Sony Mobile is tipped to be readying a fresh batch of Sony Xperia 2017 smartphones. Here's what you need to know about the new Sony Xperia phones, including release date, specs, price, news and rumours.
Each year, Sony floods the market with innumerable smartphones in hopes that one will catch your attention and woo you away from rival brands. Despite curious handset branding and some dodgy entries, Sony Mobile has still managed to turn out a few solid smartphones and build a loyal fanbase in the process.
But what's next for Sony Mobile? We weren't overly impressed with the company's roster of phones from Barcelona's MWC 2017 earlier this year, so there's plenty to improve on next time around. We've rounded up key details about the new Sony Xperia phone(s), to give you a better idea of what to expect.
If you don't want heaps of detail then here's a quick-fire breakdown of our predictions for Sony's next flagship smartphone:
Alternatively, read on for a more detailed run-through of what to expect from Sony Mobile for the remainder of 2017.
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It's easy enough to guess when new Sony Xperia phones will launch, because they stick to a fairly consistent release cycle, as you'll see below:
As is evident, Sony operates on a six-monthly release cycle for flagship phones and doesn't have a strict naming convention, which must be seriously confusing for consumers. However, the good news is that this means there's always a new Sony phone just around the corner.
Looking at the history of Sony phone launches, we'd expect the next flagship Sony Xperia handset to launch at the beginning of September as usual. It's almost guaranteed that Sony will continue to utilise Berlin's annual tech tradeshow – IFA 2017 – to showcase the new device.
In fact, Sony has already scheduled a press conference to take place just one day before the show begins. The event will be held on Thursday, August 31 at 13:00 local Berlin time – or 12:00 here in the UK. We'd be very surprised if a new Sony phone (or phones, more likely) wasn't announced during the press conference.
So what are we expecting to see? Well, it's likely we'll see more than one Sony Xperia smartphone unveiled at IFA 2017.
The most likely scenario is that we see a successor to the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, which was released earlier this year. Unfortunately, we've got no idea what it'll be called, given Sony's wacky naming conventions.
Earlier this year, Sony also confirmed that it would no longer be releasing "Premium Standard" handsets. Those are phones like the Xperia X and Xperia X Compact, which are mid-to-upper range devices that don't quite cut it as flagships.
This means if we are going to see other devices at IFA 2017, they'll probably come in the form of mid-range sequels to the Xperia XA1 and/or XA1 Ultra.
Most of the hype will surrounded the Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2 however, but what do we actually now?
The bad news is that we haven't seen much in the way of rumours about the new flagship Sony Xperia phone for late-2017.
Power: It's almost certain that the handset will carry Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 chip however, given that its predecessor – the Xperia XZ Premium – was one of the first to use that chip. This means it will also have access to Qualcomm's rapid Snapdragon X16 modem and the latest Quick Charge tech.
Given that the Xperia XZ Premium had 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, we'd expect the XZ Premium 2 to boast at least as much. The OnePlus 5 recently launched with 6GB and 8GB RAM variants, so there's definitely room for Sony to push on-board memory a little higher. Also, last year's iPhone 7 was available with a 256GB storage variant, so Sony could also make some movements in that department too.
Display and Design: Sony fitted its most recent flagship handset with a 4K HDR IPS LCD screen, so another Ultra HD panel wouldn't be surprising for the next one.
However, it's rumoured that the display size will increase from 5.46 inches to 6 inches, putting it more in line with rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S8 (5.8 inches).
It's not clear if this screen size increase would mean a significantly larger handset, or if Sony would adopt the same low-bezel design approach seen used with the Galaxy S8 and LG G6 – and supposedly the iPhone 8, tipped for later this year.
It's not an entirely kooky prospect, either; a leak on Chinese social media site Weibo earlier this year suggested how a joint venture between display-maker JDI and Sony would result in the production of a 'Full Active QHD display' that would occupy the entire front of a phone.
The report went on to suggest that Sony planned to release this phone at IFA 2017, which means a bezel-free Sony phone may be nearly upon us.
So what else? Well we've heard no other rumours about the new phone, which means we're still largely in the dark when it comes to camera performance, battery life, and software – although we'd expect that Android 7.1 Nougat will almost certainly feature on the new device.
We'll update this article with more news and rumours as they surface.
New Sony Xperia 2017 phone priceSmartphones are getting increasingly expensive, especially in the UK where we're also suffering from currency-related price hikes.
In the absence of Sony Xperia rumours however, we can only guess at what the next phone might cost at retail.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium priced in at a hefty £649 at launch, which was still £40 cheaper than the £689 Galaxy S8. It's £50 more expensive than the £599 iPhone 7 however, and matches the £649 LG G6.
For the next phone, we'd expect fairly similar pricing, with the handset probably falling somewhere in the region of £629 and £699. However, until Sony makes an official announcement, we'll have to take all rumour-mongering and guesswork with a pinch of salt.
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What would you like to see from the next batch of Sony Xperia smartphones? Let us know in the comments.
Source: New Sony Xperia Phones 2017: Release date and all you need to know
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