Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray goes on sale

PHONE MAKER Sony Ericsson's Xperia Ray smartphone is now available to buy online.

Online retailer Clove.co.uk has announced it is selling the Xperia Ray for £299 SIM free. You'll have to pay £313 at Amazon.co.uk, whilst rival retailers Play.com and Expansys.com are still awaiting the handset.

It's not worth waiting for Play's release date of 13 September as it has the phone priced at £329. However, if you wait until 23 September then Expansys will give you the device for slightly less than the rest at £294.

This is longer than we expected to wait, as back in July Play.com had the only release date of 15 August with a price of £349. At least the delay has meant that the price has come down.

Clove said, "The Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray has arrived into stock today. The Ray is a Android smartphone that has not really received the attention it deserves as it has a very good specification at a good price point."

We agree, because at £299 you do get a pretty decent smartphone for your money, considering that the firm's Xperia Play and Xperia Arc will set you back another odd £50.

The Xperia Ray boasts a 1GHz processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a 3.3in touchscreen with 480x854 resolution. It also has an 8.1MP camera, 512MB of RAM and is only 9.4mm thick. µ