Week 19 in review: Sony Xperia 1 IV, Xperia 10 IV, ZTE Axon 40 series and Pixel 6a go official

Another busy week passed by with notable announcements from Sony, Google and ZTE. It was ZTE that kicked things off with its brand new Axon 40 Pro and Axon 40 Ultra flagships. Axon 40 Ultra gets a 6.8-inch AMOLED with the company’s third-generation UD camera tech which now gets improved sub-pixel arrangement over the 16MP camera which should result in clearer selfies and videos.

The Ultra also gets the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, three 64MP cameras around the back - a wide, ultrawide and a 91mm equivalent periscope. Axon 40 Pro sticks to a 6.67-inch punch-hole AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate and settles for last year’s Snapdragon 870 chipset. There’s no word on pricing or availability for either phone at the moment.

Sony announced its brand new Xperia 1 IV and Xperia 10 IV on Wednesday with nearly identical designs to their predecessors but a lot of noteworthy upgrades. Xperia 1 IV debuted with continuous zoom ranging from 85mm all the way to 125mm for a smooth 3.5x - 5x optical magnification. The device also got the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and a larger 5,000 mAh battery while still carrying a 6.5-inch 4K OLED screen.

Xperia 10 IV gets a Snapdragon 695, a larger 5,000 mAh battery and a brighter 6-inch OLED display. Xperia 1 IV starts at €1,400/£1,300/$1,600 and will be available from June in Europe and September in the US. Xperia 10 IV will retail for €500 and is set to go on open sale from June.

Google’s Pixel 6a is coming to US shelves on July 28. The new midrange Pixel starts at $449 and brings the Tensor chipset from the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro alongside a smaller 6.1-inch 60 Hz OLED screen and dual 12MP cameras (wide and ultrawide). Google also announced its Pixel Buds Pro wireless earbuds for $200 and also teased its Pixel 7 series, Pixel Watch and Pixel tablet.

Sharp announced its 2022 flagship with the Aquos R7 - a Japan elusive Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 device with a massive 1-inch type sensor and a 6.6-inch 240Hz Pro IGZO OLED display. It was joined by the Aquos Wish2 midranger powered by Qualcomm’s SD 695.

Infinx debuted its Note 12i with a 90Hz IPS LCD, 50MP main cam and Helio G85 chipset. The phone was launched in Kenya for KES 20,500 ($175/€170/₹13,500).

Nothing launcher is now widely available on Android 11 and up phones with a focus on minimalism and a signature unique fonts, widgets and app icons. The company is gearing up to release its first smartphone later this summer.

In the world or rumors, Samsung has apparently finished development on a new 200MP camera sensor that may make its way to the Galaxy S23 series. Galaxy Z Fold4 is rumored to bring a squarer 23:9 aspect ratio for its main 7.6-inch display. Apple is once again rumored to bring USB-C to its iPhones as early as next year but there’s serious doubt on our end if that will actually happen.

These were the hot topics of week 19! See you in seven days for a recap of week 20.