Sony Xperia XA1 SIM-Free Smartphone - Black

I brought this phone for my uncle after been issued one of these as a company phone and using it for some time. My current personal phone i use is a Sony xz ,which i have had since November 2016, and my wife has a xz premium so i have few comparisons that can be made. For the price the xa1 is good value , its has almost flagship specifications at mid range prices. Design Its thin edge to edge screen and 5 inch screen makes the phone look very thin and tall, its not as wide as my xz but you can hold this phone with 1 hand use. The build quality is excellent seems solid and looks almost the same as the more expensive xperia. display The screen is very bright the colors are vivid,Evan tho the resolution is only 720 you cant really tell unless you really look hard. The brightness of LCD really helps and the phone has a IPS LCD this helps with them viewing angles not fading. Im very impressed with the display compared to my full HD xz. Performance The phone is quick and snappy , its good that sony beefed up the ram to 3gb and are using the latest helios p20 quadcore chipset, there was no noticeable lag when playing games or multitasking. Camera The camera sensor is the same one as the xz, so picture quality is good, the camera is fast, from launch to picture it does under a second. It has manual modes and front camera is also good, but i would say my xz still edges it in camera. Battery Battery last me for a full day , but you can easy get 2 days if you put on stamina mode on. It also has battery care function, this will only charge your phone when needed and at slower currents, thus extending your battery lifespan.This phone also uses the new USB-C charging cable, now you can put the charging cable anyway without breaking the USB port on your phone.It also charges quicker and transfers data 10x faster. Conclusion I think this phone is brilliant it looks stunning ,gives you top specifications, decent camera and a good display for £229, for most people this phone is all you need, i myself have the more expensive xz , yes the xz is better has better processor and camera ,but your paying £200 more. For most people this phone will do everything you need and save you money.

As mentioned elsewhere in at least one review (that I missed when ordering this phone), it's not possible to have BlueTooth and Wi-Fi working at the same time without a host of problems. This issue is well-documented on Sony's own forums (search for "sony xa1 bluetooth wifi problem"), and there's no resolution being offered that I can find. The "answer" is to switch off Wi-Fi when using BlueTooth (not great for streaming music from the internet!) and switch off BlueTooth when using Wi-Fi (not great for convenience when getting into the car or wanting your fitness tracker to sync). When things do lock up, toggling Airplane Mode on & off typically provides a period of stability. Another deal-breaker should be the intrusive bloatware, particularly the "What's New" app, that allows your mobile network to push crap to your SIM-free device(!), and which Sony does not allow you to permanently get rid of. To be fair, I've used an Xperia before and was familiar with Sony's bent for pushing apps on you that you are unable to set the phone to permanently ignore; however, allowing a carrier to infest a phone that was not bought from them is a step way too far. It should be pointed out that the phone itself is great - the screen is a good size, and it's pin-sharp; the camera works really well, and the whole device is snappy and responsive. I'm actually keeping it, having invested a lot of time in setting it up and working out how to live with it, plus the additional money I've spent on a device-specific case and new charging cables. Overall: this phone can NOT be recommended due to the BlueTooth-related flaws which Sony has been well-aware of and is refusing to publicly acknowledge. UPDATE (March 2018): The Wi-Fi/BlueTooth connectivity problems have been remedied through a firmware update that arrived in February; however, the responsive of the screen has degraded significantly. For example, I unlock the phone using the "Pattern", which requires a swipe from dot-to-dot-to-dot - this is frustratingly difficult to carry out, because the screen loses "connection" to my finger mid-pattern, necessitating multiple attempts nearly every time I pick up the phone. As another example, I use "gesture typing", where text is input by keeping the finger on the keyboard and spelling out words by swiping - again, the phone thinks the finger is being listed and usually types two or three short words in place of the intended word. Another problem with the screen that's become apparent is the edges don't register touch 99% of the time; this means the notification shade can't be pulled down from the top of the screen. The area of the screen where I first noticed this is the right-hand edge, when I realised that trying to use the Backspace ("delete") key wasn't working. I've been into two phone shops and verified that their display models have the exact same problem by going into the in-built drawing app and trying to fill a blank canvas with colour - you're left with neatly-defined strips of white along each edge of the screen. I'm going to start the (probably fruitless) process of returning this device that I've had for two frustrating months. Despite the phone's great camera, snappy performance, and sound-feeling build quality, I'm completely turned off Sony products now, particularly given the time I've lost in trying to get this device to work and the money I've lost on buying a case and new charging cables.

