Is It Worth Buying Sony Xperia X Performance $700 Phone?: Sony has already out with their 2016 flagship Xperia X while we are reviewing this device pretty late. But over a week or two we have reviewed this device and make many conclusions which we gonna share today. Sony has finally skip their older Z lineup and start with new X lineup which sound kind of new start as Lenovo also rebrand their flagship Moto X to Moto Z which looks kind of swap between two. Sony has launched series of the device from medium performance range to flagship ones but the main problem these phones are the price as price is as competitive as flagship and higher budget phones but features are lower than that. While X series of Xperia lineup also adopts same Xperia iconic design, power, and performance. From first sight device has a same old look but got some new interesting feature which sony learns from previous mistakes.
From iconic and glassy design first thing you notice is Xperia display which curved design and Bravia Panel inside despite having an F-HD display it performs better than many other. But the main power lies inside the device with flagship class processor, multitasking capable RAM, optimum storage with expansion and pro camera which we will talk in our discussion.
While some feature which is obsolete from a device which won’t able to compete for this device with other flagships. While another feature in which Xperia is better with is also made best about it to use. So without further ado let’s get started.
Specification:
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Is It Worth Buying Sony Xperia X Performance $700 Phone?:
Design:
Xperia 2016 line up has overall similar design pattern with all new glass design with a curved display and backed with aluminum which also gives the nice texture to the device. With beautiful design pattern and color, option makes this device more attractive and feel in hand more comfortable. The dimension of the device is so perfect that you can even perform many tasks with ease. Using this device for longer time won’t feel something as it is very light weight device and hardware also won’t feel too heavy. As you knock this device you feel something hollow inside it while knocking HTC or other smartphones you won’t experience due to this body design body feel really lightweight and easy to hold. While we had experienced a minor drop to this device and device won’t catch any scuff which is good. Sony has made this device also with waterproof capabilities so the user can feel free to use in water.
- When you look the device from the front you will see dual firing speaker, on-screen home button as capitative keys are not present, NFC of this device lies in front of front screen panel which made difficult you to use Android Pay or Beam Services.
- On the back, you’ll find Sony Logo, Camera, and flash. On the side, you will find Power button, Volume keys, and Camera Shutter button.
- Placement of volume keys is really awkward as using it while you may feel difficult to change volume and while capturing shot Volume Keys also cause difficult to use.On the bottom, you’ll find a Micro-USB port 2.0 and upper side a Headphone Jack.
- Taking about dimension of this device 143.7 x 70.4 x 8.7 mm (5.66 x 2.77 x 0.34 in) and weigh around 164.4 g (5.78 oz).
- While the device is really compact with 5″ display so you can easily use all the feature with one-handed use don’t need to use another one.
- Colors Available: While using the device for long it also won’t cause any strain to your hand and light weight also adds to this factor. For the user who want to use color, this device is available White, Graphite Black, Lime Gold and Rose Gold. While the best color option is Graphite Black as it looks very nice and awesome but can also use another one as per your choice.
Display:
Display of Sony device is always at its best with their own Bravia Panel. This year Sony has stepped down their display from 4K to straight down to F-HD which is kind of obsolete in this year flagships except for iPhone as Flagship are using 2K display AMOLED Panel which looks really nice gives out nice color effect like Samsung Galaxy S7 or HTC 10. While Sony still stuck in LCD display panel having IPS panel.
- Display of Xperia X Performance looks nice and beautiful with nice color effect are Sony technology like Triluminos Display and X-Reality Engine which help this smartphone to give this beautiful picture out of the screen. The color is vibrant and gives life-like picture effect to display. Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation levels are optimum. Taking about picture quality all other aspects like picture clarity and intensity also looks nice. Sunlight readability of device is also good.
- Resolution: Talking about Display Specs sheet it has an F-HD display with 1080×1920 resolution with 441ppi which looks sharp and awesome. There is a certain arrangement in setting to configure white balance and color option which you can change as according to your way. For protection, Sony has not used Gorilla Glass but has scratch resistance display.
