Sony’s big secret for MWC 2013 may have been let out of the bag early, with a previously unseen smartphone appearing in candid snaps online. The Xperia SL is expected to be revealed officially by Sony next week at the event over in Barcelona.
Featuring a generously sized 4.6-inch touchscreen sporting a crisp 720p HD resolution, the phone looks set to pack a punch, yet it will be billed as a mid-range phone in Sony’s range for 2013. This is due to its flagship phones, the Xperia Z and ZL, having Full HD displays.
The phone, which also goes by the model number C530x or the codename ‘HuaShan’, also features a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, coupled with Adreno 320 graphics and 8GB of internal storage. As with the Xperia Z, a micro SD card slot is present, allowing the user to boost storage by a further 64GB.
On the back of the phone will be an 8 megapixel Exmor sensor, so not quite the megapixel count found in the Xperia Z (13MP) but still likely a very capable camera with great results.
Not much can be learned about the design from the leaked image, although it seems that the transparent notification bar found on the Xperia S and other older models will make an appearance again, this time right at the bottom of the phone. We’re told that the user will be able to customise this, making it illuminate in various colours to suit different notifications, e.g. email, texts and Facebook messages.
Unfortunately it looks as though the Xperia SL won’t be all that slim and sleek, with a thickness of 9.98mm and a hefty weight of 155g, which is a good 20-30g heavier than the likes of the iPhone 5 and Galaxy SIII.
We’ll find out more when Sony officially reveals the Xperia SL early next week at MWC 2013.