Sony could have a mystery Ultra phone on the way
Ultra by name, but maybe not by nature
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Sonyonly recently announced theXperia 1 IIIandSony Xperia 5 III, but already attention is turning to what might come next, with a leaker suggesting that the company has a “new U” on the way.
That claim comes from leakerZackbukson Weibo (a Chinese social network), and their post has been machine translated, so something may have been lost in translation. Regardless, they appear to be saying that by launching both flagships now, the company can release this “new U” a few months earlier than it would otherwise.
In other words, Sony will want to give its new flagships room to breathe before launching this mystery phone, but as one of them has launched earlier than in previous years (theSony Xperia 5 IIonly landed in September), Sony won’t need to wait until late in the year to launch the “new U”.
It could be anything
What this mystery phone is though is very unclear. There’s speculation around the net that they could be referring to a new ‘Ultra’ handset, but if they are, that doesn’t necessarily mean a top-end one like theSamsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Rather, it could be a revival of Sony’s Ultra range, last seen with the mid-rangeXperia XA2 Ultrafrom 2018.
There was, for what it’s worth, also aSony Xperia U– but that’s ancient, so it’s very unlikely that Sony is bringing out a successor to it.
A new mid-range Ultra is more likely, but it could be something else altogether. Whatever it is, most sites suggest it will be mid-range or budget, since Zackbuks refers to the Xperia 1 III and 5 III as Sony’s flagships for the year (potentially implying that there won’t be any other high-end phones launched before 2022).
But were that the case, Sony wouldn’t necessarily worry about launching this phone close to its flagships, as they wouldn’t be competing for the same audience. So it’s possible that this upcoming phone actually is a flagship – and maybe even a super-premium Ultra of the kind we’ve seen from other brands. For now it’s anyone’s guess, but we will be watching closely.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
ViaAndroidNextandPhone Arena
James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.
We might have our first look at the long-rumored Samsung tri-fold
A newly reported iPhone phenomenon could be bad news for both cops and robbers
Arcane season 2 confirms the hit series isn’t just one of the best Netflix shows ever made – it’s an animated legend that’ll stand the test of time
