14 DAY TRIAL // This week, Sony has introduced a new phone in its home market. The company has been having a rough time lately trying to convince people its smartphones are worth buying, and at some point, it was even speculated that the Japanese device maker might end up selling its smartphone division altogether, like it did with its iconic VAIO laptop business .
It was believed that Sony might be better off pursuing other tech niches like its camera and PlayStation business, but the company seems to believe it should persist with its mobile efforts and it’s not giving up.
Recently, we saw the tech giant roll out the Xperia Z4 flagship, which is expected to be offered only in Japan. Afterwards, it was revealed that the company was working towards another flagship device that would be offered to international customers.
Say hi to the Xperia A4, a paradoxical device
Anyway, while we wait for that to happen, Sony is once again getting busy in its home country. This week, the Japanese smartphone maker has pulled the veil off the successor of the Xperia A2, which was released back in May 2014.
Exactly one year later, Sony launches the Xperia A4, which will be released in partnership with the telecom operator NTT Docomo, as with its predecessor. And just like the previous model, the new Xperia A4 won’t probably see the light of day in other markets.
But let’s go to specs and see what the new handset brings to the table. The Xperia A4 arrives with a 4.6-inch HD display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, while the phone’s internals rest on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, fitted with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage on board.
The interesting part comes in the photography department, though, where we are told the Xperia A4 dons a huge 20.7MP main camera and a meager 2.2MP shooter in front. The difference is huge, but we have to assume that the listing on Docomo’s website is accurate.
The phone is waterproof and dustproof, like most of Sony’s products. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop, but we don’t know whether the phone will be given the Android 5.1 treatment at some point or not.
Last but not least, the device is kept alive by a 2,600 mAh battery, which is decent enough. Docomo says the Xperia A4 should become available in mid-June for an undisclosed price tag.
