Introduction
Sometimes an underdog proves to be the crowd favorite. This may be the case with the Sony Xperia XA - the most affordable of the four X-phones we've seen so far and yet it probably causes the most excitement when you hold it in hand.
A big part of that is what Sony calls an edge-to-edge display. The Xperia XA is the narrowest 5" phone in our database - yes, even the bezelless Sharp Aquos Crystal is a fraction of a millimeter wider!
The scratch resistant glass over the screen has its neatly curved edges flow into the rounded metal sides of the phone almost seamlessly. Even flagships can't always get such a clean transition from glass to metal.
With Xperia's classy design and Sony's multitude of Audio Visual enhancements, the XA promises to be more than a mid-range commoner.
Key features
- Narrowest 5" phone, metal frame, polycarbonate back
- 5" 720 x 1,280px LCD with 294ppi, X-Reality for Mobile, Triluminos technology and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer; 2.5D scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating
- Android v6.0 Marshmallow with Xperia launcher
- MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10 chipset, octa-core 2GHz Cortex-A53 CPU; Mali-T860MP2 GPU; 2GB RAM
- 13 MP camera with 1080p@30fps video recording and hybrid autofocus; 8 MP front-facing camera with 1080p@30fps video
- 16GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot
- Single and dual-SIM variants
- LTE Cat.4 (150Mbps); Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; A-GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.1, FM radio with RDS
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- 2,300mAh non-removable battery (Pump Express 2.0 supported)
Main disadvantages
- Battery capacity is only average, not particularly efficient 28nm chipset
- No fingerprint reader
The fingerprint reader is gone - Sony says it would have made the bezel thicker and the company firmly believes the right place for the reader is on the side, that's why it didn't just move it to the front or back.
In Sony's new naming scheme "XA" is basically a letter of the alphabet - the Xperia XA and XA Ultra are in a class of their own, sitting some way below the X and X Performance in the pecking order.
Sony Xperia XA official images
At first glance the specs, in plain numbers, may be hard to defend at the Xperia XA price point. However, we believe "user experience for the buck" may be a fairer way to judge a phone than just plain "bang for the buck."
So put away your measuring sticks and put on your silk gloves - this is dressage, not horse racing.
Unboxing the Sony Xperia XA
The Sony Xperia XA retail box is deceptively simple, plain white on the outside with just Xperia's new X logo to catch the eye. When you open it, the sides provide a burst of color, well played, Sony.
Sony Xperia XA retail box
The box we got with our review unit held only a microUSB port and a charger (1.5A). Note that Sony packages phones differently based on region (there may even be differences between carriers in the same country). Double-check what's in the box before you buy, if you were hoping for a fast charger or a headset.
Sony Xperia XA 360° spin
The Sony Xperia XA measures 143.6 x 66.8 x 7.9 mm. As we already mentioned, this makes it the narrowest 5" phone in our database. It's light (137.4g) and thin too. The rounded front glass and metal sides flow smoothly and make it feel even thinner.
It's a bit tall for a 5" phone (especially for no hardware keys or stereo speakers), however, that's the dimension that has the least impact on usability. The weight is evenly distributed, so you don't feel like the phone wants to tip over.
Hardware
Sony has always taken pride in the craftsmanship of its products and the Xperia XA is a strong effort. Yes, it follows the base Xperia design, but its the small tweaks that make it great.
The 2.5D shaped glass, the narrow bezels, the metal frame, the proportions of the thickness and weight come together just right. It's not often that a mid-ranger can make you wish its flagship brother was more like it, but the XA pulls that off on the Xperia X and X performance.
The Xperia XA is one of the best-designed Sonys in recent years
Note that those two have a metal back and polycarbonate sides, while the Xperia XA flips that - metal sides, polycarbonate back.
It's a good quality material, soft and smooth to the touch, a bit prone to fingerprints, but flows into the sides just as smoothly as the front glass. And polycarbonate is more durable than glass, so the clumsier among you might actually be better off this way.
The old-school OmniBalance power key on the right is easy to reach with your index finger or thumb depending on which hand you use to hold the phone.
