Sony Xperia J Previews

Info on the Sony Xperia J has leaked before, but now the smartphone followed in the footsteps of the Xperia T (Mint) and Xperia XT (Hayabusa) and got a preview before its official announcement, which should happen at IFA (starting at the end of this month).

The Sony Xperia J borrows design cues from the T and TX, but is a low end device. The screen is a 4" FWVGA LCD, but has narrow viewing angles and isn't very bright, according to Mobile-review's early impressions.

The Sony Xperia T flagship is not the only smartphone that the Japanese company is expected to make official in the forthcoming days. There's also the Sony Xperia J, which we first saw posing for the camera several weeks ago. We are dealing with a low- to mid-range device that stands out with its 4-inch screen sporting a resolution of 480 by 854 pixels. It is also nice knowing that Android 4.0 comes pre-installed on the device.

Giving Sony phones hands-on time before they're even announced must be in vogue this year. Hot on the heels of its look at what's now called the Xperia T, Mobile-review has given the entry-level Xperia J a full inspection without even the hint of a press release in sight. The very, very early review makes clear that cost-cutting is the rule of the day: a 2010-era Snapdragon chip, 512MB of RAM and a fairly low-grade 4-inch LCD don't afford much in the way of bragging rights.

The absence of a microSD card slot doesn't win any fans, either. Still, the Xperia J looks to be carrying a lightweight instance of Android 4.0 that keeps it reasonably up to date, the battery life is good and the 5-megapixel camera will capture some memories in a pinch.

Sony could supposedly have its starter phone on the market as early as September, and for as little as 150 euros ($186) outside of a contract -- no doubt the real selling point if it's at all true, as the cost would be roughly half that of the already budget-minded Xperia U.

Sony Xperia J is an entry level Android ICS phone

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7227A chipset (Cortex-A5, Adreno 200, 512MB RAM), the same chipset we saw on the Samsung Galaxy S Duos and other phones (the Xperia miro and tipo use the 7225A version, which has a lower CPU clock speed).

The chipset reportedly offers good enough performance for ICS and the 1700mAh battery is enough for a day of heavy usage but can easily go two days if you don't push it too much.

In the end, the Sony Xperia J seems to offer a very attractive package for its price of €150-160, with good build quality, great display for the class and good reception and audio quality.

Other than that, there is little that the Sony Xperia J can impress us with. The chip inside it is the humble MSM7227a by Qualcomm accompanied by 512MB of RAM. There is a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash on its back. It can be used to shoot videos, but only up to VGA resolution. Other highlights include a 1,700mAh battery and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Judging by previous leaks, the smartphone will come in black, white, or pink.

Given the rather modest hardware specification of the Sony Xperia J, we expect it to be a competitively priced offering tailored for the younger crowd. In addition, it will most likely target consumers who need a screen of a decent size, yet cannot afford spending a small fortune on a high-end model. The Sony Xperia J is expected to be unveiled officially during IFA 2012.