
While Sony has recently unveiled its new mid-range smartphone, the Xperia M , and despite the fact that it will not be launched until the third quarter of 2013, I had the chance to test it before its release official. Thus I was able to present it to you in a previous article with various pictures, and now after a few days of intensive testing I am ready to give my verdict.Unlike other smartphones, at the time of this writing I have not found other tests on this smartphone so it’s a little exclusive for all those who want to acquire a quality smartphone at a price budget.
To put this in context, this Xperia M turns out to be a little brother to the flagship smartphone Sony Xperia Z , and by taking a few key design elements of the smartphone and adding his personal touch to do not present an insane price. Sold at around 299 euros in France, it should delight more than one person looking for a small smartphone, stylish and ultra functional. Does it happen to oust the intense competition in this market? The future will tell
Xperia M: Features
Before starting to introduce the product, here the characteristics of the Xperia Tablet Z:
- Operating System: Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, dual-core 1GHz
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Storage: 4 GB storage space (micro-SD slot)
- Display: 4-inch (854 x 480 pixels)
- Camera: 5 megapixel
- Front Camera: 0.3 megapixels
- Connectivity: 3G HSPA +, NFC, DLNA, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0
Hardware
With the Sony Xperia M we do not of course the same characteristics as those included with the Xperia Z. So forget the 5-inch screen with full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, but a 4-inch screen with an unusual resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, an ideal size for an immersive entertainment, without being bulky.

With a white hull, available in yellow, black and purple, a power button aluminum associated with the glass screen offers him a pretty sexy look. In addition, we will find a curved rear shell and curved, as we have already remarked on phones such as the Xperia T, allowing for easy handling. This case curved top and bottom of the phone, it thickened slightly, reaching 9.3 mm. Next dimension, the device is in a relatively reasonable size, it measures 124 x 62 mm – 139 x 71 mm Xperia Z for comparison – and a very light weight – 124 grams against 146 of the Xperia Z.
At the back we will also find a 5 megapixel camera with Exmor RS sensor and a 4x digital zoom with autofocus, offering 720p video recording, and HDR capabilities to the rear and a front camera 0 , 3 megapixels, which only make video conferencing. For convenience, the smartphone comes with a dedicated camera button that allows you to take pictures even when the screen is locked, more a function of capture rapid passing of the day to capture less than a second .
To continue in the specifications of this device, we find in his heart a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor clocked at 1GHz, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. They added a micro-SD slot available after removing the shell and battery 1700 mAh, next to the location of the SIM.
On top of the Xperia M you will find audio jack of 3.5 mm, so that you can make the most of the technologies offered by Clear audio sound + xLOUD and 3D Surround Sound (VPT) which are integrated into the smartphone. A micro-USB port for charging is oddly placed on the upper left edge of the device. What is new, and can not be that I am relatively a fan. It would have been much better below.
We can also notice an LED as a light line down the phone to alert you of notifications:
The side of connectivity, the Xperia M has 3G HSPA +, NFC technology and other features such as DLNA, GPS, FM radio, and Bluetooth 4.0 are also included. It is interesting to note that this smartphone has NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, which allows you to connect a device to another through casual contact. No wires or cables and no tinkering with the settings is necessary.Thus, you can share photos, music and more between two phones or between the phone and the NFC with a simple touch on the other device compatible laptop.
As regards the material itself, my feeling is rather mixed that I spend on a mid-range smartphone. Even if the Sony Xperia M has nothing to get excited about, it is somewhat normal for an Android smartphone mid-range, and do not take it as a bad thing! Overall, I applaud Sony offer a design that stands out from the competition.
I love its design and responsiveness of the latter! Unfortunately, we may regret that Sony is not the end in the idea of offering a range of devices completely “solid”, the sealed making water – up to 1 meter for 30 minutes – and dust as we have seen with the Xperia Z and Z Tablet . However, Sony has designed this thing extremely well, giving it an appearance of solidity and robustness. Of course, it is far from the design of high-end devices.
Software
Sony integrates its Android Smartphone 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but I hope that an update to Android 4.2.2 is proposed by the release of the smartphone. If Sony has kept the overall interface of the Android OS, the Xperia M comes with an overlay feature of Sony, which compared to other manufacturers made it rather lightweight. Unfortunately, if for Tablet Z overcoat brought additional features it offers nothing substantial or beneficial, which could make us think that Android ROM “pure” was more interesting.
However, Sony does not seem to make improvements in his overcoat and things worth mentioning. You just have to enter their realm. You will find applications like Walkman, Sony Album, Sony Films and Sony Select. Each of them allow you to stay in the world of Sony, and it’s easy to find all your data and functionality offered by these applications, especially if you’re a fan of Sony products.
While I like the minimal user interface provided by the overlay, I still prefer to have an Android version “pure.” The Samsung TouchWiz overlay brings to it as new features such as multi-screen mode, AirView or support movements and more. HTC, the overlay provides a significant improvement in the dedicated application of the camera, and offers new BlinkFeed like never before you had. The overlay Sony has not yet these things. This is why I’m rather mixed on it, and why and how I look forward to the arrival of the Xperia Z Google Edition.
Benchmarks
Of course, given that this is a first test I had to do some quick benchmarks, even though I knew what to expect with such a device. It is not a Galaxy S4, HTC One or Xperia Z, but he held up the candle to other less powerful devices. With a score by 9842 points AnTuTu, it ranks behind the Galaxy Note, but lags behind the others mentioned above.
All this is of course subjective. Every time you use the phone, I found it quite fast for everyday use. But some people just love to see the numbers. Google Chrome is the default browser, and it will prove to be rather fast, and navigating through all the photos taken from the Xperia M, I found ka navigation very fluid and smooth. Android 4.2 Jelly Bean should of help, but this phone is already gold-and very functional.
Camera
To speak of the camera, let me redirect you in a few examples below. While Sony is no stranger to the world of photography, the 5-megapixel sensor works very well, even indoors. Of course, here too it is far rendering behemoths of smartphones, but all the pictures taken are doing with a fairly good quality.
HDR technology for photos provides natural color regardless of lighting. With this technology, smartphone capture the same image with different exposure levels in several layers to optimize the picture.
Battery
For a 4-inch display is not necessary to have a battery of very high quality, and 1700 mAh embedded in the Xperia M sufficient to provide life quite satisfactory. With STAMINA mode enabled, the management and the power of the smartphone are completely controlled. However, if you constantly need your data plan I recommend you do not activate it under penalty of freak fairly quickly, since in this mode, whenever the screen is off, you will not receive Gmail alerts or updates Facebook status, but you continue to receive incoming calls and messages, and to hear the alarms.
As everyone has different needs, you can easily customize applications for which you want to receive push notifications, even in standby mode.
Overall, the life of the battery has been better than expected, since I easily held 10 hours with normal use. Leaving the automatic adjusting the brightness, it should allow you to save your battery.
Conclusion
Overall I enjoyed using the Sony Xperia M, with extras that make it happen for themselves on a mid-range market increasingly in vogue, and for which large, even Apple, do not hesitate to bet to acquire new customers.
In addition, with a truly budget price, € 300 for a product sold naked, this is clearly a great deal. If the device is quite powerful and extremely well built, it has more than the competition does not have.
The Sony Xperia M is scheduled to arrive later this year, and I hope that Sony will not hesitate to pass on Android 4.2 before its release. If you liked the previous products of the Xperia range, it will surely make you want to test it. It will not replace my Galaxy Nexus 4 S4 or my course, but I’m sure he has a future ahead of him!