The volume rocker is poorly positioned • No fingerprint reader on this Power key
The volume rocker is cramped between the power key and the shutter key. It's reasonably easy to press with the left hand, but reaching it with the thumb of your right hand is a challenge.
Again, there's no fingerprint reader on the power key or anywhere else on the device. If it makes you feel better, US buyers of the Xperia X and X Performance aren't getting a fingerprint reader either. And given that it's a mid-range device we are talking about here we won't be taking away many points for that.
The other side of the Xperia XA is for the card slots, which are hidden under a flap. We have the single-SIM model, which offers spearate slots for a nanoSIM and a microSD card. There's a dual-SIM model too, there the microSD card remains separate.
The card slots on the Xperia XA are hidden behind a flap
Both sides have noticeable cuts near the top and the bottom corner. It's not the cuts that bug us, it's that the material clearly changes - the left and right sides are different from the top and bottom sides.
The front has fairly roomy bezels above and below the screen. The top one houses the earpiece, 8MP selfie camera, sensors (proximity, ambient light) and the notification light (small, invisible when off, positioned in the top left corner).
The bottom bezel is barren, though, Sony has reserved stereo speakers for the higher-end X phones.
An 8MP selfie camera, earpiece and sensors above the screen
The loudspeaker on the Xperia XA is actually on the bottom, a grill nestled in the corner next to the mouthpiece and microUSB 2.0 port. The secondary mic for stereo audio and noise cancellation is on top. There you'll also find the 3.5mm audio jack.
Loudspeaker on the bottom • microUSB 2.0 and mic too • 3.5mm audio jack on top
The 13MP camera on the back is put in the upper left corner with a single-LED flash below it. The camera is flush with the back, better still because of the back's curved shape it doesn't quite touch the surface when you leave it on a table.
The polycarbonate back is glued on tight. Don't even try to open it, we'll tell you what's inside - a 2,300mAh battery.
The polycarbonate back is home to a 13MP camera and its LED flash friend
There are four color options available and the hue covers the whole phone - front, sides and back. You can pick from Graphite Black (the one we have), White, Lime Gold and Rose Gold.
Display
The Sony Xperia XA has a 5" screen covered under a 2.5D scratch-resistant glass (Sony doesn't give out brand names). It's backed by Mobile Bravia Engine 2 and also offers Super-vivid mode.
The resolution - 720 x 1,280px, or simply 720p - is stretched a bit thin at this size. Up close you can see it's not as sharp as a 1080p screen, though the 294ppi pixel density makes this a minor complaint (iPhone 6s is at 326ppi).
Colors are not as vivid as on Triluminos displays on some other Xperias. They are not as accurate either, with an average deltaE of 8.3 (max 11.4). We've seen better in this price range, but accuracy is comparable to say, Galaxy S6.
White balance is off, but there are sliders that allow you to manually adjust the white balance by using R, G and B sliders. Improving accuracy is tricky with this system, but at least you can get a white balance you like.
Colors aside, Sony did pick out a capable panel - it's fairly bright and offers great contrast thanks to the low black levels. At night, you can set the brightness under 5 nits to avoid the painful glare of a bright screen.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.38 | 523 | 1376 | |
| 0.44 | 539 | 1219 | |
| 0.63 | 527 | 839 | |
| - | 366 | ∞ | |
| 0.42 | 520 | 1238 | |
| 0.44 | 441 | 998 | |
| 0.46 | 408 | 897 | |
Image enhancements include Mobile Bravia Engine 2, which works for photos and videos. It enhances colors, sharpens the image all the while reducing noise. There's also Super-vivid mode, which gives you "surreal, vibrant and super-vivid images."
When viewed at an angle, the screen shows no contrast loss but you can definitely see hues shift and change (it looks as if the saturation changes).
Sunlight legibility is very good for the class - it's nearly the same as on the Xperia Z5 Compact and (surprisingly) better than the flagship HTC 10.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Apple iPhone 6
3.838 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
You can enable automatic brightness from the settings (but not from the quick toggles in the notification area). Smart backlight control keeps the lights on while you're looking at the screen, so you can set a short display sleep timeout, but still read long texts at your own pace.
