New Xperia E4 may offer a hint at the upcoming Z4's design

The Xperia line of smartphones may win the praise of camera enthusiasts and Sony aficionados around the world, but for a variety of reasons, their sales aren’t providing much of a boost to the company’s bottom line. This may be largely due to marketing (or lack thereof) or a design that is overly squared and has seen little change over the past couple of years. Word on the street is that the upcoming Xperia Z4 will feature a new design language and a longer lasting period of pertinence.

We now have the first official images of the Xperia E4 and, while nothing is for sure, if this is a hint of the design language Sony plans to use in this year, things may become interesting indeed. Featuring a curved design that’s more than a little reminiscent of a certain Microsoft married phablet, the E4 won’t be very appealing to spec seekers. The smartphone features a 5-inch qHD (960 x 540) screen, a quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage, a 5 megapixel rear camera, dual-SIM, Android 4.4.4 and a “stamina” battery mode that allows up to 2 days of usage.

The Xperia E4 follows in the footsteps of the E3, which was announced in September of last year. At least according to its name, the E4 is the first device in Sony’s 4th-gen Xperia family. It remains to be seen whether Sony will keep the 6-month cycle for the Xperia Z4, or move towards a longer lifespan, as rumors suggest.

The Xperia E4 will become available later this month in select countries; at least for now, the US is not among the markets getting it. Also unclear is the price of the device, but what we do know for sure is that the Xperia E4 will face some strong competitors.

While it’s safe to say most people will not give the E4 more than a passing glance at best, the device may be the world’s first window into what the upcoming Z4 will look like. Any thoughts?