Gadgetory

what is going on guys lawn here from Android authority and mid-range phones aren't for everyone but there is a demand for them and a company like Sony knows that so today we're going to be taking a look at a phone that features sony's iconic design but in a much more modest package this is the Sony Xperia m2 whether it's Samsung HTC or LG every manufacturer has figured out a design language that makes their devices easy to identify and Sony is no exception the Xperia m2 features the same flat rectangular design with sharp angles and slightly curved sides that we've seen on previous Sony devices which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it's a very simplistic look that many people seem to be a fan of unlike the higher-end Xperia devices like the z2 which is made of glass and metal the Xperia m2 is entirely made of plastic and doesn't have the same waterproofing characteristics either despite the plastic build it feels very solid in the hand and the compact form factor makes it very easy to hold on to the only problem that I've really had with it is that it attracts fingerprints and smudges like crazy and even after taking this phone out of the box for just the first few minutes it was already completely covered in fingerprints so I did find myself cleaning this phone quite a bit it's not a huge deal by any means but I figured it was worth mentioning on the right side you're going to find Sony signature power button with volume rockers right below and a dedicated camera button which is always nice to see especially on an Android device I will admit the buttons do feel a little bit on the cheap side as the feedback is really mushy and have a wiggle to them especially with the camera button above the power button is a rather large flap that houses the SIM slot and a micro SD card slot with support up to 32 gigs but again even with this flap the m2 is not waterproof in any way and the flap is really just sort of there to maintain aesthetics on the bottom you're going to find a single speaker and it's not the worst placement in the world it's definitely a lot better than being on the back but being on the bottom means you're going to get sideways firing audio when in landscape and it's also really easy to cover up when watching videos or playing games for being a single speaker though I was actually really surprised at how loud it gets it's a little on the tinny side at max volume but overall it sounds pretty good Charlotte's on steroids because her love is so strong on the front is a 4.8 inch display with a resolution of 960 by 540 so the resolution isn't going to blow you away you're not going to be able to watch videos or play games in HD and pixels are noticeable especially with smaller details like the folders but other than that it's certainly a passable display with great colors viewing angles and brightness but the reflective panel that Sony likes to put on a lot of their phones does make outdoor visibility a little difficult the Xperia m2 is being powered by a Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.2 gigahertz one gigabyte of RAM the Adreno 305 GPU and 8 gigs of internal storage which are relatively standard specs when it comes to mid-range devices but in day to day usage performance has been quite good with really no issues at all whether with something as basic as swiping through home screens opening apps or even multitasking the m2 seemed to handle everything I threw at it just fine it even handled gaming without any issues as I was able to play simplistic games like clash of clans - more graphically intense games like dead trigger 2 without any noticeable lag or drop frames so while the m2 is far from being the fastest device in the world I certainly didn't have any complaints in terms of performance the camera on the back of the m2 is an 8 megapixel sensor which is a far cry from the 13 16 and 20 megapixel shooters on high-end flagships but 8 megapixels is still more than enough for everyday picture taking Sony's camera UI comes packed with a lot of features from various different scene modes to more basic functions like ISO exposure value white balance and all of Sony's own shooting modes that make the camera fun to use like timeshift burst and AR effect are also included most of the time you'll probably either shooting in automatic or manual mode and to be honest the camera is pretty lackluster and good lighting I did manage to get some good-looking shots with nice color reproduction and sharpness but the second thing start to get even the slightest bit dim or gloomy photos completely fell apart with a ton of noise especially around the edges making low-light or nighttime shots look really bad and HDR mode seemed a little inconsistent sometimes making the photos pop and other times I ended up preferring the non HDR photo battery life however has been really solid inside the m2 is a 2,300 milliamp hour battery which I know in 2014 sounds really small but despite the battery size I still managed to get through a full day just fine with my usage which typically consists of texting checking social networks like Facebook Twitter a little bit of web browsing and some YouTube watching and I got about 5 hours of screen on time without doing any sort of crazy power management except for keeping the screen brightness low but if you want to stretch the battery life of the m2 even further Sony does include their own stamina mode to help you get through the day but honestly I never felt the need to use it moving along to the software the Sony Xperia m2 is running on Android 4.3 jelly bean out of the box it would have been nice to see KitKat but Sony is promising an update to KitKat at least that's how I'm interpreting the sticker on the box we just don't know when that's going to happen on top of Android 4.3 is Sony's Xperia UI that comes with their usual slew of apps like Walkman and PlayStation mobile and at the end of the day I prefer stock Android but if I had to pick a skin the Xperia UI isn't bad at all as it adds some useful features like these small apps built into the recent apps menu for example without feeling like bloat or interfering too much with the core Android experience the Xperia m2 is available now for $300 give or take a few bucks in either direction and it does indeed support LTE and HSPA+ inside the United States if that is where you live but there are three different model numbers to be aware of there's the 2303 the 2305 and the 2306 the 2303 and the 2306 both support LTE and HSPA+ while the 2305 caps out at HSPA+ so before you buy make sure to do your research and check those model numbers now I know what a lot of you guys are going to say $300 is really high for a phone with mid-range specs and a 960 by 540 display especially when you can get phones like the Nexus 5 or the Moto X for an extra $50 which offer higher end specs and a stock Android experience and then there's phones like the Moto G and the Moto e which are really pushing the boundaries when it comes to mid-range to low-end smartphones making the Xperia m2 a really hard sell by no means is it a bad phone but if you plan on picking one up I definitely wait for the price to drop and so there you have it for the Sony Xperia m2 Sony's iconic design in a much more modest package but that is it for this review hopefully you guys enjoyed it if you did give it a thumbs up down below and also subscribe down below if you haven't already so you don't miss out on any future videos and once you're done doing all that make sure to check out the website Android Authority comm and as always keep it locked on android authority as we are your source for all things Android