Sony’s creative Xperia Pro arrives in the US for $ 2,499

The Xperia Pro, Sony’s first 5G smartphone in the US, launches today for $ 2,499.99. Sony is targeting the device to professional users, who hope to use the HDMI input to turn the phone into an external camera monitor and its 5G connection to quickly upload or stream footage. Sony says it currently has no plans to release the Xperia Pro in Europe.

Aside from the HDMI input and US 5G support, the Xperia Pro’s hardware is very similar to last year’s Xperia 1 II (shipped with 5G support in Europe but limited to 4G LTE in the US) . This means that it is powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor with a 4000 mAh battery, and at the back there are the same 12-megapixel wide, tele- and ultra-wide cameras. The Xperia Pro also features a long 6.5-inch 21: 9 aspect ratio OLED screen, which Sony once again describes as 4K, but actually has a sub-4K resolution of 3840 x 1644.

At $ 1,200, the Xperia 1 II was already an expensive smartphone, and the Xperia Pro is more than double its price. But Sony argues that its 5G support and HDMI input can be incredibly useful for professional users.

Let’s start with the HDMI input, which is located on the bottom of the phone, where the Xperia 1 II’s USB-C port is. (The Xperia Pro’s USB-C port is still on the bottom of the device, but it’s been moved to the left.) Sony says it can take up to a 4K 60fps HDR video stream and should work with any cameras that ‘ has an HDMI output. .

In practice, this means you can connect the Xperia Pro to the HDMI output of a camera, for example, and use the larger screen to get a clearer picture of everything being filmed or photographed. You can pinch to zoom in on the image displayed on the screen, or cover grid lines to help with the frame.

Where these features get particularly interesting is the 5G connectivity of the Xperia Pro, which enables it to serve as a live streaming link for your camera as an external monitor. The Xperia Pro can stream footage from its HDMI input directly to YouTube, and it supports StreamLabs and StreamYard for streaming to other platforms such as Twitch and Facebook Live.

The phone supports both Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G, and Sony claims that it has a unique four-way mmWave antenna array to maximize reception. There is also a built-in network visualizer app that can be assigned to the keyboard shortcut to help you find the best position to get a signal. Hopefully Sony’s software and hardware are enough to alleviate the issues of mmWave with limited coverage.

Since the Xperia Pro started teasing early last year, Sony has emphasized that it is a device for professional users, and the price of $ 2,499.99 makes it clearer than ever before. When I asked Sony why he did not release a 5G device aimed at consumers in the US, he told me that he was waiting for the technology to be implemented more widely by carriers. Until then, Sony says it is focusing on professional users who, according to it, can get more use out of it.