Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Review

With the M2 Aqua, Sony brought the dust- and waterproofi ng which was previously reserved for the high-end Z range to a cheaper smartphone. It’s got an IP68 rating which is the highest available and now the Micro-USB no longer requires a fi ddly fl ap. The device has a similar design and feel to the Z3 smartphones including a glass rear cover and protective nylon corners making it feel more premium than the price suggests. The Xperia M4 Aqua is thin and light for a mid-range phone at 7.3mm and 136g. The Xperia M4 Aqua will be available in black, white, silver and coral.

This is Sony’s fi rst smartphone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit processor and there’s also 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. Not bad for the price, and performance seemed good during our time with the phone. We will test this properly asap. The screen has jumped from 4.8in with a qHD resolution to a larger 5in IPS display with a 720p HD resolution. You’re getting a decent screen for a midrange smartphone with a pixel density of 294ppi. Mid-range smartphones tend to scrimp on photography but the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua has a 13Mp rear facing camera with Sony’s Exmor RS sensor and a 5Mp wide angle lens snapper at the front for selfi es.

Both seem decent but we’ll update this after some proper testing. Another thing we can’t test with a short hands-on play is battery life but Sony touts two days of usage from the Xperia M4 Aqua. When in Ultra Stamina Mode, the device can run for a week on core functions, according to the fi rm. Like the Xperia Z4 Tablet, the smartphone runs Android 5.0 Lollipop which is the latest version with Sony’s own user interface which this time around uses many stock Android elements like the recent apps menu and dropdown notifi cation bar. We found the software to be smooth during our time and we like the fact Sony hasn’t gone mad with customisations. As per usual, Sony preloads its own apps such as Walkman and PlayStation but you’ll have to opt for a Z2 or Z3 handset if you want features like High-Res audio support and PS4 Remote Play. Things are a little more basic on the M4 Aqua.