The new Sony Xperia M2 mid-range handset is ready for purchase in the UK, either unlocked and contract free from a retailer or on-contract from EE.

Announced back in February at the Mobile World Congress 2014, the Sony Xperia M2 is now finally ready to make its commercial debut. The smartphone has been available for pre-order for quite some time now, since March, and it has now officially hit store shelves.

UK retailer Unlocked Mobiles has the mid-range Sony Xperia Z2 in stock, listed with a price tag of £224.98 including taxes. The price is for the unlocked smartphone, without requiring customers to commit to a lengthy carrier agreement. As a limited-time offer, Unlocked Mobiles is also throwing in £50 worth of free content.

On the other hand, if you don't want to shell out the full amount at once and don't mind signing a carrier contract, EE has also started selling the Sony Xperia M2 in the UK. The carrier is offering the handset for £19.99 upfront on a two-year service agreement, with a 4G plan that costs £18.99 per month and comes with 500MB of data. EE is also offering the Xperia M2 for free with a plan starting at £23.99 per month.

For those unfamiliar with the device, the Sony Xperia M2 sports a 4.8-inch display with a qHD resolution of 540 x 960 pixels and packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor under the hood, clocked at 1.2GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM.

The smartphone further features 8GB of internal storage capacity, a microSD card slot for additional memory, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and auto focus, and a decent 2,300 mAh battery. On the software side, the Sony Xperia M2 runs the slightly older Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but it's still pretty good for a mid-range device at this price point.

The Sony Xperia M2 obviously doesn't have any high-end specifications, but it aims to appeal to budget-conscious shoppers looking for a capable device without drawing a huge hole through their pocket. The handset is expected to launch in many countries worldwide, but for now interested buyers in the UK are among the lucky first to get it.

If you're interested in the Sony Xperia M2 unlocked and contract-free, you can now purchase it from retailer Unlocked Mobiles at this link. If you prefer to buy it subsidized, you can find it here on EE.