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Introduction
Xperias, reimagined. Sony is stepping into the new year with a brand new yet recognizably Sony design for its XA-series of midrangers, now into their third generation.
The Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra were announced at CES in Las Vegas, and alongside them a more humble Xperia L2 made a debut as well. We got the chance to spend some time with all three of them, and we've prepared a quick hands-on to share some initial impressions.
The Xperia XA2 leads the way - a compact mid-tier device that's gotten several key upgrades this year. For starters, it's been treated to a larger display that's also higher-res - it's a 5.2-inch FullHD panel compared to the 5-inch 720p units of the two previous XAs. Then there's the chipset - a 14nm Snapdragon 630 replaces last year's Helio P20. A major bump in battery capacity (3,300 vs. 2,300mAh), ultra wide selfie camera, and a fingerprint reader on the back (in the US, too!) - we're liking this new Sony.
Sony Xperia XA2 at a glance
- Body: Aluminum frame, polycarbonate back; silver, black, blue, and pink (select markets only) color schemes.
- Display: 5.2" LCD, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 424ppi pixel density.
- Rear camera: 23MP, 1/2.3" sensor size, f/2.0 aperture, 25mm-equiv. focal length. Hybrid (PD/contrast) autofocus. 2160p/30fps video recording.
- Front camera: 8MP, 120-degree field of view; fixed focus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 8.0 Oreo.
- Chipset: Snapdragon 630: octa-core 2.2GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 508 GPU.
- Memory: 3GB of RAM; 32GB storage; hybrid microSD slot for expansion.
- Battery: 3,300 mAh (sealed); QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging.
- Connectivity: Single/Dual SIM; LTE Cat. 12/13 (600Mbps download); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; NFC; Bluetooth 5.
- Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single speaker on the bottom; 3.5mm jack; two-stage hardware shutter release button.
The Xperia XA2 Ultra doesn't get a bigger screen, but then it doesn't need to - the 6-inch FullHD display that's been a staple of the lineup is still plenty. The Ultra gets the same Snapdragon 630 SoC, but pairs it with more RAM (4GB vs. 3GB), while an even larger 3,580mAh battery should keep the lights on much longer than on the predecessor - the XA1 Ultra had a 2,700mAh power pack.
Xperia Ultras have always been big (that will hold true with a full stop here, but do continue) on selfies, and this latest one is no different. The phablet looks at you with two cameras - the 16MP 16:9 unit with OIS from last year's Ultra, and the 8MP ultra wide shooter of the non-Ultra XA2. Ultra, ultra, ultra. Well, of course there's a front-facing flash, duh.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra at a glance
- Body: Aluminum frame, polycarbonate back; silver, black, blue, and gold (select markets only) color schemes.
- Display: 6.0" LCD, 1,920x1,080 resolution, 367ppi pixel density.
- Rear camera: 23MP, 1/2.3" sensor size, f/2.0 aperture, 25mm-equiv. focal length. Hybrid (PD/contrast) autofocus. 2160p/30fps video recording.
- Front cameras: Primary: 16MP, 1/2.6" sensor size, 16:9 aspect, f/2.0 aperture, OIS; autofocus. Secondary: 8MP, 120-degree field of view; fixed focus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 8.0 Oreo.
- Chipset: Snapdragon 630: octa-core 2.2GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 508 GPU.
- Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32GB/64GB storage; dedicated microSD slot for expansion.
- Battery: 3,580 mAh (sealed); QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging.
- Connectivity: Single/Dual SIM; LTE Cat. 12/13 (600Mbps download); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; NFC; Bluetooth 5.
- Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single speaker on the bottom; 3.5mm jack; two-stage hardware shutter release button.
And then there's the Xperia L2. The 'more-battery-is-better' mentality continues on this one and it gets a 3,300mAh cell too - about 700mAh more than the L1. It's the same display and chipset as before, but the 13MP camera's lens is brighter (f/2.0 vs. f/2.2), while a bump in RAM and storage sees the numbers go to 3/32GB. The L2 gets a touch of ultra itself - the 8MP ultra wide selfie cam, that is. Oh, and even the budget-conscious L model has a fingerprint reader this year.
