Sony Xperia M Android phone (preview)

Sony is clearly aiming to have an Android phone at every price point and its latest effort is the Xperia M. This is a budget-conscious smartphone has very competitive price tag but lacks 4G support.

Sony's current Xperia smartphones put a big emphasis on design and while the Xperia M is no different, there's less that stands out on this model. There's a built-in notifications light that can be illuminated in different colours and the handset is constructed from a skeleton frame, but there's no glass back panels or transparent elements here.

At 115g and 9.3mm thick, the Xperia M is a very light and thin smartphone. Combined with a 4in screen, it is likely to suit potential users who find the current range of flagship smartphones too large. The phone will be available in black, white, purple and yellow colour variants.

The Xperia M is targeted at budget conscious consumers, so its specifications sheet is about what you would expect from an inexpensive smartphone. There's a 4in TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 854x480, a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. Thankfully, there's a microSD card slot supporting memory cards up to 64GB in size.

The Xperia M has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with Sony's Exmor RS sensor and single LED flash, while a front-facing VGA camera handles video calls. Other features include a 1750mAh battery and NFC-connectivity, though there's no 4G connectivity.

The Xperia M comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, though the software is once again skinned with Sony's own UI. The Battery Stamina mode feature seen on the Xperia Z is also present here. It prevents applications from running when the screen is locked, therefore saving power.

The Sony Xperia M is available in Australia through Vodafone pre-paid for $199 and also sells for $249 outright through Sony retailers.

A promotional video of the Xperia M can be seen below.