You may remember, just before the Xperia Z1 was announced, there were rumors Sony may be producing a smaller version of the phone with a lower spec, labeled at the time as the Xperia Z1 Mini. This was followed by a fairly detailed leak, showing us the spec wouldn’t be quite as good as the Xperia Z1, but it wouldn’t be far off.
Now, we’ve got a second glance at the phone, courtesy of a document which may have originated from the Japanese network NTT DoCoMo. The phone is listed as the Xperia Z1 F, although there’s a chance this may be a Japanese name only, with the model number SO-02F.
The document appears to be a snapshot of an NTT DoCoMo catalog, and in addition to a picture of the phone – in a variety of shades including black, white, red, and what looks like the color of John Milner’s car from American Graffiti – we’ve got further evidence Sony won’t water down the spec of its mini phone in the same way as its competitors.
First up, the mighty 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM may make the journey from the X1 to the X1 F, along with the same 20.7-megapixel camera. Sony pushed the Xperia X1’s photographic abilities hard during the IFA 2013 launch, and if this spec for the X1 F is correct, expect it to be promoted in a similar way.
The screen is expected to shrink down to 4.3-inches and a 720p resolution, matching the HTC One Mini, plus the phone could have 16GB of internal memory, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2300mAh battery. All this in a smaller overall chassis, that’s listed as being a touch thicker than the Xperia Z1 at 9.4mm.
As for the Xperia Z1 F’s release, previous information put it around January 2014 at CES. It’s all rumor for now though, but we can’t help feel a little excited about a powerful phone with a small screen, and hope Sony delivers with the Xperia Z1 F.
