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[Akira]

I deem the other thread a failure, one because it was based on an article that misinterpreted rumors (Yuga and Odin does not have a 6-inch screen, although a different Sony "phone" will arrive sometime later next year) and two because it degenerated into a LOL-more-like-tablet-rite pic fest. So I will just start this thread and post updates in here.

Yuga and Odin are the two 1080p 5-inch smartphones Sony will release early next year in March or April. They are apparently almost identical in design, with the same internal hardware but have some different features. The Yuga's special feature will be a water and dust resistant body, while the Odin will have an IR blaster like the Xperia Tablet S. The Yuga will be for the global market (Japan, Europe, Asia) and Odin will be for some select markets (probably North America and UK)

Note: Not real renders, just speculative renders based on leaked photographs and rumors. Screenshot is based on 4.1 Jelly Bean because of speculation that Sony could be releasing a really light skin, perhaps even not bothering with a skin at all.

Leaked photos of Yuga:

Rumored dimensions of the Yuga/Odin:

Odin - 131.6mm x 69.7mm x 9.8mm
Yuga - 138.6mm x 71mm x 8.1mm

For comparison, some of its competitors:

Droid DNA - 141 x 70.5 x 9.73 mm
SIII - 136.6mm x 70.6mm x 8.6 mm

A quick size comparison I did:

Screen size is cropped from the Droid DNA, I don't know if Sony's 5-inch screen is wider or taller.


Why should you be excited?

- This will be Sony's first flagship fully designed without Ericsson.
- 1080p 5-inch screen with White Magic, a RGWB setup that allows good visibility even in daylight
- Sony's first quadcore phone, with the quadcore S4 Pro
- The new Exmor RS sensor with stacked CMOS sensor and capability to do HDR video. This sensor will be used in the Galaxy SIV as well.
- Water and dust resistant (Yuga only)
- IR blaster to control your home entertainment (Odin only)

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Looks good but with a march/april release isn't it going to get swallowed by the galaxy S4.

 

[elsk]

Way too big.

 

[Valnen]

Way too big.

No such thing.

 

[jambo]

From that size comparison mock up it looks huuuuuuge!

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Looks good but with a march/april release isn't it going to get swallowed by the galaxy S4.

GSIV will be tough competition. I wish Sony the best though.

 

[Akira]

Looks good but with a march/april release isn't it going to get swallowed by the galaxy S4.

I think it should release before the S4 (assuming Sony doesn't mess the release up Ion-style and Samsung doesn't accelerate development to get to the market first), but even then it should still be competitive once the S4 is released.

 

[pseudocaesar]

Im already sold, I loved the Xperia S, so i've been hanging out for Sonys next flagship.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

The odin dimensions look good, the Yuga/DNA are redonk for phones, to me.

I think it should release before the S4 (assuming Sony doesn't mess the release up Ion-style and Samsung doesn't accelerate development to get to the market first), but even then it should still be competitive once the S4 is released.

it's rumoured that samsung has moved up their release for the s4 isn't it? could still be dicey. All depends on marketing though. And carrier availability. Sony has trouble getting phones in stores in a timely fashion around the world.

 

[Biff]

Looks good but with a march/april release isn't it going to get swallowed by the galaxy S4.

If it's a WW launch I think they could pull of some serious market disruption.

Galaxy revisions usually hit N.A. in mid summer, right? HTC One X employed a similar strategy this year by sneaking in front of the GS3 in April. It worked pretty well. A March release would seem like a great window to be honest.

 

[Vanillalite]

To be fair March/April is the initial rumor release. Half of their phones don't ever get ported out of the East, and the other half that do come like 6-12 months after the fact.

 

[artist]

Not touching with a 10ft pole.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

If it's a WW launch I think they could pull of some serious market disruption.

Galaxy revisions usually hit N.A. in mid summer, right? HTC One X employed a similar strategy this year by sneaking in front of the GS3 in April. It worked pretty well. A March release would seem like a great window to be honest.

well I'm basing it off the rumour that Samsung plans to launch the S4 earlier than they did the S3, which makes sense. Combat the iphone 5 and give it more time on the market before the iphone 5S releases. Take some bites into people who don't want to wait for that.

 

[Cipherr]

So Odin is smaller than the S3, interesting.