After 4 or 5 days of waiting at home, including receiving 2 empty broken seal boxes and the 3rd package being delivered to some mystery person instead of me, I received my new phone to replace my failed old Samsung S3. After a little over a week's use, and a few initial hiccups, I am happy to report that all is well. The screen is fantastic, the camera is fantastic even in low-light. The phone itself seems fast. I only make one or two calls per day and check emails and messages now and again and the battery only goes down by about 25 % PER DAY even with Bluetooth turned on. In comparison, my old S3 battery was dead before bed every day. One of my main motivations for choosing this particular phone, besides price/spec, was their claim that it can be used with one hand. This has tuned out to be quite true, which is brilliant, because my old S3 was just a tad too wide to do this. The only negative, related to one-handed operation is that it is REALLY slippery in the hand. Of course, I need to find a case that fixes this issue... With the phone as-received, the Bluetooth audio did not work with my Huawei Watch 2 smart watch, and I was on the verge of returning the phone. However, luckily, after doing the software update that it kept reminding me to do, it all works nicely and I can make phone calls just using my watch. Gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of Sony's VERY ANNOYING choice of a non-standard mini USB connector. This means that I have to carry the included USB cable everywhere, or buy additional cables for home/work/car etc. Overall, very pleased with this purchase! Just need a good case...

Bought this as a replacement for my old Sony Z3 which after 4 years of hard use the screen failed which considering it was dropped on roads/pavements quite a lot shows how tough Sony phones are built nowadays. After a week of going through countless phone reviews i decided on this phone due to it's high score on reviews also i loved my last phone which took a lot of abuse before finally breaking. I have owned this phone for a few months now before posting this review to give a accurate idea how the phone performs in everyday use. The first thing i noticed was how it felt better put together than my last phone which is some achievement considering how my last phone survived for so long with the most noticeable difference being the buttons felt a lot better to use. In terms of performance it is quick to load apps etc with a easy to use UI and has yet to ever feel sluggish no matter how many web pages/apps i'm running on it. Now onto Sony's Forte which is it's photo/video quality, a lot of phones can match it in terms of mega pixels but with the Sony camera sensor the quality is so much better to other phones i've seen with the sound quality also being top notch. Despite my heavy usage on the phone the worst i have had the battery lasting is about 18 hours before needing charged again which only takes just over a hour to go from 0% to 100%. In summary although some of it's competitors have the edge in certain areas overall this phone in my opinion wins hands down. At this price range it's a bargain and would happily get another Sony phone in the future.

Pretty good phone-bought Nov 2018, Camera is ok- not fantastic if your a selfie lover but it gets the job done. Uses a USB type C charger. Did have a problem with the charging port after a while- i don't think they solder the port to the circuit board very securely because when i had it around 11 months it would suddenly have problems charging. Luckily it was in warranty so it was sent off to be fixed free of charge. Now it's may 2020 and i'm beginning to have the same problems as before and i have a tiny little scratch on it's screen- i didn't have a screen protector on it so i think it's done well considering. Since we're in quarantine there's no real rush for replacement of it and since a phone normally lasts me 2 years before it dies in some way i'm not too fussed. But definitely recommend getting the amazon warranty on it purely because if i didn't i would have been stuck without a phone whilst on holiday. Thinking about buying the same model because i didn't have issues with the operating system and it was quite user friendly. I did find the battery does go if your constantly using mobile data all day and had the brightness on full wack so i always keep it on power saver mode and with the brightness as low as possible. But if you set it to it's super saver mode it can last for weeks- providing you don't mind no internet or social media use- it basically goes back to a proper phone with only calls, text and a camera.

My first android phone. Having come from 5 iPhone's, and then to a Windows phone for a couple of years... I then thought I would give android a shot. I know people love their iPhone's, but that Apple 'walled garden' is (for me) prohibitive a lot of the time. I got fed up with this and moved to a Microsoft Lumia 640 for 2 years. That phone is surprisingly easy to use compared to anything else... and the GUI is quite possibly the nicest. But, as Microsoft seem to be taking their time with the 'surface phone' and which may be a premium product only. I decided to give the SONY Xperia XA1 a go. What sold it most of all to me was the styling and the SONY brand. Too many phones are 'pebble' shaped these days. I prefer an element of 'boxy' in my devices. This boxy shape with the premium touches is fantastic at this price point. There's more premium bits under the hood as well. A decent CPU, a good amount of RAM and storage. The device is very fast and responsive. The 23MP camera is epic. Ok, no 4K video or slow motion on this handset - but how often do you need those? 1080P video is more than good enough for your average quick video shoot. The screen is only 720P HD though, that said, it is very crisp and bright with good colour. The quality of the screens output is much better than the 720P resolution suggests. I've been using this phone for about 5 days now. As mentioned, my first Android phone. I'm starting to settle with the phone now. I think it's a great phone. It's fast and snappy, looks great, feels great, and with the premium touches it actually looks more expensive than it is. At £229 unlocked, it is an absolutely bargain and well worth the money. Highly recommended.

