Review of Android smartphone Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra: update of our favorite frameless “tablet” (page 8)

We wrote about this smartphone in news and articles from MWC, we talked about it on the radio and we were all buzzing about it in the editorial office. And finally he got to us, and we got to write a review about him. Go.

Sony Xperia XA is the junior model in the reborn Xperia family, for which the letter X has now been selected. We have already written about the main device within the framework of the new concept - the mid-price segment smartphone Xperia X. It has on board a filling that is slightly below the top level, but with In this case, it flaunts a metal body, a fingerprint scanner and other signs of a flagship. XA is noticeably simpler: with the same diagonal (5 inches), the display here has a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels, the system-on-chip is MediaTek Helio P10, the main camera is 13-megapixel, there is no fingerprint scanner, and the body is plastic. This is compensated by the low price - 22-23 thousand rubles, depending on the number of SIM cards used. In principle, almost everyone has released similar devices - the latest one you can remember is the Huawei P9 lite, and earlier both Samsung and LG resorted to similar tactics.

Sony Xperia XA in hand

But in this case, Sony decided not only to simplify its older model as much as possible and sell it cheaper, but also to package it beautifully - the Xperia XA is very different in design from the Xperia X/X Performance. And, I must say, for the better.

⇡#Technical characteristics

⇡#Appearance and ergonomics

Sony Xperia XA, side edge with a proprietary round button
In some ways, the Sony Xperia XA is reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S6/S7 edge, only “with a human face”, without curved edges and a display “floating” on them. But the effect is similar - the complete absence of frames around the screen makes the gadget visually light. The display is already small - five inches, and the fact that it does not require too much space to be placed in the body seems to take us back to the days of small “one-handed” smartphones.

Sony Xperia XA, front panel: above the display there is an earpiece, light sensor, front camera and status indicator (in the corner), there are no functional elements under the display

In addition, the Sony Xperia XA is made of plastic - this will certainly turn some people away from buying - we are already getting used to the fact that not only flagships are made of metal, but also devices in the low and mid-price categories. But the plastic case weighs less - the XA weighs only 138.8 grams. This, of course, is not this year’s absolute record holder Xiaomi Mi5 with its 118 grams, but in fact we are dealing with a very light and compact smartphone. By the way, as a result it also seems thin and airy, as I noted above - but this is already an illusion: the body thickness is 7.9 millimeters - like the Xperia X and more than many competitors. But it’s very pleasant to use the gadget – this is precisely why the public at MWC 2020 fell in love with it.

Sony Xperia XA, rear panel: in the corner – camera lens and single LED flash

The Xperia XA is available in four colors: graphite black, white, and the now standard rose gold. We had, as you can see from the photographs, graphite black - and this is perhaps the least impressive design of the device.

Sony Xperia XA, bottom edge: main speaker, microUSB connector and conversational microphone

Sony Xperia XA, top edge: mini-jack (3.5 mm) for headphones or a headset and a second microphone

The device is given additional charm by the recently branded round power button. This is another advantage of the Xperia XA, which grows out of its disadvantage - the inclusion of a round key was made possible by the absence of a fingerprint scanner, which is standard for Sony and is built into the gadget activation button. Because of it, the button turned out to be long, but here it is not - and the designers returned to the round key that was loved by many.

Sony Xperia XA, left side: in the upper part there is a compartment for a SIM card and memory card hidden under the cover

Sony Xperia XA, right side: power button, volume key and camera activation button (also known as the shutter button)

The headphone jack, again traditionally for Sony, is located on the top edge - such a solution has both supporters and opponents. To be honest, it’s not very convenient for me - when I have headphones connected to my smartphone, I take it out of my pocket and automatically turn it upside down. However, this is a matter of habit - relearning is not so difficult.

MicroUSB is used as a connector for charging and connecting to a computer, just like on the Xperia X - Sony didn’t invent anything; The theoretical data transfer speed over the wire is lower here, but finding a cable if something happens is much easier. The main speaker is located on the bottom edge, but in a relatively good place - it is not completely blocked by your finger if you hold the smartphone in a horizontal orientation.

At first glance, the Xperia XA is assembled normally: it does not creak when squeezed, nothing hangs loose. But there are noticeable gaps between the display and the side panels; dust collects in them - it’s unpleasant.

