Sony Xperia X series will be launching in Australia before the end of June

Sony’s Xperia X range, announced at Mobile World Congress, will be coming to Australia this month with Sony Australia today announcing availability details – but not pricing – for the handsets.

All three handsets in the Xperia X range – the Xperia XA, Xperia X and the Xperia X Performance – will be landing downunder soon, with various carriers and retailers stocking selected models.

The Xperia X series embodies Sony’s vision of making our smartphones more intelligent and useful, with thoughtful features added to each handset, differentiating them enough but still retaining that thoughtful Sony Xperia design. They’re also designed to introduce you to Sony’s wider Xperia smart devices ecosystem (Xperia Ear, Xperia Eye, Xperia Projector and Xperia Agent) that Sony will begin launching later this year.

Sony says they’re focusing on Camera, Battery and Design with the Xperia X series phones, and despite the series’ new midrange aspirations, they’re taking that claim pretty seriously. The Xperia Z5’s 23MP camera is in use in the Xperia X Performance and Xperia X with predictive hybrid autofocus and video stabilisation technology. Sony’s making much of the inclusion of Qnovo battery technology too – after their recent investment in the company – claiming that it dramatically shortens charge time and reduces strain on the battery from overcharging.

On the design front, these phones are actually probably the best-designed Xperia phones to date. They sit comfortably in the hand and the materials and construction have a pleasant feel with curves in the right places and no sharp edges in sight. The Xperia XA features a near-borderless (on the sides, anyway) edge-to-edge display which may excite some users wanting that sort of styling.

Vodafone will be the first carrier to start carrying the phones on June 29 with the Xperia X and Xperia XA, with Telstra following up with the Xperia X Performance and Virgin Mobile the Xperia XA soon after. Curiously, Virgin Mobile’s parent company Optus has chosen to stay with the older Xperia Z5 Premium instead of jumping in with Sony’s new range.

The usual retailers (JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, etc) will be stocking the Xperia X and Xperia XA, while Sony’s Kiosks, Centres and online store will have all three models available with pre-orders commencing soon.

The Xperia X and Xperia X Performance will be available in Graphite Black, White, Lime Gold and Rose Gold while the Xperia XA will skip Lime Gold.

Pricing and plans aren’t yet available with Sony advising they’re still in negotiation with carriers and retailers. A separate announcement will be coming soon, but the company says it’s priced in line with the phones’ places in the market – the Xperia XA is positioned as the “super mid” device, while the Xperia X and Xperia X Performance are positioned at a higher tier and will be priced accordingly.

Sony is also looking to leverage their media partnerships to sweeten the deal – customers purchasing a phone in the Xperia X range will be able to select 12 movies from a selection of over 100 titles through Sony’s Xperia Lounge app. The movie range includes the latest releases as well as older classic titles from the Sony Pictures range.

We’ll have more information on the launch of the Sony Xperia X range in the next few days, and an Xperia X Performance is currently gracing Ausdroid’s test bench.