BERLIN -- As if the Xperia Z3 and its smaller cousin, the Z3 Compact, were not enough, Sony also decided to launch a more affordable smartphone ahead of IFA: the Sony Xperia E3.
And although the word "flagship" is reserved for the most powerful smartphone in a phone maker's portfolio, Sony mentioned it more than once when describing the E3, implying that brings exceptional performance and style for less than a fortune.
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True, the device's looks -- save the much wider bezels -- are quite similar to the Z3 family (and a definite improvement over the slightly chubby Sony Xperia E1).
The device's specs, however, place it in the highly competitive entry-level-to-midrange space. The E3 sports a quad-core, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, a 4.5-inch IPS screen with a 854 x 480 pixel resolution, as well as 4G LTE connectivity.
The camera is a 5-megapixel shooter with full HD video recording, accompanied with a VGA shooter on the front. Finally, the E3 has 1GB of RAM with 4GB of storage, a 2,330mAh battery and runs on Android 4.4 "KitKat."
The Sony Xperia E3 will also be available as a dual-SIM phone. It will launch globally in autumn 2014; the price hasn't been revealed yet, but Sony says it'll be "affordable".