Originally launched back in 2021, the Xperia Pro-I was introduced as a Sony flagship smartphone that catered towards professionals in the filming industry and so on. A new rumour is suggesting that a sequel is coming in the near future, and with it is a feature that has yet to be offered on any smartphone: a rotating camera ring.
According to Japanese blog sumahodigest, which cited a post from Weibo, the allegedly upcoming Sony smartphone (tentatively known as the Xperia Pro-II) is expected to launch sometime next year. The aforementioned ring will encircle the lenses on its camera setup, which is said to be similar to that of its predecessor. The post also claims that the feature is used to manually control the zoom, aperture and focus, though it is unclear how this is achieved.
While unconfirmed, this wouldn’t be the first time for Sony to introduce practical, traditional camera-like features to its smartphones. The most notable example being the physical shutter button on the Xperia 1 and 5 models, while the Xperia Pro-I came with various technologies borrowed or inspired from the brand’s own Alpha camera line.
As for specifications, sadly, information surrounding this is still a mystery at this time. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if the alleged Xperia Pro-II were to be equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset or newer, as well as the latest mobile camera sensors by Sony.
It is also possible for the Japanese tech giant to launch it after the next iteration of its mainstream Xperia smartphones are introduced. On that note, a separate rumour shared on Reddit is suggesting that the Xperia 1 VI and 5 VI could debut at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in late February or early March next year.
(Source: sumahodigest, via GSMArena)
