Sony has long been (rightly) criticized for ignoring the US market, opting to release phones here very late or not at all. In the case of the Marshmallow-powered Xperia X series, it's just a little late. These devices were announced at Mobile World Congress a few months ago with only vague talk about a US release, but now all four models are coming to the US in waves. It starts today with pre-orders for the Xperia X.The four devices, from most to least premium, are the X Performance, X, XA Ultra, and XA. Let's go over each one briefly since MWC was a few months ago.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/f4yj8h1d-uA[/EMBED_YT]The X Performance is Sony's top-of-the-line flagship with a Snapdragon 820, 3GB of RAM, 23MP camera, 2700mAh battery, 32GB of storage with microSD card slot, and a water-resistant metal frame. Oddly, Sony chose to go with a 5-inch 1080p LCD for this device, which is less impressive on paper than the competition. This phone will be priced at $699.99 and comes with a free 128GB microSD card when it launches on July 17th.The X is a step down from the flagship space with a Snapdragon 650, 3GB of RAM, 23MP camera, 32GB of storage with a microSD card slot, and a glass/metal case without water-resistance. This phone too has a 5-inch 1080p LCD, but the battery drops slightly to 2620mAh. This phone is available for pre-order today for $549.99 (and a free 128GB microSD) at Amazon, B&H, Best Buy, and Reagan Wireless. However, most of these listings aren't live yet.

The XA and XA Ultra are the budget component of Sony's new lineup. The XA will be out on July 17th along with the Performance for $279.99. It has a MediaTek Helio P10, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of Storage with a microSD card, 2300mAh battery, 13MP camera, and a 5-inch 720p LCD. The XA Ultra (July 24th for $369.99) gets a mild spec bump with a MediaTek MT6755, 3GB of RAM, 2700mAh battery, 21.5MP camera, 16MP front camera, and a huge 6-inch 1080p LCD.

In usual Sony style, these phones all seem expensive compared to the competition. Long-time Sony fans will also be disappointed that only the top-of-the-line phone is water-resistant. It also looks like Sony dropped the fingerprint sensor from the X series in the US, just like it did the Z5. Still, at least Sony is releasing the phones in the US.

Source: Sony

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