The Sony Xperia M2 Dual - What Makes It Unique?

 Gadgets  

Sony has improved the design and built quality of their new Xperia M2 Dual smartphone.  With a better display, more powerful hardware and an improved camera, the Xperia M2 is a proper mid-range device.

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Sony has got some really good devices in their line-up and they constantly keep bringing some interesting devices to our shores. They unveiled a new device called the Xperia M2 a while back and it was welcomed by people. It is an updated version of the popular Xperia M and the upgrades we are talking about are huge. The M sold in good numbers and Sony is counting on the M2 to repeat things. They have improved the design and built quality of the device, have put a better display on it, put in a powerful hardware and added an improved camera to make the Xperia M2 a proper mid-range device. We take a closer look at this device to see what makes it unique.

"The only issue here is that the Moto G has got hardware very much similar to it and is available for much less."

Design

Well the design isn’t exactly very fresh but has been derived from the high end Sony devices. It is slim and large with the round aluminium power button in the middle. The Xperia M was small and had a matte back. This one has got a smooth glossy back like the one you would see on Xperia Z or Z1. There is a small difference however. On the Z1, they have used tempered glass but on this, they have used hard glossy plastic which has been made to look and feel like glass.

These devices are made somewhat symmetrical on both ends and they have tried to do something similar with this device as well. They call this the ‘Omni Balance’ design. On the side is the SIM and micro SD card slot. Both of them are covered by a small flap. On the left is a micro USB socket which is not covered. This isn’t a waterproof device so covering it wasn’t a compulsion either. The device is well built overall and is easy to handle. Thanks to its slim body and even weight distribution.

Display

The device comes with a display that measure 4.8 inch when measured diagonally. The size is decent to make the device easy to handle. What is not decent is the resolution of this display. It has a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels and at this display size; it gives you a pixel density of just 230 pixels per inch. This isn’t acceptable for a mid-range device launched in today's market. Many devices in this category have started offering semi HD displays and this looks ancient against them.

Put it against the Moto G and you have an entirely new frame of reference. It has got a semi HD display with a pixel density almost 100 ppi over this. The Moto G is available for much less as well.

Ignore the slight issue with pixel density and there is nothing else to complaint about the display. It is very easily readable in sunlight if you increase the brightness a bit. The colours have been calibrated very close to perfect and the colours are very true to real. The saturation is just perfect as well. It is neither oversaturated nor under saturated. The contrast is decent as well though not very impressive. The viewing angles are very wide and overall we would rate this display above average.

Hardware

The device can easily handle most of the stuff the play store can throw at it. The hardware is pretty much the same as Moto G. It runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad core A7 processor running at a maximum clock speed of 1.2 GHz. To process the graphics, an Adreno 305 GPU is on the duty. It has got 1 GB of RAM which is decent but 1.5 GB would have been great. It has 8 GB of on-board storage and you can add a micro SD card of up to 32 GB if you need additional storage.

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When it comes to connectivity, you get the 3G HSDPA, NFC and up to 21 Mbps speeds are supported for downloading your stuff. The Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n gets you on board towards fast data transfers. The micro USB 2.0 supports transfers at rapid speeds which helps the user to connect flash drives to it.

It comes with a 2300 mAh battery which is pretty good for this device. Most devices running similar or even higher hardware come with similar or smaller battery. The Google Nexus 5 with Snapdragon 800 and full HD display has got the same battery size so on this device, expect a really good battery life as it won’t be that power hungry.

Camera

This device has got an 8 megapixel primary camera which might cause trouble for some of the rivals. For the price, you get a pretty decent camera, if not very impressive. The camera can get you some awesome shots with the help of proper light and can even get you amazed. Couple it with some good photography apps and it would do a great job. The camera features panorama, image stabilization and HDR with the help of LED flash and can record full HD videos.

Verdict

The Sony Xperia M2 Dual is a pretty good mid-range device that would compete on behalf of Sony. The Xperia M was a popular device and this one tries to build upon its name to stack up numbers. It has been improved in ways upon the M and you get most of the features you would want from a mid-range device. The camera is pretty good and the hardware is decent. The software is a bit old for now but we can count on Sony for giving us an over the air update very soon. The only issue here is that the Moto G has got hardware very much similar to it and is available for much less. It changes the reference and then every other device feels overpriced for what is on offer. Ignore that and this device would make a good buy.

By Kundan Kumar

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