Connectivity
The Sony Xperia XA comes in single and dual-SIM flavors. VoLTE is supported for higher quality audio in calls (assuming your carrier has enabled it).
The phones can drink Internet at up to 150Mbps speeds thanks to LTE Cat. 4 (50Mbps up) or Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (dual-band) if you prefer a local connection.
Bluetooth 4.1 with Low Energy and audio-focused aptX is on board as well. NFC is available too.
Wireless media connections include DLNA and Miracast. There's no wired TV out, but the USB port does support On The Go for hooking up external storage.
Battery
The Sony Xperia XA is thin and light, which doesn't leave much room for battery capacity. The XA is loaded with 2,300mAh in total, which is not much for a 5" phone, though some devices manage to pull off a decent endurance of similar units.
It does support a fast charging tech, MediaTek's PumpExpress 2.0 to be exact and Sony says you can get over 5 hours of battery life in just 10 minutes with its UCH12 charger.
In some regions you will need to provide your own charger, though, the one we got is a standard 1.5A. Also, note that the Quick Charge power bricks we tried didn't push more than 1.5A, so look for a charger specifically compatible with PumpExpress.
Like its other X siblings, the Xperia XA battery uses Qnovo tech, which promises to prolong its usable life. As batteries age, they can hold less and less charge and that's just the problem Qnovo solves by intelligently monitoring the charge that goes into the battery.
The actual battery performance isn't great - we only squeezed out 40 hours of Endurance rating. This means to reach Sony's promised 2-day battery life, you shouldn't push the Xperia XA too hard. Web browsing proved the biggest drain, you can get just over 5 hours. We've seen better from phones with smaller batteries. Even the Helio P10 chipset does okay in other phones. Still, video playback was surprisingly good and the 10 hour talk time (while not great) should be enough.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Marshmallow with a dash of Xperia
Sony's new X line of smartphones come with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box. As always, Sony brought its own media apps - multimedia is its bread and butter after all - but core changes to Android are relatively few.
The software does weigh more than the typical AOSP installation. The Xperia XA is available only with 16GB of internal memory and you're left with just 8GB of that (that's 2GB less than a 16GB Nexus 5X). A microSD card is a must as apps, photos, videos and music will quickly eat up the available storage.
The lockscreen is customized to show off the Xperia theme (the numbers of the clock are see-through so you see the wallpaper through them). You can swipe left or up to unlock, down to view notifications. You can't swipe right to unlock, though that's not much of an issue after the first hour or two with the phone.
Lockscreen • Lockscreen settings
The homescreen appears unchanged. This includes the swipe down gesture, which shows a screen of the apps you use most along with recommendations for new apps to install. A search field is highlighted so you can start typing the app's name immediately.
Homescreen • App suggestions and search
The traditional app drawer is still on board and it features an above average amount of vendor apps. Sony takes great pride in their AV prowess, so there is now way that they could have gone for the stock multimedia apps made by Google.
Standard app drawer
Themes are available (both free and paid) that can customize the look and sound of the Xperia XA interface.
Xperia themes
The notification area is plain Android. You can re-arrange the quick toggle tiles and adjust the screen brightness. Note that just like in vanilla Android, there's no toggle for Auto brightness (you need to go into the settings for that). That's the one thing we don't mind skins changing and still, many manufacturers like to keep it stock.
Notification area is vanilla Android
The app switcher is similarly a vanilla Android affair with the 3D rolodex look. The small apps are gone, however, and there is no longer floating app multitasking.
So is the app switcher (note: no small apps)
The Smart cleaner feature will periodically empty the cache of apps you haven't used in a while. You can switch this off or just manually tell it not to bother for certain apps.
Smart Cleaner frees up memory of both kinds
One thing Android has been missing for years is a proper backup solution and Sony gives you one. It can backup applications, contacts, messages, phone settings. The backup info itself can be stored on your Sony online account, on the microSD card or an external USB device.
Backups can be scheduled, including conditions like "Connected to Wi-Fi" and "Charging device", depending on your preferences.
Scheduled backups are the best way to prevent data loss
Performance
The Sony Xperia XA uses a MediaTek chipset like the XA Ultra, while the X duo went with Qualcomm. The chipset in question is the Helio P10, which houses eight Cortex-A53s clocked at 2GHz and a dual-core Mali-T860. They share 2GB of RAM.