It uses the same shell as on the older models of the series, I already talked a little about it in the Xperia X review - the proprietary interface works quickly, smoothly, is not overloaded with unnecessary applications or functions unnecessary for the user, but it sports a traditionally convenient virtual keyboard. On the XA, the shell, by the way, works just as smoothly as on the more powerful X model, but we’ll talk more about the computing capabilities of the smartphone on the next page.

We test the most beautiful games for phones on Sony Xperia XA Ultra

This summer, Sony introduced three new models of Xperia X . One of them, Xperia XA Ultra , came to our editorial office for testing.

The smartphone comes in a white square box made of thick paper, complete with instructions, charging and USB cable. The Xperia XA Ultra has a 6-inch display with an IPS matrix and Full HD 1920x1080 pixels. The pixel density is 367 ppi . As a result, the image and fonts are very clear, without pixelation. The screen is very bright and has wide viewing angles. When you rotate the smartphone, the drop in brightness/contrast is noticeable, but not critical. It is convenient to use the device even in very bright rooms and outdoors during the day when the sun is shining brightly. According to experts from Sony , this is due not only to the display, but also to glass with a special anti-reflective coating and filter that reduce the number of reflections.

There are practically no frames on the sides, which looks extremely stylish. If you look closely, you can see a small rainbow stripe between the metal contour and the screen - as if they are not completely adjacent to each other, although everything is very smooth and tight to the touch.

Excellent materials and neatly smoothed contours, together with the deep black color of the glass when the screen is off, make the Sony Xperia XA Ultra a visually attractive smartphone that is very pleasant to the touch.

On top of the front panel there are sensors, a 16 MP front camera with autofocus and a flash. The earpiece is located at the junction with the top end. At the very end there are: an output for 3.5 mm headphones and a microphone.

In the center of the right side there is a round metal button to turn on the device, as well as a volume key. At the bottom corner you can find a dedicated camera shutter button.

On the top left side, behind a neat flap, there is a common compartment for a nanoSIM card and a microSD .

At the bottom there is a main speaker, a microphone for calls and a micro-USB .

On the back wall there is a 21 megapixel main camera with hybrid autofocus and LED flash. Xperia XA Ultra can record video in Full HD resolution.

The huge screen will appeal primarily to fans of large gadgets. The device really impresses with its size, but thanks to the frameless design, the dimensions are not so large. However, operating a smartphone with one hand is problematic. Firstly, because accidental clicks on the display are possible, and secondly, because using this phablet with both hands is simply more convenient.

The smartphone has 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB storage. You can insert a MicroSD , since the basic one is unlikely to be enough for anything, especially if you plan to download many applications from the Google Play store and actively use the camera.

The heart of the Xperia XA Ultra MediaTek Helio P10 ( MT6755 processor , with four cores clocked at 1.2 GHz and the other four clocked at 2.0 GHz. The Mali-T860 MP2 graphics chip from ARM operates at 700 MHz. In the AnTuTu , the smartphone produced an impressive result - almost 49,000 points . Due to its performance and good optimization of Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the proprietary Sony Xperia UI , the gadget works very quickly with the smoothest animation possible. Calls, working in the system, surfing the Internet and watching videos in Full HD - during a month of active use, we did not find any freezes in the operating system - everything is super smooth and fast.

With games the situation is a little different. We have launched all the most popular modern projects - from World of Tanks Blitz , Dead Trigger 2 and Asphalt 8: Airborne to Mobius: Final Fantasy .

Let's start with Dead Trigger 2 . This is a very beautiful horror shooter on the Unity , which tells the story of several people surviving a zombie apocalypse. The game immediately greets you with atmospheric landscapes and nice effects. Some textures even look photorealistic. For example, asphalt - it spectacularly reflects light, which is especially noticeable when it rains. In some places we see blurry objects, but overall the detailing for a mobile project is top-notch and pleasantly surprising.

The smartphone handles graphics well at maximum settings, so the game runs quickly and the picture is smooth. If frame rate drops do occur, they are very rare.

The game has a built-in system for recording your progress for further sharing of videos on YouTube and social networks. When this feature is enabled, the game begins to noticeably slow down. But if you turn off the recording, the game starts to “fly” again.

