Next Sony Xperia Flagship to Feature a 4K Display?

A rumor that’s been going around is that the next Sony flagship smartphone (which we’ll call the Xperia Z5 for the sake of this article) will feature a 4K display. Already the Sony E68XX (E6833, E6853 E6883) model has shown up on different benchmark tests out there, indicating new devices are on the way, though its unclear if it will be in late 2015 or early 2016.

If true, the Xperia Z5, which is believed to come in multiple sizes, including a 6-inch model if not larger, will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8944) chipset to power its 4K display with a mind bending 2160 x 3840 resolution. Yea, let’s definitely talk after the jump.

This story got its life thanks to user-agent profile (UAProf) of the model numbers that I mentioned above. According to that, those screen resolutions are powered by the Snapdragon 810, the same one that is currently powering the Xperia Z4 which is known to have heat issues. Mind you, this is due to a design flaw from Qualcomm and not Sony.

If true, that means that Sony will use the same chipset which currently runs a FHD (1080p) resolution display to power a 2160 x 3840 resolution display that would offer a 801 PPI pixel density. It’s not so much that the Snapdragon 810 can’t handle such resolution but rather does it make sense to push a plagued chipset that much. Unless Qualcomm has made some progress on handling power usage and heat, it seems odd that Sony wouldn’t wait for the Snapdragon 820. Then again, that chipset isn’t destined to arrive till 2016 and some believe the Xperia Z5 will launch this year.

Heat and power issue aside which are no minor things, even with a 6-inch display or 6.5-inch phablet-like display, I’m not sure there is reason to cram a 4K display into such small screen sizes. As we’ve seen time and time again, larger numbers tend not to translate to better results. Look at all the Android smartphones running around with 20+ megapixel cameras with horrid photo quality.

That’s not to say a 4K display from Sony wouldn’t look beautiful, but that what it can do over a 1080p display which by definition will provide less heat and better battery life might not be enough to justify the higher pixel count. If anything, I see 4K displays on small devices as a gimmick at worst and for marketing at best. Till I see more evidence from Sony, I’ll chalk this one up to a pure fantasy rumor.

Please note that the above image is a fan-based concept photo and not an indication of what the Xperia Z5 will look like.