Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo gets UK price of £360

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo will arrive in the UK this month, and has been slapped with a price tag. The camera-centric Android smart phone will hit shops on 19 April, costing £360.

That price is for the SIM-free, unlocked handset from online retailer Clove. That's substantially cheaper than the £430 price tag at Expansys. The phone will also be available for less money, or even free, on a contract from assorted networks. Still, buying a phone SIM-free will usually work out cheaper if you add up the total cost of the contract, even if it is a big outlay up front.

The Neo offers a chunky 8.1-megapixel camera with an f/2.4 lens. It draws on Sony's camera and television expertise, packing an Exmor R CMOS sensor and a display that uses the company's Bravia picture technology. The phone also has an HDMI connection.

The screen measures 3.7 inches, and the Neo runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It'll run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with Sony Ericsson's own user interface added on top.

The Neo has been confirmed for several phone networks, including T-Mobile and Orange, which recently joined together to become Everything Everywhere. The phone comes in assorted colours, but the red version will be exclusively available through Vodafone.

Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc handset and the Xperia Play PlayStation phone are in shops now, with the Xperia Pro also on its way.