Sony seeks budget buyers with Xperia E4, a curvy-looking Z3

10_E4_Lifestyle

Sony introduced a new phone on Tuesday, but it’s not the flagship you might have been waiting for. Instead, the company debuted the Xperia E4 with round edges for folks seeking a low-cost Android experience.

Although the official cost of the Xperia E4 hasn’t been revealed yet, I’d guess the price to be around or even under $150 off-contract, based on the specifications. That would put the E4 into competitive territory with the Motorola Moto G and other budget-friendly phones although it won’t be selling the phone in the U.S.

Sony E4

The 5-inch IPS screen has a 960 x 540 resolution display, for example, and instead of the 20.7-megapixel sensor found in Sony‘s flagship, the E4 uses a 5MP rear camera. The handset runs Google Android 5.0 on a 1.3GHz quad core processor paired with 1GB of memory and 8GB of flash storage, which can be expanded with 32GB of additional space through the microSD card slot. Connectivity comes in the form of 2G and 3G networks; no LTE here. You do get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS and an FM tuner in the phone.

With those internals and a 2300mAh battery, I’d expect solid battery life that could last well into a second day on a charge. And if Sony keeps the price point down, it could move some of these smartphones. Sure, the company’s Xperia Z4 is likely to be a star at next month’s Mobile World Congress event, but flagship Android phones alone won’t grow a mobile business.

Update: This post was updated at 6:53am to reflect no availability in the U.S.

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