We are done with major phone announcements for the year and reports are now focused on next year’s releases, with a special emphasis on Apple and Samsung’s next phones. Sony is also quietly working on new models and it allegedly has at least five phones in the pipeline.
Japanese site SumahoDigest (via NotebookCheck) which often leaks info about Sony products has passed along some intel picked up from a community forum that suggests the company will at least release the following models in 2023:
- Xperia PRO-II
- Xperia 10 V
- Xperia Ace IV
- Xperia 1 V
- Xperia 5 V
The forum post says that three of these models, presumably the Xperia PRO-II, Xperia 1 V, and Xperia 5 V, will be powered by the rumored Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, whereas one, likely the compact Ace IV, will have the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 under the hood, and one, apparently the Xperia 10 V, will be fueled by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1.
A variant of the Ace model, which is usually released only in the company’s home country of Japan, will also come to global markets. This is great news for anyone looking for an Android Apple iPhone mini alternative.
The report says that the Xperia 1 V, 5 V, and 10 V will adhere to the current launch pattern, meaning we can expect the 1 V and 10 V in May, and the 5 V in September.
It has also been implied that Sony is finally ready to retire the physical fingerprint scanner in favor of an in-display reader. Most Android manufacturers have already switched to in-screen fingerprint readers and although the capacitive variety is considered more reliable by many people, this cannot be said for recent Sony phones and the company has dedicated a whole page to helping customers facing fingerprint issues.
