Many Xperia owners or those interested in buying rolled their eyes when Sony revealed that the Xperia Z5 family would feature the same Snapdragon 810 and 3GB of RAM as the Xperia Z4 did, albeit without the heating issues. Many also thought that the Xperia Z5 Premium was the end-all-be-all of the Xperia Z5 family, lamenting the part-time 4K resolution and lack of a ginormous phablet option a la the Xperia Z Ultra models of years past. This particular subset of Sony fans may just have something to smile about.
The cat has been let out of the bag on the Xperia Z5 Ultra, a rumored new member of the Xperia Z5 family that’s set to sport a 6.44 inch 4K screen, the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4 GB of RAM. it’s uncertain whether Sony has learned their lesson about six month release cycles, but in any case, this is a vast improvement over the current crop of Xperia Z5 devices. The new handset is otherwise just what you’d expect from the Xperia line, with Sony’s familiar OminBalance design present in force, nearly nonexistant bezels and all the usual bells and whistles. Unfortunately, it seems that those who wanted a Snapdragon 820 and 4 GB of RAM in their Xperia, but at a somewhat normal size, are out of luck and will have to wait for the Xperia Z6.
The site, which is not named by our source, shows the device slated for pre-order soon, with an impossibly close December 23 release date listed. It would make sense for Sony to push this for the Holidays as an incremental update to the Xperia Z5 family, however the Snapdragon 820 processor that it supposedly features will barely be out of the gate at the end of this year, making a release some time in the first quarter of 2016 more likely. The site also pegs a speculative price of RS. 48,000, or about $725 USD, which seems a bit low, given the price of the Xperia Z5 family’s current members and prices of prior Ultra handsets. If, by some miracle, the handset that seems to be what the Xperia Z5 should have been makes it out by the Holidays, it may just be the boost Sony needs to stay relevant into 2016.