Xperia R1 and R1 Plus announced in India

Sony has announced the launch of two new entry-level devices, the R1 and R1 Plus, for the Indian market. Both phones are said to be manufactured by Foxconn in India, so we're a bit surprised that they still come with such relatively high price tags.

by Ricci Rox, 2017/10/27

Sony has mostly abandoned the budget market of recent, with the Japanese company focusing on its high-end offerings. The company, however, has announced the launch of two new entry-level devices, the R1 and R1 Plus, exclusively for the Indian market.

It's been a great year for the Indian smartphone climate, as a 29% year-on-year growth rate has seen the Asian country surpass the US to become the second largest smartphone market in the world. Sony's new move may be representative of its attempts to stay competitive in the market, with reports claiming that the two new phones are the product of Sony's new partnership with Foxconn, a venture that will see both devices produced in Foxconn's Indian factories.

Both devices are nothing special, with the R1 sporting a 5.2-inch TFT HD display—quite outdated display technology at this point—a Snapdragon 430, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, 13 MP rear camera, 8 MP selfie shooter, USB-C, Android Nougat, and a 2620 mAh battery, The R1 Plus features the exact same specification sheet albeit with a slight bump to 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage.

The R1 will cost INR 13,990 ($215), and its plus-sized sibling will be available for INR 15,990 ($245). It's a bit hard to figure out what Sony is planning to do with this one, though, as the multitude of higher value options may mean the R1 and R1 Plus never attain the sales figures Sony wants.