Sony may be working on a 5-inch smartphone with 20MP camera, Walkman audio chip

Although Sony is said to be working on many devices—the Xperia ZR among them—it seems the company is also exploring phablets as a possible option. Rumours of two possible Xperia phablets are doing the rounds: the first one, codenamed Togari, has been said to be in the works for a while now, but this is the first time we are hearing of Honami, another smartphone set to join the full HD display league.

A Baidu forum member, claiming to be a tester for Sony Xperia devices, has revealed some of the specs of the two smartphones. The Togari reportedly has a 6.44-inch 1080p display and sports a design similar to the Xperia Z. It will also have a glass back, just like the current Xperia flagship. Togari is expected to be launched as early as July in Japan, followed by a global announcement.

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More phones headed for the Xperia branding

Honami is definitely the more interesting of the two based on the specs alone. Honami is said to be part of the company’s ‘One Sony’ project, which aims to showcase all of Sony’s homegrown technology in one smartphone. In keeping with this project, the Honami will get a dedicated Walkman audio chip and a 20-megapixel Cybershot CMOS camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Sony is going for a more conventional 5-inch 1080p display. Honami could also see a July release, in Asia at least. Both Honami and Togari are said to be water and dust-resistant.

Chinese site ePrice has added weight to the rumours by stating that Honami will début in China in July and then see an international launch in August or September. This would most likely be at IFA, which is a traditional launch event for Sony Xperia handsets.

ePrice also says Honami will be powered by a Snapdragon 800 chipset with a 2.3GHz quad-core processor and an Adreno 330 GPU. It will have 2GB of RAM and a non-removable battery that’s between 2700 and 3000mAh in capacity. Interestingly, ePrice adds that Honami will come with Xenon flash, just like the old Sony Ericsson K-series phones.

While these specs sure do sound fantastic, it must be noted that these are firmly in the rumours corner. We’ll keep you posted if and when the Honami and Togari break cover.