Playing Dead Trigger 2 on the Xperia XA Ultra is very convenient - the large diagonal helps out, thanks to which your hands do not obscure the entire screen. The developers were well aware that due to the lack of trigger buttons it would be inconvenient to hit and shoot at zombies, so they created a clever system of automatic fire and reloading when you accurately catch your opponent in the crosshairs. A surprisingly justified decision. But if you want to do everything manually, you can enable the appropriate setting in the control options. In this case, special number buttons will appear on the screen.

I would also like to say something about the sound. The basic smartphone speaker can't handle the depth of audio tracks, but if you connect an external headset to the device, you'll easily hear pleasant surround sound, which further enhances immersion.

Since we're talking about audio, we additionally tested the sound quality of the smartphone when listening to music on Sony Extra Bass MDR-XC950AP . For the test, we selected a standard program and a couple of music videos on YouTube with a high bitrate. We were extremely pleased - the sound was clear and loud. And the built-in equalizer helped you tune the frequencies to your liking. Also, in combination with this particular model, we can say that the sound insulation and volume are enough to enjoy your favorite compositions even in the subway.

Maximum graphics settings^

Medium and minimum graphics settings ^

Returning to games, World of Tanks Blitz is one of the most beautiful multiplayer projects on smartphones, which boasts high quality optimization for all hardware configurations. On the Xperia XA Ultra, we were unable to achieve the required level of performance on high settings - the smartphone showed an average of 25 frames per second. Playing in such conditions against real players is not the best option. But at medium graphics settings, the Xperia XA Ultra produces 45 frames per second, sometimes dropping a little to 39 fps, which is not critical. By moving all the sliders to low settings, we got a consistently high framerate - the game runs at 58 fps in this mode. Surprisingly, 60 fps could not be achieved even with the lowest settings - World of Tanks Blitz still runs at 58 frames per second. Apparently, these are features of the engine.

Fortunately, the artists from Wargaming took care of the quality of the graphics - even at medium settings the game looks nice. The only thing that's really noticeable is the draw distance and shadows. And at minimum values, locations look completely empty. At the same time, the game becomes even more convenient, since fewer environmental details allow you to see your enemies better.

I was also surprised by the quality of the project as a whole. World of Tanks Blitz instantly searches for matches - after clicking on the “ Battle! ” the game connects you to the full lobby in just a split second. Sometimes you have to wait as much as five seconds. Wargaming continues to develop the game by adding new content. In addition to the new “ Confrontation ” mode and fresh equipment, the authors are completely redrawing the hangar. For example, in honor of Halloween, your tank moved to an ancient castle, with huge statues of vampires and giant flasks with green liquid.

It is important to mention that online there are mainly casual players who are taken out in batches without any problems - one after another. Therefore, playing World of Tanks Blitz online can be very positive and useful for relaxing after particularly difficult matches in Gears of War 4 or Battlefield 1 , and of course this is a great project for playing on the way to work.

We also tried Asphalt 8: Airborne . We really can’t say anything good about him. The game itself looks outdated, is poorly optimized, noticeably slows down and is boring to play. Not to mention the monstrous donation, where you are offered to pay 7,500 rubles for a set of five cars .

The next project that came to our smartphone was Modern Combat 3 . The game looks very cool, in places reminiscent of releases from home consoles. The lighting effects and water drops on the screen were especially successful. In terms of gameplay, this is a Call of Duty with a huge number of spectacular moments and a very stupid plot. It’s impossible to take seriously what you see on the screen, but during dynamic action scenes everything looks very nice and impressive. If you want to test a cool graphics card on a smartphone, we highly recommend it. On the Xperia XA Ultra, the game runs quickly even at maximum graphics settings.

We paid special attention to Mobius: Final Fantasy . This is a turn-based role-playing game, which primarily stands out for its gorgeous graphics. At least in screenshots and promotional trailers. Therefore, we checked whether this is true in reality or not.

The game surprised me with its almost complete lack of graphics options. By default it runs in low resolution, but this can be changed in the settings. The characters are beautifully drawn, the effects look luxurious. The background is well detailed, but the backdrops were an unpleasant surprise - they turned out to be very blurry.

It's a shame that the game looks very monotonous. Locations and enemies are constantly repeated, which makes it seem like you're walking in circles.

