What you really need to know about the Sony Xperia XZ Pro

Sony’s next flagship phone, the Xperia XZ Pro, could be a significant departure from the now rather tired designs of its previous phones. Here’s what we know so far about XZ Pro, including its rumoured release date, price, and specs, plus all the latest news ahead of MWC 2018.

Judging by what we’ve heard so far, the Sony Xperia XZ Pro looks to be the cream of this year’s Sony crop, so let’s take a look at the latest XZ Pro news and rumours. Alternatively, scroll down for release date and pricing information.

Related: New Xperia phones 2018

Sony Xperia XZ Pro: Latest news, rumours and specs

Rumoured to be unveiled at MWC 2018, the Xperia XZ Pro – otherwise known as the Xperia XZ2 Premium – is tipped to scrap Sony’s OmniBalance design in favour of a bezel-less approach, headlined by an 5.7-inch 4K OLED edge-to-edge screen with the coveted 18:9 aspect ratio. It’s also said to be smaller – in height, thickness and width – than its predecessor, the Xperia XZ Premium.

High dynamic range (HDR) support is also likely to be a feature, as Sony introduced the feature with its XZ1 device last year.

The Xperia XZ Pro is expected to come with a Snapdragon 835 or Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable internal storage, a dual rear camera setup (18-megapixel + 12-megapixel), 13-megapixel front-facing ‘selfie’ cam, and a 3420mAh non-removable battery.

It’s expecting to ship running Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with the firm’s Xperia user interface

That’s according to a recent leak from Chinese outlet MyDrivers, though we’re applying a fair few drops of saline solution to this particular report.

For one, the ‘leaked images’ of the phone (pictured, above and below) are pretty fuzzy stuff and could quite easily be home-brewed renders.

 

The specs it shares are even furrier – hazier than a New England IPA, even.

In this case, the photo in question appears to be a specs listing for the XZ Pro on Sony’s website, but it’s too poor quality to be able to read much more than the ‘Memory and storage’ section.

The site says the snap reveals a phone that will ship with a new-gen Snapdragon 845 processor, but this would fly in the face of numerous (more credible) reports which suggest that the Galaxy S9 will be getting first dibs on the new Qualcomm SoC – as Samsung did last year with the Galaxy S8.

The rest of the specs ‘revealed’ by the so-called leak seem reasonable enough, but we’d be surprised if it XZ Pro packed the Snapdragon 845.

More concretely, Sony has filed the documentation required to bundle an adapter in the box of its next flagship smartphone with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), leading many to believe that the upcoming Xperia XZ Pro will do away with the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack – though that’s far from confirmed.

 

Sony Xperia XZ Pro: Release date and price

MyDrivers expects the Xperia XZ Pro to fetch at least £675 ($930) when it hits the shelves. If that turns out to be the case, it will be in prime position to win over customers in the market for a brand new high-end smartphone, who aren’t willing to shell out £999 ($999) for Apple’s flagship iPhone X.

The next Sony flagship phone is expected to be revealed at Mobile World Congress in February. We’ll be on the ground in Barcelona in full force reporting live from Sony’s February 26 press event, when the device should be unveiled.

In the meantime, stay tuned as we’ll be updating this page with all the latest Sony Xperia XZ Pro news and rumours.

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