What you need to know
- Images of a smartphone claimed to be the Sony Xperia Play 2 have surfaced online.
- The smartphone was cancelled before launch a couple of years ago, likely during the twilight days of the Sony Ericsson brand.
- The Xperia Play pictured in the images is reportedly a prototype and is up for sale on Idle Fish, the Chinese eBay counterpart.
Before gaming phones had the fastest refresh rates, all of the RAM, and the largest storage spaces, there were older gaming phones that contented themselves with replicating some of the elements of a traditional console. One such one was the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, a 2011 era phone that wanted to leverage the popularity of the PlayStation line to sell hardware. It launched to mixed reviews and failed commercially. Naturally, a sequel was never made — but one may have been planned.
New images from Chinese eBay counterpart Idle Fish (via XDA Developers), show off what purports to be the cancelled sequel of the gaming phone. Like the Xperia Play before it, it boasts a hidden slider featuring the gamepad controls. If you've played on the PlayStation, you'll find them familiar — something Sony was aiming for. There's also a new 3D button, but it's unclear what that would have been.
Sony (or more likely, Sony Ericsson at the time) probably didn't find much success with the OG Xperia Play, but with gaming phones surging globally and the rise of game streaming services like Stadia and XCloud — the time may be right for a modern sequel.
Sony Xperia I II
If you're really set on Xperia smartphones, the Xperia 1 II is a modern Sony phone with all the bells and whistles you'd expect. You'll end up paying a hefty price, though.
