It sounds like the folks from Sony are finally ready to truly offer a compelling camera solution for Android users. We know Nokia is betting big with their PureView technology, and recently we’ve been hearing quite a bit regarding cameras on Android smartphones. From HTC’s Ultrapixel, Google claiming superior cameras on Nexus phones, and even Samsung could have a 16 megapixel GALAXY S 4 in the works. Well, Sony might beat them all with the Xperia i1 smartphone.
The latest leak back on May 1st revealed the codename Honami, and that went on to detail an upcoming smartphone from Sony that will truly be a flagship smartphone with a top-tier camera unlike any other. Talks of a Sony Exmore RS sensor better than anything from HTC, Samsung, or even Apple, and a Cybershot lens from their popular camera line.
The phone will have premium grade glass over the lens for clearer and crisp images in an area where most smartphones don’t pay much attention. Not to mention many smartphone lenses don’t have covers, or get scratched easy. Then we’re also hearing Sony will top the rest with an impressive Xenon dual-LED flash offering 10x the brightness of any other smartphone for stunning low-light photography. Sounds nice right. Well today we’re getting specs of the top-tier handset this will all be bundled inside.
Sony Xperia i1 (Honami) specs:
• 5″ 1080p Full-HD display with Bravia technology
• 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU
• 2 GB of RAM
• 16-20 megapixel camera with 1/1.6” sensor, Xenon flash
• 2700-3000 mAh battery
• water and dust resistance IP57 certified
• 10 mm thick
Essentially this is just a Sony Xperia Z, which is a stunning smartphone, completely on steroids in all aspects. Then Sony has taken every single approach possible to truly enhance the camera on board too. The reports go on to mention that Sony is putting more effort behind this smartphone than anything they’ve done in the past, and looks to truly make this their flagship smartphone.
Sony has some great devices, some overpriced, but overall quality handsets. We’d love to see more be available in the US, especially if this rumored device ends up being a reality. If they can deliver this for $249 on contract, I’m sold. What do you guys think?
[via UnwiredView]
a lot will be moaning about battery life, me, I don’t give a toss. A descent camera is the last thing on the list for me. I’ve been waiting a long time for a company to bring the camera up to the same standard as the rest of the phone. This could be it, thought I might have to wait for the Nexus 5
Why would they choose 16-20 megapixels? That’s completely useless. Why won’t the go the HTC way? Take a huge chip and place there at most 8 megapixels. That’s more than enough. Bigger pixels would improve noise reduction, low light performance, higher speed and the output photos won’t be 10 MB big. I wish they would make CyberShot like K800i, which was the best phone camera I have ever had – SE Satio and Xperia X10 and P are no match for the phone…
@rasto you dont understand that sony use 1/1.6″ sensor and i’ts HUGE for smartphone, i wont sacrifice image’s detail for 4MP, and btw lumia 920 can capture much more light without ultrapixel, so yeah sony is come back
I’m a Sony fan from way back and would like nothing other than to see Sony succeed, but:
– No Micro-SDXC slot;
– No WiFi-AC;
– No Dual-SIM; and
– Max internal capacity only 32GB
= another failure.
One feature doesn’t do it these days. People are buying a package.
A flagship class phone has to be ahead of the pack in at least 3 areas that are
important to the individual customer in order for them to say “I’ve got
to have THAT phone.”
–
did own a Lumia 820 but the camera cannot compete with the Xperia Z.
If Sony continues this way, I bet they will dominate the (high-end) smartphone segment soon. Neither Apple, nor Nokia, nor HTC can cope with their feature-design-quality mix. Not to mention Samsung devices that are not even close.
For those complaining bout 20mp, you can just set it on a lower resolution, problem solved. My current xperia Acro s has the option to take photos as 3MP, 5MP. 8MP, 10MP or 12MP,
it’s not as if anyone is forced to use the full quality of the camera, but in my case I am very satisfied with the 12 mp images and they are visually stunning. I wish I could say the same thing for the xperia Z.
Sony decided to cut the lens size by half and reduced it significantly from the xperia Acro S that I have and because of their poor choice the xperia z appears to take shockingly horrible images in comparison to it previous model. I sold my xperia Acro s just so I could but the xperia Z but after seeng the terrible pictures online I will wait for the ‘Honami” instead.
Reducing the lens size obviously wasn’t very smart Sony! Less light results in poorer images, you should have just put the same lens from the xperia acro S otno the xperia Z. Obviously there is a reason why Nokia pureview has such a massive lens on their phone, it makes all the diference
I’d love this phone, but it definately needs to be on contract with a U.S. carrier. I’ve heard a lot aof speculation about it only being unlocked and I think that would be a deal breaker for a lot of people not willing to shell out $600^ all the Specs seem quite amazing though, looking forward to seeing confirmation on this!