Sony Xperia M2 review: Dial M for midrange

Introduction

We are about to explore the Xperia M2, a smartphone with an agenda of its own. Task number 1 is to upgrade the popular Xperia M. Check. The M2 brings a bigger screen (and ups the resolution), the chipset is better and the camera resolution is higher. The M2 also adds LTE and a higher battery capacity. Task number 2 is to give Sony an extra bit of quality against the likes of Moto G. We'll see about that.

Sony are busy adding number tags to model names, which doesn't speak highly of their copywriting skills, but the upgrades have so far been - at the very least - solid. We've seen the new season's flagships, phone and tablet, and the budget-friendly Xperia E1. The same applies to the Xperia M2 just as well.

Sony Xperia M2 official pictures

Sony fans have grown accustomed to getting high build quality and great looks regardless of the price range. The Xperia M2 readily delivers - but pays due attention to the innards as well. It adds a couple of extra CPU cores to what the original Xperia M has. The Snapdragon 400 chipset represents a good balance between price and performance. A 4.8" qHD screen, 8MP stills and 1080p videos, and rich connectivity options are also on the spec sheet.

Key features

• 4.8" LCD, 540 x 960px, 229ppi, Gorilla Glass 3, ambient light sensor
• LTE connectivity
• The Xperia M2 Dual has Dual SIM with Dual Call support (but without the LTE connectivity)
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (planned upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Adreno 305 GPU and 1GB of RAM
• 8MP camera, single LED flash, 1080p video recording, dedicated hardware shutter key
• VGA front-facing camera with video recording
• 8GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot
• Active noise cancellation with a secondary microphone
• 2,300 mAh battery; STAMINA Power Saving Mode

Main disadvantages

• Resolution is relatively low for this screen size
• No Android KitKat on launch
• Non user-replaceable battery

The Sony Xperia M2 sounds quite convincing on paper. A modern midranger, almost by the book. The OmniBalance design Sony introduced with the Xperia Z back in 2013 rules out a removable battery, but we guess that's the price to pay for looks and feel above the pay grade.

Sony Xperia M2 live pictures

The lack of KitKat will likely be sorted soon enough - the Xperia M2 update is already in development and should be out in the summer. That leaves us with the issue of screen resolution. Now qHD certainly sounds on the low side when spread across a 4.8" diagonal but the truth is, it's probably enough for many. We are sure a lot of you will go for size over pixel density - especially at the right price.

We'll get to that but first things first. Take the jump to our hardware checkup.