Looks good but with a march/april release isn't it going to get swallowed by the galaxy S4.

Hell, they could all release in the same month for all I care, HTC's next, Sonys and Samsungs too. Makes for fun as a buyer around that time. Getting to choose from the best.

 

[Kagari]

The design is nice. I like it more than the rounded phones ala the GSIII.

 

[Akira]

To be fair March/April is the initial rumor release. Half of their phones don't ever get ported out of the East, and the other half that do come like 6-12 months after the fact.

Yup that was true, but if we are to believe the new guy who heads Sony Mobile, that is something they are trying to fix. Sony Mobile has stated that their first priority since buying out Ericsson's share was to halve the time-to-market as it was one of the main reasons why they couldn't be competitive enough. If these phones are announced in CES, then it will probably release in March. If announced at the MWC, then it will be April.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

So Odin is smaller than the S3, interesting.

Hell, they could all release in the same month for all I care, HTC's next, Sonys and Samsungs too. Makes for fun as a buyer around that time. Getting to choose from the best.

in reality though the HTC phone won't be available on all carriers, the sony phone won't arrive at certain countries until 3 months later, and only the S4 will manage a worldwide launch on all carriers and everyone will cave and get that.

 

[RaySpencer]

SMALLER!!! FUCK!!!


I hate all these huge phones. And anything small is running like android 2.0 or some bullshit. I had to buy an iPhone 5 (which is still a little big) because all the good android phones are fucking massive. MASSIVE.


This phone looks slick as hell though, I really enjoy the designs Sony has come up with in their phones.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

That's sexy. I like it.

 

[Akira]

in reality though the HTC phone won't be available on all carriers, the sony phone won't arrive at certain countries until 3 months later, and only the S4 will manage a worldwide launch on all carriers and everyone will cave and get that.

That's the reason why the Galaxy SII and SIII were so successful, Samsung released one single phone on all carriers. From what I've read, T-Mobile might be getting Odin. ATT apparently was going to offer the Odin, but backed out. If true Sony will find it hard to gain marketshare but we'll see.

 

[Takao]

Looks like a generic phone that third parties use to model their junk on when they're too cheap/lazy to get approval to use certain hardware. Big step down from Sony's recent gorgeous Android designs.

 

[Canis lupus]

Its like Sony wants Galaxy S2 owners like me to upgrade to their phone.

 

[Kiraly]

I, for one, welcome our new 5" 1080p overlords.

 

[Blearth]

Give me 1080p on a 4" inch screen and I'll be excited. These gigantic phones hurt my hand.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

The design is nice. I like it more than the rounded phones ala the GSIII.

same here, i really find the GSIII design to be pretty awful, love my s2.

 

[Emily Chu]

finally a worthy successor to the droid X design

fuck yo rounded pebble phones

 

[XMonkey]

The Odin looks interesting. Still, 5" is gonna be tricky to use effectively one-handed no matter how small you make the phone around it.

 

[CiSTM]

Any +5 incher should have something like S-pen. I have no use for phone with big ass screen if it's functions just like another phone.

 

[Emily Chu]

Any +5 incher should have something like S-pen. I have no use for phone with big ass screen if it's functions just like another phone.

I'd wait for a G Note III at this point

might be 6" 1080p + S pen

 

[CiSTM]

I'd wait for a G Note III at this point

might be 6" 1080p + S pen

I'll wait for Note III too... So I can buy Note II for cheaper price I have been spending too much money on upgrading my phones and I'm not willing to shell out +500€ for new phone anymore.

 

[CF_Fighter]

Its like Sony wants Galaxy S2 owners like me to upgrade to their phone.

Yep, love the S2 design so much. I'll be watching for this one. I just worry about the battery life. The Verge review of the DNA said the battery was the worst aspect of the whole thing.

 

[- J - D -]

I totally want to own a device named Odin.

 

[Ravage]

I hope my country is getting Odin, its size looks perfect for my needs. The width is the dimension i care most about and 69.7mm seems fine (could be smaller but i want that 1080p 5" screen). Too bad they got rid of the arc backs though.

 

[i_am_ben]

Odin is a great name for a phone.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

Odin is a great name for a phone.

That's just the codename, the final product will be called in line with other Xperias.

