Sony Xperia M2: The Perfect Mid Ranger?

Sony phones are known for their impeccable sound quality, which has been prevalent ever since the company embarked upon Walkman. The style and sound quality of Sony are unmatchable. Although we know of Sony as producing top level smartphones that are imbibed with rich features and come at a decent cost, Sony has this time launched a phone with good features at a very affordable rate to reach out to the masses. It seems that this is the strategy to reach out to a mass of people. Well, the idea does seem good, but let’s check out all the details to form a perfect opinion.

Specifications

• 4.8 inch TFT capacitive screen
• 1. 2 GHz quad-core Cortex A7
• Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400
• 1 GB of RAM
• 8 GB internal memory which is expandable up to 32 GB
• 8MP primary camera with LED flash
• 3 MP VGA front camera
• 2G/ 3Gnetwork support
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS(Glonass) and NFC
• 2300mAh Li-on battery
• Android version v4.3(jelly bean) and v4.4.4(Kitkat) upgradable to v5.0.2 ( Lollipop)
  

  Externals: Design and Display

  Sony Xperia M2 spots a build that measures 140X71X8.6 mm in dimension. Weighing about 148 grams, this phone perfectly sets itself in the category of phones that are not too heavy. The design is quite similar to that of the previous Z series version of Sony. Rectangle frame with curved corners, a glassy front and a plastic glossy rear back are the things that one can notice in the first go.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                        
  
  
  
   The front-pane is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which does a wonderful work of saving it from scratches and smudges. The backside is, however, that of plastic which is not completely protective against scratches. Though this could be protected from safeguards, the backside is a tad bit out of place for Sony models. A metallic rim frames out the screen surface levying an elegant look. The front side has camera, sensors and a strip of LED flash while the backside spots the camera and the flash neatly placed side by side to each other. On the right-hand side, one can find an aluminum power button placed in the geometrically middle.
  
  
  
   It is flanked with volume rockers, and the camera button is also placed here. The use of camera button as a direct application was one design detail that was really good. On the left-hand side, one could find the flap of the microSD port along with the USB port. The bottom portion consists of speaker grills while the top portion of the device has the 3.5 mm head jack. Apart from the camera button, there was nothing new in the design. However, the compact Sony Xperia M2 was good to hold in hands giving a comfortable grip.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   The Sony Xperia flaunts a 4.8 inches TFT capacitive screen, which supports a resolution of 540X960 pixels at a pixel density of 229. The colors, sharpness of the images and the text visibility are not a good as it would have been on a 720 pixels display, however, the brightness and the colour contrasting settings are so designed to curb these drawbacks. The display is okay and well not in the league of the fantastic displays that Sony Xperia has previously boasted of.
  

  Internals: Hardware and Software

  Boasting of 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 with Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400 chipset, the hardware supports a very powerful performance with smooth navigation options. Response time is quite fast and very little or no lag is found while running the applications although there is a bit of glitch while handling the camera. Overall, the performance rate is high which is in favour of this model
  
  
  
  It is supported by 1 GB RAM and an 8 GB internal memory. The expandable memory option with the extra slot for MicroSD is commendable; however, it would have been better if more than 32 GB storage space could be provided. The battery power is about 23200mAh, which is less than the other top-notch models of the Sony. Another thing which we found missing is the metallic charging option, which is present in the Z series version of Sony. So, basically, Xperia M2 has only USb charging capacity. While compared to the other models in the same segment, the hardware could be rated as average.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   The phone is supported on the Jellybean OS while there is scope for upgrade to the Kitkat and Lollipop options. There is nothing new about the software apart from the Stamina Mode feature. However, it included all the standard features like the accessibility to Walkman and Sony select. There is another good feature; Dropbox, providing 50 GB of extra cloud space, which is really amazing.
  
  
  

  Camera and Connectivity

  Camera is one segment which is lacking in the Sony Xperia M2 model. The rear camera of 8 MP does a decent job of capturing pictures and videos at 1080 pixels, 30 fps. Though the pictures taken are okay, one can easily spot grains in them. In fact, the sharpness of the images is also not quite convincing. However, there are other features such as geo-tagging, face detection, smile detection, auto-focus and adding effects, which make the camera good to go signal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Connectivity features are great in Sony Xperia M. Apart from WI-FI and Bluetooth v4, the model also has NFC and GPS (GLONASS) connection options. The phone is also packed with 4G LTE connection, which is like a feather in the cap.

  Conclusion

  Well, this is a very good phone with marvelous design, awesome sound quality and average features. At the price that this is offered, best of the features have been lined in the bouquet. The 4G connectivity is surely an attraction point, which will strike the viewers. In addition, the hardware also seems very promising bringing about some great performance. However, the key point is still its price. This can be safely categorized as mid-ranged average featured phone with all basic amenities.