Sony Xperia L2 at a glance
- Body: Plastic frame and back; black, gold, and pink (select markets only) color schemes.
- Display: 5.5" LCD, 1,280x720px resolution, 267ppi pixel density.
- Rear camera: 13MP, 1/3.06" sensor size, f/2.0 aperture; autofocus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
- Front camera: 8MP, 120-degree field of view; fixed focus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
- Chipset: Mediatek MT6737T: quad-core 1.45GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, dual-core Mali-T720 GPU.
- Memory: 3GB of RAM; 32GB storage; dedicated microSD slot for expansion.
- Battery: 3,300 mAh (sealed).
- Connectivity: Single/Dual SIM; LTE Cat. 4 (150Mbps download); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS; NFC; Bluetooth 4.2.
- Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single speaker on the bottom; 3.5mm jack.
There's a common theme between these three - the central rear camera and the fingerprint reader on the back. While there have been Xperias with their cameras in the middle, the prevalent placement has been the top left.
And a fingerprint reader on the side embedded in the power button has been the most Sony thing these past couple of years - hush, Razer, you impostor! Sensor on the back works better with thinner side bezels though, and Sony's been getting a lot of heat for bezels. With the XA2s this has been addressed to some extent, but let's talk design on the next few pages, where we handle some Xperias.
Sony Xperia XA2 hands-on
It was an unlikely love at first sight for a lot of us here at the office when the original Xperia XA came out - one of the first Sony phones with minimal extra bulk around display, at least in 2 out of 4 directions.
A year and a half later, the Xperia XA2 arrived at our doorstep. The third generation of its kind (because that's how Sony's numbering works) shows maturity in its looks - there's some of that XA DNA we loved, yet it's evolved and, dare we say, in a good way.
For starters, it's grown a little. Hold on, it's actually shorter that XA1, but it's a little wider because it needs to house a 5.2-inch display where there used to be 5 inches. It's no small feat, actually - the XA2's display is 4-something millimeters taller than the XA1's but the phone is 3 mil shorter. That's 7mm chiseled off the chin and forehead, and that's a lot.
Side-to-side, there wasn't much to chisel off - the XA2 is as wider than the XA1 as the new display is compared to the old one. Effectively, Sony's pulled off fitting more display without going overboard with footprint - about time.
Xperia XA2 and XA1 side by side
The XA2 is a little thicker though, there's no escaping that. When you read the specsheet's 9.7mm along the z-axis, it looks pretty bad. Especially when the XA1 was just 8mm, and the chunky-feeling ZX1 Compact is 9.3mm.
However, thanks to the rounded sides and the curvature of its back (the Compact is quite universally flat, no matter the vantage point), the Xperia XA2 doesn't feel nearly as thick as its almost 1cm waistline suggests. No, it's certainly not thin, but we're quite happy with the more-battery/extra-thickness trade-off. Plus, it doesn't feel thick, it just doesn't, okay? Alright, maybe just a little. Enough with these numbers!
Hey, here's some more numbers - the XA2's display is now FullHD (okay, it's not a number, but the numbers are implied). The smaller, 5-inch XA and XA1 made do with 720p panels, but for the third generation's larger screen they went with 1080p.
Sony promises 500nits of brightness and by the looks of it, there's no reason to doubt that claim. We also had the opportunity to get some sun into it, and it holds up nicely. There might be a slight Sony-LCD-blue tint going on there, but overall it's looking like a mighty good display.
The front camera looks reassuringly big, and it's the 120-degree coverage that explains the size. We're very much fans of ultra wide cams, and having one for selfies means a lot of friends in the frame. We just need to find some.
Anyway, a downside of using such a wide lens is the extra optical distortion, and, at first glance, there's plenty of it. We'll be able to report on its gravity once we get some friends lined up but we better leave this for when the proper review sample arrives.
