Sony has announced the Xperia E, a new budget smartphone which uses Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as its operating system, an unusual feature for any low-cost device. Of course, the Xperia E’s wallet-friendly price tag means it doesn’t have a particularly exciting specification, but it’s far from being boring.
The design is another winner from Sony too, as it has a gentle curve to the rear panel and neatly tapered ends, plus at 115 grams it’s perfect for a pocket or bag. The screen measures 3.5-inches and it has a basic 320 x 480 pixel resolution, while the processor is a single core, Qualcomm Snapdragon chip with a clock speed of 1GHz and 1GB of RAM with which to play. Again, this is a good spec for a basic Android phone, and it should see the Xperia E capable of running all but the very best Android games and apps.
Other features include a 3.2 megapixel camera on the rear of the phone, there’s 4GB of internal storage memory, a microSD card slot and various pieces of Sony software including the Walkman music player, xLoud enhancements and a power-saving utility to make the best out of the 1530mAh battery.
The standard Xperia E will be joined by a dual-SIM version named the Xperia E Dual, both of which will go on sale early next year. Although Sony hasn’t provided a price yet, Amazon in Germany has put them up for pre-order at a cost of 160 euros and 170 euros respectively. That’s about £130.
