A 16MP selfie camera with OIS? Sony reveals Xperia XA Ultra (update)

Sony Mobile has been rather quiet lately, aside from its Xperia X “super mid-range” phones. So we’re happy to see the company announcing a rather unique handset in the form of the Xperia XA Ultra.

The phone’s biggest selling point is easily the 16-megapixel front-facing camera, complete with optical image stabilisation (OIS) for judder-free video and blur-free shots. The selfie shooter also packs a flash for those late-night shots around the braai or at (heaven forbid) Tiger Tiger.

Related: Sony Xperia X series sports flagship-killing specs, ‘that’ 23MP camera

Otherwise, look at the back and you’ve got a 21.5MP main camera, being similar to the Xperia M5‘s rear shooter. But there doesn’t appear to be any OIS on the main shooter – at least if you’re going by Sony’s spec sheet. If confirmed, this might be the first smartphone with OIS on the front but not on the back. Bizarre.

The XA Ultra also packs a rather big 6.0-inch full HD display as well, featuring a curved design of sorts. So if you’ve got gigantic mitts, you’ll want to give this a go.

In terms of other specs, the phone is firmly in mid-range territory, packing a MediaTek Helio P10 processor with eight A53 cores, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

Speaking of storage, the company has clarified that 11GB will be available to users, with 5GB being devoted to firmware. At least this is better than the 8GB M4 Aqua (review), which initially shipped with 1.3GB of available storage.

Sony is also promising a two-day battery life out of a 2700mAh battery. It’s a rather small battery for a 6-inch smartphone, but the A53 cores are very power-efficient and the screen is only full HD, so there’s hope yet.

We’ve contacted Sony Mobile’s SA representatives and will update the article when we receive information regarding the XA Ultra’s local release.

Update: Sony Mobile SA said there was no confirmation of local availability at this stage.