Sony Mobile Japan just announced a new smartphone called the Xperia J1 Compact, which will be its first handset to be available unlocked in the country.
The company officially unveiled its new smartphone for Japan on Thursday, March 19, and will start accepting pre-orders next week.
The new Sony Xperia J1 Compact carries model number D5788 and will allow interested customers to use it with the service they prefer, such as So-net.
When it comes to specifications, the Sony Xperia J1 Compact will come in the mid-to-high-end segment of the smartphone market, packing good internals for its category. In fact, the handset features similar specifications to the NTT DoCoMo Xperia A2, which was based on the popular Xperia Z1 Compact.
More specifically, the new Xperia J1 Compact sports a 4.3-inch liquid crystal display with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor under the hood, clocked at 2.2GHz and paired with Adreno 330 graphics.
Other specs of the Sony Xperia J1 Compact include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage capacity, microSD card support for additional memory, a 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS camera, and a 2.2-megapixel front shooter. A 2,300 mAh non-removable battery will keep things up and running, lasting for up to 81 hours of music playback, while Android 4.4 KitKat will handle the software side.
Design-wise, the Xperia J1 Compact sports an aluminum frame with a rounded shape, and a plastic body with a matte finish for a comfortable hold.
As expected from a new Sony smartphone, the Xperia J1 also features IP58 certification for dust and water resistance to increase its durability.
In terms of pricing and availability, the Sony Xperia J1 is set to go up for pre-order on March 27 on Sony's online store, sporting a price tag of roughly 55,000 yen (about $455) excluding taxes. Actual retail availability should commence next month, on April 20.
For more information about the new Sony Xperia Z1, check out the company's press release here (translated) or head over to the product page on Sony's online store at this link.
