Sony isn’t doing all that well in the mobile market, they’ve had to cut costs several times in the last year or so, but the company is trying to come out on top. As we’re waiting for the company to release their new Xperia Z4 flagship, Sony keeps on pushing their devices out to the market. This Japan-based tech giant has released the Xperia E4 in India, and has just unveiled the all-new Xperia J1 Compact handset in their homeland. We’re looking at quite a powerful mid-range handset here which resembles the Xperia Z3 Compact, and is almost the same size.
The Xperia J1 Compact features a 4.3-inch 720p (1280 x 720) display along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card up to 128GB). This handset is, surprisingly, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor which ships with an Adreno 330 GPU for graphics. 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS camera can be found on the back of this device, and a 2-megapixel snapper is located up front. 2,300mAh non-removable battery ships with this device as well, and Android 4.4 KitKat comes pre-installed here with Sony’s UI on top of it, of course. This device also has IP68 certification, which means it’s water and dust resistant. The Xperia J1 Compact measures 128 x 65 x 9.7mm and weighs 138 grams.
The Sony Xperia J1 Compact seems like a very interesting device. You don’t get to see a solid 4.3-inch handsets around anymore. This is not a top-of-the-line device, but its specifications are quite solid and it might appeal to people who are looking for a smaller device. That being said, this is the company’s first unlocked smartphone to launch in Japan. Pre-order for the Xperia J1 Compact will start on March 27, and the device will cost 54,800 yen ($454), though keep in mind that tax isn’t added here. The device will end up costing quite a lot in the end it seems. It remains to be seen if consumers in Japan will be interested in purchasing this thing. As far as international availability goes, we still don’t know if Sony will launch this thing outside of Japan, but we’ll let you know if anything comes up.
