The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is a smartphone that will definitely make your friends raise their eyebrows in surprise, especially when they hear its real value. Elegant design, moisture protection, attractive characteristics - this new product, released in the summer of 2015, deserves the attention of buyers.
Appearance
The design of the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua almost completely repeats that of the more expensive smartphone of the brand - Xperia Z3. But the case of the novelty is made of durable polycarbonate, and not of metal.
The smartphone has fairly standard dimensions of 14.6 x 7.3 x 0.7 cm, it is thin, light (135 g) and fits comfortably in the hand.
The side panels around the screen are very thin, but the upper and lower panels, on the contrary, are quite wide. But they are not idle: on the first shelter the manufacturer’s logo, speaker, front camera and a small LED that flashes in different colors when the smartphone receives alerts, and on the second a microphone is predictably placed.
The power button is located on the right side in the middle, there you can also find the volume and camera buttons.
The case comes in 3 colors: white, black and coral red.
Two versions
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Dual E2333, as the name implies, has two slots for a nanoSIM card, but just the Xperia M4 Aqua - only 1. In all other parameters and characteristics they are identical. Only the weight of the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Dual is 1 g less - 135 g compared to the usual 136 g, well, the cost of the Dual models is slightly higher.
Moisture proof
Of course, this is the trump card of this model. Moreover, compared to the previous waterproof model of the brand, this smartphone has become even more perfect.
So, there is no longer a need for plugs on the headphone jack and microUSB, which caused inconvenience to users. But so that moisture does not get inside the case, after bathing, you need to wait until the ports dry out before connecting anything to them.
The protective plug remained only on the compartment for the nanoSIM card and microSD card, it must be carefully closed before allowing contact with the liquid.
The degree of protection of the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua shell complies with IP65 / IP68 standards, which means that it is completely protected from dust and moisture, can be immersed in water for no more than 30 minutes and no more than 1.5 m in depth.
As always happens with capacitive screens, when in contact with liquid, they become uncontrollable. So you won’t be able to browse your page on social networks under water, but you can take photos thanks to the presence of a physical camera shutter button.
For greater protection against moisture, the battery cannot be removed without special tools and skills.
Display
Most often, this is a parameter on which manufacturers like to save on middle-class models. The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone was no exception to this rule, but Sony engineers did a great job and made it pretty bright, juicy and crisp.
The screen diagonal is 5 inches, the resolution is not the maximum possible, but also rather big - 1280 x 720 pixels, the pixel density per inch is 294.
Although these are not the best indicators, the pictures and fonts on the screen look clearly and beautifully.
It quickly and accurately responds to touches and gestures, and is also protected by a coating from scratches.
Specifications
Despite the attractive design, inside the Xperia M4 is just a sturdy middling. The octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, clocked at 1.76 GHz, as well as 2 GB of RAM - these characteristics are not surprising today.
But they significantly reduce its cost to a competitive level.
Another question that has been particularly worrying for buyers lately: does the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua LTE? Yes, the smartphone works with it, as well as with other necessary communication protocols - Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, WiFi, GPS.
The amount of internal memory varies, depending on the model number. How to know exactly what a particular device is? On a smartphone with 1 SIM card, the E2303 and E2353 markings mean 8 GB of memory, and the E2306 - 16 GB. The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Dual E2312 also has 8 GB of internal storage, while the E2333 and E2363 have 16 GB.
Interface and Performance
The smartphone runs on the new version of Android 5.0, which is able to use all the features of its 64-bit processor.
As with all Sony Xperia models, the operating system has an add-on from the manufacturer, which changes its appearance somewhat, but at the same time does not create difficulties in mastering.
But the smartphone with its functions does not always cope with "excellent". Short-term freezes when opening applications, scrolling through them in the general list are common problems. This is not to say that they are very inconvenient, but they clearly indicate that your smartphone is not a premium.
From the manufacturer, the user also receives a considerable number of applications. Their usefulness depends directly on how many other brand devices you have, and how much you are used to using its services. Some of them can be removed, but some will have to be reconciled, regardless of your preference.
Unfortunately, these applications also have the ability to suddenly crash and restart. This is not such a rare occurrence, and when it happens in the background, it hardly causes any inconvenience.
But each such emergency restart provokes alerts on the main screen, which are difficult to remove without sending a report to Google. So if you are temporarily left without the Internet on the device, then its desktop will be littered with a considerable number of such notifications.
Photo and video
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Dual E2333 far surpasses its predecessor M2 in this area. Like most modern models, it has 2 cameras: the main - 13 megapixels and a pretty good front - 5 megapixels.
The application for working with photos and videos is launched either from the main desktop, or simply by pressing the shutter’s physical button.
Like all Xperia smartphones, it is rich in various modes (52 scenarios) and settings for manual shooting, but the auto mode also copes quite well with the selection of optimal parameters for different conditions. Color reproduction under natural and artificial lighting is quite accurate, the clarity and brightness of most shots are also pleasantly pleasing. But a smartphone cannot become a full-fledged replacement for a digital camera.
The speed of the camera is its drawback - due to the low-power processor, frame processing is rather slow. Therefore, shooting fast-moving objects will be difficult.
The front-facing camera will delight fans of video calls in Skype and selfie, as it gives a fairly clear picture with the correct color reproduction.
As for the video, the highest possible quality for shooting is 1080 pixels.
Battery
Speaking about the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone, special attention should be paid to its battery. After all, the manufacturer actively advertises it as one of its main advantages. A battery with a capacity of 2400 mA should theoretically provide the user 2 days without recharging.
But do manufacturer's assurances coincide with reality?
The smartphone has a number of options to save battery, for example,
- Disabling all active applications when turning off the screen - in this case, you can create a list of exceptions for especially needed applications;
- STAMINA mode - disables all functions except the most necessary - calls and SMS.
But even without these improvements, at the end of the day of moderate use, the smartphone shows a high level of remaining charge - about 60%. Of course, when watching movies or playing games, the battery runs out faster, and Wi-Fi and 4G also have a similar effect.
What do customers think about the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua?
Reviews unanimously note the beautiful design, according to which at first glance the smartphone can be attributed to the premium class. The strict and laconic black case of the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Black has become a universal option for buyers of different sexes and ages, and the red-pink Coral has been enjoyed by technically savvy fashionistas. A beautiful bright display, a convenient operating system - all this speaks in favor of a smartphone.
Another advantage of the smartphone is the only model at the moment with 2 SIM-cards and moisture protection. The latter is needed not only when friends suddenly throw you into the sea in the summer, but also in case the device falls into a puddle, or if it is used during heavy rain.
And what are the buyers of Sony Xperia M4 Aqua dissatisfied with? Reviews note serious problems with the internal memory capacity of models with only 8 GB. So, OS files and preinstalled applications leave the user a little more than 1 GB of free space, which hardly allows you to install all the necessary services. Moreover, the memory card does not fix the problem. Android 5.0 allows you to install applications only on the internal memory of the device.
They cause inconvenience and noticeable freezes in the browser and annoying error alerts.
To summarize
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is an interesting model with significant disadvantages and advantages. She has a beautiful design, a good screen, a long-lasting battery, good value for money and, of course, moisture protection is achieved using a minimum of uncomfortable plugs.
But the smartphone’s performance is not high, with heavy use, the battery runs out quickly, the camera is rather weak, and the small amount of internal memory makes it difficult to work with applications.
Therefore, the attractiveness of this model depends solely on your preferences and requests. If you need a beautiful waterproof smartphone for infrequent use, this is a great choice. If you like to spend hours on the Internet, playing for a long time and taking lots of photos - this model is not quite what you need.