Sony Xperia E4 review

Build Quality

The Sony Xperia E4 is another addition to the budget smartphone market and the design includes a rounded shape with a textured surface, which makes it a look alike for the new Microsoft Lumia 535. A chrome power button and simple black or white colour scheme adds to the appeal making it a buy for consumers of any age.

Read our Microsoft Lumia 535 review

The large 5” qHD IPS display has a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels which is plenty for browsing the internet or watching movies and catch-up TV. The IPS display enables a great viewing experience from any angle with true colour reproduction and the scratch resistant glass ensures the picture never dims.

The build of the Xperia E4 is just slightly thicker at 10.5mm when compared to the top of the range Sony phones and it weighs in at only 144g. A quad-core 1.3GHz processor with 1GB RAM powers this smartphone and this processor delivers performance with minimum drain on the battery.

An 8GB internal memory is plenty enough for your initial photos, videos and new app downloads but the memory card slot will allow you to increase the memory by another 32GB if needed.

Phone Set Up

The set up process is extremely easy on the Sony Xperia E4 thanks to the Xperia Transfer App that allows you to move all of your old contacts and files over from your old mobile phone.

The Android KitKat operating system powers the handset and with access to Google Play you can instantly start to download free apps and games.

Finally the Xperia E4 is compatible with a range of Sony accessories such as Sony’s Bluetooth Speaker and Stereo Bluetooth Headset.

Features

Sony products are well renowned for sound quality and the Xperia E4 is no different. Sony 3D Surround Sound technology with Clear Audio+ and the xLoud Experience deliver powerful bass with distortion free treble. The Party Share app lets friends share their music phone-to-phone with Wi-Fi Direct

Smart Connect is another great feature that mimics artificial intelligence. You can pre-determine actions that the phone will take when it connects to accessories. This could mean that your fitness app is opened up when you connect a headset or that when you put the phone on charge late at night it switches automatically to night mode with the alarm on and sound off. The options are endless and this app works with Bluetooth, NFC, the 3.5mm audio jack and the Micro USB port.

The remaining features include GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G internet browsing and access to the Xperia Lounge for competitions, behind the scene celebrity videos and product giveaways.

If you are looking for a 4G Sony budget phone then

read our Sony Xperia E3 review

Camera & Video

The Sony Xperia E4 has a great camera package that stands up next to any other in this pricing range and then it goes a little further! The 5MP camera has 4x digital zoom and is backed up by a 2MP video calling / selfie camera on front.

The auto scene recognition technology can detect and set up the camera for 52 different scenarios. This gives you the confidence to shoot without altering any settings but you still get the option to turn on or off HDR and you can see the dramatic results of this in our camera photo gallery.
 
The photography fun is almost endless with the ability to add animations to your group shots and record up to 10 seconds of sound to accompany them. Portrait Retouch allows you to beautify your selfies with 10 different beauty styles and the option to add eye-sparkle and makeup with the changes shown in real time.

Full HD 1080p video recording is possible on the Xperia E4 and you can broadcast these with Live on YouTube. If you find yourself searching for more photographic control then you can download more camera apps from Sony and these include new apps as they are developed, keeping your camera package right up to date.

Battery Life

The 2,300mAh battery has been design to deliver two day battery life under mixed usage scenarios. If you know that your Sony Xperia E4 will be away from a power source for an extended period of time then you can switch to Extended Standby Mode and boost standby four fold.

Sony Ultra STAMINA Mode is also available should you get caught out and find yourself low on power. The official figures state that the Xperia E4 will deliver up to 696 hours standby, 12 hours talk time, 48 hours of music playback and 6 hours of video playback.

Sony Xperia E4 verdict: As an affordable smartphone the Xperia E4 is a fantastic buy and any user will appreciate all of that Sony goodness!

Written by: Michael Brown