 

[spats]

Niice. Might wait for one of these.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

And it will probably have ICS still on it, and never get the latest updates...

Nexus only phones for me

 

[Lagspike_exe]

And it will probably have ICS still on it, and never get the latest updates...

Nexus only phones for me

Sony's 2012 are getting JB in a few months.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

Sony's 2012 are getting JB in a few months.

lol yeah, I exaggerated. But a few months?! JB 4.1 or 4.2?

Either way, all these skins and lack of immediate updates makes it so unattractive to me.

 

[polyh3dron]

Why won't they bring out a 15" Android phone already, I mean come on.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

How could you not want to buy something called "Odin".

Hell, please name your next console "Odin" as well, Sony.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

lol yeah, I exaggerated. But a few months?! JB 4.1 or 4.2?

Either way, all these skins and lack of immediate updates makes it so unattractive to me.

They delayed 4.1 for 2012 phones to ensure that their 2013 phones launch with the latest software rather than the previous generation and also to rewrite their software overlay to make it easier to apply to future versions of Android so they can get stable software updates rolled out within weeks of Google pushing it down to Nexus devices.

 

[Takao]

That's just the codename, the final product will be called in line with other Xperias.

So Xperia XYZdsads

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

They delayed 4.1 for 2012 phones to ensure that their 2013 phones launch with the latest software rather than the previous generation and also to rewrite their software overlay to make it easier to apply to future versions of Android so they can get stable software updates rolled out within weeks of Google pushing it down to Nexus devices.

Nice

where did you read this? Do you believe Sony will do that?

 

[CurlySaysX]

Some dude on esato said Sony were likely to stick a 3000mah battery in one of these phones.
White magic plus such a big battery could possibly do wonders for battery life on these things.
I like Sony's style, ui and features so if battery life is good on this, I will definitely upgrade to it.

 

[thuway]

The problem is using a S4 Pro and releasing in March. This phone should be out right now, and not when the SIV comes out with its superior processor, OLED, and Specs. Goddamit Sony work faster.

 

[Whiteshirt]

Is OLED actually really a big draw for most people? I dunno, as someone who needs to deal with colour management for a living, the OLED implementation (note: not OLED itself) in all Samsung phones is not preferable to a good LCD screen.

Black depth and quick response speeds are nice things to have but its not like display technology operates in a vacuum. LCD panels for smartphones have improved dramatically in the past few years too and black depth isn't all that bad so long as you're not ramming the brightness to max.

 

[thuway]

Is OLED actually really a big draw for most people? I dunno, as someone who needs to deal with colour management for a living, the OLED implementation (note: not OLED itself) in all Samsung phones is not preferable to a good LCD screen.

Black depth and quick response speeds are nice things to have but its not like display technology operates in a vacuum. LCD panels for smartphones have improved dramatically in the past few years too and black depth isn't all that bad so long as you're not ramming the brightness to max.

The color on OLED normally suffer because of the Pentile matrix. However, with the newer panels, the drawbacks have been mitigated. You can also adjust color saturation manually through custom ROMS.

There is something amazing about the entire screen turning black in a dark room.

 

[Akira]

The S4 Pro should still be competitive with any SOC the next-gen flagships will have. With Sony's optimizations on the Xperia T (dual core Krait), it was able to beat the Galaxy S III on some benchmarks. And as for Super AMOLED, no thanks, Samsung can keep that to themselves. It needs a screen to match HTC One X screen (or I guess now the Droid DNA) and I think the White Magic 1080p screen will at least match it. Sony supposedly will introduce their own OLED smartphone in the Q4 2013 flagship.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

The S4 Pro should still be competitive with any SOC the next-gen flagships will have. With Sony's optimizations on the Xperia T (dual core Krait), it was able to beat the Galaxy S III on some benchmarks. And as for Super AMOLED, no thanks, Samsung can keep that to themselves. It needs a screen to match HTC One X screen (or I guess now the Droid DNA) and I think the White Magic 1080p screen will at least match it. Sony supposedly will introduce their own OLED smartphone in the Q4 2013 flagship.

I'm not so sure about this. Sony have pretty much come out and said that they think OLED is crap for phones because of the Pentile compromise. Unless JDI or AUO can come up with an RGB OLED with 1080p resolution without the burn-in I wouldn't count on Sony going for it.