It’s been a busy week for Sony, with the launch of their new device, the Xperia Z Ultra, a new Smartwatch and now rounding out the week are more leaked shots of what could be an upcoming smartphone from the Japanese company. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen or heard about the Xperia i1 or the “Honami” as it’s known. Now, thanks to the guys over the Xperia Blog, some more shots of the device have leaked out and it’s beginning to look like the Xperia i1 is taking after the Xperia Z, just like a lot of other Xperia devices from this year.
That same sort of “slab” like look is here and unless you had seen the Xperia Z more than a few times, you’d mistake these for the same phone. One thing seems to set the devices apart however, is that this doesn’t have the glossy back and front glass that the Z debuted with. We’re sure that that’s just due to some sort of coating on the device, as you’ll note from the obvious screen protector used here:
In the shot above, you can see that the device has a metal bezel – or at least one that looks like metal – and there’s word that this could well be built in the same manner as the Xperia Z Ultra. That same banding from the Z and the Ultra is still present but here it seems to stand out, instead of blending in:
There appears to be a dock connector on the side of the device, which could work with the same dock that they announced with the Xperia Z Ultra and we’d imagine, this being Sony, that they’d be some kind of TV connection involved. Accessories are key to any device taking off and we’re glad to see that Sony are finally wising up to this.
Overall, these leaked images might or might not be the Xperia i1 “Honami” but, they sure like something new from Sony. The device doesn’t look anywhere near as large as the Xperia Z Ultra and the interesting thing here is that dedicated camera button which the Z didn’t have. With a rumored spec of carrying a Snapdragon 800 and a 20MP sensor, carrying a camera button would be a good idea.