Sony LT29i Hayabusa may be the international Xperia GX. Hands-on video and images leaked

Vlad Bobleanta  By on 18 May 12

A few days ago, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo launched a new range of smartphones (as is the tradition in Japan, new phones aren’t launched one by one, but in pretty big batches by the big carriers over there). And one of the new devices headed to DoCoMo is the Sony Xperia GX (SO-04D). This is actually Sony’s highest-end smartphone to date, regardless of launch market. It comes with a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 4.6-inch 720p HD touchscreen, and a 13.2 MP camera, and it runs Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich.

And if you were hoping for it (or something similar) to make it to international markets, or are simply too bored with the Xperia S, we have some good news. It now seems pretty likely that Sony will release an international version of the Xperia GX. While we don’t yet know the name under which it will be sold, we know its codename and model number.

In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the upcoming Sony LT29i Hayabusa. But today a couple of close-up hands-on images made their way to ePrice, alongside with a quick video. And the resemblance to the Xperia GX is uncanny. This looks like it’s the same device.

Only you’ll notice the complete lack of DoCoMo branding, which is quite pervasive on the Xperia GX. Furthermore, this device doesn’t have any carrier branding whatsoever, which means it can’t be another GX version for Japan.

That said, in the video above you can clearly see both a DoCoMo item in the Android settings menu, as well as the fact that the phone being handled reports its model number as being SO-04D. Which would make little sense if this was indeed an international version of that. But who knows, maybe it was pre-release software that still retained some DoCoMo-specific elements.

So without having any official confirmation, we’re hoping that this is in fact the LT29i, Sony’s next international flagship smartphone that will probably get released in the next few months. But until we see something a little bit more solid, file this one under ‘rumored’ because it’s possible that it’s just an Xperia GX sans DoCoMo branding (for whatever reason).

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  • dude

    make it 499 euros in finland and people will buy it actually

  • jim

    I hope that is not hayabusa, completely lacks any of the Xperia style, just looks like another generic smartphone, if sony go this route i guess there won’t be a need to wait for their phones in the future.

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