As spring descends on Japan, we'll all be welcoming warmer temperatures and cherry blossoms in the coming weeks. But spring in Japan typically means new smartphone lineups from Japan's major mobile carriers, too. And while consumers' love for Apple's iPhone is still in full bloom, there are a number of Android smartphones budding for their attention.

Sony Xperia Z

Sony's new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z, is one of the more notable Android offerings on the market this spring. First unveiled back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it's now the top-selling smartphone in Japan, according to Sony execs at Mobile World Congress this week. The handset runs Android 4.1 (it can be upgraded to 4.2 soon) and is powered by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, and 2 gigabytes of RAM.