Sony Xperia Pro is Finally Available for over $2,000

Almost a year after the official announcement, the Sony Xperia Pro is finally shipping, at least in the US. The 5G smartphone is aimed primarily at professional users, as the price underlines of over $2,000.

The Sony Xperia Pro was presented in February 2020 together with the Xperia 1 II ( $1,198 on Amazon), a launch date has not yet been mentioned. But now the device is finally available to purchase on Amazon.com and Bhphotovideo.com online stores, where Sony estimates the somewhat aged flagship to be $2,498.

The hardware is practically identical to that of the Sony Xperia 1 II, right up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, so that the performance cannot quite keep up with current flagships such as the Xiaomi Mi 11 or the Samsung Galaxy S21. There is also a 6.5-inch OLED display with an impressive resolution of 3,840 x 1,644 pixels, a 12 megapixel ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle, and telephoto camera, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

The price has more than doubled compared to the Xperia 1 II, the only obvious hardware difference is an HDMI input. However, Sony states that this port is extremely useful for the target group because it can be used to transfer 4K HDR videos at up to 60 fps from any camera with an HDMI output to the smartphone.

In practice, this means, for example, that the Xperia Pro can be used as an external display – a useful feature, as the high-resolution OLED screen of the smartphone is far superior to the tiniest LCDs of most cameras. This functionality becomes particularly exciting in connection with the 5G modem because videos recorded with a professional camera can be transmitted live.

Last year, Sony has introduced the Xperia 5 II smartphone which is a little brother of the Xperia 1 II and comes with numerous functions of the Sony flagship. Among other things, the Xperia 5II offers a 120 Hz display and eye autofocus for humans and animals, priced at $948.