Sony to unveil Xperia XA3 lineup ahead of schedule

The successor to the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is expected to launch next week. Image: Sony via AFP Relaxnews

On New Year’s Day, Sony sent out invitations for a company press conference scheduled to take place on Monday at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Though a collection of Sony products is already on the docket, this exclusive event suggests that the Xperia XA3, too, made the list.

While smartphone manufacturers typically wait for the Mobile World Congress to debut their newest devices, Sony has given us good reason to believe that the upcoming Xperia XA3 and Xperia XA3 Ultra will launch as early as Jan. 7 at the company’s recently scheduled CES 2019 press conference.

On Tuesday, the company sent out ‘Save The Date’ invitations briefly describing the purpose of the Jan. 7 event: “Leadership from across the Sony Group will discuss Sony’s initiatives to connect users and creators through creativity and technology.”

We know that Sony is planning on launching a 5G device in early 2019 which will most likely be the successor of the Xperia XZ3. That model is expected to be the one to launch in Barcelona at the Mobile World Conference. Naturally, the XA3 models, which will likely only support 4G and lower mobile standards, are predicted to make an appearance first. Since Sony has clearly expressed its focus on 5G in 2019, this model could be the final one not to support the newest standard.

Beside the likely XA3 lineup launch, CES 2019 may also bring a small handful of other smartphone releases like Samsung and Huawei’s foldable handsets, though neither have been confirmed. The Mobile World Congress, on the other hand, is destined to bring far more new smartphones. Very likely on the docket besides the potential Xperia XZ4 launch are the Huawei P30, the LG G8, the Motorola Moto G7, the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup, and several more in addition to several concept models.

As noted in the invitation, the CES 2019 Sony Press Conference will take place on Monday at 5 p.m. Pacific time. JB

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