Sony may not have the same level of glory it did in times of old, but the company still makes mighty fine smartphones (especially if you're looking for something that stands out from the crowd) and continues to hold a certain degree of popularity in Europe and its home market of Japan. Sony phones have definitely settled into their own design language over the years, especially with its latest entries — refusing to adopt notches, keeping thin bezels, and incorporating features like 21:9 displays. Today we're checking out the first renders of the Xperia 1 IV, and from the look of this upcoming 2022 flagship, Sony sure plans to continue that trend.

These unofficial CAD renders, published on Giznext, come from OnLeaks, and they show what might be Sony's next big thing from multiple angles. Just like last year's Xperia 1 III, this one is supposed to keep top and bottom bezels. For some that might look straight out of 2017, but other shoppers might prefer this design over the bezel-less look many smartphones go with today. The phone also looks to be getting flatter edges than its predecessor and a 21:9 6.5-inch display — basically, if you've come to love what Sony has been doing with its phones for the last few years, you're going to love this one.

Going over to the back, the renders show a camera bump that looks very, very similar to last year's Sony Xperia 1 III. Unless you put both of these phones side by side (the Xperia 1 IV should have slightly smaller physical dimensions at 164.7 x 70.8 x 8.3mm), you'd have a hard time telling the difference at first glance. The CAD renders also show at least two different colors — matte green and black.

The right side has volume keys, a power button (fingerprint scanner embedded), and even a shutter button. On the bottom there's a SIM card tray and a USB-C charging port, while at the top, a 3.5mm headphone jack can be seen — they're a rarer sight every day as even mid-range phones seem to be removing them lately.

We haven't seen a full list of specs just yet, but if this model is anything like last year's, we're expecting to see the latest Qualcomm flagship SoC (in this case, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) and large amounts of RAM and storage. As always, take these images with a grain of salt — they're CAD renders, and while Sony could very well go with this design, things can change without notice.