In somewhat of an unexpected turn of events, Sony announced a new line of smartphones at MWC under the ‘Xperia X’ moniker. These are mid-tier devices, including the Xperia X Performance which Sony refers to as a “super premium mid-ranger”, sporting high end specifications with curved glass and a metal finish. That’s all fine and dandy, but for those who are holding out for a potential Xperia Z6, it seems that there’s been a plot twist as the company has pretty much confirmed that the Z-line is dead.
In response to users on Facebook inquiring about a Z6, Sony’s official German Facebook page all but confirmed that there will no longer be any more Xperia Z phones, and that they’ll apparently be superseded by the X-series. “Z6 will not exist,” Sony stated in their comment. “The new X series is under a modified concept that meets the needs of our users even more.”
While it’s unclear what Sony means by “modified concept”, this move is a bit unexpected from Sony. Last year’s Xperia Z5 (above) and Z5 Premium were among the year’s most enticing flagship devices, but so far the X-series leaves quite a bit to be desired. The X Performance offers some flagship-level specs such as a Snapdragon 820 processor, a 23MP rear and 13MP front camera, as well as a fingerprint scanner; but is marred by other lacking specs such as a 1080p screen, underwhelming 2700mAh battery, and 3GB of RAM (while this year’s flagships are bumping up to 4GB). It’s hard to say if this is meant to succeed the Xperia Z5, as it makes a confusing case for itself.
We can’t say for sure if that’s what’s happening though, especially since the Z5 was announced only in September of last year. It may be a while before we see a true successor to the Xperia Z5 flagship, although it will now likely be branded under this new X family of devices. But really, what’s in a name?
Source: Sony Mobile DACH (Facebook) via GSMArena
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