We just got word from Sony Malaysia on the local availability of its latest flagship phone, the Sony Xperia 1 IV. If you’ve got your eyes on this phone, good news: it will be available for pre-order in Malaysia from 11 June 2022.

The Malaysian pre-order of the Xperia 1 IV will be from 11 June to 10 July; quite a lengthy period. Unfortunately, Sony Malaysia did not reveal if any freebies will be bundled, but judging from the pre-order of previous Xperia phones, there should be some extra incentives.

One of the most unique selling points of the Xperia 1 IV is its telephoto lens with true optical zoom between 85mm to 125mm. This is quite the technical achievement, given that telephoto cameras on smartphones usually have a fixed focal length.

Granted, the 12MP telephoto lens’ 85-125mm focal length of the Xperia 1 IV isn’t particularly far-reaching, but it’s still a feature unique to this phone. Complementing the telephoto shooter is a 12MP primary sensor and another 12MP ultra-wide angle lens.

Other specifications of the Xperia 1 IV are decidedly high-end. These include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a sharp 6.5-inch 4K OLED panel with a fast 120Hz refresh rate and tall 21:9 aspect ratio, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of expandable storage, a 12MP selfie camera, an IP65/IP68 rating, and a generous 5,000mAh battery.

To recap, the Sony Xperia 1 IV will be available for pre-order in Malaysia from 11 June to 10 July 2022. It remains to be seen how much it’ll be priced at for the local market, though it starts at $1,599 in the US (about RM7,000).