Sony’s been on a roll lately with new device releases. They release the Xperia Z1 internationally not too long ago, as well as the Xperia Z Ultra. Both phones highly specced devices, both running the latest in mobile processing, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800. Both devices are also sized very differently, with the Xperia Z1 being a fairly regular sized phone at this point with a 5-inch 1080p display, whereas the Xperia Z Ultra lives up to its name by packing in a massive 6.4-inch 1080p display. Sony is taking this one step further though, and looks to be providing a 3rd size phone with the same specs as the Xperia Z1, camera included. If you’ve been following Sony’s latest models, you’ll know that the Xperia Z1 packs an incredible 20.7 megapixel camera with a special “Sony G Lens” to let more light in. This very same camera will be on the Xperia Z1s, which given the namesake simply means a smaller Xperia Z1 without all the spec gimping that’s been going on lately with smaller phones. GSMArena found some new photos of the Xperia Z1s via a few Russian contacts, and while the device still hasn’t been officially announced, you can bet these shots are as good as gold.
You can see from the shots that the phone looks identical to the Xperia Z1 in every way but the size. It’s got the sleek candy bar design of the Z1, as well as the waterproof covers for the ports on the sides. It’s also got Sony’s trademark power button and even a dedicated camera shutter button on the bottom right-hand side of the phone, which is something we don’t get to see too often in phones nowadays. This is a great feature to have, even if other flagship models from other OEMs have options in the camera to use the volume rocker as a shutter button, simply because it provides a dedicated button that will not cause confusion. Here’s the full spec list for your enjoyment:
- 4.3-inch 720p Triluminos screen
- 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 Quad-core processor
- IP58-grade water resistant design
- 2,300 mAh battery
- 20.7 megapixel rear-facing camera with Sony G Lens
- 127 x 64.9mm
Sony is following in the industry’s footsteps and lightening up their UI, getting rid of all the blacks and replacing them with white backgrounds. This is particularly smart on an LCD as blacks are never quite as dark as they would be on an AMOLED display such as the ones found in the Samsung Galaxy series, and LCD screens are generally brighter anyway. Having more white in the UI means that you can likely see more in outdoor and other high-light conditions, and it just looks more sleek with modern OS designs. The Xperia Z1s appears to ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which is interesting as Sony is skipping this particular update in favor of going straight to Android 4.4 KitKat on the Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra in January. Given that this is a leaked unit it’s likely that this is just a test OS and not a final one, however if Sony is releasing this phone in the near future we might just see it ship with Android 4.3 after all. Likely since it’s the same hardware under the hood as the Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra it’ll still receive the Android 4.4 KitKat update at the same time.