Launching in spring, the new phone will pack three rear sensors and come with a 21:9 display. Unfortunately, the new handset will also have a big old waterdrop notch around its front-facing snapper.
Sony is tooting the horn about the screen on this new phone, but the specs on the new handset are not dissimilar to those of its predecessor. While the L3 sported a 5.7-inch 1440 x 720 pixel LCD screen, the L4 will have a 6.2-inch 1680 x 720 pixel screen.
This means that it’s a pinch bigger and has a slightly better resolution as a result, but it’s not a giant leap forward.
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What is different here is the aspect ratio, which has switched from 18:9 on the L3 to 21:9 on the L4. As such, turning the phone horizontal will give you ample of space to play with – you can run two apps side-by-side in this mode or capture video in that 21:9 ratio.
Given that the company is so proud of the screen, it’s kind of odd that it decided to go ahead and plonk a big old notch on the phone to house the 8MP front-facing camera. This disrupts the screen a bit by nudging over the top edge.
One of the biggest changes on the new model is the rear camera set-up. The L4 comes with a 12MP main camera, 5MP ultra-wide lens and 2MP depth camera. Whacking in an extra lens here might improve the picture quality, although it’s difficult to tell until we get our hands on one of the new phones.
Related: Read our review of the Sony Xperia L3 review
Like its predecessor, it comes with 3GB RAM and there’s 64GB of storage on the phone, but you can add to this thanks to a microSD memory card slot. Also – importantly for music nerds – it comes with a headphone jack, which is a rarity in new phone releases.
It’s not the ugliest of phones, but it’s certainly no real beauty. The best thing about the new L4 will probably be the price, which we’d guess would be £200 or under.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.