won't know if it's value for money or a bit of a rip off until we put it through our full review process.

From Sony