Sony Xperia XZ2 Leak: Bezel-Less Design, Rectangular Form Factor Leaked

Sony’s smartphones for 2017 all had the same familiar rectangular design and thick bezels, but next year seems to be a different story. A newly leaked render for the Xperia XZ2 shows that the upcoming Android flagship from Sony will have a bezel-less design.

The alleged render of the Sony Xperia XZ2 was shared online by Techie State. The origin of the render wasn’t given, but it appears to be the upcoming successor to Sony’s Xperia XZ1 and or XZ1 Premium. At first glance, the Xperia XZ2 is unmistakably a Sony Android smartphone with its rectangular body and rounded edges. It still has the same “Omni-balance” feel from Sony’s previous phones. The major difference here however is that the top bezel appears very thin, while the bottom appears truly bezel-free.

The design of the Xperia XZ2 is very reminiscent of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. The only difference between the two is that Xiaomi decided to place the front-facing camera at the bottom bezel, while Sony decided to keep it on top of the display. It’s also rumored that the Xperia XZ2 will have a screen-to-body ratio that’s over 90 percent. For comparison, the Mi Mix 2 has a screen-to-body ratio of around 91.3 percent.

The render for the Xperia XZ2 also seems to show that it will have its power and volume buttons on the right side of the handset. It’s very likely that the power button will double as the device’s fingerprint scanner. There’s also a third button on the right side, which is most likely a hardware key to bring up the camera app and doubles as the camera’s physical shutter.

There’s no way of telling whether this new leak is legit or just a clever fakery, but rumors did circulate back in September that Sony was planning to ditch its “Omni-balance” smartphone design for its 2018 flagship smartphone.

Sony’s current smartphone lineup is impressive, but design-wise the company seems to be lagging behind other smartphone manufacturers that are already shifting to bezel-less phones with tall displays. Also, Sony’s smartphone sales haven’t been impressive these past few quarters and introducing a major redesign on the Xperia XZ2 could draw consumers’ attention.

As for specs, the Xperia XZ2 is expected to be a high-end flagship Android smartphone. A supposed leak on Reddit revealed that the device would be powered by Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 845 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The display is listed to be 5.48 inches (most likely to be marketed as 5.5 inches) with a 1080p full HD screen resolution with HDR support. The display is also listed as having Sony’s Triluminos and X-Reality enhancements.

The leaked specs for the Xperia XZ2 also suggest the device will have a pair of dual 12-megapixel cameras on the back. If accurate, the XZ2 will be Sony’s first smartphone to have a dual-camera setup. Up front is a 15MP camera, while the software that the phone is running is listed as Android 8.1 Oreo.