The smartphone market has been seeing an interesting shift lately, as many manufacturers have started focusing on low-end devices in their line-ups. This was initially met with some skepticism, and fans were claiming that they wanted to see more flagships as a whole, but in the end, the situation seems to have worked out nicely. There is something for everyone on the market right now, and many of the budget phone offers are actually quite good for their money.
The main players in this area of the market so far have been Xiaomi, Asus and Motorola, but lately Sony have also been making attempts to get noticed by people who don’t want to spend a lot of money on a smartphone. The Xperia E4 is their latest entry into the market, and it’s a phone that actually packs quite a good combination of features for its price. Is it the ideal choice for a budget buyer though?
We can see a change in design philosophy in the E4, although it’s most likely a necessary shift to make the device easier and cheaper to produce. Reports claim that it feels a bit cheap to the touch, and it has some rough edges – literally, as the user’s fingers could often feel the edges of the screen. At the same time, it’s relatively slim and lightweight, making it a good choice for those who want a compact design.
With a 540×960 resolution, it doesn’t offer anything impressive in terms of a display, but that’s never something a user should expect from a budget phone. For what it’s worth, users have reported that the picture quality is acceptable and even good for some colors, while the contrast is quite sharp.
Beneath the cover, the phone is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad core processor, 1 GB of RAM and it comes with 8 GB of built-in memory with an additional memory card slot. The hardware specifications, while nothing special, should be able to offer a good enough Android experience for most users. Those who use more resource-intensive apps in their everyday life may want to look at another device, however.
Overall, it does look like Sony are finding the right way in the budget market, but the company could probably focus a bit more on their marketing, as the popularity of the Xperia E4 is below what is to be expected from it right now. Considering that it’s actually not a bad offer for its price, Sony could definitely benefit from spreading the word about it a little more, especially in some markets around the world which would be particularly interested.