Sony is reportedly releasing a new Xperia handset that is primarily designed to counter the supposedly red-hot global welcome generated by the recently unleashed HTC One, a blog report said.

The device is tentatively called Xperia ZR, according to Xperia Blog, and will showcase the following inner muscle: Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip that roars away on a dizzying speed of 1.5GHz with a 2GB of RAM supporting its taxing computing tasks.

This inside attributes line up the ZR in a direct match with the One and more so when the screen specs are considered, which is at 4.6-inch or almost similar to the 4.7-inch screen size that HTC picked for its new flagship.

However, the ZR is only a 720p handset whereas the HTC One delivers immersive viewing experience thanks to its 1080p screen might.

On the camera department, the Xperia ZR will be a 13MP snapper with Sony reportedly using an Exmor RS camera sensor chip to bruise it out with the UltraPixel hype created by HTC PR war machine for the HTC One.

No word yet on the camera software menu but the ZR is expected to benefit from most of the shooting strengths that were seen with the Xperia Z, which the Japanese consumer electronic giant had issued earlier this year.

Another carry over is the Z's durability, specifically its water-resistant feature. The Xperia ZR, according to BGR News, can be submerged to around five feet of water and stay deep for 30 minutes. It will emerge unscathed, Sony engineers assures.

Clearly, Sony would want to deflect consumers' attention from rival by introducing a mid-range alternative, which should mean that price range would be a magnet for the price-sensitive buyers.

The Xperia ZR would likely retail considerably below the price mark of its high-end sibling, the Xperia Z, and being a notch-lower product, it will sell only in one internal storage configuration - 8GB, more than half of which should be usable.

Good news though for movie and music fans of Sony handsets. The company thought it wise to include microSD expansion slot, which should provide extra space for buyers with propensity to hoard hordes of files.