Sony’s creator-focused Xperia Pro arrives in the US for $ 2,499

The Xperia Pro, Sony’s first smartphone with 5G in the US, launched today for $ 2,499.99. Sony is targeting the device at business users, who it hopes will use its HDMI input to turn the phone into an external camera monitor and its 5G connectivity to quickly download or live stream footage. Sony says it currently has no plans to launch the Xperia Pro in Europe.

Other than its HDMI input and 5G support in the US, the Xperia Pro’s hardware is very similar to last year’s Xperia 1 II (which shipped with 5G support in Europe but was limited to 4G LTE in the United States). That means it’s powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor with a 4000mAh battery and on the back there are the same 12-megapixel wide, telephoto, and ultra-wide cameras. The Xperia Pro also includes a large 6.5-inch 21: 9 aspect ratio OLED display, which Sony once again describes as 4K but actually has a lower than 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 could be incredibly useful for business users.

Let’s start with the HDMI input, which is located under the phone where the USB-C port of the Xperia 1 II is located. (The Xperia Pro’s USB-C port is still at the bottom of the device, but it’s shifted to the left.) Sony says it’s capable of taking up to 4K 60fps HDR video stream and should work with all cameras with an HDMI output.

In practice, this means that you can connect the Xperia Pro to the HDMI output of a camera, for example, and use its larger screen to get a clearer view of whatever is being filmed or photographed. You can pinch to zoom in on the image displayed on the screen or overlay gridlines for easier framing.

Where this feature becomes particularly interesting is with the 5G connectivity of the Xperia Pro, which allows it to act as a live streaming link for your camera in addition to being an external monitor. The Xperia Pro can stream footage from its HDMI input to YouTube directly, and it supports StreamLabs and StreamYard for streaming to other platforms like Twitch and Facebook Live.

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

Ever since it started teasing the Xperia Pro at the start of last year, Sony has pointed out that it is a device aimed at business users, and its price of $ 2,499.99 makes it more obvious than never. When I asked Sony why it hasn’t launched a 5G device for consumers in the US, it told me it was waiting for the technology to be implemented more widely by carriers. Until then, Sony says it is focusing on business users who it believes can get more out of it.