For comparisons we mostly picked out phones with 5" 720p screens. A lot of them in this price range use a Snapdragon 616 (8x A53 + Adreno 405). That's the Oppo F1, Vibe K5 Plus and Redmi 3. The Galaxy J5 (2016) uses a Snapdragon 410 (with a quad-core CPU and older GPU), while the Xiaomi Mi 4s flies high with Snapdragon 808. Then there's the Xperia X with S650, the successor of the 808.
AnTuTu 6 placed the Xperia XA in the middle of the pack - behind the higher end Snapdragons, but ahead of the 616s. The J5 (2016) scores surprisingly high.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
77537 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
59850 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
49094 - Sony Xperia XA
47170 - Oppo F1
35353 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
35291
It's not a fluke either, the Galaxy does well in Basemark OS 2.0 too. Here the Xperia XA leads most phones, including the Xperia M5 (which is a sort of spiritual predecessor to the XA).
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
1714 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
1545 - Sony Xperia XA
1013 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
1007 - Oppo F1
961 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
884 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
860 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
804 - Huawei P8lite
691
Note that Geekbench 3.0 failed (couldn't upload the score to the server).
Flipping over to the GPU side, we see that the XA matches the X in on-screen performance. Obviously, the difference between 720p and 1080p resolution helps, but you can expect identical game performance between the two phones (not counting the less sharp screen image).
The Adreno 405 in Snapdragon 616 doesn't do too hot even at 720p, while the Adreno 418 sweats to push 1080p to Xiaomi Mi 4s screen.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XA
15 - Sony Xperia X
15 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
12 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
12 - Oppo F1
11 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
9.5 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
8.7 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
5.5
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XA
11 - Sony Xperia X
10 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
7.9 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
4.9 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.2
Offscreen performance shows the dual-core Mali-T860 is about half as fast as an Adreno 510 in the Xperia X. That's proportional to the difference in pixel count, making the Helio P10 the right tool for this job.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
14 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
13 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
8.4 - Sony Xperia XA
7.2 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
5.8 - Oppo F1
5.8 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
5.5 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
4.9
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
9.2 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
8.1 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
7.2 - Sony Xperia XA
4.8 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
4.5
Basemark X takes offscreen performance into account, which explains the higher scores of the X and Mi 4s.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
15087 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
12990 - Sony Xperia M5 Dual
7780 - Sony Xperia XA
6420 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
5383 - Oppo F1
5314 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
5108 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
4863 - Huawei P8lite
3648
Basemark X (medium)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia X
24687 - Xiaomi Mi 4s
19854 - Sony Xperia XA
14635 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
11199 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
11088
2GB of RAM may sound cramped, but the Xperia XA did a fine job of switching between apps fast. Only the more demanding apps (typically games) got booted out of RAM and had to be reloaded after several app switches.
The processor is fast for a mid-range phone, though you can get more bang for the buck with some smart shopping. The GPU is all that the 720p screen needs, mid-rangers with 1080p screens need a faster GPU (and those phones aren't cheap), so all in all a good job by the Xperia XA here.
Phone
We have a single-SIM Sony Xperia XA, but there is a dual-SIM version if you need an extra phone line. Either model has active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic.
The call log can be filtered by missed, incoming and outgoing calls.
Dialer with smart dial • Call log • Call log filtering • Phonebook
The new Xperia family shares a fairly unique feature, a built-in answering machine. It picks up an incoming call, plays your greeting and would later replay your friends' messages. You can set up your greeting and pickup conditions.
The Xperia X has a built-in answering machine
Loudspeaker
Unlike the Xs, the XA phones have a single loudspeaker, located at the bottom . In terms of loudness, the Sony Xperia XA fell in the Below average category on our loudspeaker test, much like the Xperia X couple (those two offer stereo speakers).
Quality is okay with no distortions even at full volume (and that's good since you'll likely crank up the volume slider up and leave it there, it's just too quiet otherwise).
