Sony could announce a powerful new smartphone in January, but that seems too early for an Xperia Z6

posted by Luis D. / Dec 02, 2015, 3:39 AM

Sony could announce a powerful new smartphone in January, but that seems too early for an Xperia Z6

It looks like Sony has already geared up to kick off 2016 with a bang! We received an invitation for its upcoming CES 2016 press conference, which is to be held January 5 at 5PM Pacific time — in the Las Vegas Convention Center, as usual. The invitation's visuals include VR headsets, hi-fi gear, a CyberShot camera, a disturbingly thin TV, and perhaps most interesting — a smartphone!

Naturally, this has sparked visions and aspirations about an upcoming Sony Xperia Z6 flagship smartphone inside the tech media circles. But common sense dictates that, outside of Sony's R&D labs, the Xperia Z6 right now is nothing more than 'clickbait' material. After all, the Xperia Z5 trio, which was announced this September and released shortly after, is still very fresh on the market. Introducing an iterative, specs-focused update as early as January would do little more than kill Z5 sales and frustrate owners of the smartphone. Then again, this is merely an outside perspective — Sony execs probably see things differently.

The original Xperia Z Ultra - Sony at large!

However, the smartphone rat race has been rather intense lately, with Samsung reportedly preparing its Galaxy S7 products for a February 21st announcement at the Samsung Unpacked 2016 event. Android competitors are usually looking to retaliate with hi-end offerings near the same time frame, which means Sony could take the opportunity for making an exciting smartphone announcement on the back of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 SoC, which is already quite the hype engine!

Rather, we're thinking more in the lines of a Xperia Z5 Ultra, which is already rumored to ship March next year, sporting cutting-edge features such as the aforementioned chipset, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a 6.44-inch, 2160 x 3840 (4K) resolution display, a 23MP primary camera, and a large battery to keep all those power-hungry components on-line. At launch, the Z5 Ultra could turn out to be one of the most powerful phablets so far, despite competition from the likes of Samsung, HTC, and Xiaomi — all geared up to launch hero phones during the first quarter of 2016.

With such an intense all-around device in the pipeline, we expect Sony to at least tease the Z5 Ultra (or whatever it has in store) at its CES press conference, leaving the Xperia Z6 flagship for the second half of 2016. Then again, this is all rumor mongering at this point, so better keep that doctor-prescribed grain of salt nearby!

Sony's CES 2016 press invite.

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31 Comments

1. Nathan_ingx

Posts: 4769; Member since: Mar 07, 2012

Z5+ anyone?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 3:46 AM 1

15. fonelover

Posts: 255; Member since: Mar 19, 2015

Sony may out z5+ with sd810! just to continue their 3 months flagship cycle.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 7:14 AM 3

18. KParks23

Posts: 733; Member since: Oct 13, 2010

Z5 premium with 820 on verizon would be amazing but a little too soon

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:18 AM 0

20. zeeBomb

Posts: 2318; Member since: Aug 14, 2014

Z5 Ultra is more likely, but no means Sony can go do the Z6 route. I only think Sony will make only the Z6 this year, and the Z7 some other time... Also Sony gonna make a new version of that DAC player, and some other great tech goodies.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:21 AM 1

23. KParks23

Posts: 733; Member since: Oct 13, 2010

Yeah i dont care what they announce as long as its premium and dont have a 810 in it and comes to verizon!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:40 AM 0

27. akki20892

Posts: 3902; Member since: Feb 04, 2013

hopefully xperia for usa.......

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:13 PM 2

2. Zylam

Posts: 1822; Member since: Oct 20, 2010

A Z5 Ultra with those specs sounds luscious. Really wish Sony would adapt even more of a near stock Android experience. Whatever happened to that beta test of a new Ui which pretty much looked like stock Android with Sony apps? Things were looking good!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 3:47 AM 1

5. TheLoyalist

Posts: 26; Member since: Feb 11, 2013

I'm beta testing that right now!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 4:40 AM 2

11. Feanor

Posts: 1410; Member since: Jun 20, 2012

Nice! Which region? How does it look like in reality?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 6:09 AM 1

14. SYSTEM_LORD

Posts: 1168; Member since: Oct 05, 2015

How's it feel? Running lollipop on Z3C, and just wondering what a closed to stock experience would be like

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 7:03 AM 0

9. Hexa-core

Posts: 2131; Member since: Aug 11, 2015

Zylam!! Sony's UI is one of the closest to stock Android!!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 5:20 AM 0

4. Djz89

Posts: 447; Member since: Aug 25, 2014

Awesome

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 4:08 AM 0

6. anleoflippy

Posts: 596; Member since: Jan 03, 2013

Z5 Ultra for sure.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 4:58 AM 2

7. LRSousa

Posts: 43; Member since: Jun 20, 2014

Nope... Will be accessories and one mid end device.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 5:03 AM 0

8. SIGPRO

Posts: 2817; Member since: Oct 03, 2012

Almost every article on PA contains Could or May! Come with some real news, not every time this companay could or may announce!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 5:13 AM 1

16. Hexa-core

Posts: 2131; Member since: Aug 11, 2015

There's nothing bad in that.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 7:31 AM 0

10. ryq24

Posts: 875; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

Z5 premium is so expensive what more a Z5 ultra! Sony should review their pricing . Their mobile phone business will not be able to recover if they continue to sell their phones at those outrageous price.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 5:57 AM 0

12. KKK1984

Posts: 4; Member since: Nov 10, 2015

What are you talking about, the device has high end specs an costs less than the s6 or the new iphone but you see no one bitchin how much they cost ...

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 6:45 AM 1

13. bistech

Posts: 59; Member since: Jul 23, 2015

This sucks. Iphone 6s plus is the best

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 6:51 AM 0

17. Hexa-core

Posts: 2131; Member since: Aug 11, 2015

So 6S Plus doesn't have flaws? "Opinnions are like assholes... everyone has one." #RebelwithoutaClue

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 7:34 AM 3

19. hellonerds

Posts: 334; Member since: Aug 27, 2013

6in 4k I'm in for that.. my note 4 need update but Im so use to amoled lol... love the darks and colors pop.. good on battery too.. will see what sony comes out with

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:19 AM 0

21. alvinching

Posts: 31; Member since: Sep 18, 2014

6.44 inch will be nice with sd 820 32gb and support of micro sd up 128gb 4000mah battery with z5 camera will be great .this is the phone I'm waiting for. If can do like samsung doing VR headset even better.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:39 AM 1

22. alvinching

Posts: 31; Member since: Sep 18, 2014

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:39 AM 0

24. aliadils3d

Posts: 9; Member since: Feb 16, 2015

The only reason sony is releasing flagships so fast is to catch up with the number series of other flagships, As samsung is releasing the S7 and apple the iphone 7, sony is still at 5, so i think they want to be on leverl with the numbers here. they should have been releasing the xperia Z7 now with the other big companies.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:30 AM 0

25. Xperia14

Posts: 1208; Member since: Sep 01, 2015

Z5 Ultra for sure.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 11:21 AM 0

26. Switch00

Posts: 536; Member since: Sep 04, 2013

All metal ultra with small bezels, on bezel buttons, and a pair of hi end earphones in the box.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 11:57 AM 0

28. HTC_ONE_MAX

Posts: 170; Member since: Feb 06, 2015

Z5 Tablet Compact ?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:11 PM 0

29. phichart

Posts: 335; Member since: May 03, 2014

Sony is just s**t... they made waterproof phone but Z2 and Z3 the same.. go to swim in the pool and water go in twice... never ever think to buy sony again! and the service is f**king bad in Thailand