New Delhi: Sony has beefed up its mid-segment M series of
smartphones with features that were earlier available only on the flagship Z
series. Sony’s Xperia M4 Aqua Dual is a phone that packs capability in a palm-friendly
form factor. It is also one of the first smartphones outside of the Z series
with a waterproof and dust-tight body.
As the country heads into its annual tryst with the Monsoon
season, we had a chance to spend quality time with a smartphone that’s
particularly adept at dealing with inclement weather.
This is a 5-inch phone--a screen size that the industry
seems to be collectively veering towards these days--that feels both light and
slim in the hand. Its rounded edges make for a very comfortable tactile
experience, and its design stays true to the familiar Xperia design language:
the classic round silver power button is about halfway down the right edge and
is easy to reach, sitting immediately above the volume rocker.
There is also the dedicated shutter button, which plays to
the Xperia line’s prowess in photography. On the right edge is a flush flap
that conceals the microSD card slots, and the dual SIMs (both slots accept only
nano SIMs) are at the top right.
The phone runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with minimal skinning,
on a Snapdragon 615 chipset and the 2GB of RAM making for a visibly smooth user
experience. While the entire Lollipop experience here is par for the course,
there are a few areas that are amp’d up, primary among them being the camera
app. Based on the capable Exmor RS imaging engine and a 13MP primary camera,
the app adds numerous features that let you stretch its photography
capabilities. For example, an AR mode that overlays all manner of digital
creations onto a real scene (from dinosaurs to balloons) to morphing faces onto
different bodies to the regular slew of ‘portrait beautification’ modes.
Like other phones based on the Exmor sensor, this one’s
signature move is its particularly stellar response to low-light situations. In
shooting various scenes--some in near pitch-black conditions--this is one of
the few phones that picked up details where others recorded nothing but a black
image.
But the title feature of this phone is its IP65/68 rating,
meaning it is built to withstand fairly high levels of dirt, dust and water.
The rating specifies that its internals are sealed against powder-sized grains
of dust, and it can be submerged into water at a depth of greater than 1 meter.
So it should be resilient to a everything from a drooling toddler to a splash
in the pool with friends.
We threw several of the demanding real-world applications at
it (a.k.a. games): the phone’s capable Snapdragon 615-based system more that
sufficed with smooth gameplay at mid-level graphics settings. The Bravia engine
has always done a good job with image color and clarity--in this phone, images
were bright and rich (although appearing a tad saturated, as is wont to happen
in most Sony phones). Even though it has a lower-than-HD resolution of
720x1280, its smaller-than-phablet screen size of 5-inches delivers sharper
screen density. All in all, a very decent experience with gaming and watching
videos.We did however note an issue--the phone tends to perceptibly warm up
during intense and prolonged use (a bout of streaming video, gaming and the
like). It’s something that is noticeable, but doesn’t necessarily hamper
real-world use. We found battery life to be par for the course with the device
regularly making it through a day of moderate use.
So should you buy this phone? If you’re looking for a snappy
Android device with great photography chops, it goes up against several others
that offer virtually identical screen-processor-ram specs, and at lower price
points (the Mi 4i, Yu Yureka, Micromax Canvas Knight 2, ZTE, Nubia Z9 Mini,
Phicomm Passion P660, for example.) But if you especially need one that’s built
to take a beating while you’re on the road and are ready to pay a premium
ranging from 30 to 45 percent on the price of comparable phones, the Xperia M4
Aqua Dual does carve out a space for itself.
Source From:- http://zeenews.india.com/
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