Hardware:
Sony filled this device with all flagship like performance as it is powered by Qualcomm’s this year flagship Processor a 3GB of RAM which is not quite like flagship arrangement but the device still manages all multitasking with ease. As for storage device has inbuilt 32GB with expansion facility up to 256GB. Using apps like Social, Productivity, Camera App and Games all run in this device very fluid.
- Chipset: As we spec sheet of this device you’ll find Snapdragon 820 CPU Quad-core (2×2.15 GHz Kryo & 2×1.6 GHz Kryo) clubbed with 3GB of RAM as using apps and multitasking all run very ease. Background optimization of the device is also tinkered well to manage each bit of device.
- GPU: For Gaming device include Adreno 530 GPU which gives very fast and fluid gameplay experience and the app also run very smooth. Despite having a lower memory as another flagship has 4GB or some other device also have twice RAM but in real life situation you won’t feel any change.
- Taking about app usage we have tested this device by playing games like Asphalt 8, GTA San Andreas and Pokemon Go all run well without any issue. As running an app like Chrome opening 20 tabs at the back ground all runs without issue, Prisma app, Photoshop app, and Camera Pro App all runs with ease and without any hiccups.
- Connectivity: In terms of Connectivity device has LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 AC, and Bluetooth v4.2. While NFC also includes in this device which made online payment more easy and fluid. As obsolete of Fingerprint sensor security of this device also face some issue but it’s OK.
Camera:
Taking about camera Sony device are best at it as Sony has engineered this device to provide the best quality images in any real life situation. Which you can assume by using camera app as Auto mode does not include any other feature like Auto HDR and other. While Object tracking of this device is very fast as it supports live tracking focus on the object which is new to smartphones and adds extra to this device. While nightlife imaging of this device really matches Samsung Galaxy S7 quality which makes it a second device to having this type of phenomenal camera. While pink and purple colors look unnatural.
- Camera App: Camera app is very easy to use and you can use dedicated camera button on the side of the device to capture images while use Volume keys to Zoom image with ease. The manual mode of this device has very little tinker option as you can only control exposure level and lighting condition and Manual mode also have HDR to capture.
- Camera: As we look spec of this device include 23MP f/2.0 aperture sensor which captures a good amount of light to it and gives the nice color. The device uses PDAF to tracking object and capture really nice photos. While Video recording of this device only captures about 1080p @60FPS and 4K is not present while 4K recording it must have featured in this device.
While on front side device include 13MP which capture a really nice picture. Color ratio of images is good and really nice.
Interface:
Sony shipped this device Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow as a new update soon be arrive as confirmed by Sony so you can purchase this device if you want a non-nexus device having Android Nougat. While taking about device Sony Xperia X Performance has really nicely optimized interface which manages device battery as well performance. Sony not wholly skinned this OS as OS is pretty stock like experience with little bit tweaks in the Lock screen.
Audio:
Audio Quality of this device is like the boom with dual front firing speakers sound is optimum for normal usages songs are feel more melodious and nice. While full volume won’t cause any issue and any distortion is a voice. Listing music fill sound in a whole room without any issue and you can groove with ease.
Battery:
The battery of this device can last up to 4 hours of screen on time which is really nice as having a 2700mAh Li-ion battery. While the device has Qualcomm’s Quick Charging 2.0 but this is very old version as new flagship include 3.0 which charges device faster. Battery optimization of this device is very good and the user can use many other power saving options like Stamina Mode which save lots of battery and make this device perform full day.
Overall:
Basically, Sony Xperia X Performance is Flagship device from Sony while having many features like budget phones but premium quality, awesome camera and longer battery life which made this device a good flagship. While comparing this device against other flagship may this device won’t stand in a certain category but on other, it will respond well.
Fingerprint sensor which is not present in this device really hamper many people user experience as many low-cost devices are having fingerprint sensor which is about fraction cost than this device.
Taking about a price of this device you can get it around $700 which is too much as we see this device feature. As you can purchase this device in four-color option White, Graphite Black, Lime Gold and Rose Gold.