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 61.3 | 61.1 | 65.7 | Below Average | |
| 61.6 | 66.2 | 68.3 | Below Average | |
| 65.0 | 64.9 | 67.2 | Below Average | |
| 65.6 | 68.9 | 64.0 | Below Average | |
| 66.0 | 64.3 | 70.1 | Below Average | |
| 66.1 | 65.5 | 70.6 | Average | |
| 66.5 | 66.6 | 75.7 | Good | |
| 73.7 | 68.6 | 82.9 | Very Good | |
| 75.7 | 73.5 | 79.5 | Excellent |
Messaging
The Sony Xperia XA has a beautiful Material design messaging app. It feels like the instant messengers you might be used to, including conversations wallpapers and cute stickers you can send.
Ours came with panda stickers pre-installed, but you can download more (free and paid sticker packs are available). You can also send your own creations drawn in the Sketch (obviously, this changes the message type to MMS).
Messaging app • Stickers are available, just like in chat apps
For text entry, Sony picked the SwiftKey keyboard. It became popular for its swipe input, but regular tap-typing with text correction is available as well. Typing is quite comfortable and the narrow bezels didn't lead to accidental presses.
Customizable SwiftKey keyboard
The keyboard is highly customizable - you can change the layout, choose what characters are available (accented characters, emoji), enable a number row, resize the keyboard or even undock it. The Messaging app also handles voice input.
Sony's Album is one great gallery app
The Album app is among the most comprehensive and feature-rich we've seen, it's fast and easy to use, too! Photos are organized by month, and you can use pinch-zoom to change the size of thumbnails (then they smoothly animate into the grid).
At the very top of the list is a slideshow, showing off your photos, lower down, the first photo of each month is shown at twice the size of other images.
The Album app is beautiful and functional
You can instead browse photos on a map (you can manually add geotag info too) or by folder. This includes network storage so that you can view photos from a DLNA server (your home computer for one). Then there's integration with online albums - Facebook, Picasa, Flickr.
Image editing is handled by Sketch. It lets you fingerpaint over a photo or a paper-like texture, add text, stickers, photos and so on. If you're talented, you can share your creations on the Sketch mini-social network, and if you're not, you can just browse what others drew.
Sketch is a fun image editor with a mini social network for sharing art
Movie Creator is similar to the Assistant of Google Photos. It automatically creates short videos from the photos and videos you've shot.
You can do it manually too: pick photos and videos, change their order, add color effects and music (you get a small audio collection to start you off, but can use custom files too). Then tap the Share button and send out your animated slideshow.
The Movie Creator can automatically or manually make shareable slideshows
We mentioned it in the Display section, but we'll repeat it here. The Sony software uses image enhancements to make even average-looking photos pop. You can choose from Off, Mobile Bravia Engine 2 (sharpen and boost contrast) and Super-vivid.
Screen settings
Music app
The Music app feels like a part of the same software package as the rest of the custom Sony stuff. The contextual side menu offers much of the same browsing options - by folder, network folder and online services, in this case, Spotify (it's just a link to the Spotify app though). You can share music from the phone to compatible players.
Music app
The Infinite button as such is gone, but its functionality is still here in the menu. It can find the track's video on YouTube, look up info about the artist on Wikipedia and search for lyrics on Google. Gracenote is used here too and it can automatically download information about your tracks and album art.
There are presets for Sony headsets and a number of audio settings. ClearAudio+ determines the best audio quality settings depending on the track you're listening to. We liked how it changed the sound and carefully accentuated various details. You also get a 5-band equalizer if you want to do the tuning manually.
Dynamic normalizer evens out the volume differences across tracks, which is great if you've mixed multiple albums from multiple sources.
Audio settings
TrackID is Sony's trusted song recognition software, which has since evolved way past that. It can now show you music charts by country, give you live updates on recent searches across the world, and store your search history as well.
TrackID
FM Radio
There's also an FM radio tuner with RDS. The app features multiple visualizations and integrates with TrackID to recognize the currently playing song. The interface is very intuitive and full of stunning animations. Possibly one of the best FM radio apps out there.
Of course, you would need to have your headset plugged in for the FM radio to pick up any signal.
