Support NeoGAF

[Mario007]

There's a lot of rumors on the new experia handsets so I thought it'd be nice to compile them together here.

So PhoneArena seems to running a wild rumor regarding the Sony Xperia line-up for the rest of 2013. The most interesting part is Sony having 3 different flagships launching in Q3, each tailored to a different demographic:

1. This one is 5 inch xperia cybershot. It will be equipped with best camera so far in smartphones. With sensor size almost equal to pureview 808 and carl zeiss optics it will stand out from the rest of the crowd. Other specs will be top of the line. Also, the waistline of the phone is well within limits.

2. This one is 5 inch xperia walkman. It will come with integrated amplifier chip and all other goodies of sony walkman series and same top specs.

3. This one is a direct iPhone competitor in a small form factor and small screen size with camera and other specs same as xperia cybershot.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Rumo...for-Q3-to-lure-camera-and-music-buffs_id41337

XperiaBlog are already warning against believing too much in this rumor, saying:

All of this sounds something to look forward to if true, but we can’t help but think this reads like a fanboy’s wishlist to us. We have not heard anything about these devices from our own sources. That’s not to say there isn’t any truth to them, but if there is, we haven’t heard about them yet. We’d take all of the above rumours with a mountain of salt.

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/03/2...-shot-and-walkman-xperia-phones-coming-in-q3/

The PhoneArena rumor also confirms that Xperia A, UL and phablet will launch this summer. For those that need more info on these, here's a quick summary from Xperiablog:

Xperia A (SO-04E), codenamed Dogo. It is expected to launch in the summer with a 4.6-inch HD display (we’re not sure if this is 720p or 1080p, most likely the former). It will be powered by a Snapdraon 600 chipset, 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Other features include a 2300mAh battery, water/dust resistant body, mobile wallet, One Seg and infrared. Variants of this handset are supposed to launch globally.

The AU handset will be the Xperia UL (SOL22) codenamed Gaga. This handset is also expected to launch this summer with a design similar to the Xperia ZL. It will have a 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 600 chipset, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, removable 2300mAh battery. This will also have mobile wallet, One Seg, infrared and will be water/dust resistant.

One last rumour, there is also meant to be a 6.4-inch handset (Togari) with 1080p display that will launch on NTT DoCoMo. The handset is currently being paraded around and whether it is actually released or not remains to be seen.

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/03/2...ul-sol22-gaga-to-launch-in-japan-this-summer/

Lastly, rumor has it that Sony is going to be releasing a budget 1080p 5 inch phone powered by a Mediatek quad-core processor. The phone will be manufactured by Arima, just like Xperia E:

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/03/28/sony-prepping-5-inch-handset-with-mediatek-quad-core-soc/

EDIT:

So from what I've read PhoneArena got it wrong (again). There will be one one 2H flagship, a One Sony phone, that will have that walkman and cybershot technology together and should be used to battler the iPhone5S.At least so do people at Esato say: http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic...753&start=6315

@vivftp

Like I said before, the PA rumors are stolen from Esato but misinterpreted. So the final article is utter BS.

There are no Cybershot and Walkman Xperia phones.

Only one 2H flagship - Honami aka the first One Sony phone.

Only it will have everything, there is no walkman centric phone let alone a flagship.

 

[sfedai0]

So are they looking to alienate folks who buy the Z and ZL? Or maybe to just completely confuse consumers in general?

 

[Mario007]

So are they looking to alienate folks who buy the Z and ZL? Or maybe to just completely confuse consumers in general?

I looked at Esato after posting the thread and it seems the One Sony phone is meant to be launched under a new brand.

I still think this is a bit of a risky strategy as there is huge hype behind Xperia Z and moving on so soon would be disasterous.

 

[gutter_trash]

as long as there is no PSP or Vita phone, I'm out.

I bought the Xperia Play and I found their lack of support to be disfranchising.

 

[Hydrogen Bluebird]

as long as there is no PSP or Vita phone, I'm out.

I bought the Xperia Play and I found their lack of support to be disfranchising.

How probable is it for the Xperia Vita (Vita Phone) to become a reality? I would surely buy one if it does.

 

[unrenowned]

I really hope this isn't true. 3 flagship phones would be horrible for consumers, and didn't HTC already try this strategy?

