Looking for a high-end compact phone? Your best bet might come from an unlikely source

Summary

• The 2024 Sony Xperia Pro-C is a surprise contender in the small phone market, offering strong upgrades in a compact size for professional content creation.
• Leaked specs suggest the Xperia Pro-C will feature a 6-inch OLED screen, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 50MP primary camera, and 12-bit RAW image capture.
• While pricing and availability are still unknown, the Xperia Pro-C is expected to be announced at the end of the year with a high price tag, potentially rivalling the Google Pixel 9 Pro.

If you’re in the market for a small phone, you’ve probably figured by now how desolate the segment is, especially for Android. The few options that exist are neither that small nor that great. But if you were still waiting, there’s a surprise contender that might be the answer to your prayers — the 2024 Sony Xperia Pro-C.

We don’t blame you if that name doesn’t ring a bell. Sony’s smartphone naming scheme is not easy to follow, and the Xperia Pro series hasn’t had a new launch in a few years. In fact, the last product in the family was the Sony Xperia Pro-I in 2021. This series has always been about being the best smartphone for relatively professional content creation and consumption, and the purported Sony Xperia Pro-C gives it some strong upgrades while being impressively compact.

An extremely niche target market

Designed for enthusiast photographers

The information comes from @InsiderSony on X (via GSMArena) who leaked the information about the existence of the Sony Xperia Pro-C along with its key specifications and features. According to the source, the upcoming camera-centric flagship will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. It will have a large 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging.

While these specs may seem similar to the recently unveiled Sony Xperia 1 VI, the Xperia Pro-C is tipped to have a much smaller 6-inch OLED screen with a 2K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. At 6 inches, it will already be amongst the most compact phones available today, but if Sony decides to opt for a taller panel with a 21:9 ratio (as it often does), the Sony Xperia Pro-C will also be one of the narrowest phones available.

Mighty in many ways — including the price

Moreover, the Sony Xperia Pro-C is said to sport a giant 50MP 1-inch primary camera, not making it one of the few phones in the world to do that, but also the smallest phone. Since photography is going to be its key selling point, it will also support 12-bit RAW and 14-bit DCG RAW image capture. The ultra-wide sensor is a 12MP unit with 4K 120fps video shooting capabilities, S-LOG gamma, HLG, and RAW recording. Expect to see additional shooting modes and features on this phone.

There’s no word on the Sony Xperia Pro-C’s pricing and availability, but we expect it to be announced at the end of the year with a hefty price tag. For context, its predecessor was priced at $1,799. We will be quite surprised if the phone manages to offer all these features while being so tiny, which is a way to say that we aren’t entirely convinced of this leak. But if it does, it will give the Google Pixel 9 Pro a run for its money.