It's also worth noting the excessive number of hints and menus - in the first hour of the game you are literally inundated with tips that cannot be missed. You won’t even be able to enter the menu, since you can only press those buttons that are described in the on-screen prompts.

From a mechanical point of view, the game disappointed with the linearity of what was happening. You can't move on your own inside the levels - the character walks on his own, and the game automatically starts battles. You are forced to move between points on the world map - essentially identical locations. The map itself looks like a stick, on which branches sometimes appear, but for the main part of the game you will walk straight forward.

The battles are reminiscent of a simplified version of Puzzle & Dragons - the creators of Mobius: Final Fantasy completely abandoned the field of combining elements. You simply tap on the screen and the hero performs automatic attacks, which entails the appearance of characteristic spheres with elements (fire, ice, earth, and so on). Card abilities are equipped in advance. Each card relates to a specific element and costs a certain number of elemental orbs. All battles come down to you accumulating the required number of spheres and using the ability. With difficult opponents, it is necessary to create magical shields of the desired element and from time to time use healing and a super attack. The latter accumulates over time.

The music, animation, design and effects are certainly impressive, but the game itself is quite boring and monotonous. The plot develops very slowly. Sometimes it seems that he is not there at all.

It’s also sad that the game constantly connects to the server after every action you take, which significantly slows down the gameplay and consumes a lot of battery, heating up the smartphone. And updates come out too often and take up 200-300 MB of free space. Therefore, using the game in the city is an option only for those who have a good tariff and have an external battery to charge their smartphone.

While we're talking about the battery... The Xperia XA Ultra 2700 mAh non-removable battery . Considering the diagonal of the screen, this is a strange move on the part of the manufacturer. The smartphone discharges quite quickly - it is not enough for a full workday with active use and especially games. Xperia XA Ultra lasts approximately 5 hours in video playback mode at maximum brightness. It will take two and a half hours to fully charge from a wall outlet. Proprietary energy saving modes Stamina and Ultra Stamina will help save a little charge, but when using them, the smartphone disables some functions.

It is important to note that the smartphone does not begin to discharge quickly at sub-zero temperatures. The test was carried out at minus 3 Celsius with active use of the camera and found no noticeable differences from use at a positive temperature.

Photos and videos are clear and bright, but only in good lighting conditions. When the smartphone camera does not have enough light, the footage comes out with noticeable noise. But if you tinker with the settings, you can significantly improve the quality of night shots.

We also found that the Xperia XA Ultra couldn't adequately capture red light in Auto shooting mode, replacing some pixels with an orange tint.

Autofocus is fast, but when you touch the screen, it has some problems with automatically adjusting the exposure relative to the selected area. Sometimes it simply doesn't work.

The front camera is a pleasant surprise - this is one of the main advantages of this smartphone. In good lighting, it produces high-quality images that are almost indistinguishable from images from the main camera. As noted above, it also has a flash. For selfie fans, this will be a deciding factor.

We wanted to try the smartphone in the Remote Play , but unfortunately this program cannot be found in the Google on the device itself. It seems that Sony is simply blocking support for the application on new phone models, including its own, which looks like a very strange decision. We found the necessary apk file on the Internet, but after installation it required an update, which could not be completed. Therefore, it was not possible to evaluate the remote operation of PS4 on the Xperia XA Ultra . It's a pity.

Sony Xperia XA Ultra is an excellent option for those who want to get a high-quality and very beautiful smartphone with a large diagonal and an essentially unique front camera. Quite powerful hardware at an adequate price and an excellent FullHD screen will also be pleasant moments for video game lovers. The only disadvantages include an insufficiently capacious battery and artifacts during night shooting, but these are standard problems with modern smartphones. I also highly recommend looking at a more compact model - Xperia XA F3111 .

⇡#Display

The weak point of the Xperia XA is the display. Almost optimal in size and without frames, it cannot boast of high resolution: only HD, 1280 × 720 pixels, which leads to a pixel density of 294 ppi. Visually, in fact, there’s nothing wrong with it, the pixels don’t catch the eye, it’s comfortable to read from a smartphone, and even more so to watch videos or play games. The problems with the IPS display of the Sony Xperia XA lie elsewhere - in the settings.

