Sony's Xperia XZ Pro will ditch headphone jack, probably

SONY NEXT FLAGSHIP SMARTPHONE, the so-called Xperia XZ Pro, will be the firm's first device to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack. 

That's according to an FCC filing, which depicts a Sony device in 'Charging Mode' sporting a dongle that splits into a USB port and a headphone jack. This dongle (below) slots into the handset's USB-C port, and will offer users the option to listen to music while the phone is re-juicing. 

While it's not clear whether the device in question is the rumoured Xperia XZ Pro, it's listed dimensions come in at 52.8x72.4mm, so it's got more than enough room to squeeze in the handset's mooted 5.7in 4K-resolution OLED display.

That ain't all we know about the Sony Xperia XZ Pro, either. Chinese site MyDrivers last week revealed that the flagship mobe will be unveiled during next month's MWC in Barcelona as the successor to last year's Xperia XZ Premium. 

The website also claims to have got its hands on the smartphone's specs. As well as outing the phone's high-res screen, which MyDriversclaims will be largely "bezel-free", the Xperia XZ Pro will reportedly be powered by Qualcomm's 10nm Snapdragon 845 processor will apparently provide the power, despite speculation that Samsung had first dibs on the SoC for its Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus processor.

This will come paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB built-in storage, according to the report, and there's also a microSD slot and a beefy 3,420mAh battery.

On the photography front, expect a dual camera setup comprising of an 18MP shooter with a 1.33μm pixel size and a 12MP camera with a 1.38μm pixel size. The front-facing camera is said to weight in at 13MP, but no further details have yet been revealed.

The Sony Xperia XZ Pro will also pack an IP68-certified chassis and will ship with Android 8.1 Oreo. 

MyDrivers claims that the handset will fetch 6000 yuan ($930, £675) when it goes on sale, but no release date has been confirmed yet.

This MWC launch will follow Sony's underwhelming CES presser, where it unveiled a trio of mid-range smartphones: the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2. 

The highlight of the middling lineup is the Xperia XA2, which packs a 5.2in Full HD screen, a Snapdragon 630 processor paired with 3GB RAM and a 23MP rear-facing camera, complete with hybrid autofocus, support for 4K video recording plus 120fps slow-motion shooting.