Sony’s unconventional six month-flagship launch cycle is nearly upon us, with rumors of the Xperia Z6 family launching in the first few months of 2016. The Xperia range has apparently been expanded to five devices, with rumors of high-end specs and new software features.
Xperia Z6 Family
Sony has expanded the Xperia smartphone family in recent years, moving from one premium device to the three — the Z5 Compact, Z5, and Z5 Premium — earlier this year. In a new report from G for Games, the family might shrink to two devices in 2016, both using the Snapdragon 820 processor.
That contradicts an earlier AnTuTu Weibo leak, which claims that Sony will launch the Z6 Mini and Z6 Plus alongside the Z6 Compact, Z6, and Z6 Ultra. However, both might be right, but Sony might not be labelling the Z6 Mini, Compact, or Ultra as “flagship” phones.
The earlier report suggests that the Z6 Mini will be the smallest in the pack with a 4-inch display. The Z6 Compact will nestle in-between the Z6 Mini and Z6 with a 4.6-inch display. Sony’s flagship Z6 will feature a 5.2-inch display, and the other new addition Z6 Plus will feature a 5.8-inch display. Sony will also revive the Ultra series, according to the report, keeping the huge 6.4-inch display.
An update to the Z5 Premium was not mentioned in either report, which suggests Sony will quit building the 4K smartphone.
Snapdragon 820 processor
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor may run inside the Z6 Compact, Z6, Z6 Plus, and Z6 Ultra, but the Z6 Mini will use the Snapdragon 620 processor, according to the AnTuTu report mentioned before.
At a launch event in New York, Qualcomm said that the Snapdragon 820 processor would be 40 percent more power efficient and offer 40 percent more performance than last year’s Snapdragon 810. It will be the first time Qualcomm has built a processor using the 14nm manufacturing process, borrowed from Samsung’s second generation FinFET process. The Snapdragon 820 will support Cat. 12 LTE for 600 Mbps download and 150Mbps upload, alongside support for unlicensed LTE bands.
Force Touch display
Huawei and Apple both launched smartphones that support Force Touch earlier in the year, and Sony might join the growing group with its own Force Touch capabilities on the Xperia Z6. According to a report from Mobipicker, citing a source closely associated with the distribution network for Sony Mobile Communications, the Xperia Z6 may feature a pressure sensitive display allowing users to quickly access functions by applying varying amounts of pressure onto the display.
Google has not currently added an open API for Force Touch, but interface experts Synaptics revealed ClearForce earlier in the year for manufacturers to license. The company said it is working with manufacturers for an early 2016 launch, around the time the Xperia Z6 will supposedly release.
Release date
Sony will most likely continue its six-month launch cycle, meaning the Xperia Z6 family should launch in early 2016. The newest report says that Sony will launch one phone in June and another in October.
The Xperia Z3+ (Xperia Z4 in Japan) was announced in May, but Sony quickly pushed that aside for the Xperia Z5, announced three months later in September. If the six-month cycle continues, we should see the Xperia Z6 family show up at Mobile World Congress in February. Either that, or Sony holds it own event a few weeks after MWC to launch the Xperia Z6.