Earlier this year, Sony announced its very first 5G smartphones in the form of Xperia 1 II and Xperia Pro. Both devices came with the Snapdragon 865, a platform that has the 5G modem as a requirement. Alongside the 5G-enabled flagships, the Japanese firm unveiled the Xperia 10 II a mid-range smartphone. It came with the less-than-appealing Snapdragon 665 SoC. Since then, 5G has become quite popular with more and more mid-range phones emerging with the fifth-gen network support. It seems that Sony is aware of this demand and will launch a 5G mid-range phone in the next year dubbed Xperia 10 III.
The Xperia 10 III will be Sony’s first mid-range phone with 5G
The Xperia 10 II Plus was canceled and according to reports it was set to come with the Snapdragon 720G SoC. Apparently, Sony canceled the phone to work on a mid-range handset featuring 5G connectivity. According to NodSikharulidze, a Twitter leakster, Sony is working on two phones featuring 5G support. One is a flagship with the Snapdragon 875, presumable a Sony Xperia 1 III, and another device with Snapdragon 690 chipset, the Xperia 10 III.
For those unaware, the Snapdragon 690 5G is an octa-core chipset featuring support for fifth-gen networks. The chipset is the first 5G-enabled SoC in the SD6xx family. It’s a powerful Octa-Core chipset that sits slightly below the SD7xx series in terms of performance. Apart from the new mid-range, the new flagship may come with a Quad-Camera setup with its smartphone.
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Besides the new Xperia phones, the Twitter user claimed earlier that the company is also working on a budget device featuring an Helio P35 chipset. It’s not a new chipset, so we’re not expecting Sony to invest in marketing for this device. The new smartphone may hit the shelves as the Xperia L5.
Sony Xperia 5 III maybe Sony’s second flagship for 2021
The Xperia 1 III, Xperia 10 III, and L5 are expected to come in the first half of 2021. For the second half, Sony may unveil the Xperia 5 III flagship device. The Xperia 5 II has unveiled a couple of months ago with a 6.1-inch OLED display with FHD+ resolution with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 865 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of Storage. The phone has a triple-camera setup with 12MP resolution and an 8MP front camera, a side-facing fingerprint scanner, and a 4,000mAh battery with 21W fast-charging support.
Sony has been struggling to keep its smartphone business alive. Apparently, they will be alive and rocking for the next year as well. However, it’s still breathing, we believe that there is a specific niche of users buying Sony handsets.
