Sony Xperia 3 photos leak, and it may be the company's 2020 flagship phone

Sony's current flagship phone, the Xperia 1 (Image credit: Future)

Update: The below photo of what has been reported to be the Xperia 3 has turned out to be a picture of the Xperia 1 from AndroidPIT's review of the phone. That likely means the below leak is false information.

Original story: Sony's phone strategy is currently a little confusing, with the introduction of the flagship Xperia 1 in February this year and the slightly less flagship Xperia 5 in September, as it seems the next phone from the company will be called the Xperia 3.

Spotted in leaked photos from Chinese website CNMO, the phone is expected to come with the Xperia 3 branding as well as sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset.

That's a chipset that has yet to be unveiled by Qualcomm, but it's expected to be the next-gen model we see Qualcomm launch in December, and it's likely to feature in phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S11 and OnePlus 8.

The leak also suggests that Sony will be offering two versions of the phone - one with 5G support, and the other without. You can expect to spend a touch extra on the 5G variant of the phone, if 5G models from other companies are anything to go by.

The leaked photos of the Xperia 3 don't show much change in the design of the phone from the Xperia 1. There's a slight camera bump, which looks to be in a circular housing, but it's difficult to tell from the shot of the phone on its side.

(Image credit: Sony, via CNMO)

The Sony Xperia 3 also seems to sport a fingerpint sensor on the side of the phone, but again that's difficult to confirm from the above shot.

Take all of this with a big pinch of salt though as the information and even the images could easily be fake.

The Xperia brand's naming structure is now confusing to say the least. The Xperia 1 is called such as it's the top-end phone in the company's series, followed by the Xperia 5 as its next most high-tech phone and then the Xperia 10 as its mid-range choice.

If the company opts for the Xperia 3 name, will that mean it's a follow-up to the Xperia 1 or does it mean it will sit somewhere between the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5? We're unlikely to know for certain until MWC 2020 next February when Sony is expected to unveil its next flagship.

Via GizChina

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.