Sony to give Xperia Z a Snapdragon 800 boost?

Sony is no stranger to the refresh game when it comes to smartphones. The company gave us slight hardware upgrades in the follow-ups to the Xperia arc and Xperia S in the form of the arc S and Xperia SL. So when we hear about a possible Xperia Z refresh, it’s not altogether surprising.

Russian tech journalist Eldar Murtazin says Sony is working on an Xperia Z with a Snapdragon 800 SoC. Murtazin tweeted that he currently has the handset in his possession and it’s “really fast”. While this is no hard evidence of an Xperia Z upgrade, it comes a couple of days before Sony’s June 25 event in Germany. The Japanese company is expected to announce the Xperia Z Ultra (ZU) at the event, but a "ZS" appearance cannot be entirely ruled out.

What's Sony got in store for us?

In response to some of the replies he got, Murtazin said that the handset has a 1080p SuperLCD3 panel just like the HTC One. However, Sony usually ships its TFT LCD panels. Murtazin reckons this will be the case with the new Xperia Z as well, as the SLCD3 panels are only being used for prototypes. That sounds quite odd to us, but we are sure Sony has its reasons. The TFT LCD has been criticised for its weak blacks and bad viewing angles, so going with the much-praised SLCD3 display would make better sense. We’ll find out soon enough.

Whatever Sony has planned for its Xperia line-up, be sure to check tech2’s coverage of the event for all the big announcements.