Sony’s latest budget phone announced: the Xperia E4

Sony quietly unveiled the Xperia E4 this week, their latest budget handset. The phone sports a larger screen and faster internals, but it’s the new curvier shape that’s the most interesting change. Let’s take a look.

So – that new design. The E4 is much more rounded than its predecessor, with curved edges that remind me more of the Nokia Lumia 520 or Motorola Moto G than a Sony phone. The new shape looks much more comfortable to hold, and its plastic body should make it quite durable as well. The new design might portend similar changes to the flagship Xperia Z4, which is expected to be announced at MWC early next month. The phone comes in black or white – no interesting colours here!

The display has moved from 4.5 inches on the E4 to 5 inches, and the resolution has moved to qHD (960 x 540). It’s a pretty low-density display, although Sony’s use of an IPS panel should mean that viewing angles and colour accuracy should be very good for its price range. Despite the significant increase in screen size, thinner bezels mean the phone hasn’t grown as much as you might expect.

Inside, the phone comes with a new MediaTek quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, a 2300mAh battery and 8GB of internal storage (expandable via micro SD card). These specifications are towards the lower end of mid-range,comparable to the new Motorola Moto E.

Unfortunately, there’s no LTE support here, so you’ll top out at H+. You can also get a dual-SIM variant of the E4. In terms of cameras, we have 5-megapixel unit on the back and a 2-megapixel shooter on the front.

The Xperia E4 will come with Android 4.4, but an upgrade to Lollipop seems assured. Sony has traditionally made relatively few major changes to the Android OS, with Xperia themes and an excellent battery saver mode being the two standout additions.

The E4 looks like a capable budget phone, with reasonable specifications, an inoffensive design and a fresh version of Android. It’s expected to be released in some territories later this month. We’ll be supporting the phone with a range of Xperia E4 cases and accessories.

What do you think of Sony’s latest handset? Let us know in the comments below, or write to us on Twitter @mobilefun.