Sony Xperia XA1 Plus

Sony Xperia XA1 Plus is a decent phone which tries to pierce the mid-range market with a brand name and capable features. Priced at Rs. 16,990, it won’t attract attention with its dated design, but it can attract users with its brand name and competent performance.

Sony Xperia XA1 Plus does not have any exceptional features that make it stand out in the market. However, it does deliver on the aspects required from a mid-range phone, thereby standing its ground in the mid-range competition.

Looks-wise, the XA1 Plus looks almost identical to all the previous Xperia models. It has a box-like structure and feels chunkier than any other smartphones in the market. There have been some modifications to lower the blockiness, by delivering gently curved sides that give an oval shape to the bottom and top edges. However, the design makes it a sturdy phone which is quite comfortable to hold and would not slip off. The back panel is of a plastic build which is quite minimalistic and looks cheap, though the camera sits almost seamlessly with the rear panel. The screen does not curve at the sides like most flagship phone which makes it design quite poor when put in the context of the competition. However, there is the traditional headphone jack and the USB-C standard – two delightful additions on the phone.

Xperia A1 Plus arrives with a 5.5-inch screen offering full HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The 1080p display is fine, and the screen space is limited by the top and bottom bezels. The brightness is good, and the colours are punchy, but you would need to tweak the display setting for best results. The colour profile is dull, and you can change it to ‘image enhancement’ or ‘super vivid’ – while the change is not very significant, it does create a difference. Adaptive brightness is also present, but it can be a bit dim. With adaptive brightness off, you can get a fantastic brightness. The display is coated with Gorilla Glass 4 and stays scratch-free.

Sony Xperia XA1 Plus has a MediaTek Helio P20 octa-core processor partnered with a Mali T880 MP2 GPU. While the GPU can handle Ultra HD, the screen is capped at 1080p making it useless. However, the GPU can pull off games with moderate graphics with ease providing a stutter-free experience. Multitasking is handled smoothly, and even intensive tasks do not result in a slowing down.  However, it is a mid-tier phone equipped with mid-tier hardware and therefore, single-core benchmarks put it at a score of 836 and multi-core at a score of 3715 – both a mid-range benchmark suitable for a mid-tier phone.

The XA1 Plus has an impressive 23MP rear camera. While it may sound impressive, the camera is very slow to focus, and it could miss anything in motion. It happens with both Manual and Auto mode making the delay quite frustrating. The photos in motion look like it has a long-exposure and has been oddly processed and quite unsatisfactory. If speed is not your desire then, in proper lights, the camera does a decent job is producing good shots. However, harsh light can result in light bleed in the photos. Low-light photos are not impressive, as they lack details and has a lot of noise. 

The set has an 8MP selfie camera. It is as slow as the rear camera, but the shots captured are quite decent. HDR shots may appear too strong in colour, and low-light remains a disappointment.

Xperia XA1 Plus arrives with a generous battery of 3,430 mAh, a great find in a phone of this price range. It is capable enough to power the 1080p 5.5-inch screen, and its performance can remind you for the glory days of Xperia like the Z3 Compact. Running a 90-minute HD video at full battery and Wi-Fi syncing on saw that it lost just 16% of its power – this is a great result considering iPhone 6 lost 26% and Huawei P10 lost 20%. However, it’s not the best since Samsung Galaxy A5 lost 12% and Motorola Z2 Play just 10%. On the whole, it can run through the entire day without a problem, when you put it through light and moderate tasks. Even intensive tasks can make it last for the better part of the day.

Xperia A1 looks similar to its phone and seems to be another mid-range handset. There are certain aspects of Xperia that is lovely – it has a great display, a long-lasting battery and enough power under its hood to keep its users satisfied. However, it does not come with decent cameras, and the appearance of Xperia A1 continues to be dated. It is a phone for anyone who wants a mid-range phone that works without investing much. If you are a youngster, a better choice would be the XA1 Ultra.