Out
now 5th December 2012
The Sony Xperia E is a low-end Android smartphone due
to hit the market early next year, but there's a key twist that
potentially makes this a rather interesting device.
There's a 3.5" 320 x 480 pixel display, a 3.2 megapixel
camera and a 1GHz processor and all the usual features.. so far,
so much the same as everything else. But the interesting thing is
that the Xperia E is available in both single-SIM and dual-SIM configurations,
the latter being called the Xperia E dual.
The single-SIM version will run Android 4.1 out of the box, the
dual-SIM version will run Android 4.0 with an upgrade to 4.1 promised.
We suspect that the difference is due to the complexities of managing
two SIMs and two cellular radios, but for all practical purposes the handsets
seem identical apart from that.
All the standard Android features are here such as 3.5G, WiFi,
Bluetooth, GPS and USB connectivity. There's also an FM radio and
all the usual Sony media enhancements that make the Xperia line
a bit more fun than some other smartphones.
Inside
is a decently sized 1530 mAh battery which is quoted as giving up
to 6 hours talktime and 22 days standby time. The Xperia E measures
114 x 63 x 11.0mm and weighs 116 grams.
As with most Sony devices, this is a rather attractive handset
which looks quite expensive but we guess will actually be rather
cheap to buy.
We don't know which markets the single-SIM Xperia E and dual-SIM
Xperia E dual will ship to (or how much they will cost), although
given the choice we'd definitely go for the flexibility offered
by the dual-SIM device. The single-SIM version will be available
in black, white and pink, the Xperia E dual will be available in
black and gold.
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