Leaked Sony Xperia i1 Honami photos show slim design, camera

If rumors are to be believed, Sony’s next flagship Android smartphone, the Xperia i1 Honami, will include a number of hardware features to help differentiate it from the competition. Reportedly, one feature is a 20.7-megapixel rear-facing camera with better-than-average low-light performance. The other, as can be seen by leaked images of the device, is a slim, monochromatic profile that places display first and foremost. Compared to the Xperia Z (left), the Honami is, in my opinion, an aesthetic improvement in a subtle but welcome way.

Pictures of the Honami’s camera app interface also leaked, and it isn’t difficult to tell that, like Samsung, Sony intends to pack as many functions as possible into its shooter software. Though we’ll probably hear the company tout the benefits of toggles like “Superior auto” and “AR effect,” you can be sure that some features will prove wildly less practical than others. I mean, taking pictures with virtual scenes and characters sounds neat, but could you see yourself doing it regularly?

Of course, questionable software choices don’t take away from excellent hardware. At last check, the Honami’s reported internals were quite impressive: a 2.2 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB of RAM, the standard wireless accutrements (WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth), and a particularly impressive 3,000mAh battery. Even if the Honami fails to deliver on the UI overlay front, the phone’s raw performance shouldn’t disappoint.

We don’t know when or on what carriers Sony plans to launch the Xperia i1 Honami, but you can be sure it’ll see some kind of stateside release in the near future. Until then, stay tuned.