The Sony Xperia 5 II may be the smallest 5G phone yet

There were rumors about a large Sony Xperia 5 Plus, but that never came to be. Now there’s talk about a phone that is quite the opposite – an Xperia 5 II with a sub-6” screen. This phone will be released in Japan in the second half of this year, according to insider sources.

The phone will have a 5.6-5.8” screen, down from the 6.1” panel on the first Xperia 5. There’s a high possibility that this phone will have 5G connectivity, which will make it the first sub-6” phone to have 5G.

And it will be only Sony’s second 5G phone, the other being the Xperia 1 II. There's also the Xperia Pro, but that is hardly targeted at consumers. It does add mmWave (the Xperia 1 II only offers sub-6GHz), but that requires extra antennas, which may not fit in a smaller body.

This Xperia 5 II can slot nicely between the Xperia 1 II and 10 II – smaller than the premium flagship, more capable than the mid-ranger. Though even with 5G, the flagship status of this phone is not certain.

And neither is its name. A couple of months ago there was a rumor about an “Xperia 9” with Snapdragon 765G, which has a built-in 5G modem. This model was even benchmarked back in December 2019, but has proven particularly leak-resistant.

The new rumors say nothing about the chipset, but the current Xperia 5 has the flagship Snapdragon 855, which may be yet another reason to change the name. Alternatively, sparseness of leaks may just mean that there is nothing real to leak.

Source (in Japanese)