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Intriguing compact Sony Xperia smartphone rumor pops up but as usual there is a catch

The compact Sony Xperia ACE III smartphone is only officially available in Japan. (Image source: Sony/Unsplash - edited)
The compact Sony Xperia ACE III smartphone is only officially available in Japan. (Image source: Sony/Unsplash - edited)
Another Xperia-related rumor has turned up, and this time it seems to be in relation to a potential compact smartphone from Sony. Sony has always classified its Xperia 5 model as “compact”, despite the last iteration coming in at 6.1 inches. There is an actual compact option sold in Japan, the Xperia ACE III, with many expecting an ACE IV model to be released at some point.

A somewhat sketchy rumor about the Xperia line has been shared by SumahoDigest, with the alleged original source of the information hiding somewhere on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. As it concerns something that has been pretty much rumored on an annual basis for the last few years, it’s worth being skeptical here. According to the shadowy source, a “tiny” (machine-translated) Xperia could make a return in 2025, but before international fans of the brand get excited there is that aforementioned catch: It would likely be a Japan-only model.

This would make sense in terms of other recent rumors about the Sony Xperia line and its serial shrinkage issue. At the moment, it is rumored that Sony might only put out one international phone this year in the likely form of the Sony Xperia 1 VII. The company could release multiple phones this year but keep the others for its relatively strong home market. It has been reported that Sony has a 3.82% chunk of the smartphone market in Japan in contrast to its negligible worldwide share. Releasing a Sony Xperia ACE IV just for the home market would make some sense.

A compact successor to the petite 5.5-inch ACE III has been rumored for a long time; at one point it was even stated that it would get a global release. Of course, rumors are often inaccurate and it’s worth adding in the fact that global markets are volatile, so companies do change their plans even if it means incurring a huge loss in research and development. In 2024, there were rumors on a Japanese forum that an ACE IV might even come with a MediaTek SoC, which would be quite the departure for the Snapdragon-loyal brand.

Machine-translated compact Xperia rumor. (Image source: SumahoDigest)
Machine-translated compact Xperia rumor. (Image source: SumahoDigest)

Source(s)

SumahoDigest (in Japanese) & Sony Japan & GotGet (in Japanese) & Statcounter

Teaser image (edited): Sony Japan & Jakub Flis on Unsplash

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2025 02 > Intriguing compact Sony Xperia smartphone rumor pops up but as usual there is a catch
Daniel R Deakin, 2025-02- 6 (Update: 2025-02- 7)