Ahead of the official announcement of flagship smartphone Xperia Z4, Sony has unveiled a new mid-range smartphone in Japan. Dubbed the Xperia J1 Compact, the smartphone is also the company's first unlocked device in Japan so that users can choose their provider.

Pre-orders will start by the end of the month, on March 27, while the phone will launch on April 20. The expected price is 54,800 yen + tax, which is around $450.

In terms of specifications, the Xperia J1 sports a 4.3-inch 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with a 2.2 GHz quad-core CPU and Adreno 330 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, a 20.7 MP Exmor RS camera and a 2,300mAh battery.