Now that we're heading into fall, the second half of the year for the mobile industry is officially ramping up with anticipation of new devices, accessories, and of course rumors of said gadgets as we twiddle our thumbs and dream up all of the things we would like to see in our fall line-up. It's not even September yet and we're already getting jazzed up for events from Apple, Samsung, and of course IFA 2013 in Berlin, which is only a few weeks away. Yesterday, my fellow editor Evan Selleck discussed Samsung's rumored Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which is rumored to appear during IFA. But it's another device that's also rumored to appear during IFA that interests me, and that's Sony's rumored Honami device.
Honami isn't exactly a well-kept secret. Although still not officially announced by Sony, the device has been in rumors for months now as it features not only next gen specs that are expected to become "the norm" this quarter, but also because it features a pretty fantastic camera on the back that gives us the best of both worlds - lots of megapixels and big sensors.
When it comes to smartphones and cameras mixing, it's really been a choice of either/or thus far: you either get a phone with really nice specs and a mediocre camera, or a really nice camera with mediocre specs. But Sony's Honami is supposedly different. This phone's rumored specs is pretty beastly all around: A quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset that's clocked at 2.2GHz, 5” 1080p Full HD Triluminos display with X-Reality (which is supposed to be even better than the HTC One's Super LCD 3 display), a 20-megapixel camera with ExmorRS sensor, 2GB of RAM and a 3,000mAh battery.
So is this the phone that we've been waiting for all year? Is this our real Moto X?
It almost seems silly to get hyped up about another device after being let down so heavily by the Moto X's release. Moto X is a nice upper mid-range device that offers plenty of customization (for AT&T customers), but that's not what we were expecting it to be for the 3/4 of a year or so that rumors had been circulating around the device. Then again, Motorola and Google were so secretive about it that in retrospect, we really may have been getting carried away with ourselves. As for Honami, if you believe the leaks and specs, it seems that Sony isn't being secretive at all. But then again, without any official word I suppose it can still be considered getting ahead of ourselves.
I can't help but root for Honami to be real and follow up on the rumors, though. Although Sony certainly isn't as popular as other manufacturers in the U.S. when it comes to phones, Honami could be the one thing that makes Sony stand out. The Xperia Z is still one of my favorite flagship devices out currently, but there are a few things that still set it back from really taking the cake. The 13-megapixel camera is nice, but it's nothing unique as the Samsung Galaxy S4 also has a 13-megapixel camera. Samsung's Galaxy S4 Active is also a competitor to the Xperia's water and dust-resistant body. The plus side is that the Xperia Z features both the camera and the resistance in one device. Sony has still limited itself by only featuring the Xperia Z on T-Mobile's network in the U.S., which is another important point in order for Honami to gain any traction here.
Don't do carrier exclusives!
If this device has the rumored specifications, it could be big. Really big. And the one thing that can kill any really big device is by not giving it enough room to flourish. T-Mobile is doing exceptionally well given its new UnCarrier policies and all, but it's still the carrier with the smallest amount of subscribers in the U.S. at this point. And there's still that issue where T-Mobile just doesn't get a whole lot of coverage yet. If Sony releases Honami in the U.S., they need to make it so that it's available on more than just one carrier.
This device really seems to have it all in terms of not having to pick and choose between what's important in a phone: it looks to have a great processor, camera, battery life and design. However, this is all the more reason for me to feel more skeptical about it because it almost seems too good to be true. Regardless, this is the device that I will be keeping my eye out for when it comes to IFA.
Readers, if Honami turns out to follow the rumors of its specs, would you be interested in purchasing this phone? Do you think the rumors are too good to be true? Let me know your thoughts on the device in the comments below!
Images via Highlight Press, Android Central