They have enough trouble supporting the flagships they release as it is. Releasing three new flagships would mean even slower updates for a big percentage of their consumers. Would piss a lot of people off after buying a flagship phone that's put on the back-burner by Sony after 3-6 months.

Though I'm already a bit anti-Sony since they fucked me with the Xperia S (both hardware and software-wise).

 

[Fuzz Rez]

I think Samsung has good strategy with flagship phones. Two phones for two different markets.

 

[liquidtmd]

The number of handsets is kind of irrelevant as long as they distinguish themselves

I actually like the sounds of the Xperia SP. Rumoured to be about £320 in the UK at the start of May, 4.6 inch screen, a good sized 2370mah battery, 8MP camera, dual core 1.7Ghz, Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon and an Adreno 320 GPU.

 

[malyce]

Smmfh, Sony's mobile naming schemes are already hard to follow, going the HTC route is just gonna make things worse.

 

[Zaptruder]

Look Sony. It's not hard.

What I'm looking for in a phone is

5" 1080p.
Waterproof.
Sleek lines.
Great battery life.
Great Screen.
Great Camera.
Amp Dac.

So... take all the things you've got in your various 'flagships', and cram them into one super premium unit. And I'll buy the damn thing. We are now in an era where people are willing to spend big on Phones. You can do this. You can capture the super premium crowd; people that want the uncompromised best to set themselves apart from all the iPhone 5 and Samsung GS4 pretenders.

 

[paully]

I don't understand why Sony does this with all their products. All it does is confuse and frustrate consumers. Not to mention, all their product lines have horribly confusing names.

 

[Souless_PJ]

Lol this kinda shit is why Sony is broke as fuck.

Release one phone and make it awesome. There I just saved you a few million - send me a cheque.

 

[Phoenix]

Look Sony. It's not hard.

What I'm looking for in a phone is

5" 1080p.
Waterproof.
Sleek lines.
Great battery life.
Great Screen.
Great Camera.
Amp Dac.

So... take all the things you've got in your various 'flagships', and cram them into one super premium unit. And I'll buy the damn thing. We are now in an era where people are willing to spend big on Phones. You can do this. You can capture the super premium crowd; people that want the uncompromised best to set themselves apart from all the iPhone 5 and Samsung GS4 pretenders.

The one thing that will keep me from buying a super premium phone from most vendors is that they are slow as molasses when it comes to OS updates. With a Nexus phone I know I'm not going to miss anything and with a Motorola phone I'm fairly certain that will be the case as well. As such I'm waiting to see what Moto has to offer.

 

[Mario007]

I really hope this isn't true. 3 flagship phones would be horrible for consumers, and didn't HTC already try this strategy?

They have enough trouble supporting the flagships they release as it is. Releasing three new flagships would mean even slower updates for a big percentage of their consumers. Would piss a lot of people off after buying a flagship phone that's put on the back-burner by Sony after 3-6 months.

Though I'm already a bit anti-Sony since they fucked me with the Xperia S (both hardware and software-wise).

Well the updates could be fast as long as they all use, on average, the same internals. For example most of the 2011 line-up was pretty similar in base specs and so Sony was able to provide updates for all of those.

How did they fuck you with Xperia S? It's getting Jellybean (though admittedly a bit late) and its hardware was known when you were buying it?

The number of handsets is kind of irrelevant as long as they distinguish themselves

I actually like the sounds of the Xperia SP. Rumoured to be about £320 in the UK at the start of May, 4.6 inch screen, a good sized 2370mah battery, 8MP camera, dual core 1.7Ghz, Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon and an Adreno 320 GPU.

I think the problem here is that it seems Sony is set to release 3 flagships. The SP is a mid-ranger so it wouldn't be competing with L or Z. I guess they could do an Xperia X general flagship, Xperia X Pro flagship plus awesome camera and Xperia X Music flagship plus extra walkman music chips. Have the design to be similar, market the general flagship and get the two specialised phones out as a 100 euro more expensive versions aimed at the enthusiasts.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

Lol this kinda shit is why Sony is broke as fuck.

Release one phone and make it awesome. There I just saved you a few million - send me a cheque.

Sony is not Samsung, when they build up a huge base as Sammy did then they can get away with a megaphone that can sell tens of millions. Till then Sony will keep releasing many phones in a year, besides compared to last year this year has been tame. Am suspecting that by next year they will be releasing a handful of phones yearly, no doubt though that their base will grow immensely this year.

