Purported picture of Sony Xperia Z1 mini front panel leaks online

The Xperia Z1 mini's purported leaked image first appeared on Chinese forum, Digi-Wo and was first reported by the Japanese technology publication, Rbmen.

The leaked image reveals the front panel with Sony branding on top beneath the earpiece. The design of the leaked front panel of the alleged Xperia Z1 mini is visibly different from the Xperia smartphones launched until now. The phone appears to have a rectangular body with no curved edges. The leak does not include any details about the internals of the device, however, previous rumours did reveal some specifications.

Last month, a forum post at Esato.com detailed the hardware of the alleged Sony Honami mini, a.k.a Ray 3. Now that we know the Sony Honami is the Xperia Z1, it follows the Honami mini is the Xperia Z1 mini. The post outlined a 4.3-inch Triluminos 720p display, a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. The Z1 mini is also said to sport a 2400mAh battery, as well as support for microSD card.

Interestingly, the Esato.com post said the Xperia Z1 mini is expected to ship with the same 20.7-megapixel camera as the Xperia Z1, one of the recently unveiled flagship's major highlights. Additionally, the Xperia Z1 mini is said to feature the same Sony G lens, f/2.0 aperture and the same 1/2.3" sensor which has been seen on the Xperia Z1.

If the Xperia Z1 mini rumour turns out to be true, Sony will be taking a leaf out of Samsung's and HTC's books, with their respective Galaxy S4 mini and One mini smartphones serving as inspiration to tap a wider demographic.