After unveiling its flagship Xperia 1 VIII in May, Sony is now gearing up to launch another device. The company just confirmed its next Xperia launch event for August 24. While it hasn’t named the device it plans to announce, all signs point to the mid-range Xperia 10 VIII.
When to watch, and what the leaks suggest
Sony will stream the event live on YouTube at 11 AM Japan time on August 25, so US viewers can tune in at 10 PM ET or 7 PM PT on August 24. Beyond confirming the date and time, the company hasn’t shared any details about what’s coming, but a string of recent leaks fills in most of the gaps.
A Geekbench listing tied to a device codenamed Sony XQ-GH54 pointed to a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset paired with 8GB of RAM, the same combination found in last year’s Xperia 10 VII. If that holds, buyers won’t see a chipset upgrade this generation, something Sony has done before with the Xperia 10 IV and Xperia 10 V.
A separate FCC filing from July added a few more details, including a 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6, and support for four LTE bands. Last year’s Xperia 10 VII shipped with a 6.1-inch 120Hz OLED display and a 5,000mAh battery, specs that could carry over with the upcoming model. That’s a much more modest package compared to the Xperia 1 VIII, which arrived with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a telephoto sensor roughly four times larger than its predecessor’s.
US buyers shouldn’t get their hopes up
Sony is likely to skip the US market once again, despite earlier reports pointing to a wider release. IMEI database listings spotted earlier this year for the Xperia 1 VIII and Xperia 10 VIII didn’t include a clear US-specific model number, suggesting the upcoming mid-range phone may not arrive in the US.
Sony’s stream on August 24 should confirm pricing, specs, and availability details. If the leaks hold, the Xperia 10 VIII might be a modest refresh of last year’s Xperia 10 VII, rather than a phone worth rushing to preorder.