Sony Xperia M5 Specs and Release Date: Sony Reveals Mid-range Phone With Impressive Specs & Powerful 21MP Camera

Aug 04, 2015 12:53 PM EDT

Sony finally dropped the veil on its new Xperia devices--the consumer electronics giant has just announced a duo of mid-range smartphones.

As expected, both models are focused on mobile photography; the "pro-selfie" Sony Xperia C5 Ultra and the "super mid-ranger" Sony Xperia M5. On this article, we will focus on the latter and how it offers superior specs despite being aimed at the mid-range smartphone market.

Sony Xperia M5 now official

After teasing a device capable of capturing "split-second" photos and providing a hint on when it will come out, it is now perfectly clear what Sony has in store. Earlier today, the Japan-based device maker officially presented two of the latest additions to its Xperia family.

While the Xperia C5 Ultra is groomed to be a selfie-focused handset, with both cameras having 13-megapixel sensors and LED flash, the Sony Xperia M5 packs the same 13MP front snapper but with a significantly more powerful 21.5-megapixel main camera. It's worth noting, however, that the M5's front cam lacks a LED flash.

The newest member of Xperia's M series has a main shooter that is fitted with a hybrid autofocus system with f/2.2 aperture that allows the device to focus in a quarter of a second. It also has an ISO of up to 3200 and is integrated with an Exmor RS sensor, the same as its front cam.

In the company's press release, Tony McNulty, Vice-President, Value Category Business Management at Sony Mobile, said "We are pleased to present two new products that highlight Sony's advances in camera technology. We understand that camera capabilities are important to smartphone users, so we ensured that Sony's existing camera brilliance was once again surpassed in the new Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 without compromising on other features across design and performance."

Sony Xperia M5 specs, price, release date

Moving on to the rest of the device, the Sony Xperia M5 is given IP65 and IP68 rating. That means the handset is certified to be both dust and waterproof. It also comes with a 5-inch Full HD (1080p) display with about 441 ppi density.

The new model, which is seen to be the successor to the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua, is packed with a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor under the hood. It is clocked at 2GHz and is partnered with a generous 3GB worth of RAM. The M5 has 16GB of built-in memory expandable up to 200GB via a microSD card. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box and supports fast 4G LTE networks. The company claims that it's 2,600mAh battery will keep it juiced up for two days.

Remarkable as those specs may be, we still don't know the new smartphone model's pricing. What we do know is that Sony is planning to release the Sony Xperia M5 as well as the Xperia C Ultra in select countries beginning on mid-August. The former will be available in white, black, and gold, just as Sony hinted last week.

While waiting, Xperia fans can check out the Sony Xperia M5 in action in this video released by Sony alongside the phone's official unveiling.