Sony might release a smaller flagship smartphone known as the Xperia Z1S in the UK after all, if a new image posted to twitter by notorious rumour-hound @evleaks is any indication.

Introduced earlier this month, the Xperia Z1F is a Japan-only handset, exclusive to the NTT Docomo network. The 4.3in handset is a slightly smaller version of Sony's flagship Xperia Z1, with a 720p display powered by Sony's proprietary Triluminos technology.

In a refreshing change from other "mini" smartphones like the HTC One Mini and Galaxy S4 Mini, the Xperia Z1F reuses many of the same internals as its bigger brother, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and Sony's 20-megapixel G-Lens rear camera.

We were slightly disappointed that the phone wasn't scheduled to come to the UK, but that could be set to change. The latest tweet from @EVleaks shows the handset, with the caption "Sony Xperia Z1S, 2013". With plenty of prior success when it comes to getting early leaks of smartphone release schedules, there's every chance this is accurate.

However, only two months left until the end of the year, Sony doesn't have long to release the Z1s in time for Christmas. The company hasn't made an official confirmation yet, but if that release date is on the money we shouldn't have long to wait to find out.