14 DAY TRIAL // Unveiled earlier this year, one week after Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014, Sony Xperia E1 has finally arrived in Australia. The smartphone is exclusively available for purchase through Optus carrier, but it might go on sale via multiple resellers later on.
According to AusDroid, the Xperia E1 can be had for only $150 (€100) on pre-paid. The smartphone is available both online and at Optus brick and mortar stores beginning today.
Aside from offering the device for such a low price, Optus is also making a hard to resist offer to football fans. The carrier has already launched a Soccer World Cup promotion for those who purchase the Xperia E1 early, so they will receive an official Match Ball Replica worth around $30 (€20).
Sony Xperia E1’s main attraction besides the affordable price tag is the 100dB speaker combined with the ClearAudio+ sound experience. Apart from that, it is also worth mentioning that the smartphone provides users with 30 days of free access to music on the Sony Entertainment Network.
The music-oriented Xperia E1 features a dedicated Walkman button and other music-related capabilities and functions, such as the ability to change tracks by shaking the phone, which is called “Shake control.”
More importantly, Sony Xperia E1 is one of the few budget-friendly smartphones that have been confirmed for an Android 4.4.2 KitKat upgrade. However, for the time being, the handset will ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box.
Hardware-wise, the Xperia E1 comes equipped with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, which is complemented by an Adreno 302 graphics processing unit and only 512MB of RAM.
The smartphone packs around 4GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card. Sony also offers 50GB of lifetime free cloud storage via Box.
The 4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution and features scratch-resistant glass, along with 233 ppi (pixel density).
Unfortunately, the phone’s camera capabilities are a bit limited, as the Xperia E1 comes with a sub-par 3-megapixel photo snapper with video recording capabilities.
When it comes to connectivity, Sony Xperia E1 offers the full package, including HSDPA (21MBps), HSUPA (5.76Mbps), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS.
Last but not least, the smartphone is powered by a 1750 mAh battery, which should provide up to 500 hours of standby time or up to 8 hours of talk time.