Home IFTTT Pocket-lint Next Sony Xperia phone: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know

Next Sony Xperia phone: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know

January 23, 2020

Sony Mobile launches its phones regularly, often using two points in the year to update the line - something it has done reliably for the last few years.

So what can we expect from the next Sony phone? We're crunching through the leaks and rumours as we track Sony's next device up to launch.

Release date and price

  • Monday 24 February announcement 

Sony Mobile holds press conferences on Monday of Mobile World Congress 2020, and this year is no exception, with an event booked in for Monday 24 February 2020, at 08:30am CET. 

That at least confirms that Sony has something to talk about at the show - although we never had any doubt about that.

The price is said to be around RMB6000, which would be £700 or $870 - although direct exchanges are rarely accurate between Chinese prices and other regions.

What will the next Sony phone be called?

When Sony launched the Xperia 1 and 10, it said it was going to be sticking to using those names. It then introduced the Xperia 5 in the middle, but as we understand it, Sony Mobile wants to stick to Xperia 1 (4K flagship), 5 (other flagship) and 10 (mid-range).

Exactly how Sony will name the next Xperia phone we don't know. Xperia 2 has been suggested a lot, Xperia 5 Plus has been suggested, and there's some precedence here - as there's already an Xperia 10 Plus. So far there's nothing concrete to go on, but we've also seen the suggestion of Sony Xperia 1.1, Xperia 0 and Xperia 1 Premium.

Design

  • 168.2 x 71.6 x 8.1mm
  • Flat edges

The best hint we have towards Sony's next phone are a set of renders from a reliable leaker, @OnLeaks. These were shared under the name Sony Xperia 5 Plus, but he admitted to being confused about what approach Sony was taking to naming.

The key takeaways from these renders are around the design. It shows a flattened frame, giving us a 21:9 phone with smaller bezels, and flat edges. It's reminiscent of the iPhone 4, but the original Xperia Z had flat sides too.

Whether the leaked images are Sony's next phone or not, they do at least suggest how the design will evolve - but this phone is larger than the Xperia 1 based on those leaked specs, meaning it's pretty huge.

Display

  • 6.6-inch OLED display, 21:9 aspect

Having made a move to 21:9, we're confident that Sony's next phone will stick to this aspect. The leaked specs suggest a 6.6-inch display, with little bezel to the left or right and a reduced forehead and chin compared to the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5.

What we don't yet know is the resolution. Sony tends to offer its "premium" phone with a 4K display (as per the Xperia 1) or at full HD (as per the Xperia 5). With a display that's larger than the Xperia 1, it could be a replacement for the 4K phone, or a Plus version of the Xperia 5 as suggested.

Hardware

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, 12GB RAM
  • 3.5mm headphone socket
  • Possibly a 5G phone

The starting point for hardware leaks for the next Xperia phone come from a Geekbench report that showed up for a Snapdragon 865 device with 12GB RAM and an unknown Xperia model number. This could point to future specs for this next Xperia phone, or could simply be a testing prototype, but Sony has historically used the latest Qualcomm hardware. 

We've subsequently seen rumours that this might be a 5G handset, using Qualcomm's X55 5G modem. 

The side-mounted fingerprint scanner persists and based on the experience of the Xperia 5 that's not the best solution. It also appears that the 3.5mm headphone socket might be making a return. Recently this has been reserved for mid-range devices, so we're not sure if this is a change of direction.

Cameras

  • Quad camera system suggested
  • 48 or 64MP main, 12MP wide, 12MP zoom

This is where things get a little messy, because the camera picture is far from clear. In mid-2019 there was the suggestion that we'd see a six-camera system from Sony, including some specs for those cameras, but there was nothing to justify what all these lenses would do.

More recently, the renders suggest a four camera system, and it's been suggested that there will be either a 48 or 64-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 3x 12-megapixel telephoto, along with a time of flight camera. Some of the details might be a bit muddy here if Sony is launching more than one phone.

For the front camera we've seen 8-megapixel and 10-megapixel suggested, with one suggestion of a front time-of-flight sensor too.

Next Sony Xperia rumours: What's happened so far?

Here are all the rumours and leaks about the next Sony Xperia phone.

22 January 2020: Sony's first 5G Xperia phone should arrive at MWC 2020 with quad-cam setup

Reports out of China suggest that the new Sony handset launched at MWC will be 5G enabled, along with some other spec details.

6 January 2020: Next Sony Xperia phone gets laid bare in hardcore photo leak

Renders from a reliable source give us a good look at a forthcoming Xperia device with a smattering of specs.

10 December 2020: Sony's next Xperia flagship could launch on Snapdragon 865 with 12GB RAM

Information coming from Geekbench suggests that there's an Xperia device testing with Snapdragon 865 and 12GB RAM. 

19 June 2020: Sony's six-camera phone has key specs leaked

Early specs outline the composition of a six camera system for a forthcoming Sony phone.



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