The Sony Xperia Z2 has only just gone out the door but in typical Sony fashion it looks like the Xperia Z3 might already be on the horizon.

Chinese site IT168 has got hold of some images that supposedly show the Sony Xperia Z3's metal frame. There's not much to take away from them, other than that it looks pretty slim and that it could very easily be fake.

However alongside those images it's reporting that the phone will have a PVD coating, which should give it a mirrored stainless steel look, similar to the Nokia 8800.

A PVD coating would also make it more environmentally friendly, more corrosion resistant, more resilient to scratches and give it higher impact resistance.

More power, same screen

Supposedly it will have a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 graphics chip running at 500MHz.

However the same sources claim that it will only have a 1080p display, which is a little surprising given that the LG G3 will have a QHD one and there's a high chance that other upcoming top tier phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime, will go QHD too.

Still, it sounds like a solid upgrade to the Sony Xperia Z2, particularly given that these reports suggest it could be announced as soon as August.

Sony isn't the only company making a Z3 smartphone

Via GforGames