Sony has a simple, straightforward way to entice would-be Xperia 1 buyers in the US: offer a bundle that might be hard to refuse. The tech giant is starting American pre-orders on June 28th, and those who purchase ahead of the July 12th release will get a pair of the company’s WH-1000XM3 headphones at no extra cost — that’s $350 of (frankly excellent) wireless audio for free. If you’re buying the Xperia 1 to watch movies mid-flight or stream music during your commute, you might have everything you need.
Of course, Sony can afford to do this in part because the phone costs a hefty $950. You’ll still be getting quite a bit for the money between the super-long 6.5-inch 4K OLED screen, a camera system with eye autofocusing and Dolby Atmos audio. However, the price is still tough to swallow in a country where Sony phones are still quite rare. The headphones should make the Xperia 1 more palatable, even if you have concerns about the usefulness of that 21:9 ratio display or the relatively modest 3,300mAh battery.