Sony Xperia X Review: Flagship Price but Where’s the Value?
The latest Sony Xperia phone manages to impress us, but definitely not worth its price.
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Sony has had it tough in the smartphone segment lately. Traditionally, Samsung and Apple have been their competition, however, it’s fair to say that China-based brands have posed bigger problems for them.
The Japanese brand is mostly running its ship on the back of the strong demand for its PlayStation 4 gaming console, and with the Xperia X, they are hoping for some smartphone love. Priced at Rs 46,990, the phone is built to take a flagship-level fight.
Pros:
- Quality and colourful display
- Capable performer
- Decent set of cameras
- Reliable battery
Cons:
- No value for money
- Low-light camera quality suffers
- Not water and dust resistant
What’s Good?
Even though the Sony Xperia X is sized at 5-inch, but you’ll find it easier to use than most other 5-inch phones available right now. The rectangular-shaped dimensions with a slim body profile ensures that the Xperia X fits comfortably in your palms and pockets as well.
For once, we like that Sony has ditched the glass body in favour of a brushed aluminium finish. Even if you manage to get the phone all scratched up, making it look tidy is easy-peasy.
Sony’s use of the Full-HD 1920x1080 pixel Triluminous display, has significantly improved over the past year. Because of which, you get bright, crisp content, coupled with sharp contrast – perfect for watching movies on-the-go.
The Xperia X cannot be faulted for its performance. The hardware in tow is more than capable of handling your daily tasks with ease. The phones also comes with ample storage space .
The peculiar positioning of the fingerprint scanner on the Power button is a refreshing change. It’s definitely better than having these at the back of the phone. This way you make sure that the phone is unlocked only when you want to use it.
The 23-megapixel camera at the back offers high-quality pictures that’s got the right amount of details. The colours look vibrant without going overboard on contrast.
We were surprised by the capability of the 2620mAh battery on the Xperia X which easily managed to last us for over 15-18 hours on an average on WiFi/4G.
What’s Bad?
Let’s put it this way, the processor running on the Xperia X for Rs 46,990 is also available with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 which only costs Rs 12,999. We repeatedly asked Sony for its pricing policy here, but all they had to say was, “we’re going as per the company’s strategy.” Well, whichever way you look at it, it is hard to justify Xperia X’s price.
The 23-megapixel rear camera doesn’t live up to its low-light claims. The lack of lighting ambiance results in photos with noise and devoid of detail. The company also claims that the Xperia X clicks a photo in 0.6-seconds, but we found the image processing takes longer than that. Also, you can’t shoot 4K videos on a 46K priced device. Not cool, Sony.
Remember Sony flaunting its IP certified durability of the Xperia Z phones? Well, that’s gone from the Xperia X. The phone is neither water nor dust resistant, and there is no good reason for it not to be.
Why Buy It?
Even with all these features and goodwill, it is hard to see how one can recommend the Sony Xperia X, especially at this price. Don’t get us wrong, the phone’s got a competent camera and solid hardware to be ranked as a capable performer, and even the battery life is worth appreciating.
Vying for space among the likes of Samsung, LG or even Apple is a tricky proposition and sadly, Sony has a lot of catching up to do.
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