Sony might just have jumped on the mini-flagship device bandwagon, according to an apparent leak from Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo. But if the information is accurate, Sony might just have overtaken the wagon train at the same time.
A smaller version of Sony’s Xperia Z1 seems to be on the cards, though the information – which comes from a purported brochure from NTT DoCoMo – could have been very cleverly faked. It doesn’t seem to be an obvious fraud, however, and points to the existence of a handset called the Xperia Z1 f.
Unlike other ‘mini’ handsets, it looks like Sony is planning on retaining the best bits of the Z1 for its smaller brother. The brochure shows that the Z1 f will feature the Snapdragon 800 processor, at the same clockspeed, and 20.7 megapixel camera found in the full sized Z1. The display seems to be dropping from 5-inches to 4.3, dropping the resolution to 720p in the process. RAM appears to remain constant, while internal storage will also halve.
There seems to be too much goodness in these specs for the Sony device to be real. Sony has yet to comment and there is no other corroborating evidence of a Z1 f coming any time soon. Stuff is cautiously optimistic about the leak at the moment – we’d like it to be real but have to be prepared for the possibility that it’s not.