Turn the analysis of the Sony Xperia XA, a mid-range mobile with some interesting features for a tight price, is it worth buying?
A mobile for all audiences
Until relatively recently Sony was one of the most recognized brands in the smartphone universe, although in recent years it has been relegated by brands such as Apple, Samsung or Huawei.
After examining the top of the range and the reference model of this new family comes the time of analysis of the Sony Xperia XA, a mid-range mobile that is positioned as a device for the general public.
The terminal departs from the large format that lately dominates the highest range with about 5 inches that are very comfortable to handle. The Japanese brand highlights its own terminal at the design level and exhibits muscle with its two camera cameras, especially the front for selfies, although both are located one step below what their top of the range offer.
So is the Sony Xperia XA worth buying? Below you have a detailed analysis of its main sections so that you decide for yourself if it is the terminal you are looking for.
Design
We begin the review of this analysis of the Xperia XA with one of the most noteworthy elements of the terminal. Sony is usually a design-level warranty, something that is repeated on this smartphone that surprises anyone at first glance by its almost bezel-free display and curved lines.
Sony is looking to reach the massive public with a mobile phone that is too compact, neither too big nor too small, with fantastic ergonomics. The dimensions of the Xperia XA are quite measured, reducing millimeters for example compared to the ZTE Blade V7 Lite, which has a positive impact on its handling.
The same goes for the Xperia XA’s weight, which is below 140 grams. However, what is most striking is its curved glass screen that encompasses the entire width of the mobile, eliminating the bezels that accompany most terminals in this same price range for a more complete experience when it comes to enjoying multimedia content.
That 5-inch screen we’ll talk about later dominates the front of the device. Just above we find the Sony logo flanked by the ambient light sensor and the front camera; above we have a tiny but functional speaker for calls and hidden in the top left corner the LED for notifications.
On the left side we have a tab that hides the compartment in which we can insert a nanoSIM card and a microSD to expand the internal storage, although the phone in this case is not Dual SIM.
Three buttons dominate the right side of the device. First we find the off/lock, which protrudes significantly from the body to make it more comfortable to find it in any condition, followed by the button to control the volume. At the bottom we have a last button to activate the camera trigger, an element that we will also talk about later.
The mid-range means that plastic dominates as the main manufacturing material with metal limited only to the edges. It is by the way a unibody terminal, so the battery is not removable. On the back we have the Xperia logo next to the main camera, which does not protrude from the body, next to the LED flash.
In short, it’s a rather interesting smartphone at the design level, which is definitely configured as one of the strengths of the Sony Xperia XA. It will enchant the most demanding lovers of the medium format, with outstanding ergonomics to take it everywhere. Of course we’re far from the flagship level.
The Sony Xperia XA’s display stretches up to 5 inches with an IPS panel that offers HD resolution (1,280x720p) with an average density of 294 pixels per inch.
In terms of numbers the panel stays a long way from Sony’s best mobiles at the screen level, especially compared to the Z5 Premium, but don’t forget that it’s a device that’s below 350 euros.
During the time we have used the smartphone to write this review of the Sony Xperia XA we have proven that in practice it performs markedly when it comes to playing multimedia content such as movies or series.
More than one will be alarmed when the display does not offer FHD resolution, but only the most demanding users will notice the differences on a screen of these dimensions.
On the other hand the brightness level is surprisingly good, as is the contrast and color reproduction, which you can adjust to your taste by means of the white balance option.
At the level of viewing angles it defends quite well while the touchpad response is correct but not as bright as we’ve seen in the best mobiles of 2016.
Performance
Sony bets on the mid-range for an eight-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor that works with the ARM Mali-T860 MP2 graphics card and 2 GB of RAM, a figure that outperforms one of its rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) but is below the Huawei P9 Lite for example.
The performance of this MediaTek processor surprises for the better so that the user experience is smooth in the vast majority of scenarios. However, as we have seen in this analysis of the Sony Xperia XA its notes in the different performance tests and benchmarks that we have subjected as AnTuTu are slightly below its Chinese rival.
Sony has a much more powerful model for the most demanding users, but this Xperia XA defends itself correctly even when it comes to playing the most complex games as it gives the feeling of moving freely when moving applications with HD resolution, without having to over-demand the processor and graphics as happens in many termiinals that boast Full HD screens.
Unfortunately the Japanese manufacturer has taken the scissors for a walk to remove the gyroscope on this device, so it’s probably not the most recommended if what you’re looking for is a mobile to play Pokémon Go.
Finally, it must be said that the smartphone suffers from overheating problems if we put all the meat on the grill, such as during long games with the «Asphalt 8», although in most of the time the mobile behaved properly.
Software
The Sony Xperia XA comes from Android Marshmallow, which is certainly good news no matter how much we already have on the table the new version of Google’s mobile operating system.
Of course, the Japanese brand usually builds a complex layer of customization that we also find in this terminal. For most users, it won’t be a problem, and it can make life easier by already including the app to use the smartphone with the PlayStation as standard.
On the other hand, the most demanding will surely regret that some of these factory-installed apps cannot be completely uninstalled from the mobile, as they will only be disabled from the app menu.
The smartphone comes with 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded – good news – via a microSD memory card.
Camera
We come to one of the fundamental aspects when buying a mobile. The Camera of the Sony Xperia XA reaches up to 13 megapixels on its main sensor, which has LED Flash, autofocus with phase detection, face detection, HDR mode and the ability to record video in Full HD.