As well as high-end flagship smartphones there are also plenty available for the low to mid-range sector of the market. Two of these are the Samsung Galaxy Core II and the Sony Xperia E3 Dual. These are both Android handsets that are fairly close in price, so today we’re considering the Samsung Galaxy Core 2 vs. Sony Xperia E3 Dual in a specs showdown.

The Galaxy Core 2 arrived in the summer while the Sony Xperia E3 Dual released just last month. For reference purposes we’ll point out that there’s also an Xperia E3 single SIM version that has 4G LTE connectivity, but for the purposes of today’s comparison we’re using the Xperia E3 Dual SIM handset. The Galaxy Core 2 is also a dual SIM phone.

Processors
The Samsung Galaxy Core 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor (chip and GPU unspecified). The Sony Xperia E3 Dual has a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor and Adreno 305 graphics.

Display
The Galaxy Core 2 has a 4.5-inch TFT display with resolution of 800 x 480 and 207 ppi. Meanwhile the Xperia E3 has a 4.5-inch IPS display with resolution of 854 x 480 and 218 ppi.

RAM and Storage
The Samsung phone has 768MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage that’s expandable to 64GB via microSD. The Xperia E3 has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, this time expandable to 32GB.

Camera set-up
Both phones have a 5-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and LED, and a VGA front-facing camera. However, the Galaxy Core 2 features 480p video capture while the Xperia E3 has 1080p video recording capability.

Battery
The Galaxy Core 2 has a removable 2000 mAh battery while the Xperia E3 has a non-removable 2330 mAh battery.

Connectivity
Both the Galaxy Core 2 and Xperia E3 Dual support 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPRS, EDGE, and microUSB 2.0. The Sony phone also supports NFC.

Operating System
Both handsets run Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Dimensions and Weight
The Galaxy Core 2 measures 130.3mm x 68mm x 9.8mm and weighs 138g. The Xperia E3 Dual measures 137.1mm x 69.4mm x 8.5mm and weighs in at 143.8g.

Pricing
Prices vary by region and retailer so it’s difficult to be too specific here. However, they are in the same general price sector at the affordable end of the market. For illustrative purposes we can tell you that in India where dual SIM phones are popular, the Galaxy Core 2 launched at Rs. 11,900 and the Sony Xperia E3 Dual launched at Rs. 12,990. Both can now be found cheaper though, depending on retailer.

As far as specs are concerned there are many similarities as you can see from above. The Galaxy Core Duo 2 has the advantage of a removable battery, a higher level of expandable storage, and is the lighter of the two handsets. On the other hand the Xperia E3 Dual has more RAM, 1080p video capture, a higher capacity battery, NFC, and is the slimmer device.

Bearing in mind that this is a close-run race and the handsets are similarly priced, you may also want to consider brand preference and designs when choosing between them. When you’ve taken everything in to account we’d like to know which of these two phones you are most likely to buy? Is it the Samsung Galaxy Core 2 or the Sony Xperia E3 Dual?