LG is reportedly considering abandoning the mobile market, following steep losses over a number of years and the lack of mindshare in the smartphone space. Sony hasn’t fared much better when it comes to selling smartphones – it has exited a number of regions, and does very little marketing to promote its wares – but, it has done a good job of cutting costs in order to target profitability.
LG has carried a similar ethos to Sony in that it has tried to offer good all-round smartphones, with decent cameras, battery life and performance. LG phones, particularly their V series, were some of the best phones for audiophiles with class-leading DACs. LG was also one of the few manufacturers to keep the 3.5mm headphone jacks in place, even in flagship devices. Remember, LG was also one of the first to make wide-angle cameras popular. [read more…]
by XB on 3rd February 2021
in News
Sony released its results for its Q3 FY2020 fiscal period, which represents the three months to the end of December 2020. After a small respite in Q2 FY20, which saw Xperia smartphone shipments stabilse, the company once again experienced a reduction in units sold in the latest quarter. Sony shipped 1.0 million Xperia smartphones during the quarter, representing a fall of 23% over the same period in the prior year.
While it is concerning that the company’s unit sales continues on a downward trend, it is encouraging that despite this, the company’s financials are actually doing okay. While volumes were down nearly a quarter, revenues were almost level with last year at 111.1 billion yen (Q3 FY19: 113.5 billion yen), down by only 2 percent. [read more…]
A quick heads-up, Sony is now selling the Pink version of the Xperia 5 II in selected European countries. The Pink Xperia 5 II is on sale in Germany, Italy and Spain through the official Sony eStore for €899 and is available right now.
Customers who order this colour, will also receive the Sony WF-1000XM3 Noise Canceling Headphones bundled free of charge. The Pink Xperia 5 II is one of our favourite colours, and had up until now been an Asian exclusive. So it’s great to see it make its way to Europe. The links to purchase are below. [read more…]
The Sony Xperia 1 II (Mark 2) was a pretty wonderful phone in many areas. It marked a return to form in many areas – reintroducing a boxier design that many fans were used to, as well as a number of features (headphone jack, wireless charging, stereo speakers) that made it a well-rounded flagship.
Well it looks like the first CAD renders of its successor, the Xperia 1 III (Mark 3) have just been unveiled by Steve Hemmerstoffer (@OnLeaks) through Voice. Steve had already provided a couple of other 2021 Xperia leaks, and we’re not even into February yet! While the new phone might look very similar to last year’s model, it appears that there will be a few crucial upgrades. [read more…]
Sony finally unveiled the Xperia PRO for the United States yesterday with a whopping $2,500 price tag. Sony said that that the Xperia PRO would not be heading to Europe, but nothing was said about other regions. Now we have confirmation that the Xperia PRO will be landing in Japan on 10 February for 227,091 yen (£1591, €1801, $2183) excluding tax.
The version heading to Japan will be SIM-free with model number XQ-AQ52, while the US version has model number XQ-AQ62, which probably highlights differences in the bands that each device supports. The Xperia PRO will have 12GB RAM, 512GB internal storage and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. [read more…]
Right on cue, Sony is now seeding the Android 11 firmware update for the Xperia 10 II (Mark 2). The update arrives with build number 59.1.A.0.485 with December 2020 Android security patches. At the time of writing, the update is only released in South East Asia (SEA), but availability should widen in the coming days.
It has been great to see Sony hit the release windows for Android 11 that it set itself. We still long for the days where Sony provides even a basic changelog. However, you will see native Android 11 additions in this firmware including media controls in quick settings, conversations in the notification shade, chat bubbles, native screen recorder, temporary permissions, notification history, smart device control and more. If you have updated on your Xperia 10 II, please let us know your impressions below. [read more…]
Sony has finally launched the Xperia PRO for the US market. This follows news last week that the firmware was released highlighting its imminent launch. One big missing point since the phone was announced last February was the price point, and it’s not going to be cheap. Sony has priced the handset at $2,499, which firmly pitches the phone outside the consumer market towards the professional photographer/videographer market.
The phone is already available to pre-order in the US from Amazon.com
, and appears to be in stock at B&H Photo. Sony says the phone will not be heading to the Europe market. The firmware version that will ship with the handset has build number 58.0.A.24.48, which is based on Android 10 with December 2020 Android security patches. [read more…]
Steve Hemmerstoffer (@OnLeaks) has followed up on his recent CAD leak of what will likely be the Xperia 10 III (Mark 3), with renders of a new device. Steve categorises this device as a new Xperia Compact model, however this model will not be a flagship device according to our sources.
Xperia Compact devices were so revered by fans as they packed in flagship specs into a smaller former factor, much like what Apple has done with the iPhone 12 mini. Instead, this new leaked device is likely to be a smaller successor to the Xperia L4 from last year, or similar model targeted to the budget range. [read more…]
The Sony Xperia PRO was announced at the same time as the Xperia 1 II (Mark 2) back in February last year. Sony targeted the handset towards videography and photography content professionals – while the handset carried mostly the same specs as the Xperia 1 II, it came with a number of extras.
This included a HDMI micro connector (Type D) to allow direct camera connectivity, support for 5G mmWave, a dedicated shortcut key to quick launch certain apps and a 360-degree antenna design for optimal signal strength. [read more…]
Sony has commenced the Android 11 firmware rollout for the Xperia 5 II (Mark 2). Sony has once again hit its release schedule promise – it was targeting the Xperia 5 II Android 11 update “from the end of January 2021”.
Build number 58.1.A.1.178 has started to seed to the handset with a limited regional release, but should expand in the coming days. The update is only live in Russia and South East Asia (SEA) handsets at time of publication. This is the same build number that was released to the Xperia 1 II (Mark 2) last week. It comes with December 2020 Android security patches, the same as the previous firmware. [read more…]
It looks like we have our first look at one of Sony’s 2021 smartphone mid-rangers. Steve Hemmerstoffer (@onleaks), who has an impeccable record when it comes to early CAD renders, has published the first images of what is believed to be the Xperia 10 III (Mk3). Sony is looking to continue with its 21:9 design language seen over the last couple of years, as the Xperia 10 III design looks almost identical to that of its predecessor, the Xperia 10 II.
The positives is that once again there is no notch or hole punch in the 6-inch display, which is something we applaud. We can’t be the only ones who abhors these more ‘modern’ recent design trends – give us a cleaner front any day – the small bezels don’t bother us. It’s also great to see the 3.5mm headphone jack, we’re hoping Sony carries this forward to the 2021 flagships too, in line with last year. [read more…]
, and appears to be in stock at