We are used to the fact that Sony smartphones cannot boast of very precise tuning and stand out from their competitors with cooler colors. But usually it’s not that much. Problems, in principle, are visible to the naked eye, not only with the settings, but also with the matrix itself. IPS usually has good viewing angles, but this is not the case - with a slight deviation from perpendicular everything is fine, but if you deviate by at least 30 degrees, the display sharply loses contrast and colors are distorted.

Sony Xperia XA, gamma. Yellow line – XA indicators, dotted line – reference gamma

Sony Xperia XA, color temperature. Blue line – XA indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

The range of shades of gray is 2.34. In general, the figure is quite ordinary, but the gamma varies greatly, especially in light shades. The main problem with the color temperature of the same gray is that it fluctuates around 9000 K, flying into space on light shades, as a result the colors look very cold. This can be partially corrected by manually adjusting the white balance available in the settings - but it will not be possible to completely bring the display back to life.

Sony Xperia XA, color gamut. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – XA coverage

In particular, the average DeltaE deviation for shades of gray and a wide color spectrum was 6.93 - surprising, however, with such a white balance and such a gamma there is nothing in it.

But the brightness of the Xperia XA screen is quite good: 535 cd/m2 maximum, 42 cd/m2 minimum. There will be no problems with seeing anything on it in direct sunlight, especially since the polarizing filter is in place and there is no layer between the screen and the glass covering it. If you pay attention to the characteristics table, we have removed this item altogether - almost no one uses the air gap anymore.

The contrast is also normal for an IPS display: 1138:1. The black field luminosity recorded by our sensor is 0.21 cd/m2. You will only get truly deep blacks on OLED displays, but for IPS, especially in the mid-price category, it’s quite good.

In general, the Sony Xperia XA display has both pros and cons, but the cons are more pronounced - it is not configured well, and the viewing angles are not very good.

Screen

Sony Xperia XA has a five-inch IPS screen. It is covered with protective glass with rounded edges.

1. The geometric dimensions of the screen are 61x110 mm.
2. Resolution 1280x720.
3. Pixel density is 293 per inch.

Characteristics in numerical terms may seem quite modest. However, the small display area allows you to get a bright, detailed image. Individual pixels cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The backlight brightness is adjustable from 3.6 to 550 cd per sq.m. There is an adaptive adjustment function depending on the readings of the light sensor.

Important! The brightness control system does not operate in full range. The minimum automatic adjustment is 4.7 cd per sq.m. This approach of the manufacturer is due to feedback from owners of other Sony models. Too low backlight brightness at the technical minimum caused discomfort when reading or watching movies in the dark.

The measured display contrast is 970:1, and the average approximate gamma is 2.63. This is much higher than the recommended value of 2.2. As a result, the colors displayed on the Sony Xperia XA display do not correspond to real ones. Users who do not like the balance of colors when displaying an image on the screen can select one of the pre-configured image enhancement modes. Offered:

• without processing;
• Mobile Brava Engine2 for processing video streams and photos;
• maximum saturation and contrast mode for working in sunlight.

The Sony Xperia XA smartphone has the ability to adjust the display characteristics of each color channel. This allows you to accurately calibrate the display to obtain the most authentic shades.

⇡# Hardware and performance

The Sony Xperia XA uses the MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 mid-range platform. In its architecture, it resembles the MT6753, which we dealt with when testing the LG X cam, but only in a more powerful variation. The same eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores are used here, but with a clock frequency of 2 GHz rather than 1.3. The graphics subsystem is a more advanced ARM Mali-T860 MP2 clocked at 700 MHz versus the 550 MHz ARM Mali-T720 on the MT6753. The system-on-chip is made using a 28 nm process technology.

Since the Xperia XA uses a low-resolution display, the Mediatek Helio P10 has enough power to work smoothly in all major scenarios, but you shouldn’t count on perfect performance in the most resource-intensive games when buying a smartphone half the price of a flagship.

This is confirmed by synthetic tests - for comparison, we added Xperia X to our charts, equipped, let me remind you, also not with a top platform - Qualcomm Snapdragon 650. XA, as we see, does not lose so much to its older brother, but, for example, in simple graphics in the Basemark Taiji test it completely outperforms it. In principle, given the low resolution, you can run almost any game from Google Play on XA - you just shouldn’t expect smooth operation at maximum graphic settings.

