Sony ‘Honami’ to feature impressive Cyber-shot camera, new report reveals

Codenamed “Honami,” the handset has been described in a previous report as a “One Sony” kind of handset, a device that would pack some of the best features Sony has to offer. At the same time, we’ll remind you that the Honami is still in rumor phase, and we can’t confirm these rumors yet.

VR-Zone also reveals that “every department of Sony and not just Sony Mobile” are working on creating the device and  the Honami would offer some very interesting camera features.

According to the publication, the Honami may end up being one of the best camera phones out there, and could surpass in quality even the Samsung Galaxy Camera, which is one of the first Android-based camera-only products released to date.

The Honami would sport a Sony 1/1.6’’ Exmor RS stacked sensor, a Cyber-shot G Lens (“glass lens, premium grade”) and a Xenon or Dual-LED flash that’s reportedly going to be “10 times brighter than ordinary flash on smartphones.”

Apparently the Honami’s camera sensor will be only second to the Nokia Pureview 808 in size (see image below) surpassing competitors including the Galaxy Camera, the HTC One and the Xperia Z and Galaxy S4. The number of megapixels are not mentioned this time around, although that previous rumor said the handset will pack either a 16- or 20-megapixel camera.

Image Credit: VR-Zone

The Honami would also offer new software features to complement the hardware:

• All new image processing algorithm, similar to Sony’s Cyber-shot digital cameras
• Completely revamped camera UI, software goodies from Cyber-shot digital cameras of 2013
• Superior Auto Scene Recognition, an improvement over the Superior Auto mode found in the Xperia Z/ZL

Augmented Reality is also mentioned as a potential software feature for the camera.

The price for such camera features is apparently paid in the design department, as the Honami won’t be as slim as the Xperia Z. The device is said to have a profile of about 10mm, which is thicker than you’d expect from new smartphones. That said, it doesn’t mean Sony will compromise on design. Apparently the handset will be made of glass, metal and carbon fiber, and the Honami is already being described as “Sony Japan’s most beautiful smartphone design ever.

The previous report revealed that the Honami would be a 5-inch Android handset set to arrive at some point in the second half of the year. In addition to camera features, the smartphone would pack a Full HD display, dedicated Walkman audio chip, 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Adreno 330 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 2700-to-3000mAh battery.

For the time being, we’re still going to hold on to our grain of salt when going through these reports, even though they look more and more believable.

Anyone looking forward to a better camera phone?

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