Sony Xperia Advance now available in the US, costs around $250 unlocked
By Vlad Bobleanta on 09 Nov 12Like it promised back in August, Sony has made the Xperia Advance available in the US in unlocked form. Xperia Advance is basically the name under which the Xperia Go is marketed in the US (why there had to be a different one for that market is beyond us).
The Sony Xperia Advance is identical to the internationally-selling Xperia Go. Its rugged credentials are intact too – it has IP67 certification, being dust and water proof.
You can pick one up right now from NewEgg for $249.99, or from Amazon starting at $246.76.
The Xperia Advance has a 3.5-inch 320×480 touchscreen, a dual-core 1 GHz processor, a 5 MP camera, 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of built-in storage, microSD card support, HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 1,305 mAh battery. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and should be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the future. The Xperia Go has already received its Ice Cream update, but whether the Xperia Advance will do so too once you power it on for the first time is unclear. They are identical in terms of hardware, but the different name may have an impact. So don’t expect Android 4.0 to just magically pop up when you take the Advance home.
The Xperia Advance will work with AT&T’s HSPA network, but it doesn’t support LTE. It also doesn’t support T-Mobile’s HSPA network, so on that carrier you’re stuck on ancient 2G tech. Needless to say, Verizon and Sprint are completely out of the question.
That’s a nice price for an unlocked device, but unless you need the ruggedness, the much higher-end Nexus 4 will be out in a few days – and it’s going to be just $50 more expensive.
If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:
- Sony Xperia Acro S, Tipo Dual, and Advance coming soon to the US
- Sony Xperia Tipo now up for pre-order in the UK for £134.98, ships on August 20
- Sony Xperia Ion LTE getting its Android 4.0 ICS update as of now
- Sony Xperia Ion launched in China with Android 4.0 ICS, brings Xperia Acro S and Xperia Go along
- Unlocked Sony Xperia Ion can now be pre-ordered for $569.50
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