The smartphone is available for around $250/€195 outright

Nov 12, 2012 18:01 GMT  ·  By

The unlocked version of Sony Xperia advance was spotted in the US last week, though the Japanese handset maker had yet to officially introduce it.

Today, Sony Mobile announced the immediate availability of the rugged Xperia advance in the US. Unfortunately, the company did not unveil any details on the phone’s pricing options.

For the time being, customers can purchase the Xperia advance via leading retailers across the country, such as Newegg and Amazon.

The unlocked Xperia advance is priced at $250/€195, but only the yellow version. The black-themed model is curiously priced $100/€80 higher than the former color option.

Nevertheless, the black and yellow versions come with similar features, so it’s just a matter of taste (and budget).

Also known as Xperia go, the rugged handset hit shelves in most markets back in the summer. It took Sony about four months to bring the Xperia advance in the US.

According to Sony, the Xperia advance features “the highest level of dust and water resistance available on any Android smartphone.” So if you’re looking for a rugged Android smartphone, Xperia advance might be the perfect choice.

Furthermore, Xperia advance sports a 3.5-inch scratch-resistant mineral glass display, which features 320 x 480 pixels resolution and Sony Mobile BRAVIA technology.

On the inside, the smartphone packs a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1 GHz, a Mali-400 graphics processing unit and 512MB of RAM.

The device comes with 8GB of internal memory, but only 4GB are available for users. Fortunately, the smartphone embeds a microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 32GB.

There’s also a 5-megapixel camera on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash and HD 9720p) video recording.

Xperia advance allows users to connect through DLNA technology in order to share and enjoy content on a TV. Moreover, it comes preloaded with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services from Sony Entertainment Network.