Sony Xperia E3 officially announced as an affordable LTE device

During Sony's IFA 2014 event, the company announced a budget-friendly Sony Xperia E3 to accompany Xperia Z3 and its smaller sibling the Xperia Z3 Compact. It offers the design elements found on the newest flagships, but exchanges the costly materials and internals for a more affordable setup which will be easier on our wallets.

Despite not having the level of premium materials found on the Xperia Z3 or Xperia Z3 Compact, Sony has chosen to use a higher quality plastic on the Xperia E3 compared to the somewhat flimsy plastic found on its predecessor, the Xperia E1.

Sony has also increased the screen size to 4.5 inches (from 4.0 inches) though the resolution remains the same as before. You also get (Cat 4) LTE connectivity and a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 1GB of RAM taking care of your everyday needs. Storage is somewhat sparse at 4GB, but that can be easily expanded thanks to the microSD card slot.

The Xperia E3 comes with a 5MP rear camera (from 3MP) with LED flash and you have a secondary VGA camera for your video calls. This Android 4.4 KitKat device has also been blessed with a generous 2330mAh battery, which should help the device easily get you through the day.

The Sony Xperia E3 is set to launch 'globally' starting this autumn, but a price has not yet been revealed. Sony unfortunately has failed to make a statement in the low-end segment, so we are hoping that the newly announced Xperia E3 will be able to change that.