Following the same “everything you need” principle, the smartphone is equipped with RAM - 2 GB LPDDR3, which is quite enough for HD resolution - and permanent memory: 16 GB, of which 11 are available to the user. Taking into account the slot for a microSD card, this is quite normal .

The smartphone is optimized quite well - I did not notice the slightest problem in working with the interface, key applications and multimedia functions. In the WEBXprt browser test, the Sony Xperia XA did not shine - 67 points. But, for example, Meizu Pro 6, equipped with a higher-level MediaTek platform, achieved the same result. Well, like the rest of the Xperia this year, the XA is equipped with Sony’s proprietary Smart Cleaner technology, which allows you to optimize the smartphone’s performance by removing unnecessary applications from the queue and regularly clearing the cache.

Cameras

The price of the Sony Xperia XA smartphone does not imply record camera megapixels. However, the model offers many pleasant surprises. One of them is the AR Effect mode, which allows you to add animation, text information and much more to your photos.

The front camera of the Sony Xperia XA has an 8MP sensor. She doesn't have her own flare. However, the pictures turn out to be of quite high quality. For professionals, the setup mode will be useful, where you can change almost all parameters of software and other processing.

Users have no comments regarding the operation of the main rear camera of the Sony Xperia XA. The system allows you to take really high-quality photos. The camera produces:

• almost uniform sharpness across the entire field of the frame;
• good detail of distant plans;
• excellent text detail;
• correct white balance across the entire frame;
• smooth decrease in sharpness as the shot moves away;
• detailed foregrounds.

As experts note, the main camera of the Sony Xperia XA turned out to be unexpectedly good . It has well-developed data processing software and fast focusing. The Clear Image protocol allows you to obtain photos after digital scaling with virtually no loss of quality.

The cameras (front and rear) shoot smooth video thanks to a software stabilization system. There is no 4K resolution mode. The maximum possible format for the main camera is 1920x1080 FullHD.

⇡#Communications and wireless communications

Sony Xperia XA, memory card slots and nanoSIM
As with the Xperia X, the XA has two versions - with one and two nanoSIM card slots. Moreover, when using two SIM cards, you don’t have to sacrifice a memory card - the slot is not combined, this is a pleasant rarity. The slots are hidden under a regular cover-plug, and not under a lock that opens with a pin - you can take out a memory card or SIM card at any time, there is no need to look for any improvised means or a special “key”. In any case, there is only one radio module - the Dual Standby scheme works. The set of other modules is quite typical; you won’t find any unpleasant (no NFC) or pleasant (presence of an IR sensor) surprises: NFC, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, work with LTE networks of the fourth category ( with a maximum speed of up to 150 theoretical megabits per second) with support for all bands required in Russia.

The navigation module works with GPS (including A-GPS) and GLONASS; the Sony Xperia XA ignores satellites of the Chinese BeiDou system. The module starts up and picks up a signal quickly - in about 10 seconds it can begin navigation over 6-7 satellites, and it achieves full accuracy of up to 3-6 meters when navigating over 15-16 satellites in about half a minute. You won’t experience any problems when using the XA as a pedestrian navigator, but for a car the smartphone’s display is still too small.

⇡#Camera

Sony did not come up with anything special in terms of photo and video shooting and equipped the Xperia XA with a 13-megapixel main camera with a 1/3'' matrix, an ƒ/2.0 aperture lens and a single LED flash. Of course, there is no mode for stitching a low-resolution image from a full-size frame - thirteen megapixels are not enough for this. But still keep in mind that by default the smartphone shoots in 16:9 format with a 9-megapixel resolution.

The camera, for my taste, is not very well located - too close to the corner of the body, where, as a rule, the finger is located when gripping the smartphone horizontally. As a result, he ends up in the frame more often than we would like, and it’s much easier to smudge the lens. The camera should be moved closer to the middle of the rear panel.

Autofocus, however, is used the same as on the older models of the series - hybrid, combining phase and contrast methods. Autofocus works quite quickly, but I wouldn’t say it’s very clear - misses, unfortunately, are regular, you have to take several frames of the same composition to avoid situations when the desired object is out of focus. But tracking focus is used - Sony doesn’t trumpet this, but XA can also “work” on objects moving in the frame.

The camera activates very quickly - it takes about a second, just like on the Xperia X. Given the presence of a dedicated camera power key (also known as the shutter button), this allows you to turn it on almost instantly, with one movement.

