Sony's Xperia Pro is a smartphone with features aimed specifically at videographers, but its $2,500 price tag makes it nearly useless.
The best camera in any phone… with a catch!
It’s a phone, but it’s not a phone. The Xperia Pro has a 4K display, 5G connectivity and – here’s the interesting bit – an HDMI port. This connects it directly to video cameras, allowing it to be used as an external monitor, and also to stream live video over 5G. The problem is, it’s not good enough, cheap enough or focused enough.
"The concept is certainly interesting and there will always be early adopters," Ryan Hill, video marketing strategist at Lensrentals, told Lifewire via email. "I just don't think there's a lot of demand from videographers who want a combination of a mobile phone and video monitor, especially at this relatively high price point."
The problem, says Hill, is that the Xperia Pro doesn’t stand out from dumb monitors. Or rather, it does, but not in a useful way.
