Sony Honami may bring a camera to Android that's better than the N8's

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We don't often report on rumours, but this one definitely piqued my interest, with VR-Zone reporting that Sony's upcoming 'Honami' Android superphone will have a 1/1.6" sensor and Xenon flash, the rumoured camera specs are listed below. This is the first time that an Android smartphone will (allegedly) have a higher specification than Nokia's 2010 N8.

From the report:

With the recent leaks of Sony Mobile's upcoming Honami and Togari super phones, we bring you more information on the new camera sensor and lens to be used in the 2H 2013 Sony flagship.

The Sony Honami is reportedly being worked upon by every department of Sony and not just Sony Mobile to create that "One" (pun intended) phone to rule them all. Consider it a statement phone to let others know what the the iconic Japanese multinational giant is really capable of. The new camera details are:

  • Sony 1/1.6" Exmor RS stacked sensor
  • Sony Cybershot G Lens, glass lens, premium grade
  • 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
  • Xenon or Dual LED flash, to be 10 times brighter than ordinary flash on smartphones. There was also a mention of using the new Plasma flash, although we believe that won't really happen.

The illustration was made to give you a better feel of Sony's Honami camera sensor. While Nokia's PureView 808 still has the largest sensor, the upcoming flagship will be the biggest camera sensor on a smartphone belonging to the Android camp. It's even bigger than Samsung's Galaxy camera, with the Xperia Z/Galaxy S4 (both using the same sensor) far behind (3 times larger).

Sony "Honami" Cyber-shot camera phone details leaked

Compared to Nokia N8 camera phone

The Nokia N8 was/is a brilliant camera phone, and this will be the first time an Android smartphone will actually pack a lens larger than the N8. Sony's Honami is expected to best the N8's camera in technical specs and results as well. However, the same cannot be said in comparison to the Nokia PureView 808.

Read more: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sony-honami-cyber-shot-camera-phone-details-leaked/19881.html

Interesting stuff, I'd love this to happen, it would give camera-loving N8 and 808 owners a real Android alternative to move over to, in time. The OS is similar to Symbian in many ways, in terms of being customisable, multi-tasking and having a full file system to play with.

The Nokia 808 PureView looks safe at the top, though, in terms of sensor size - in fact, unless form factor fashions change, I'm not sure the 808 PureView will ever be beaten in this statistic.

What do you think? Fancy an Android smartphone with a better camera than the N8's?

Source / Credit: VR-Zone