The camera interface is familiar from other Xperias: operating modes can be changed by swiping, and settings can be accessed by touching the icon in the bottom corner. There are automatic and manual shooting modes. Both are implemented not without drawbacks - in the first case, for example, there is no way to activate HDR, and in the second, important parameters such as exposure metering and ISO are not displayed on the screen - you have to go to a submenu to find them.

In the pictures below you can see how the Sony Xperia XA and, for comparison, the LG G5 se cameras performed in the same situations.

For a fairly ordinary module, the Xperia XA camera has good color rendition, detail and acceptable dynamic range even without activating HDR, and the lens also handles backlight well. But, firstly, all this is adjusted for the low status of the model, and secondly, in the dark the camera shows itself very weakly. Software noise reduction works so actively that it simply kills all the details and midtones. You can only get good results with the XA camera in severe night lighting conditions. The white balance also fluctuates noticeably - within one series of shots it can vary greatly. Well, it’s not easy to achieve an unblurred frame - there is, of course, no optical stabilizer here.

Sony Xperia XA-cameragallery

It is logical that the Sony Xperia XA cannot shoot 4K video - it is not allowed by its status. Only Full HD, and with a frequency of only 30 frames per second.

But the front camera pleased me - not as much as on the Xperia X, but in any case there is an advantage over competitors. 8 megapixels and working autofocus: selfies are very clear and sharp. In the dark, a 1/4” sensor is, of course, helpless – but this is a common fate for all front cameras.

Surprisingly passable main and regular front cameras

The main camera of the Xperia XA pleased me. Yes, this is just a simple 13 megapixel module with a physical size of 1/3″, but thanks to new software algorithms and operating speed, the impressions of the Xperia XA camera remained positive.

Comparing the Xperia XA camera head-on with more expensive and advanced cameras from competitors is stupid and wrong; these are different levels of quality.

The Xperia XA camera surprises with its speed and good photo quality.

Activation/shooting speed and good color correction are the main positive aspects of the Xperia XA camera. You can also praise it for its quite decent autofocus, of course not as fast as the flagships, but not exactly slow either.

Overall verdict on the camera: unpretentious and not particularly picky users will be clearly pleased with the quality of photo shooting with the Xperia XA camera. You don't need more from a smartphone for that kind of money.

To talk about the quality of video shooting in phones in this price category is either good or nothing. This is exactly the second case.

The front camera of the Xperia XA is also quite passable, but does not make as good an impression as the main one.

Examples of photo shooting from the Xperia XA camera:

Examples of video footage from the Xperia XA camera:

⇡#Autonomous work

The Sony Xperia XA uses a non-removable battery with a capacity of 8.5 Wh (2300 mAh, 3.8 V) - it sounds quite frivolous for our time, but Sony promises two days of operation without recharging even with such a small battery. Optimization, a small display of low resolution, an energy-intensive system-on-a-chip - yes, indeed, all this has an effect, the smartphone honestly “lives” for a day with active use. But, of course, it won’t last for two days – unless you use it as a second smartphone or as a regular phone for calls and messages. In this case, yes, no problem - in standby mode, the Xperia XA consumes almost no charge.

In our usual test, which involves playing HD video at maximum brightness with wireless modules turned on and active updates, the Sony Xperia XA lasted six hours, quite normal for a device with such a small battery.

I’ll add that the STAMINA and Ultra STAMINA modes are in place - Sony abandoned them when moving to Android 6.0, but came to their senses in time and returned the branded energy saving options, beloved by users, to owners of the latest Sony smartphones: the X and Z5 series; perhaps they will eventually return to owners of older models. It also uses Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology, which, according to the manufacturer, extends battery life. There is also fast charging using a proprietary power adapter - it allows you to charge for 5.5 hours in 10 minutes.

Specifications

The table shows the main technical characteristics of the Sony Xperia XA.

The device weighs 135 g, is made of plastic and metal, and has dimensions (HxWxD) of 144x67x8 mm.

Sony Xperia XA

The smartphone is available in two varieties . The model with f3111 encoding works with one SIM card. The more advanced f3112 Sony Xperia XA dual can offer the use of services from two mobile operators at once. The cards are in standby mode and are served by one communication module. There is no option for both SIMs to work in 4G networks.