A resurgent Sony gets ready to unveil its entry in the camera-phone market. We take a look at the likely specs.


September will be a very interesting month for gadget enthusiasts. The Berlin IFA event will open its doors on the 6th of the month, and that’s when we’ll get the chance to find out more about some of this year’s upcoming releases. More so, a handful of smartphone manufacturers are planning on unveiling their latest creations two days ahead of IFA, on September 4. Samsung has already started sending out press invites for its “Unpacked” event, where the Galaxy Note 3 is expected to make an appearance.

More recently, Sony has also announced that it will hold an interesting show on that very same day, just a few hours before Samsung’s Unpacked conference. Although Sony hasn’t revealed what exactly it will announce during the event, leaks, rumors and common sense suggest that the fabled Sony i1 Honami will be the highlight of the show.

Assuming that you are not familiar with the Honami, this particular gadget is supposed to be Sony’s upcoming camera-phone, aimed at competing in this emerging market of camera-centric handsets. Information about the Honami has been leaked on numerous occasions and today we’ll review some of the more noteworthy.

Sony Honami – The Camera

Since this particular handset is going to allegedly revolve around its camera capabilities, it’s only natural that people are digging deep into this subject.

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Several leaked photos supposedly depicting the Honami’s back panel have surfaced in the past. However, one of the most interesting aspects that have been revealed in these images is the branding situated near the camera itself. Therefore, we know now that the device will indeed take advantage of G lenses and that the 20.7 MP camera will feature a 1/2.3″ sensor.

Interestingly enough, what appears to be the first sample picture from the Honami has recently surfaced on the web, via Google+. The image has been accompanied by additional (EXIF) data, including the fact that it’s been captured with a 20.65 MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.

As far as the handset’s recording capabilities go, rumor has it that the Honami will deliver 4k video recording support. This bit of information has been leaked via a spy photo of a slideshow presentation .


Sony Honami – Hardware and Performance

If you consider the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom to be the benchmark of cameraphones, then you may be thinking that the Honami could end up being powered by mid-range internal components. However, that is not the case. Judging by the information that has been revealed during these past several weeks (and even earlier), the Honami will run on a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM and will feature a 5 inch full HD (1080 x 1920) display.

This brings us to a pretty interesting finding that will definitely catch the attention of benchmark enthusiasts. Specifically, what appears to be the Chinese version of the Honami has been spotted in AnTuTu , powered by a 2.15 GHz processor and running on Android 4.2.2. The device yielded 30,625 points.

Although we’ve seen higher scores than that, this particular device is sure high up the food chain. More so, we need to keep in mind that the Honami is not out yet, so chances are that the unit that has been tested was not fully optimized.

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Information Leaked From a Honami Tester

Just a few days ago, information coming from someone who claims to be a Sony Z1 Honami tester has leaked on the internet. During his time with the device, this particular individual has noticed a few key differences between the Honami and the current Sony smartphones, such as the Xperia Z.

According to his report, the screen of the Honami is not as rich in colors and contrast as the display of the Xperia Z Ultra. It is also brighter and whiter than the displays of the other Sony flagship handsets.

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The source also mentioned that the camera is OK, but does not deliver the “Wow” factor. (Remember, the number of megapixels isn’t always everything.)

Lastly, he pointed out that the Honami appeared to be much heavier than the Xperia Z, weighing almost as much as the gargantuan Xperia Z Ultra. The source suspects that this may have something to do with the battery.

Nevertheless, our readers should keep in mind that, once again, most of these details are subject to change, especially on the software side where certain tweaks could still be made. The source claims that the tested unit may have ran on old firmware. This means that with software improvements, both the camera and the display could be able to offer a richer experience.


Sony Honami – Software / UI

Speaking of software, the last thing that we’ll cover in this article has to do with the Honami user interface. Long story short, some time ago a system dump of the Honami’s software surfaced, giving the developer community an opportunity to piece together a ROM. This custom ROM—which is compatible with the Xperia Z—contains most (if not all) of the UI elements that will be available on the Honami. A Sony Xperia Z owner has already ported the ROM on his device and posted a pretty lengthy YouTube video .

With the handset’s official unveiling getting closer, more information regarding the device is bound to surface sooner rather than later. Until then, don’t hesitate to share your feelings about the Honami in the comments section.

Vlad Andrici is editor for gforgames.com and writes about technology issues. Follow Vlad on Google Plus.