FM radio with RDS and track recognition
Video
The Movies app is gone, a simpler Video app takes its place. The app is simpler to use - you pick a file from one of the local folders or your home network. You can also use the Search feature to look up videos on YouTube. The app is missing the HTPC-like functionality though, which pulled movie and TV show info automatically.
A chapter view lets you find a specific part of the video, by letting you scrub through a virtual timeline.
Video player
Videos can continue playing in the background (it's an option), but you can't view the video in a small floating window. At least you get full subtitle settings.
Audio output is decent
The Sony Xperia XA delivered excellently clean output when used with an active external amplifier, getting top marks across the board. Unfortunately, its output loudness was below average so it failed to exceed the expectations set by its price tag.
Degradation caused by headphones is minimal with a moderate hike in stereo crosstalk a shakier frequency response and some extra intermodulation distortion. Volume remained low, but it’s a decent showing nonetheless.
And now here go the results so you can do your comparison.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| Sony Xperia XA | +0.01, -0.18 | -93.6 | 90.6 | 0.0030 | 0.010 | -91.7 |
| Sony Xperia XA (headphones) | +0.85, -0.18 | -87.1 | 87.8 | 0.018 | 0.327 | -54.9 |
| Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus | +0.02, -0.08 | -93.8 | 92.8 | 0.0037 | 0.034 | -91.3 |
| Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus (headphones) | +0.09, -0.03 | -93.5 | 92.6 | 0.070 | 0.075 | -49.0 |
| Lenovo Vibe K4 Note | +0.05, -0.05 | -93.3 | 89.3 | 0.0039 | 0.012 | -93.6 |
| Lenovo Vibe K4 Note (headphones) | +0.03, -0.07 | -93.6 | 89.4 | 0.0035 | 0.015 | -60.5 |
| Huawei Honor 5X | +0.02, -0.08 | -93.4 | 90.1 | 0.0028 | 0.012 | -93.4 |
| Huawei Honor 5X (headphones) | +0.10, -0.03 | -92.9 | 89.8 | 0.0048 | 0.071 | -78.2 |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) | +0.02, -0.07 | -94.3 | 92.2 | 0.0065 | 0.010 | -95.0 |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) (headphones) | +0.42, -0.01 | -93.4 | 87.1 | 0.029 | 0.254 | -53.0 |
Sony Xperia XA frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Camera
The Sony Xperia XA uses a 13MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and a 1/3" sensor. It's not the old flagship camera used in the XA Ultra and not the new model used in the X and X Performance.
The camera has hybrid autofocus (contrast + phase detection) and supports object tracking, although it doesn't seem as good at it as its X stablemates.
The phone uses mostly the same UI as the other X phones. This means vertical swipes change modes, horizontal swipes flip between front and back cameras.
Xperia camera UI
The models include Superior Auto, Manual (just a name, there's no focus or shutter speed control) and some "camera apps" which range from useful (panorama) to fun (AR). These are downloadable so you can easily add more functionality.
The selfie camera is an 8MP camera with an f/2.0 lens and 1/4" sensor. So not the impressive cam the Xperia X had, but still better than most.
The Quick Capture feature from a locked phone option is available - just press the shutter key and the phone will unlock and take a photo. Optionally, it can just unlock and launch the camera or shoot video instead of a photo. This feature isn't quite as fast as it is on the Xperia X, but still qutie fast. Note that the camera doesn't always five itself time to focus and adjust exposure properly, so check how the photo turned out as you may have to reshoot some.
Additional settings • Camera apps
Shot to shot time is average and sometimes slow with Superior Auto - the mode can automatically enable options like HDR, which take a while to shoot and process. Sometimes the camera wouldn't register swipe gestures too.
Image quality
The camera takes sharp photos with a good deal of detail for its 13MP resolution. Noise is low and noise reduction and sharpening are mature, so there are no annoying processing artifacts. The dynamic range is good even without HDR, the camera finds a good balance between shadows and highlights.
The white balance color rendering needs work, however. There's a strong blue tint, which makes even bright sunny days feel cold. It's not just white balance, colors just feel off. Contrast can be better as the phone uses the dynamic range of JPEG conservatively.
