It seems Sony has completely lost the plot when it comes to its smartphone division, starting with the ridiculous pricing of the Xperia X and Xperia XA in India and now with the launch of the Xperia E5.
Sony is still living in the past where premium was a word associated with flagship devices. Today, at even budget prices we have excellent smartphones from the likes of Motorola, Lenovo, Huawei and a barrage of Chinese brands including Xiaomi.
Then why is the company launching underwhelming, under-powered smartphones in 2016?
Case in point, the Xperia E5 which comes with a 5-inch 720p HD display running on a quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor with 1.5GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage priced at 199 Euros or about $220 or Rs. 15000.
There's nothing interesting about the Xperia E5, apart from the fact that it runs Android Marshmallow out of the box. 13MP/5MP cameras with 1080p recording have become the norm in this price segment and the entire package speaks more budget device than the lower-midrange price Sony is asking for the E5.
Sure, the device packs a sizeable 2700 mAh battery, has NFC built in as well but the Moto G4 Plus, Samsung Galaxy J7, Lenovo K4 Note, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 offer far more bang for buck. Although the company hasn't revealed its pricing for India, they are generally higher than what the company sells the devices for in Europe, so be ready for a rude surprise when it becomes available.
Sony needs to re-think pricing on its smartphones quickly. In today's cut-throat smartphone space, there are no second chances.
