Sony tipped to release two new Xperia smartphones including Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-wielding Xperia 1 VIII

A few weeks have now passed since evidence of a new Sony Xperia smartphone emerged online. To recap, the company was spotted registering multiple model numbers allegedly relating to the Xperia 1 VIII. With Sony's mobile division seemingly in a state of flux, The Walkman Blog has discovered model numbers assigned to a different unreleased Xperia smartphone.

To recap, Sony expanded its Xperia division this year with the flagship Xperia 1 VII and the mid-range Xperia 10 VII. While the former leverages Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the Xperia 10 VII makes do with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 that we have already reviewed in smartphones like the Moto G75 and the Galaxy A36 (curr. $359.99 on Amazon). With PM-152xx seemingly referring to the Xperia 1 VIII, The Walkman Blog infers that the following six new model numbers are the first sign that Sony is working towards releasing a new Xperia 10:

• PM-1530-BV
• PM-1531-BV
• PM-1532-BV
• PM-1533-BV
• PM-1534-BV
• PM-1555-BV

Presumed to be linked to regional variants, an Xperia 10 VIII seems more likely than a return for the Xperia 5 at this stage. Dropped after Sony's fifth-generation releases, the Xperia 5 was considered redundant because of reduced demand only a year ago. As a result, it looks like the next Xperia 1 will be Sony's sole Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-backed release. To that end, Qualcomm has already confirmed that Sony will be using its latest high-end chipset soon for at least one smartphone.