 

[Anticitizen One]

Why is Sony even in the phone business when they can barely even compete in their core competencies (Video games, tvs, bluray players, photography,etc.) These guys need to downsize stat.

 

[unrenowned]

How did they fuck you with Xperia S? It's getting Jellybean (though admittedly a bit late) and its hardware was known when you were buying it?

My problems were:

Yellow tint on parts of the screen, screen less responsive than previous iPhone 3GS and current Galaxy S3, non-removable battery with shitty battery life, flimsy plastic creaking battery cover, creaking front screen around the middle capacitive button if a little pressure is applied to it, unresponsive capacitive dots, camera had trouble focusing even though software claimed it had and took a blurry picture, camera was really bad in low-light conditions.

And on top of that they were slow as fuck releasing ICS on it.

 

[catmincer]

Why is Sony even in the phone business when they can barely even compete in their core competencies (Video games, tvs, bluray players, photography,etc.) These guys need to downsize stat.

#3 smartphone maker in the world is nothing to sneeze at.

Also yes, Xperia S was an awful piece of shit. I loved the constantly UI lag and the random lock ups when listening to music. The camera was also terrible too. Still regret not getting a One X at the time.

 

[ari]

Complete and utter waste of resources.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Why is Sony even in the phone business when they can barely even compete in their core competencies (Video games, tvs, bluray players, photography,etc.) These guys need to downsize stat.

this is...so....wrong. They're killing it in phones. Their core competencies are Gaming/Imaging/Mobile.

 

[Fuzz Rez]

this is...so....wrong. They're killing it in phones. Their core competencies are Gaming/Imaging/Mobile.

Killing isn't really the word here. Sure they are distant 3rd in smartphones sales but there is very little money in the business if you are not Apple or Samsung. It's same thing with TV sets. Sony still has 3rd largest share in tv set sales but they aren't making any money out of it. I guess this is one gamble Sony has to take to stay relevant.

 

[Betrayer of hope]

Release a flagship and yet introduce a gazillion new phones with confusing numbers and monikers.

Only sony can fuck the goodwill generated by the Z and squander it

 

[Jeels]

I just ordered a ZL. This better not be true.

 

[BlazinAm]

Release a flagship and yet introduce a gazillion new phones with confusing numbers and monikers.

Only sony can fuck the goodwill generated by the Z and squander it

The thing is that the Z is still exist so I don't know what the problem is. They are building multiple phones to cater to different audiences.

When we look down the line in a couple months we are going to see different configurations for the S4 particularly in the US because that is what the carriers like.

Seems like everyone forgot about the Galaxy Note as well.

 

[Fuzz Rez]

I just ordered a ZL. This better not be true.

There is always new phone coming out so it's probably true. It's really annoying when you finally decide to pull the trigger on new fancy phone and next week even fancier phone is getting announced.

 

[Nicktendo86]

No nexus, no buy.

 

[Mario007]

My problems were:

Yellow tint on parts of the screen, screen less responsive than previous iPhone 3GS and current Galaxy S3, non-removable battery with shitty battery life, flimsy plastic creaking battery cover, creaking front screen around the middle capacitive button if a little pressure is applied to it, unresponsive capacitive dots, camera had trouble focusing even though software claimed it had and took a blurry picture, camera was really bad in low-light conditions.

And on top of that they were slow as fuck releasing ICS on it.

I don't really want to get into the argument here, but you know you could have had the yellow screen replaced for free? Other things except for the creaking were pretty well known based on the reviews. Not saying that the phone isn't bad, I can't since I don't own it, but this isn't Sony fucking you over so to say but a lack of prior research.

 

[Mung]

I think this will be a breakout year for sony mobile. They are developing strong momentum. The Xperia Z is doing well from all accounts.

 

[H_Prestige]

There is always new phone coming out so it's probably true. It's really annoying when you finally decide to pull the trigger on new fancy phone and next week even fancier phone is getting announced.

Pretty sure Apple and Samsung don't release new flagships mere months after launch.

 

[AgentChris]

They need to flood the market with phones for a couple years to raise their consumer awareness + loyalty, then release one monster phone with a big marketing campaign. The same thing Samsung did.

