14 DAY TRIAL // Sony is the latest smartphone maker to announce its MWC 2017 press conference. The launch event will take place in Barcelona, Spain, on February 27. We're expecting a couple of new Xperia smartphones to be unveiled next month, but they won't be available until March or April.
Other companies like Huawei, LG and Lenovo have already confirmed press conferences at MWC 2017, but none of them has launch events on the same day as Sony. In fact, all three smartphone makers mentioned above sent invitations for February 26, one day earlier than Sony's press conference.
Samsung has yet to announce its own launch event where the South Korean company is expected to unveil its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8.
As XperiaBlog points out, Sony hasn't introduced any new smartphones early this month at CES 2017, as the Japanese company is probably saving all the announcements for MWC trade fair.
MediaTek Helio P20 smartphones incoming
At least two unannounced Xperia handsets leaked in the last couple of weeks, both of them powered by MediaTek Helio P20 chipsets. They are known by their model numbers G3221 and G3112, but there's a third Xperia handset spotted under a different model number: G3121.
Of the three, the G3221 seems to be the most powerful since it packs 4GB RAM and a full HD (1080p) display of unknown size, but the other two are likely to be mid-range phones, possibly in the same lineup as the Xperia XA series.
Is Sony going to come up with something very different than what we're already used to? It's highly unlikely seeing the latest renders showing alleged high-end and mid-range Xperia smartphones that are supposed to arrive this year.
Hopefully, the Xperia smartphones Sony will announce next month will be priced competitively if they don't bring any innovation into the mix. Otherwise, the Japanese company has little chance against other smartphone makers like Huawei, Lenovo and Samsung.