Check out the affordable Sony Xperia M2 (photos)

The mid-price Sony Xperia M2 has a 4.8-inch display and a quad-core processor. Check out our hands-on pics.

Andrew Hoyle

Feb. 24, 2014 9:57 a.m. PT

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Sony Xperia M2

BARCELONA, Spain -- The Xperia M2 is the latest mid-range mobile from Sony, packing a 4.8-inch display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and an 8-megapixel camera. It's due to go on sale in the UK in the spring, but Sony hasn't yet announced pricing or wider availability.

Correction: This story initially stated that the Xperia M2 is waterproof. Sony's other two products announced at Mobile World Congress, the Sony Xperia Z2 and Z2 tablet, are waterproof, but the Xperia M2 is not.

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Sony Xperia M2 back

Here's a shot of the back of the phone.

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Sony Xperia M2

It's slim enough to make it comfortable to hold.

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Sony Xperia M2

The 4.8-inch screen has a 960x540-pixel resolution. It's not challenging its full-HD sibling, but it seemed good enough for the essentials in my hands-on time.

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Sony Xperia M2

An 8-megapixel camera sits on the back.

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Sony Xperia M2

And there's a front-facing camera for video calling, too.

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Sony Xperia M2

The usual sticking-out Sony power button is on the side.

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Sony Xperia M2

The Xperia M2 has a dedicated camera shutter button that allows you to take quick photos.

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Sony Xperia M2

The speaker sits on the bottom of the phone.

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Sony Xperia M2

It's running on Android Jelly Bean. It's not the most recent version of the software, but that's forgivable if it's cheap enough.

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Sony Xperia M2

The Android interface is basically the same as you'll find on other Android phones, but Sony has thrown in a few additions. You can easily customise the order of apps in the app menu, the image galleries are custom-made by Sony and you'll find Sony's Music and Video Unlimited streaming services on board.

Correction: This story initially stated that the Xperia M2 is waterproof. Sony's other two products announced at Mobile World Congress, the Sony Xperia Z2 and Z2 tablet, are waterproof, but the Xperia M2 is not.