Sony Xperia XA Ultra

Sony Xperia XA Ultra stands out among the X-series with a subtle polishing of the ubiquitous appearance that Sony brings. Priced at Rs. 18,500, this Sony Xperia XA Ultra brings in enough changes to be a strong contender for the enviable all-rounder spot in the smartphone world.

The Sony Xperia has a splendid selfie camera which stands its grounds. However, the phone fails to provide some of the basic requirements of a handset, which includes a fingerprint scanner and waterproofing. Along with that, the phone offers mediocre performance and battery, and falters in low-light photography. It is a capable handset but may not stand strong with its more potent competitors.

The design of the Sony Xperia XA Ultra looks quite similar to the previous phones of the X-Series. It is quite heavy at 201 grams and has measurements of 162.5 x 78.7 x 7.6mm, making it rather thick. The back looks almost barren, but it might be because of Sony’s drive towards producing a minimalist design. It has a matte metal rear panel which ensures that the fingerprints don’t stick to it. Combined with the speckled front, the phone provides a marvellous premium design.

The smooth design sits well in hand and gives a beautiful feel. Unlike the other phones of the X-series, the XA Ultra comes with a properly placed volume rocker button, making it quite ergonomic. The only shortcoming is that it doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner or waterproofing.

One of the main highlights of this phone is the 6-inch IPS LCD, offering a resolution of 1080p. It has slight bezels on its side, giving it a futuristic look. The colours on the phone are quite brilliant and are bright enough to be moderately legible outdoors. However, in harsh sunlight, the legibility decreases. The colours appear to be quite accurate and the viewing angles are excellent.

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra comes with the power of Mediatek Helio P10, paired with a Mali T860 GPU. The processor contains eight ARM Cortex A53 cores, four of which are clocked at 1.1GHz and four of which are clocked at 2.0GHz. Plus, the phones have a powerful 3GB RAM.

However, the processor turns out to be slow. When you are running several apps simultaneously as well as switching apps, the phone starts to slow down. Casual gaming is smooth, but when you play graphic-intensive games at high settings, you will experience noticeable frame drops. The phone outpaces Moto G4’s Snapdragon 617, but it falters when compared to Snapdragon 650.

Sony XA Ultra comes with a primary camera of 21.5 MP, which is marvellous for shooting photos. You get stunning images which are very clear, and the colours on the phone are quite bright and vibrant.

However, in low light, a bit of visual noise gets introduced, though it is not too much. You can still determine the outlines of subjects.

In the front, the XA Ultra features a 16MP shooter which is sometimes better than the rear camera. The colours come out punchier and well-detailed. However, the low light performance falls drastically, delivering grainy photos.

The camera can record 1080p even with the selfie camera, and the front camera has Optical Image Stabilisation which is not present in the rear camera. Thus, the selfie camera on this phone is a bit of a masterpiece.

The Sony XA Ultra arrives with a juice pack of 2,700 mAh, which is quite small, considering the phone has a power-hungry display. However, the processor is efficient, and thus it can run for a long time. With light and moderate use, the phone can last for one and a half days.

However, the phone does not come with fast charging. As a result, it requires about two and a half hours to get from 0% to 100%. Running an HD video of 90 minutes on the phone saw that it dropped just to 90%; when the same test was done on Sony X Compact, powered with the same battery saw it go down to 84%. All in all, it is a potent battery.

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra is quite a capable phone when it comes to mid-range market. Unlike many of the X-series, it comes with a difference. The front-facing camera is truly unique since it is fitted with OIS. The difference from other X-series phones is that it has a long-lasting battery and an almost bezel-free display.

The phone, however, falters with performance. If you are a Sony fan, then this well-rounded phone is just for you. However, for anyone willing to look beyond Sony, there are much better phones to go for, especially in terms of performance.