Sony is de facto good at releasing armfuls of confusingly-named telephones and basically leaving us to work out the variations. The Sony Xperia XA1 Plus is a type of, slotting in between the Xperia XA1 and the Xperia XA1 Ultra.

For the reason that XA1 vary is Sony’s mid-tier providing, that locations the Plus in the midst of… the center. In case you’re considering that makes for a fairly unremarkable telephone, you would be proper.

Nevertheless, unremarkable is not a nasty factor on this case. The XA1 Plus will not set your world on fireplace, nor – at round £330/$380 (roughly AU$485) – will it thrill your financial institution supervisor – nevertheless it additionally will not have you ever howling in laggy frustration or lacking the megabucks you spent on it.

It is the telephone equal of a takeout meal: it is not low-cost, it is not gourmand, nevertheless it’s good and it really works.

Key options

• Beneficiant full HD display screen
• Spectacular battery pack
• Fingerprint scanner

It’s fairly clear what Sony is hoping will promote this telephone: display screen and battery. Full cease. As we famous in our preliminary hands-on, the 5.5-inch full HD show is completely suited to motion pictures and gaming, and the three,430mAh battery ensures you will not run out of juice mid-session.

The bezels above and under that show will bug some individuals, and others will likely be dissatisfied by the solo speaker as an alternative of one thing that matches the sound to the picture high quality, however neither of these are deal-breakers at this worth level – particularly when the latter could be fastened with good headphones, as there is a correct three.5mm jack.

The Xperia XA1 Plus has been pitched as ‘tremendous mid-tier’, and we predict that is about proper. It affords middling processing, storage and reminiscence, however amps up the battery and display screen measurement to supply one thing just like the telephone equal of ‘Premium Economic system.’ A bit of extra this, just a little extra that, however nonetheless a (moderately) little price ticket.

The one query is who’s going to purchase it when it is missing in standout options or any type of advertising and marketing idea, and judging by the PR supplies that got here with its low-key launch, Sony does not seem to have a solution.

Sadly, this most likely means it’s going to promote much less effectively than it deserves to, primarily based on our experiences on this overview.

One of many household

• Chunky however sturdy
• Correct headphone jack
• digicam key

Appears-wise, the XA1 Plus carries the Xperia DNA at each side. Which means a chunkier really feel than you get from many producers: the Xperia line has by no means been involved about thinness.

Nevertheless, if you have not had one for some time, the newer fashions are much less blocky than their predecessors, with gently curved sides giving an oval form to the highest and backside edges.

This makes them far more snug to carry whereas nonetheless being satisfyingly sturdy, and the thicker profile means there’s room for a correct three.5mm headphone jack on the highest.

That is to not say you don’t get USB-C: the charging port is certainly the reversible normal, providing the perfect of each worlds. It sits within the heart of the underside panel beside a single, grille-covered downward-firing speaker.

The left edge holds the door to the dual-SIM tray (on our mannequin: some are single SIM) and a microSD slot, and refreshingly opens with a fingernail quite than these little instruments you lose inside the first ten seconds of proudly owning the telephone.

The correct fringe of the telephone is equally effectively thought-out: under the quantity rocker is the facility key with fingerprint sensor in-built (except you are within the US), and there is a key for pictures.

Kids most likely will not recognize that holding the telephone in panorama means this secret’s the place the shutter button could be on an precise digicam, however we all know.

Satisfyingly, it additionally does the half-press-to-focus factor. Extra Androids ought to provide this: it is a actually pleasing technique to take images. Particularly for us oldies.

The plastic again panel is fairly minimal, with simply the Xperia brand and a tiny NFC image to let you recognize the place to carry your telephone over the contactless reader. The sizeable lens for the 23MP digicam sensor sits virtually flush, with only a skinny silver ring raised above the floor.

Beneath that’s the LED flash – and that is it. No fingerprint pad as a result of that is within the energy key, no second sensor on the digicam: it is a again panel you will not be unhappy to cowl with a case.

The entrance of the telephone sports activities the big prime and backside bezels we have come to know from Xperia telephones, alongside the subtle-ish Sony branding beside the 8MP selfie digicam.

There’s nothing in any respect on the underside bezel, which is disappointing: if you’ve obtained half an inch of chin on the entrance of your telephone, you type of need there to be a goal to it.

There is no dwelling key and never even capacitive keys. The Android navigation buttons on the XA1 Plus are software program, so you’ll be able to anticipate these to take up just a little of your 5.5-inch display screen actual property as an alternative of that ineffective bezel.

It’s additionally unhappy to see that the display screen doesn’t curve into these rounded handset edges – it looks like a missed alternative, however maybe that’s an unfair expectation at this worth level.

Skinny metallic bands end the highest and backside of the XA1 Plus, which presently is available in a alternative of black, blue, gold or pink, relying on the territory.

Shows for days

• 5.5 inches of full HD refinement
• Gorilla Glass four
• Fairly fingerprinty

Offering you do not thoughts the highest and backside bezels, the show is a excessive level on this mid-tier telephone. Measuring a beneficiant 5.5 inches (what we used to name a ‘phablet’ and now simply name… a telephone), it is coated with Gorilla Glass four and affords full HD within the conventional 16:9 side ratio (1080 x 1920, about 401 pixels per inch).

Whereas it might have been good to see the show wrap round into the curved sides (and certainly it appears Sony is planning curved displays), it is maybe just a little an excessive amount of to ask for at this worth.

We positively would have most popular it rather less fingerprinty, nonetheless: on white backgrounds you’ll be able to actually see the soiled smudges. You may wish to clear it earlier than loading up a video.

By default, the telephone shows textual content and icons just a little giant for our liking, however that is simply fastened within the Show settings. 

You can even change the picture shade profile there, from the default which is practical if just a little uninteresting, to ‘picture enhancement’ mode and even ‘super-vivid’. There is not an enormous distinction between them, nevertheless it’s good to have the choice.

The brightness ranges on the XA1 Plus’ display screen, nonetheless, go away just a little to be desired. Adaptive brightness is on by default, and we discovered it usually left the display screen just a little dim for our liking.

Curiously, with adaptive brightness on, you’ll be able to flip the sunshine slider on the settings panel all the way in which as much as the highest, and but your display screen nonetheless is not at its most doable brightness.

Flip adaptive brightness off and the slider moved again to the center, and turning it as much as max revealed a a lot brighter prime finish than we would in any other case have had. Price figuring out, particularly in case you like your screens to require sun shades.