It's a decent phone, until you want to use the internet. The wifi just randomly cuts out and sometimes takes a while to reconnect. It's difficult to put into words just how frustrating this can be, especially if you have poor phone signal in your house like me. I've had internet calls where there's about 10 minutes of the wifi randomly dropping, having to reconnect, then going again etc. I've spoken to Sony live chat and they basically said it'll be fixed in a future update, but didn't say when and told me that some countries won't get it and their big help was to tell me to turn off bluetooth. Bluetooth isn't always on and it still happens. Also, that means that you can't use things such as bluetooth speakers or headphones etc. which is just ridiculous when technology is so advanced (and damn expensive). The phone is also rather large, which isn't an issue in itself, but it's a rather odd shape too and this leads to discomfort while holding it. My advice is look at other phones- paying more would probably be worth it.

Like several people here I love the square styling of this phone and its my 3rd Sony ( Z3 compact, Z5 compact-before.). If you are replacing either of these you need to read the below before you fall in love. Firstly size-- its a 5" screen as opposed to the ZX compact, and Z5/ Z3 compacts. Personally I like this its just about the biggest one handed phone you can have and gives that bit bigger screen. Its 2mm thinner too than a ZX Z5 Compact and has nicer top and bottom edging moving back to the Z3 compact styling ( without the clear plastic bumpers unfortunately). At a great price of £229 these are the features that you will miss from a ZX compact ( which is the updated Z5 compact and is now down to around £300 or less) -- ---No Finger print scanner ( there is a small sticking out button on the right side) ---No double tap to wake on screen-- this is Sony being REALLY MEAN. This means that you have to push in the power button every time and then ( if you have set it and if you are using it as a work phone its likely your work email administrators will demand it in the Outlook download ) then enter the 4 digit code every time. Now there is a useful feature that you can set so as not to need the 4 digit pin. You can set a GPS setting ( i.e. home or work) that the phone will recognise and you won't need a pin. OR you can set it that a pin is not needed if you have it blue tooth connect device that you have authorised -- i.e. a Android watch or in the car. These are nice features but I really miss double tap to wake--There is a lot of moaning about this on Sony mobile chat sites so hopefully it will be part of a firmware update. --No stereo speakers-- the grill on the face at top and bottom is mic and hearing for phone calls. The speaker is on the bottom. For me its no big thing as if I want sound I will blue tooth to a speaker/ car. Its reasonably loud speaker on the phone (louder than Z3 Compact--isnt anything :-) _ but it is a bit hissy when you turn it up. --There is no 4k video but 1080p is fine. 4k on the ZX Z5 was only for 50 seconds before the phone got too hot and shut off anyway. Really thats about it-- this is the good stuff you get -- A fantastic 23 mp camera. Its actually the same one that was in the Z5 compact and that was supposed to be one of the best in the world. Like that one it shoots reg in 8mp so you have to set it to 23mp--but its a quality item in any way. -- Don't think that as its a lower class new chip than the snap dragon-- its been specifically designed for Sony and with 3 gb RAM rather than the Z5 Compact 2 gb RAM it opens and closes faster. Note if you are a gaming fanatic you may notice a dif but for everyone else this will be that bit quicker. --2300mah battery doesn't sound great , but what you are missing is that custom chip. It will last 20-30% longer than a Z5 Compact. -- Added to the above is the FANTASTIC super fast charging with USB C connector ( yes you will be buying USB C Amazon basics leads for charing around your house / car). But USB C is a) uni directional ( i.e. there is no wrong way up ) and b) chargers must faster. As an example you will get 50% in 20-30 mins. I would say its 60% faster than my old Z5 Compact which in its self was 30% faster than Z3 Compact. - Screen is 720p