Sony Xperia XA samples: Normal • Superior Auto
Photos shot in Manual turn out good, but we'd recommend using Superior Auto. Both modes mostly produce the same images, but on occasion, SA delivers better results (e.g. turning on HDR even if you didn't notice it's needed). Sometimes it makes shot-to-shot time slow, but it's worth it for the extra bit of quality (unless you need to take several photos in quick succession).
We tried out HDR and found it quite subtle - it improves shadow and highlight rendering slightly. It also changes color rendering, which actually makes things look better.
Sony Xperia XA samples: Normal • Superior Auto • HDR
The panorama mode is pretty poor, though. You only get 1080px height of the image, but even that's too much for the actual resolved detail. It doesn't help that stitching has issues - straight lines turn wavy and there's occasional ghosting. There's no way to 'end' a panorama either, you either have to complete it or point the phone somewhere else which automatically ends the shot, but this often messes up the final part of the panorama.
Sony Xperia XA panorama
The selfie camera produces fairly sharp images with low noise and good colors.
Sony Xperia XA samples: Normal • Superior Auto • HDR
Here's the Xperia XA against other 13MP cameras in its class.
Sony Xperia XA in our Photo Quality Comparison tool
Video camera
The Sony Xperia XA camera can record 1080p video at 30fps with both its cameras. There's no 60fps mode even at 720p. You do get SteadyShot stabilization and video HDR, though.
1080p footage is shot in MP4 files at the usual 17Mbps. Audio is captured at 128KBps but is mono only. That's a little disappointing in 2016 and with two mics on the phone (not that having three on the iPhone stopped Apple from sticking to mono sound recording either).
Resolved detail in videos shot with the Xperia XA is okay for its price class, better than a good deal of mid-rangers. There's no noise and color rendering is good, however, exposure is too sensitive and adjust too quickly and visibly as objects enter and leave the scene.
Audio is okay in terms of quality, but it lacks the directionality of stereo sound.
Many phones in the mid-range are capped at 1080p video recording, so the Xperia XA has no shortage of competition.
Sony Xperia XA in our Video Quality Comparison tool
Final words
Of Sony's 2016 offerings, the Xperia XA is the one that managed to get under our skin. It reminds us of the Xperia T, which sold us on a curved back, solely on the basis of aesthetics and ergonomics. The Xperia P too, which tried to prove that metal phones do belong in the midrange (back in 2012, long before it became commonplace).
The XA is the narrowest phone with a 5" screen and even without calipers you can feel it when you handle the phone. Its proportions - width, thickness, weight - are just right and we're especially fond of the way the front and back neatly curve into the sides. This is the phone that makes all others feel chunky.
Designing the Xperia XA, Sony was conservative with numbers, but strict on quality. The metal frame and polycarbonate sides wouldn't be out of place on a higher-end phone, the 720p screen is bright and with good colors, both cameras deliver on quality.
All in all the only thing Sony missed the mark on was battery life.
Sony Xperia XA key test findings
- High-quality build with supremely thin side bezels; the metal frame and polycarbonate back is a durable combo
- Bright display with great contrast, but it exhibits color shifting when viewed at an angle; other than that colors are fairly accurate for the price bracket
- Less than inspiring battery life at 40h Endurance; talk time and web browsing are below average, video playback time is okay
- Sony's bespoke media apps are a welcome addition to the package, themes are a fun way to spruce up the UI; the pre-installed software doesn't leave you much room though, using up 8GB out of the available 16; the microSD slot lets you go up to 256GB
- Solid performance from the chipset, accounting for the screen resolution difference you get the same gaming experience as the Xperia X
- Below average speaker, single one at that (good quality, though)
- Audio quality is good if not quite spectacular
- 13MP offers very good quality for the class - sharp images with plenty of dynamic range, but not so great colors; camera can get sluggish with HDR on
- 1080p videos have good quality, but no 60fps option (also, only mono audio)
- 8MP selfie camera is very good, with 1080p videos too
Sony is living in a world of its own, always has been. Its products are not designed to beat the competing product from a rival company, they are not launched in a timeframe that considers other market releases and they aren't priced like it either.
That can be a strength at a time where copycats flood the market with "me too" products, but it could lead to head-scratching moments (like the Xperia X being more expensive than the Z5 while being hardly as good).
