Troubled smartphone maker Sony unveiled its “next-generation PROselfie smartphone”, Xperia C4, which it said offers “a best-in-class 5MP front camera, a Full HD display and superior performance”.

The device is a successor to the similarly-positioned Xperia C3, which debuted in July 2014, at a time when the performance of the front camera (for selfies) had become a major selling point for vendors.

“Xperia C4 caters to consumers that want a smartphone that not only takes great photos, but also packs a punch. Benefiting from Sony’s camera expertise, the 5MP front-facing camera with wide-angle lens lets you capture perfect selfies, while its quality display and performance features provide an all-round advanced smartphone experience,” said Tony McNulty, vice-president of value category business management at Sony Mobile.

The 5MP front camera has a 25mm wide-angle lens and Sony Exmor R for mobile sensor, LED flash and HDR. The company said that “superior auto automatically optimises settings to give you the best possible picture and SteadyShot technology compensates for any camera shake”.

It is coupled with a 13MP rear camera.

Xperia C4 has a 5.5-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels) screen, which is said to support Sony’s TV technology – such as Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and “super vivid-mode”.

The smartphone is powered by a 64-bit 1.7GHz octacore chipset from MediaTek, and has 2GB of RAM. It has 16GB of onboard storage (10GB user accessible), with microSD memory slot.

It comes in three colours – white, black and “vibrant mint”. It will be available in single and dual SIM “in select markets” from the beginning of June 2015.