same as prior compacts. The Samsung brigade will shout not 1080 but its a compact screen so in reality ( unless you look REALLY close) you won't notice the diff. -It takes a Micro SD card up to 256gb with of course the 32gb internal storage. All in all I love it-- I hate that it doesn't have double tap to wake and with enough badgering Sony will sort this with a Firmware update. But apart from that its Brill and the price is excellent. If your coming from a XA it will blow you away. If you are coming from a Z3/ Z5 Compact you won't be disappointed and the price is great. The other thing to note is that with Nougat Sony removed SMALL APPS -- If like me you were used to using this to cahnge tracks on i.e. Spotify whilst on another page you will miss this. Sony you REALLY need to fix your software--your design is GREAT. If you have other questions ask me. UPDATE 1 21 July 2017-- Still loving the style and the 5" really is the top sizing that one handed use will support. There are 2 things that have developed that are really annoying -- 1- the swipe down to view notifications doesn't work. Maybe it was a software update? Ive read that one should take off all apps and put on one by one but I really cant be bothered to do that. Ive tried soft and hard re sets and its pain not to be able to lower the brightness each evening without going through system app. ANYONE ELSE FACING THIS. 2. I constantly find that P on the right side of the keyboard won't press and show--ie it comes up as an O which is right next to it. Not sure if this is a factor of the curved edge and the side bezel being so slim or the screen formatting. Either way neither of the above happened on my Z5 Compact that I had for 18 months which behaved flawlessly. I still love the size / shape of the XA 1 but overall everything else is great-- but these ( and the aforementioned) seem silly software issues from Sony rather than hardware that would make it BRILLIANT for the price. UPDATE 2- THE DROP DOWN MENU STOPPED WORKING WITH OR WITHOUT CASE. A QUICK CHECK IN WITH SONY SUPPORT GAVE ME INFO FOR A HARD RESET ( PRESS ON/OFF BUTTON AND VOLUME UP BUTTON FOR 8 SECONDS. THIS FIXED THINGS FOR 10 MINS AND THEN IT WAS BACK NOT WORKING. ALSO THE HEADPHONE JACK STOPPED WORKING WITH THE 4 SONY HEADPHONES THAT I HAVE, DRIVING MY WIFE NUTS WHE THE SOUND WENT THROUGH THE SPEAKERS AND WAKING HER AS I LIKE TO GO TO SLEEP LISTENING TO RADIO. SUMMARY -- BEAUTIFUL SHAPE ( why cant Apple do this now--look at old nano iPods), ENOUGH SPECS THAT YOU NEED WITH A GREAT CAMERA. MAYBE I JUST HAD A BAD ONE. BUT I 'LIVE' ON MY PHONE SO AS WELL AS LOOKING GOOD IT NEEDS TO WORK. TOP MARKS TO AMAZON WHO OFFERED A REPLACEMENT OR A REFUND DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO FIX THE ABOVE ISSUE. AS MUCH AS I LOVE THE PHONE I FELT GOING FOR THE X COMPACT WOULD GIVE ME A MORE FLAGSHIP BUILD WHERE THE ABOVE WOULD NOT HAPPEN AS WELL AS GINING ME HI RES MUSIC AND FIGURE PRINT UNLOCK ( rather than hitting the on/off botton and then having to put in code. ) THE X COMPACT ALSO COMES WITH BUILT IN NOISE CANCELLING FOR HEADPHONES WHICH IS ALSO USEFUL WHEN TRAVELLING. B-U-T I WILL MISS THE 5" SCREEN GOING TO A 4.6" AND THE BRICKIER 9.5 MM WIDTH COMPARED TO THE SVELTE 7MM--EVEN IF THE BATTERY IS 2700MAH MEANING 25% MORE. If you are considering getting the XA1 have a look at the X Compact. Its down to £299 now. Thats still £70 more than the XA1 but the X Compact is about £200 less than the flagship Z5 Compact and has all the features / more speed , even if it is not waterproof and dust proof rated

Bin zufrieden.

Super smartphone Sony 😁 Arrivé rapidement !!

vraiment decu de ce gsm je n ais jamais eu des problèmes avec tous les sony que j ais eu jusque la même avec un reconditionné que j ais gardé longtemps celui c est 0

A partir de los 10 meses, fallos por todos los sitios.

Schönes Handy in der Bedienung ähnlich wie Samsung. Die Lieferung war super schnell und verpackt. Leider finde ich die" sogenannte super tolle Sony Bildqualität" echr super schlecht. Fotografieren mit Dämerlicht und Blitzlicht geht garnicht, das Bild ist dann nur milchig grau. Die Display Größe ist winzig, oben und unten durch schwarze Balken, Ramen auf 2 cm eingeschränkt. Bin darüber echt enttäuscht. Werde es wieder verkaufen, schade.