Sony D6503 Sirius Smartphone leaked, could be Xperia Z2

Sony is almost certainly set to reveal a new flagship smartphone at this year’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona next month, as more leaked images posted online reveal a handset, currently known as the D6503 Sirius, along with a detailed set of specifications.

According to Xperiablog, the new handset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM, behind a 5.2in 1080p display. This would give it a welcome performance increase over the current Sony flagship, the xperia Z1. It will likely ship with the same 20.7-megapixel Exmor camera sensor as the Z1, but also include slow-motion video recording like the iPhone 5s. 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot are also expected.

A huge collection of screenshots accompanied the specification sheet, showing a redesigned Xperia user interface, transparent notification bar and Phone Status screen which clearly indicates the presence of Android 4.4 KitKat.

Sony looks to have added a “Simple Home” mode, which puts larger, more legible icons on the home screen in a similar manner to Samsung’s Easy TouchWiz interface. Android 4.4 now lets you toggle between multiple launchers instantly, so you won’t be stuck with one if you change your mind later.

A new “What’s New” mode will be launched by swiping up from the home button, much like how you currently open Google Now. Based on the images it appears to show new content as it appears on Sony’s Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services, but it could end up being a rival to Google Now with contextual reminders and notifications.

Sony also appears to be adding the ability to play high-resolution audio via USB using an external DAC, based on additions to the Audio settings menu.

It’s unknown if this handset is the same one spotted on the XDA Developer forums earlier this week, but seeing how Sony normally only launches one flagship handset at a time, it seems highly likely.

We’ll find out what Sony has planned for its mobile division next month, when Mobile World Congress begins.