Phablets, or large form-factor smartphones which are halfway between a phone and tablet, are all the rage at the moment. There are several really nice prospects on the way in 2013, so here's our rundown of some of the best.

The Sony Xperia L4, also known as the ‘Togari’, is shaping up to be an absolute monster if even half the rumoured specs and features turn out to be true.

It’s said to be a 6.44-inch device with an IPS LCD display and a Full HD resolution. It will ship with a stylus accessory just like the Galaxy Note although reports suggest Sony will introduce a new technology which will allow you to use almost anything as a makeshift stylus, including a pencil.

The screen will apparently be very sharp, as we've come to expect from Sony’s display tech, it’ll include a high pixel density and both OptiContrast and Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology for overall picture enhancement.

Inside, the Xperia L4 is rumoured to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core chip, either a Snapdragon 600 or Snapdragon 800, backed up by 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit (GPU).

We've come to expect fairly capable camera tech from Sony and the Xperia L4 doesn't look set to disappoint with a 13-megapixel Exmor RS primary setup and a 2-megapixel front-facer.  The battery is going to be a 3,500mAh unit.

Not content with bringing one massive phone to the market (two if you count the already released Xperia Z), Sony is also reportedly working on the Xperia i1, aka the ‘Honami’ which is expected to boast Sony Cyber-shot style imaging capabilities. Like the Xperia Z, the Xperia i1 will pack a 5-inch 1080p Full HD display with Sony IPS White Magic and Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology. It may also feature a new tech called Triluminos display to provide 50 per cent brighter and more vivid color.

While there’s some uncertainty on the Xperia L4’s processor, the rumors and leaks for the Xperia i1 specifically point to the higher-grade Qualcomm 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU.

The battery pack is expected to be rated somewhere between 2,700mAh and 3,000mAh while on board storage is set to be 32GB.The most prominent feature remains the camera, which is thought to be either a 16-megapixel or 20-megapixel setup featuring a 1/1.6” sensor and Sony BIONZ imaging processor. Naturally it’ll be Exmor RS based and will have a Xenon flash.

Having started the phablet craze with the original Galaxy Note and successfully cashed-in on the enthusiasm with the Galaxy Note 2 follow-up, Samsung is inevitably going to bring a third iteration to market this year. Company execs have said as much and confirmed it will arrive at IFA 2013 in Berlin this September.

The current rumor consensus suggests a 5.99-inch display, probably Super AMOLED, packed into a body shell which will be similar in size to the Galaxy Note 2 but featuring a narrower bezel around the outside.

Processor tech is up for debate as several benchmarks of varying trustworthiness have shown a selection of possible setups, many of which may have actually gone through testing as prototypes. There’s also the thorny issue of Samsung Galaxy S4. In the sense that that model was expected to launch with a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa chip, which was alleged to offer better battery life, but only ended up using this hardware in specific markets, namely Asia.

The US, Europe and the rest, got the Qualcomm 600-equipped variant which, while fast, lacked the optimized battery performance many were expecting.Some rumors believe the Galaxy Note 3 will use a Qualcomm 800 chip for non-Asian markets while others think we’ll see a repeat of the Galaxy S4’s Qualcomm 600 hardware as with previous flagship and Galaxy Note generations sharing the same chips.As with previous Galaxy Note and Galaxy flagship devices we can expect a full range of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants with micro SD support and of course an S-Pen stylus. We also think we’ll see a return of the Galaxy Note 8.0’s ability to activate the capacitive controls with the pen.

The most recent rumors imply Samsung could be going all-out with the Galaxy Note 3’s camera capabilities. It’s been suggested the handset might have optical image stabilization coupled with a highly-rated sensor. At the very least 13-megapixel has been rumoured which would echo the Galaxy S4’s configuration, but some murmurings claim it could be more powerful than this.

Asus’ FonePad Note was announced at Computex 2013. It’s a 6-inch Android phablet with a Full HD Super IPS+ display. The resolution is 1920x1080 pixels while an Intel Atom Z2560 processor clocked at 1.6GHz sits inside, backed up by 2GB of RAM.

A stylus is included with the device and will reportedly allow you to ‘make handwritten notes, freehand sketching and quick and easy text selection’.Data, texts and calls are supported via 3G and the FonePad Note features both 8-megapixel and 1.2-megapixel cameras, as well as front-facing stereo speakers.

The Acer Liquid S1 will apparently cater to the affordable phablet market. It’s a 5.7-inch handset with a 1280x720 pixel display, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. It’ll also carry a removable 2,400mAh battery, 8GB of storage and microSD support for cards up to 32GB.

The HTC T6, expected to form part of the HTC One range, will be the company’s first foray into phablet territory, but it’s determined to go in all guns blazing with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip clocked at 2.3GHz.

Other noteworthy specs include a 5.9-inch 1080p display, HTC’s BoomSound, an UltraPixel camera with optical image stabilisation and a 3,300mAh battery pack.

Apart from that, the leaks suggest it’ll have the same aluminium outer shell, albeit on a larger scale, as the HTC One flagship and the incoming HTC ‘M4’ compact/budget model.

Asus’ Padfone Infinity was announced at Mobile World Congress 2013 in February but hasn’t hit the market just yet. It takes the Padfone 2’s design and concept – a smartphone which docks with a tablet chassis and does all the work on a larger display – to the phablet scale of things with the phone itself being a 5-incher.

The display is a 1920x1080 pixel Full HD Super IPS+ LCD with a pixel density of 441 pixels-per-inch (ppi). There will be both 32GB and 64GB versions and the device will have a 13-megapixel primary camera with LED flash and 1080p video capture. A front-facing 2-megapixel secondary will handle videos and video calls at 1080p too.

Power comes from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip clocked at 1.7GHz with an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM, plus a 2,400mAh battery. The tablet dock itself boosts the battery life with a further 5,000mAh and offers a 10.1-inch IPS display with a 1920x1200 pixel resolution, plus a 1-megpaixel webcam.