There's also a notification LED. Just saying. Oh, and we hope you appreciate the mind-bending shot below, thank you very much.
We're not entirely sure how the slabs of aluminum on the top and bottom of the phone make us feel. They do look handsome with their polished chamfers and all, and the touch of aluminum comes with that premium feel. Each of them does, however, create a lip on the front that would scrape a tender palm in a less than pleasing way. Ah, could they be there so that the front glass remains raised when the phone is lying face down on a hard surface? Hmm, looks like it.
The front itself is not really flat. It appears thicker in the center while thinning out towards the extremes. There's an overall fluidity to the glass - it's not like Samsung's curved edges, the effect is a lot more subtle, but it's still pretty neat.
The Xperia XA2 debuts a new feature for Sony - the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. Yes, all three phones here have it, but we'll call the XA2 the first one. Last gen's XAs only had biometric recognition in the Plus-sized version, while the XA1 and XA1 Ultra remained disconnected from the times. There's no XA2 Plus (yet?) but both XA2s have a circular fingerprint scanner on their backs, in what is perhaps the most natural spot.
While the units we have are very much pre-production, so the software will certainly get more polish before the official launch, the recognition works rather well. It's always on, no waking the phone is required, and a tap on the sensor takes you straight to the homescreen. It's slightly slower than the best ones we've seen, but a)not so much as to be an issue, and b)non-final software.
The camera's made a new home on the central axis of the rear, right above the fingerprint reader. A fancy shiny ring around the lens serves as an accent and, more practically, to give the glass some extra protection. It's the same 23MP camera with a multi-aspect sensor that was once reserved for Sony flagships like the Xperia Z5. In fact Sony says it's exactly the same camera with all the bells and whistles and nothing missing, along with 4K video recording and ISO 12,800.
Overall, it seems our attraction to the XAs is more than just a fling, it's lasting for a third generation now. And if the substance turns out to be just as good as the first impression, it would make this yet another mid-range Sony that we like more than the flagships.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra hands-on
Okay, this thing is BIG. It's one of the largest and heaviest phones we've had around for a while. It's taller than the original Mi Mix and only slightly narrower. It weighs 221g, twelve more than said Mi Mix. It's a monster of a phone, and we kinda like it.
For one, it's got a 6-inch display. A true 16:9 6-incher too. To get the same 16:9 viewing area from the trendy 2:1 ratio, you'd need a 6.6-inch diagonal, and as far as we know, these max out with the 6.3-inch Galaxy Note8.
Much like the small XA2, Sony's press materials for the Ultra point to a 500nits maximum brightness and much like the XA2 we feel that's not exaggerated. In fact, looking at the two side by side, there's not much to separate them aside from the sheer size of the Ultra.
While we're at it, let's just mention that new model is 2mm shorter than the old one. Okay, it's not that big of a deal, especially when compared to the STB ratio changes on the small model, but it still counts for something.
Then it's the 3,580mAh battery. Back when the XA1 Ultra came out, we were worried its tiny 2,700mAh battery would be inadequate for powering all 6 inches of it. That turned out not to be the case, so we're really excited to see how the increase in capacity and the newer and more efficient chipset will affect endurance. We're expecting records.
But while it's the massive screen that warrants the Ultra moniker in the Xperia realm, Ultras have also had a specific fixation on selfie photography. The XA2 Ultra doesn't break that tradition. One-upping last year's model and staying on top of trends, this third generation comes with two front cameras - teaming up the 16MP unit of the XA1 Ultra with the ultra wide shooter of this year's XA2.
We already voiced the one concern we had with a 120-degree FOV front-facing camera - distortion. Well, the Ultra negates that with its other (though in this case, primary) 16MP cam with a more conventional, yet still pretty wide, 21mm equivalent focal length (EXIF says so, hence about a 90-something degree diagonal FOV). It's got autofocus, unlike the 8MP one, and its optics are stabilized - that's a spec sheet fat enough to beat some primary cameras.
