Quick! What’s Sony’s current high-end Android phone? Anyone? Yeah, Sony has a problem with brand recognition, one it likely hopes will be resolved with a big CES debut next week. While that could still happen, Sony’s Japanese press site just prematurely posted pics of the Xperia Z “Yuga” and the Xperia ZL “Odin”. And, surprisingly, the phones actually look worth remembering.
Sony, and before that, Sony Ericsson, has long floundered about in the mobile waters. Besides the Sony Ericsson gaming phone, none have been particularly interesting. Somehow Sony manages to make forgettable phones even though past models looked great and packed top-notch specs. Hopefully, and I mean that, these upcoming phones will hit the market with a bit more pizzazz.
As told by Engadget, the large Xperia Z and slightly more svelte Xperia ZL will likely 5-inch 1080p LCDs, quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processors with 2 gigs of RAM and Adreno 320 graphics. They’re said to have a 13-megapixel Exmor RS sensor on the rear. But those specs are to be expected and really don’t matter if consumers cannot buy the phones.
Currently in the US, Sony smartphones are only available on ATT. International the distribution is a bit better, but Sony smartphones are a pretty rare breed to see in the wild.
These phones, and likely several others, should be revealed next Monday at Sony’s 2013 CES press conference. We’ll be there liveblogging all the action memorable or not.