Even before the Xperia Z1 was an official product of Sony’s, we were hearing whispers of a possible “mini” version of the device, that was mini only in name. As in, Sony’s take on this new “mini” craze would definitely be smaller, but no less capable. In fact, a miniature version of the Xperia Z1 did surface, in Japan as the Xperia Z1 f, complete with Snapdragon 800 CPU, 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 display, 2GB of RAM and even the same 20.1-megapixel camera as the Xperia Z1. So, clearly this is another respectable device from Sony but, how can we get our hands on it?
Well, the Xperia Z1 S as it’s become known is currently only available in Japan on NTT DoCoMo, with an international release dangling in the wind. However, there’s some more hope that the mini powerhouse is coming soon as a device with codename of “Anami” has just sailed through the FCC, as Android Central has reported. While the FCC isn’t the crystal ball that many think it is, it does at least tell us what this “Anami” will be capable of when it hits the US (if it ever does). With pentaband HSPA support as well as LTE supports for bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 20 this looks very much like an international version of the device. Certainly not one that’s tailored to a specific carrier.
It’s a shame that Sony continually seems to have trouble getting their devices into the US market but, we can understand why it’s not a priority for them right now after all, the US is pretty much Samsung’s turf when it comes to Android these days. If this is the international version of the Xperia Z1 S then we imagine it’ll be launching in the official Sony store sometime soon. That’s not great but, it’s perhaps enough for Sony right now and selling their devices at all is better than nothing. Hopefully though, a carrier has the sense to see what good a device the Xperia Z1 S is and builds a bridge with Sony.