Mobile World Congress has been canned, which means that the usual collection of announcements just… aren’t here. They’re popping up here and there, but without much coherence. Still, some of the larger names are getting into the limelight — witness Sony’s new Xperia 1 II, the company’s newest flagship smartphone.

Out of reach

The name? Yeah, that’s a weird one. It’s not the Xperia One Two — apparently it’s the Xperia 1 Mk II, similar to how Sony’s cameras are named. But the name’s not that important. What’s inside the phone is. And what’s inside the phone is the latest in cellular hardware.

Expect Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 856 (so 5G’s a thing here), a 6.5in OLED display (3,840 x 1,644), 8GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage, and a 4,000mAh battery. Sony’s battery tech has always been top-notch so expect that battery to last far longer than its number rating would indicate. In terms of looks, it looks like a Sony smartphone. They all do.

Sony’s throwing in an IP68 rating, a headphone jack, microSD support and wireless charging, as well as a beefy camera system. Well, beefy-ish. There are three 12MP sensors (a main, telephoto, and wide-angle version) and a ToF sensor for capturing depth info. Since it’s coming from Sony, we’re expecting the snappers to be technically brilliant on a hardware level but less so when it comes to software smarts.

Limited access

Sadly, laying hands on a new Sony Xperia 1 II won’t be an easy task. The handsets might make it to market here but there’s no guarantee that you’ll find much support for one. Pity, too, because the Sony fans we know in SA tend to be rather… well, loyal.

And if they don’t make it into widespread circulation in SA, as was the case with the Xperia 1, you’re going to have to import one. They’ll be starting at around R20k overseas, before you add shipping and import duties — which should be a pointer towards a possible launch price. That is, more than R20k.

Source: Ars Technica