Sony Xperia M4 Aqua: Style over substance
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Benchmark Performance, Imaging, Battery Life and Conclusion
Performance Benchmarks
In terms of hardware, like many mid-range smartphones, the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, with four cores running at 1.5GHz and the other four running at 1GHz. This is the slower version of the 615, which is also used in the Phicomm P660 and ZTE Blade S6. In comparison, one of the Xperia M4 Aqua's closest competitors, the Xiaomi Mi 4i, uses a faster Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor running at 1.7GHz and four power-saving cores that run at 1.1GHz.
For this review, we will be comparing the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua to the Xiaomi Mi 4i, Xiaomi Redmi 2 as well as the ASUS ZenFone 2.
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Sunspider Javascript
SunSpider JavaScript helps measure the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is at delivering a high-speed web browsing experience.
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua was the worst performer in this benchmark, which was disappointing considering that the Xperia M4 Aqua has 2GB RAM compared to the 1GB of RAM in the Xiaomi Redmi 2 but the Xperia M4 Aqua still fared worse. General web browsing was decent, though we did notice a slight delay when opening new browser tabs and switching between browser tabs.
Quadrant
Quadrant is an Android benchmark that evaluates a device's CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics performance. The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua fared reasonably well but fell behind the ASUS ZenFone 2 and the Mi 4i’s second-generation Snapdragon 615 processor.
3DMark (2013)
Originally developed as a PC benchmarking tool, 3DMark is now expanded to support multiple platforms including Android OS. The Ice Storm benchmark is designed for smartphones, mobile devices and ARM architecture computers.
For an in-depth understanding of 3DMark for Android, do head over to our article, "3DMark - Android Device GPU Performance Review." In a nutshell, it is an OpenGL ES 2.0 benchmark test that uses fixed off-screen rendering to run two graphics tests designed to stress the GPU performance of your device and a physics test to stress its CPU performance. The benchmark consists of three test portfolios:- Standard (720p resolution rendering), Extreme (1080p resolution rendering with higher quality textures and post-processing effects) and Unlimited (disabled v-sync, display scaling and other OS factors that make it ideal for chipset comparison).
As all recent flagship smartphones have been maxing out the scores on the Standard and Extreme tests, we will only be looking at the scores for Ice Storm Unlimited.
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua was just behind the Xiaomi Mi 4i in this test, while beating the Xiaomi Redmi 2. Unfortunately the ASUS ZenFone 2 performed far better in this test compared to the other three phones.
Imaging Performance
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua comes with a 13-megapixel camera that's a decent performer, but won't really be impressing anyone with its image quality. Colors were accurate but there was obvious noise and smudging of details, though things aren't so bad when you're shooting with lots of ambient light.
Battery performance
Our standard battery test for mobile phones includes the following parameters:
- Looping a 800 x 480-pixel video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
- Constant data streaming through email and Twitter
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua has a 2,400 mAh capacity battery and thus loses out to the Xiaomi Mi 4i's large 3,120 mAh capacity battery. What's surprising is that the Xiaomi Redmi 2, which has a smaller 2,200 mAh capacity battery, actually lasted longer than the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua.
Portability
We measure the portability of a device by calculating its battery life to (weight x volume) ratio. The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua scores pretty well here, with its portability matching that of the Xiaomi Redmi 2, though the Xiaomi Mi 4i's large battery pushes up its score in this test.
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is one of the better looking mid-range smartphones out there, and its IP68 build is a very interesting feature for this segment. On the other hand, it's a lot more expensive than other mid-range smartphones, and the rest of its specs are fairly average for this category. In fact, its 720p resolution display is worse than a few of the Full HD mid-range smartphones tested in our recent shootout, which means you're paying a large premium just for its waterproof build and attractive design.
For example, compare the M4 Aqua to the Phicomm P660, which has the same processor and camera sensor, and is more compact, lighter, boasts magnesium alloy side panels, and more importantly has a Full HD display. The P660 however costs just S$318. At which point, you have to ask, is the extra S$180 a reasonable price to ask for the M4 Aqua's waterproofing? Unless you have a burning desire to use your phone in the shower or bathtub, or you're frequently dropping your phone in the toilet, probably not. Don't forget, touchscreens don't work very (or at all) under water.
There are other options too, the ASUS ASUS ZenFone 2 (4GB variant) costs $69 less than the M4 Aqua, and comes with a Full HD 5.5-inch display, and a more powerful Intel Atom processor and 4GB RAM that easily beats the M4 Aqua in every performance benchmark test. If you want something even more affordable, the Xiaomi Mi 4i is just $279 and uses a faster version of the M4 Aqua's Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and has a Full HD display too.
All things considered, the only reason to buy the M4 Aqua is if you really want a Sony Mobile-branded waterproof phone, but the Z3+ is a bit out of your price range. Having said that, considering you can now buy a brand new Sony Xperia Z3 for just $640 or a Z3 Compact for $550, you'd probably be better off paying a little more to get one of those.
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