An unannounced Sony Xperia phone has passed through FCC certification which bears all the hallmarks of a Compact series device.

Xperia phones are long overdue a makeover, and it looks like 2018 will finally be the year where Sony delivers a full-screen phone without the chunky bezels we’ve seen from its recent flagships.

Editor's Pick Sony in 2018: time for a change Sony treated us to a range of smartphones in 2017, led by its flagships, the Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZ1. The company's familiar biannual release cycle caused division amongst those looking for a definitive Sony …

Judging by recent rumors, the Japanese OEM will introduce the redesign with a new flagship phone, allegedly called the Xperia XZ Pro. It seems that Sony’s (near) bezel-less redesign won’t be a one-time affair though.

The newly-discovered and certified Xperia phone, spotted by GizChina, appears to sport an 18:9 aspect ratio display. What separates this new device from the legions of other 18:9 phones, however, is its size.

The FCC document lists the phone’s display at 5-inches, while the device itself is reportedly only 5.31-inches tall and 2.53-inches wide. By comparison, Sony’s most recent miniaturized flagship, the Xperia XZ1 Compact (pictured above), has a 4.6-inch display, but carries dimensions of 5.1-inches by 2.6-inches.

As for the identity of the mystery device, it seems likely that we’re looking at a successor to the XZ1 Compact”.

That’s a significant reduction in terms of screen-to-body ratio, and you can bet that the change is all thanks to smaller top and bottom bezels.

As for the identity of the mystery device, it seems likely that we’re looking at a successor to the aforementioned XZ1 Compact, although it’s unclear whether it’ll be called the XZ2 Compact or something entirely different.

There’s little else to glean from the FCC listing, but possibly related benchmark tests have suggested the phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset backed by 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery. A 8 MP and 19 MP dual-camera has also been rumored.

If all of the above is correct, we’re almost certainly looking at a top-tier device with a smaller form-factor. With MWC 2018 fast approaching, it may not be long until we get to see the phone for real.

Are you excited by the prospect of a new Xperia Compact device with a full-screen design? Let us know in the comments.