Turns out the Sony Xperia X will be cheaper than we thought

Xperia X

Last week pre-orders for the Xperia X went live on Amazon with a surprisingly high price of £499.99. But if you were dismayed by that cost, we've got (semi-) good news: Sony has put its own pre-orders live and confirmed the phone won't cost as much as that.

In the UK you can now pre-order the Xperia X for £459, which while cheaper than originally thought isn't as low as some might have been hoping for.

The Xperia X features a 5-inch Full HD display, 'traditional' Sony design (so it's a little boxier, but well-made), 13MP front-facing selfie camera and 23MP rear-facing camera.

The right price?

The Xperia XA is also up for pre-order in the UK with a more affordable price of £239.That's almost half the price of the Xperia X and features a 5-inch 720p curved display, 13MP rear-facing camera and 8MP selfie shooter.

Sony discounted the Xperia Z5 series of phones before the new range of X devices even hit the market. Originally the Xperia Z5 went up for pre-order at £599 (about US$912, AU$1218) but before it was even released Sony made a huge cut bringing it down to £429 (about US$653, AU$829).

Sony may see fit to do that again for the Xperia X range if pre-orders don't take off. There's also no pricing or a release date for the US or Australia yet.

Sony has also put pre-order prices up for the Xperia X Performance - a higher spec phone joining the devices line - in a number of European countries, but there's still no word on the phone coming to the UK. It'll cost €699 (about £554, US$803, AU$1072) and features an even higher-end spec than the Xperia X.

We've asked Sony for a reason why you won't be able to buy the Xperia X Performance in the UK and we'll let you know when we get an answer.

If you pre-order the Xperia X you'll receive your phone from May 23 while the Xperia XA will come from June 20.

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.