The Sony Xperia XA is actually competitively priced in the US - $280 and (at launch at least) you get a free 64GB microSD card! In Europe the price is a tougher pill to swallow - €300 (€330 even, in some markets) and no freebies. It puts it in a rather tough crowd, so the little XA will have to sweat extra hard to make an impact.
The Xiaomi Redmi 3 - metal shell, 5" 720p screen, 13MP/1080p camera, 4,000mAh battery - launched in January and it's less than half price. Xiaomi even had time to launch an improved version, the Redmi 3s.
Sure the software is older (Lollipop), the chipset isn't as fast, but it's not all bad. The 3s model has a fingerprint reader and is available in a 3GB/32GB configuration. Availability is problematic in some markets though.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 • Xiaomi Redmi 3s
Meizu are more or less in the same boat - both in terms of hardware and limited availability. They launched the m3 and then improved it with the Meizu m3s (a more meaningful improvement than the Redmi 3/3s). It's an all-metal phone with a 5" 720p screen, a fingerprint reader below that, a 13MP/1080p camera on the back, a 3GB/32GB option and a 3,020mAh battery.
Meizu m3s
A surprisingly attractive alternative comes from Sony's own camp - the Xperia M5. It's under €300 now and while all plastic, is waterproof. And you get the more upmarket Sony camera package - 21.2MP/2160p main camera, 13MP/1080p selfie snapper. Do note that Sony is still dragging its feet with the promised Marshmallow upgrade and the GPU on the M5 is weaker than what you get with the XA. The screen isn't quite as good either.
Sony Xperia M5
Time eroded the price of the HTC One A9 to reasonable levels (in this case, on par with the Xperia XA). It has an HTC-quality metal chassis and a beautiful AMOLED display (5" 1080p). The main camera has a 13MP sensor and OIS, while the selfie camera uses a 4MP UltraPixel sensor for low-light photography. You also get High-Res audio too. Okay, the chipset is a Snapdragon 617, but you do get 3GB of RAM. And the battery is small, 2,150mAh, but HTC got a bit more out of it than Sony.
HTC One A9
The Huawei P9 lite offers a bigger, sharper screen - 5.2" at 1080p - and High-Res audio (which the XA lacks). It has a fingerprint on the back too. The P9 lite is powered by Huawei's homebrewed chipset (with a faster GPU, but not quite enough to make up for the jump to 1080p and a slower CPU). The camera is a similar 13MP + 8MP combo.
The Huawei Honor 5c has the same screen and chipset, same camera, chipset and battery too! At half the price of the P9 lite (and the Xperia), it is thicker and heavier, but only by a bit (8.3mm vs. 7.5mm, 156g vs. 147g).
Huawei P9 lite • Huawei Honor 5c
Lenovo launched the Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus simultaneously. The base model comes with a 5" 720p screen, the Plus ups that to 1080p. The base K5 is powered by a quad-core processor, so we'll skip it altogether, but the K5 Plus has a Snapdragon 616 (decent, if slower than XA's Helio P10 as benchmarks showed). You get a 13MP/1080p main camera and a 5MP front-facer for selfies. Everything is housed in an all-metal exterior.
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
The Oppo F1 is also based on the S616 and has a metal shell. Its screen is a 5" 720p LCD and you get a 13MP + 8MP camera setup. There's an F1 Plus model, but that's quite different - it jumps up to a 5.5" 1080p AMOLED and a 16MP selfie camera (better than its 13MP main camera!)
Oppo F1
Having gone through the list of competitors, we feel better about the Sony Xpria XA than we did about the X. With the latter, we just couldn't shake the feeling of "Why not just get a Z5? Or, you know Galaxy S7/LG G5/Huawei P9/..." That's the thing though, the Xperia XA is not burdened with the responsibility of a flagship.
We love the build quality and Sony nailed the chipset and the camera. You'll get better gaming performance than similarly priced phones (as long as you can live with the 720p resolution). And the camera offers better quality than 13MP shooters in this price range. If Sony does something about the battery, the XA will certainly go down in our book as the modern day Xperia SP.
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