FCC approval reveals information on small Sony Xperia smartphone with 5″ screen

An inspection report from the US government agency FCC has released information about an upcoming Sony Xperia smartphone. The device is about the size of an Xperia XZ1 Compact, but has a larger screen.

Image of the Xperia at FCC

The screen has a diagonal of 4.95″, according to the FCC report, where the XZ1 Compact and its predecessors have a screen with a diagonal of around 4.6″. The housing of the unannounced device is 135x64mm in size. It is rare to see smartphones with such a small housing.

Other specs of the device are unknown. It seems unlikely that the new Xperia will include a soc for high-end smartphones, just like the XZ1 Compact. According to the test report, the phone does not support modulation with 256-qam on 4g, a function that all high-end socs from the past two years have. In addition, the phone can theoretically reach a maximum of 300Mbit/s on 4g, a speed that is more suitable for a midrange smartphone. Still, it would be strange if Sony comes out with another midrange phone soon; the company just presented three.

Sony will hold a press conference at Mobile World Congress next month. That is the first logical moment to show new models. The FCC is keeping pictures of the device a secret until the end of July this year, indicating that the phone should be on the market before the summer.