Sony Xperia SP emerge - dual-core Snapdragon processor, 4.6-inch HD display

Sony isn’t sitting still with just the Xperia Z – the company’s 1080p flagship Android smartphone of 2013 – and is working on a few more high-end devices this year, one of which is the Xperia SP, details for which have emerged courtesy of Xperia blog.

Expected to be announced at the MWC next week, the Xperia SP will reportedly sport a 4.6-inch 720p display, with a 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960T chipset with Adreno 320 graphics ticking away inside. The Snapdragon S4 Pro is yet to be seen on a mobile device (except the Chinese variant of the Nokia Lumia 920), and even though it has only two cores compared to the quad-core Snapdragon on the Xperia Z, performance should be very similar considering the SP’s display has a much smaller resolution.

Other specs are rumored to include an 8MP Exmor RS camera sensor and 8GB internal storage along with microSD expansion. A useful feature that is rumored is that transparent bar at the bottom on the device may be customizable to certain notifications, which was not possible on the Xperia NXT series of devices of 2012 (like the Xperia S).

The dimensions are reported to be 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98mm, and the Xperia SP is a bit on the heavy side at 155 grams. Construction of the device has been done with an aluminium frame on all four sides, though the back – which will hopefully sport a removable battery – will be made of plastic.

As mentioned, the Xperia SP should be announced at the MWC, where Sony is known to show off a few devices each year. With the Xperia Z grabbing the top-most position in Sony’s lineup, the Xperia SP may be the right alternative as a similarly feature-packed but smaller device that will let them save some cash as well.

Would you be interested in the Xperia SP if the rumored specs turn out to be true?