Sony has been making some interesting moves with its smartphones lately. It launched the Sony Xperia 1 VI with a much lower-resolution screen than the previous model, and now it’s rumored to be launching a camera phone that’s small enough to potentially feel like a compact camera.
This is according to leaker @InsiderSony (via Sony Alpha Rumors), who claims that Sony is working on a successor to the Sony Xperia Pro-I. Reportedly dubbed the Sony Xperia Pro C, the big change in this model could be to the screen, which is apparently going to be just 6.0 inches. That’s smaller than most phone screens, and far smaller than the 6.5-inch Xperia Pro-I.
According to the source, the Sony Xperia Pro C will have a 120Hz 2K OLED display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a 5,000mAh battery with 45W charging, a base capacity 256GB of storage, and 12GB of RAM.
NEXT GEN OF XPERIA PRO SERIES, LEAKED:There seems to have been a new development on the Xperia Pro series line of smartphones. The phone which is speculated to be called as Xperia Pro C, a successor to the Pro-I, which may also adopt a compact form factor, a stark difference to… pic.twitter.com/3TccNfcVEcMay 21, 2024
So those are high-end specs, but it’s the cameras that are the focus here, with the Sony Xperia C said to have a 50MP 1-inch main sensor. That would make for a larger sensor than the vast majority of smartphones have, which in turn should allow it to take in more light. The Sony Xperia Pro-I does already have a 1-inch sensor, but it's just a 12MP one, so this should still be a significant upgrade.
@Insider Sony claims that this has an f/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization (OIS), and supports 12-bit RAW and 14-bit DCG RAW.
There’s also mention of a 12MP sensor with autofocus, and support for filming in 4K at 120fps, plus another 12MP camera that’s likely for selfies, since it has the same 20mm focal length as the rumored main camera. There will probably also be a telephoto camera based on past form, but the source claims not to have any details of this yet.
A phone for photographers
In any case, it’s the small screen size and the 1-inch main sensor that are the most interesting elements here, and they could combine to make this a viable alternative to a compact camera. Of course, we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt for now, but the source has accurately leaked Sony phones in the past.
This leak doesn't make any mention of when the Sony Xperia Pro C might launch, and as Sony doesn’t launch new Pro models every year it’s hard to predict, but Sony Alpha Rumors speculates that it could arrive in late 2024.
That should give you time to get saving – and you might need to, as Sony’s Pro line sits above its main flagship series. So in other words, the Sony Xperia Pro C will probably cost even more than the Sony Xperia 1 VI.
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