 

[Servbot24]

So are they looking to alienate folks who buy the Z and ZL? Or maybe to just completely confuse consumers in general?

It doesn't matter if consumers are confused as long as they buy any one of them in the end.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Killing isn't really the word here. Sure they are distant 3rd in smartphones sales but there is very little money in the business if you are not Apple or Samsung. It's same thing with TV sets. Sony still has 3rd largest share in tv set sales but they aren't making any money out of it. I guess this is one gamble Sony has to take to stay relevant.

not doing as well as samsung and apple doesn't mean they aren't doing well. I'd say killing it is pretty fair. I'd also say apple and samsung are ANNIHILATING it.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

"Hey, lets announce 40 new phones that aren't as good as the S4 so they can all fail at once!"

Really, why parcel out your features like that rather than leveraging it into one phone people can get behind? Playstation hard drive! Playstation Internet! Playstation blu ray! Each system sold separately.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I don't think Sony understand what flagship means.

 

[Taiser]

I want that 6.4 inch Xperia Faplet so bad...

 

[DrFunk]

Pretty sure Apple and Samsung don't release new flagships mere months after launch.

Samsung does, totally. There's already an S4 mini coming out after the S4.

 

[Fuzz Rez]

Pretty sure Apple and Samsung don't release new flagships mere months after launch.

Galaxy and Note launches are mere months away from each other.

 

[spwolf]

Samsung does, totally. There's already an S4 mini coming out after the S4.

samsung has a lot more phones than sony too... right now, sony has 2 next gen phones selling, Z and cheap J... they need 10 more to sell properly in European and Asian markets where Samsung sells 20 at least, you got S2+, S2 Mini, S3, S3 Mini, S4 and S4 Mini, Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy S Duos, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Pocket, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy Fit, and few more... 20 smartphones total.

 

[ShinobiFist]

I don't care unless they show some North American love.

 

[Mario007]

"Hey, lets announce 40 new phones that aren't as good as the S4 so they can all fail at once!"

Really, why parcel out your features like that rather than leveraging it into one phone people can get behind? Playstation hard drive! Playstation Internet! Playstation blu ray! Each system sold separately.

I'm pretty sure that each of the 3 rumored phones would be better than the S4, given when they are supposed to be releasing and the dedicated hardware in them that S4 is lacking. Hell Xperia Z is pretty damn close to S4.

 

[H_Prestige]

Samsung does, totally. There's already an S4 mini coming out after the S4.

The S4 mini will replace the S4? News to me.

I'm not saying having a lot of different phones to offer is a bad thing. I know Samsung does it too with all their lower end devices. But there should be only one flagship per year. I feel sorry for anyone who just bought a Z/ZL.

 

[Mario007]

So from what I've read PhoneArena got it wrong (again). There will be one one 2H flagship, a One Sony phone, that will have that walkman and cybershot technology together and should be used to battler the iPhone5S.At least so do people at Esato say: http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=204753&start=6315

@vivftp

Like I said before, the PA rumors are stolen from Esato but misinterpreted. So the final article is utter BS.

There are no Cybershot and Walkman Xperia phones.

Only one 2H flagship - Honami aka the first One Sony phone.

Only it will have everything, there is no walkman centric phone let alone a flagship.

 

[entremet]

I don't think Sony understand what flagship means.

Yep lol. Sony's complex product lines continue to exist it seems.

 

[Cipherr]

I don't think Sony understand what flagship means.

The 'flagship' method for smartphones died when Samsung established 2 different and successful lines of phones aimed at two different audiences with the Note and the S line. Toss in low end phones for some of the overseas market, and "Smartphone Flagship" is really just an outdated descriptor these days.

• Low end
  
• Mid tier
  
• Top end
  
• Phablet

And you see a lot of them have either one in all four areas, or somethings multiple entries in those tiers. And don't get me started on the 7" and 10" tablets. Shiiiiiiiiiiiit, one device per year is dead. Good riddance.

 

[Mario007]

I'm surprised no one here is discussing the 5inch Mediatek phone. That could be huge in the mid to lower tier bracket. Just like U was last year.

Also could a mod change the title, now that it seems that Sony's about launch just one flagship in H2 which will basically be all 3 rumored flagships in one?

 

[CrunchinJelly]

The S4 is the Samsung flagship. They will update it this time next year.