I already finished my assessments on my first-ever check of a Sony Android phone with one of it's headturning specs of having a 16 nm based Mediatek processor. Here is my Sony Xperia XA1 review.
On display and UI, Xperia XA1 continues to bring in the experience of the recent Xperia phones that did for some hands-on - almost stock Android (Nougat) with some dash of Sony add-ons and that custom icons which works a-ok with the additional muscle found in Mediatek Helio P20 octa-core processor
On connectivity, I had no problems in calls, texts, NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and mobile data
On benchmarks. the Mediatek Helio P20 really had a leap on Antutu compared to the Helio P10
When I saw the 2,300 mAh battery of the Xperia XA1 I was a bit worried for it but with the video battery rundown that I did, the phone lasted for 15 hours and 45 minutes but it was a different story when I used it as a daily driver. I can use it in a typical 16 hour workday with about 4 hours of screen on time and my usual mixed usage but if I gonna exceed on that, for sure that I need to call for help on my powerbank for some top up. How I wish Sony still brought some more mAh on it's battery battery.
On the sound department, at first that it looks like the phone has dual front speaker but it is not but the single-firing speaker. Thru the 3.5 mm. audio jack though worked very good.
On camera, the Xperia XA1 was a-ok for shooting on auto mode but two of my biggest problems on this phone are that not that accurate on the pro settings dial and the worse part, the 2-second image processing speed on both auto and pro mode which kinda sucks big time. I do not have any idea where to throw that blame if it is on the brand on it's processor inside. I really had some hard times when I used it as my camera for my previous number of blogging coverages.
Sony Xperia XA1 rear camera samples
Sony Xperia XA1 front camera sample
From the UI, sound, display and average battery life were my pros for the Sony Xperia XA1 but from what I got on it's camera is the biggest blow on my own opinion. The price though probably one of the few Xperia phones that it hit right on the spot at Php 15,990. I will gonna give 3.75 out of 5 for the Sony Xperia XA1
