Sony is breathing new life in its midrange offers for the US with the new Xperia XA1, which comes hot on the heels of its Xperia XZs release here. In Sony's case, it simply starts selling those in its shop or on Amazon, and they only work on T-Mobile and AT&T, but it's nice to have extra options.
The Xperia XA1 goes for $299.99 at Amazon, B&H, Best Buy, Fry's, and the other usual suspects, and offers an intriguing mix of entry level and midrange specs, such as a 5-inch 720p screen, but 23 MP camera and 3GB RAM. Is it worth the dough? Let's see...
Design
Sony's oldieblocky polycarb is now a breath of fresh air in the sea of metal or glass phones.In the year of bezel minimalism, Sony's phones look especially out of the loop, and the XA1 is no exception. The 5” screen is framed between huge top and bottom bezel areas, making the Sony as tall as the 5.2” honor 8 or Galaxy A5, not to mention bezel-busting flagships like the 5.7” G6 or the 5.8” S8, which are only slightly larger than the XA1. The phone still comes with on-screen keys, though, and this one doesn't have front-firing stereo speakers, as the lower slit is simply a mic, while the sole speaker is situated at the bottom. Despite this, the phone has a pleasantly distinct and elegant look to it.
The Xperia XA1 is narrow enough to be comfortable for one-handed operation, and feels sturdy in the palm. In fact, it is solid as a brick, despite the all-plastic construction, and we appreciate the inclusion of a modern USB-C port at the bottom.
When it comes to buttons, the plastic volume rocker on the right is a bit smallish and wobbly under the thumb, with somewhat shallow feedback, while the signature metal home key of Sony is well-placed to comfortably feel and press without looking. There is a dedicated camera key, as usual, something we've learned to appreciate in Sony's Android designs.
Display
While unremarkable in resolution, the HD display does the job in color balance and outdoor visibilityA 5” 720x1280 resolution LCD screen is nothing to pop champagne about in the pixel density department, but an HD screen is sufficient at this diagonal, and there are battery gains to be had with this resolution. That's coming a bit further in the review, though, and for now we'll just mention that the picture doesn't lean to the colder side of the spectrum, as usual with Sony's mobile screens, but is rather spot on in terms of color temperature. It is also bright enough and with low screen reflectance to seem perfectly legible under direct sunlight, too.
Aside from the slow camera, the XA1 does have a few other minor performance niggles. The first is that apps hang when you first open them, which is similar to the camera. Websites in the Chrome browser loaded pretty quickly with minimal lag, however – even on the ad-heavy TrustedReviews.
However, there was an occasion where the phone seized up to such an extent that even a 15-second press of the power button didn’t seem to do anything; the software and hardware seemingly completely disconnected for that period.
Experiencing such issues only a week into my time with the XA1 doesn’t fill me with confidence. Even under less extreme circumstances, I found switching apps could sometimes take several seconds, and the phone would be unresponsive during this time.
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3GB of memory doesn’t appear to be sufficient for today’s apps, which means app switching can be quite a slow process.
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In the benchmark tests the XA1 managed 59,274 in AnTuTu, which puts it a little way behind the Lenovo P2, but it’s more powerful than the Moto G5 by quite a margin. But power doesn’t count for much if there are software stability problems.
Wi-Fi, too, proved an issue. Not only was the XA1 slow to connect to networks, it often failed to pick the best network when I found myself in a location with multiple access points, such as a house with Wi-Fi extenders. The device was also very slow to realise that I’d walked away from a Wi-Fi network and didn’t disconnect for far too long.
The XA1 also had an annoying habit of disabling mobile data when connected to a Wi-Fi network, even if that network had no access. This is particularly irritating if, say, you walk past a Starbucks and get automatically connected to its free network but don’t sign in. The phone will complain it has no internet access but then proceeds to do nothing about it.
In terms of mobile data, the XA1 comes with Cat 6 LTE, which is faster than the Cat 4 radio found in the Moto G5. That makes it roughly double the speed of the G5 at a maximum of 300Mbps, and data has proven that having a higher-spec 4G radio also improves overall network stability.
Sony Xperia XA1 – Battery Life
The Xperia XA1’s 2300mAH battery is smaller than the 2800mAH pack of cells in the Moto G5. But with a lower-resolution screen, I didn’t experience any problems getting through a full day of streaming music and browsing the web on my commutes. Although, spending an entire out and about taking photos and checking maps, I did find myself reaching for the charger by about 8pm.
But you can plan ahead, and the Xperia’s Stamina Mode is very effective at cutting out background tasks and generally keeping things neat and tidy on the battery front. If you know you have a long day [or night] ahead of you, flick on Stamina Mode and you’ll be fine.
An hour of Netflix at half brightness consumed 10% of the battery, so expect 10 hours of non-stop streaming.
Should I buy the Sony Xperia XA1?
If having the best possible smartphone camera for the money is a priority, then the XA1 is a no-brainer. You’ll have to put up with a slightly fiddly manual camera mode and deal with the HDR-hating Auto mode – plus, be wary of its slow launch times. But if you can look past all that, there’s no better phone for the money.
For everybody else, there are too many drawbacks for this phone to receive a recommendation. The screen isn’t brilliant, processor and Wi-Fi performance is so-so, and the aforementioned camera niggles will be annoying for more casual point-and-shoot fans.
The Lenovo P2 has an amazing battery, a better screen and performance for £200, while the Moto G5 also has a better screen and comes in £50 cheaper.
The XA1 has many positives, but it’s a few software updates from being a complete package.
Verdict
A brilliant camera with a mediocre phone attached.
How we test phones
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.