Sony Xperia M now up for pre-order, to be available from August 18

The Sony Xperia M, which was unveiled back in June, is finally up for pre-order. The mid-range smartphone can be pre-ordered from any online shopping website for Rs 12,990. According to these websites, the handset will be available from August 18 onwards.

Very similar in specs and looks to the Xperia L, the M is squarely aimed at those looking for a budget performer. It has a 4-inch FWVGA (854 x 480) display with a scratch-resistant glass panel. As usual, you will find multi-coloured LED illuminations below the display. The Xperia M features Sony’s OmniBalance design, which the company claims helps in daily handling of the device. The OmniBalance design was also featured in the Xperia Z, ZL and the Tablet Z.

Now up for pre-order!

In terms of processing power, the Xperia M seems well outfitted for a mid-range smartphone. It has a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon SoC inside, coupled with 1GB of RAM. There's a measly 4GB of internal storage, but there’s also a microSD slot with support for cards up to 32GB in size.

The primary camera is a 5 megapixel Exmor RS sensor on the back along with an LED flash. Sony has also decked up the M with a front-facing camera, but surprisingly, there’s no mention of its megapixel count or any other details. Software-wise, the Xperia M should be a capable smartphone thanks to the addition of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. There’s no LTE support, but HSPA+ connectivity is more than enough for a smartphone in this category. For quick sharing, there’s Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.