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Sony’s Xperia A4 has powerful specs and a cool vibe, but it’s only going to Japan

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With Sony giving the boot to its low-end smartphones last October, the company hopes to turn its mobile division around by focusing on high-end hardware. That’s why today’s reveal of the Xperia A4 is rather perplexing, seeing as it’s not exactly high-end, but it’s also not mid-range. Regardless, it’s still very powerful.

Similar to the Xperia Z3 Compact, the Xperia A4 packs a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM. Flip to the front, and you’ll find a 4.6-inch 1,280 x 720 pixel display along with a 2.2-megapixel front-facing shooter. Looking at the back reveals a 20.7-megapixel camera.

Although the 16GB of internal storage in the Xperia A4 isn’t that much nowadays, the Micro SD card slot expands this by up to 128GB. The 2,600mAh battery should keep things chugging along, though according to Sony, you should get three days with casual use. Finally, the Xperia A4 has the same IPX5/8 dust- and IP6X water-resistance ratings that several of its Xperia siblings have.

What’s interesting is the space the Xperia A4 takes up. Because of that Snapdragon 801 processor and the display, we don’t think Sony would classify this as high-end hardware. At the same time, those internals are still very powerful in 2015, so the Xperia A4 can also avoid being called a mid-range device. Whichever space you think the Xperia A4 takes up, keep in mind that, much like the Xperia Z4, it will be released exclusively in Japan through NTT Docomo sometime this June.

Even though the Xperia Z4 is a likely candidate to arrive on U.S. shores sometime in the near future, we can’t say the same for the Xperia A4, which looks to replace last year’s Xperia A2. Even so, if you find yourself in the Land of the Rising Sun, you can pick up the smartphone in black, white, blue, or pink.

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