Sony's next Xperia reveal is now only hours away

Sony has scheduled a new Xperia product announcement for August 25 at 11:00 a.m. Japan time, which translates to the evening of August 24 in the United States. Sony has not officially named the device, but regulatory appearances and leaks strongly point toward the Xperia 10 VIII. The expected mid-range phone reportedly retains something increasingly rare: a 3.5mm headphone jack.

FCC information also indicates Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth and broad LTE support, while benchmark leaks have suggested a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3-class platform and 8GB of RAM. Sony's smartphone business occupies a strange but interesting position. Xperia sales are tiny compared with Samsung, Apple or Xiaomi, yet the company continues to develop devices with distinctive priorities such as media-friendly displays, headphone connectivity and restrained software.

The Xperia 10 VIII will therefore be judged less on market dominance than on whether Sony can offer enough differentiation to justify staying in the category. The upcoming announcement should finally replace speculation with confirmed specifications, pricing and regional availability. For Xperia fans, tonight is effectively launch night.