The Xperia XA2 Ultra comes in single and dual SIM versions, and in either case it's got a dedicated microSD slot. Selfie cams aside, that's another difference that sets the Ultra apart from the non-Ultra - Sony only found enough room for a hybrid slot on the dual SIM Xperia XA2.
Most other hardware features are shared, however - that includes the rear mounted fingerprint sensor and the two-stage hardware shutter release button. Okay, that's a very classic way of taking pictures, and we initially appreciated it, but as the years went by, we found ourselves using it less and less often. And when you have the double press on the power button for quick-launching the camera, the dedicated button's second function becomes redundant too.
Oh, and isn't it ironic - with the power button now relieved of biometric duties, the tiny circular machined aluminum button from the pre-Z5 era makes a comeback. Welcome back, then, long time no see.
Now, enjoyable as our time has been with the Xperia XA2 Ultra, its 221 grams of heft are starting to take a toll on us. Good thing we have the L2 to fall back to. That one's on the next page.
Sony Xperia L2 hands-on
The Xperia L2's lineage can be traced back to the Xperia E all the way back in 2012, but let's not get into ancient history. Sony's press materials only go two generations back to highlight how the E5 morphed into the L1, which now gets a due replacement that brings several notable improvements.
Being our usual superficial selves, we'll start with the looks. The L-series gets a design makeover to make sure it doesn't look out of place next to the XA2s (and, by extension, whatever models there are to come). It pulls it off nicely, minus the high-end sheen and feel of aluminum - the L2 is all plastic, not just the back like the XAs.
There's a fingerprint reader on the back too. Those are ubiquitous now and it's good that Sony didn't cheap out and skip it for its entry-level phone. Every phone should have a fingerprint reader these days. And a USB-C port, but that's a different matter. Sony got that sorted with the L1 already, and the L2 follows suit.
The shapes are mimicked truthfully - the curvature of the back is there, and the protective top and bottom edges stick out above the display glass just the same. The glass is flat-flat, though, the fluid effect of the XA2s didn't make the budget.
The display itself is a 5.5-inch 720p unit, just like on the last generation. It's clearly not of the same caliber as the panels on the XA-series, but if testing proves it to perform similarly to last year's model, there'll be no complaints given the L2's market segment.
Sony's all about ultra wide selfies this year and the L2 has the same 8MP 120-degree front-facing cam as its more esteemed brethren. Good for you, L2.
It's gotten a little wider, the L2, a whole 4mm compared to last year's model - that, we're not thrilled about.
What does resonate nicely around here is the battery capacity - 3,300mAh is a solid upgrade over last year's 2,620mAh. And with 3GB or RAM and 32GB of storage the L2's specsheet quite well rounded. Okay, the Mediatek MT6737T chipset with a quad-core CPU isn't spectacular, but it does a decent job, and we can't really have it all.
Cases
With the phones we also got to have a look at a small selection of flip cases for the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra. Flip cases are a love it or hate it type of thing, and looking around the office the second group seems a lot more heavily represented.
Our preferences aside, Sony's cases have magnets on the front that wake the phone up when you flip the case open, and similarly send it to standby when you close the thing. They can also double as a kickstand.
Mind you, the Ultra's case weighs in at 70+ grams, and together with the phone the ensemble is pushing 300g. And since the phones themselves are not very svelte, adding more than a few extra millimeters does make them quite bulky. They will be protected, that's for sure, especially if you leave them at home because they don't fit in your pocket.
Initial impressions
Sony's wasting no time kicking off the year 2018 - CES in January marks the announcement of the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra midrangers, plus an L2 lower down the ranks. After the brief time we got to spend with a few early units of the three models, you can label us excited.
The Xperia L2 is a well-specced entry into the Sony brand, the XA2 Ultra stays true to its heritage with a huge screen and a strong selfie game, while the XA2 is once more the easiest Xperia to love. If that's a sign of what's to expect throughout the year, those XZ flagships can't come soon enough.
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