Next Sony Xperia flagship might not unveil at MWC 2017 after all

Sony isn’t going to unveil its next flagship at Mobile World Congress.

A few reports have suggested in recent weeks that Sony will debut a premium device with a 4K display at a press conference in Barcelona on 27 February, but according to Twitter user @Ricciolo1, who has reliably leaked mobile news in the past, that’s not going to happen. While the company is developing what is largely considered a successor to the Xperia Z5 Premium from last year, we shouldn’t expect it at the MWC.

The leakster specifically described the upcoming handset in the tweet as a “premium flagship”, but then included hashtags for Xperia, Sony, Z5 Premium, and successor. He also slyly hinted that the handset could be seen behind closed doors at MWC. In other words, Sony may show prototypes of the device to its partners or maybe even journalists in secret meetings at the show. We’ve contacted Sony for more.

PREMIUM flagship is coming… but don’t hold your breath for #MWC #mwc17 , except the secret rooms… 😉 #xperia #Sony #z5premium #successor

— Ricciolo (@Ricciolo1) February 1, 2017

GSMArena noted that Samsung is rumoured to be hogging every available Snapdragon 835 right now for its upcoming Galaxy S8, so Sony may be waiting to unveil the Z5 Premium successor until more become available. After all, the phone is expected to sport the chipset, along with 4GB or 6GB of RAM, and a Sony IMX400 camera sensor. Check out Pocket-lint’s rumour round-up on the device for more leaks:

• Next Sony Xperia flagship: What’s the story so far?

We’ll know more in a couple weeks. But keep in mind if Sony does unveil the phone at MWC, but then 835 chipsets aren’t available, you probably won’t be able to get your hands on it until early summer.