Sony Xperia x1 specifications. Mobile phone Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Software and multimedia

The continuation of XA turned out to be interesting: the MediaTek Helio P20 chipset and 3 GB of RAM, they didn’t forget about the oleophobic coating, a 23 MP camera is used, like in the Sony Xperia Z5, there are also design nuances...

The most important

As for the Sony Xperia XA1, there are at least two important points. First, they added an oleophobic coating on the front panel. This is already progress compared to the first generation device. Secondly, Sony did not reinvent the budget line, but remade a model already existing on the market, taking into account the wishes of users and sellers.

It would be necessary to type the line above in caps, but I won’t do this - whoever needs it will understand that this is real progress.

It was like that before. Every year Sony reshuffled the entire line, and we just had to get used to the updated nomenclature. Okay, new letters, okay. New design, new everything. While Apple, Samsung and other companies have long been using successful designs for at least a couple of years, Sony has only just come to this. It's good that you came. Very happy.

I'm glad, because the XA, in general, was a good device. Reminds me of Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray and is suitable for both boys and girls.

By the way, the XA1, like almost all other announced Xperias, is all matte parts. Imagine the XA1 made of white matte plastic. It's nice to hold and looks great.

The main differences between the XA1 and the XA are a slightly different design, a different processor, a 23 megapixel camera, that is, now this budget device has moved into a different class. Almost middle segment.

Characteristics and Features

The smartphone will be presented in four colors: black, white, pink and gold, the last two look very cool and will appeal to girls. Black and white options are classic. The plastic is matte, although not all smartphones were able to be touched. The device feels nice in the hand, the size is small, I remember Ray every time I pick it up.

Specifications Sony Xperia XA:

• Case materials: plastic, metal, glass
• operating system: Android 7.1
• Network: GSM/EDGE, WCDMA, LTE (nanoSIM)
• Screen: IPS LCD, 5”, capacitive, HD), 554 ppi, automatic backlight level adjustment
• MediaTek Helio P20 chipset
• Graphics system: mali t880
• RAM: 3 GB
• Storage memory: 32 GB, microSD card slot, supports cards up to 256 GB
• Main camera: 1/2.3"-inch 23 MP Sony Exmor RS camera, LED flash, fullHD video. The same camera used in the Sony Xperia Z5
• Front camera: 8 MP
• Interfaces: 3.5 mm headset, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2
• Navigation: GPS/GLONASS (A-GPS support)
• Additionally: FM radio, fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0), sensors: accelerometer, spatial position sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, barometer
• Features: LTE supported, FM radio, 2 (two) SIM card slots and one separate microSD slot
• Battery: 2300 mAh, supports fast charging
• Dimensions: 143.6 x 66.8 x 7.9 mm
• Weight: 138.8 g

The USB Type-C connector is used here. Let me remind you that Type C is now found in all modern Sony devices, including inexpensive smartphones, flagships, and accessories. If we're going to cross, do it with all our might! I agree with this.

The main thing that I noticed was that the sore spots were consistently improved - the oleophobic coating, camera, processor and RAM. We did the same with the XA1 Ultra, but we’ll talk about that in another article.

Should I wait or not?

The device will appear in retail in the second quarter of 2017, the price will be about 25,000 rubles. The company says that the XA1 is a people's device for everyone. Considering that the Sony Xperia XA1 does not have any shells, add-ons, problems with working with the Google store, has a good design, a good camera for this segment and functions in general, the smartphone is worth waiting for. I understand everything you can tell me about Chinese devices for 25,000 rubles, but there are hundreds of “cons” in addition to a dozen reasons “for”.

I repeat - I’m glad that XA did not sink into oblivion and received a continuation.

The flagship smartphone XPERIA X1 will remain so until the model with the code name goes on sale (hopefully at the end of this year). Interest in it is fueled by excellent case materials, a large 3-inch display with a resolution of 800x480, a QWERTY keyboard and an intriguing interface - X-panels, which are desktop-like shells with different functionality. The set came out interesting, if not unique, but at the same time contradictory.

Frankly, the editors gg I was tormented by doubts whether or not to take this smartphone for review. It was announced last year at Mobile World Congress 2008, and went on sale just under New Year. At the same time, an extremely small quantity of this phone was delivered to our country. It is not cheap and you can only buy it “to order” - you will not find it on the open market. Truly Hamlet's question was finally resolved in favor of “to be,” since the model still turned out to be iconic and interesting, despite the fact that its exit was delayed. In addition, we have certain tender feelings for the Sony Ericsson brand (as well as for Motorola, which is going through hard times), so we could not resist the temptation to hold the company’s flagship smartphone in our hands, even if it was developed in the depths of HTC (although both companies do not comment on this fact, however, without denying it).

A little history

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 model produced the effect of a bomb exploding at Mobile World Congress 2008 in the literal sense of the word. No one expected such a step from the company - to take and in one fell swoop abandon the Symbian UIQ platform, into which huge resources had been poured, and announce a new flagship on Windows Mobile. Even such a small thing as support for microSD memory cards and the refusal of Sony cards seemed like a reasonable step towards the consumer, bordering on corporate blasphemy. A huge display with advanced resolution, a QWERTY keyboard and a promised innovative interface - all foreshadowed success and fueled the interest of a public unprepared for such shocks and a sharp turn in the course that the company was taking. At first, a new version of Windows Mobile was promised, but Microsoft failed and in the end the model was released with a slightly updated version 6.1. In reality, there were slightly more problems. In June, HTC announced a similar product (we are, of course, talking about the HTC Touch Pro). And it reached the shelves much earlier than the “experiment”, having arrived before the crisis. In addition, distributors of Windows Mobile systems, due to their specific nature, are closer to the computer audience than to the mobile audience. And HTC's position in this segment in the second half of 2008 was stronger than ever. As a result, of all the advantages, the XPERIA X1 only had a partially metal body, a promised interface with the ability to create custom skins (it was assumed that independent developers would be able to create their own panels) and an army of fans of the Sony Ericsson brand, which was eagerly awaiting the new product.

Specifications

The undoubted advantages of the model include a 3-inch display with a resolution of 800x480. Let me remind you that the Asus Eee PC 4G netbook had a similar resolution. Of course, there is some profanity here with ease of use, which is widely replicated by means mass media, but in general it is considered that a 3-inch display with this resolution is convenient for viewing websites. Although on the same Asus Eee PC 4G this convenience is questionable, despite the significantly larger physical dimensions of the screen. For comparison, the characteristics of HTC Touch Pro are shown. They are both available for sale in limited quantities (there are noticeably more offers of HTC Touch Pro, but they could have been imported even before the crisis, counting on pre-New Year sales). The price for both models revolves around the amount of 5,000 hryvnia.

Appearance

Taking into account the QWERTY keyboard, the device was not very large, but the metal parts made it quite weighty. The base of the chassis on which the keyboard itself is located is metal. When closed, it looks like a metal rim on the case, and when open, the metal around the keyboard gives the device an expensive look. There are LEDs in the corners that light up for incoming and missed calls and received messages.

The keyboard, at first glance, is extremely similar to a computer keyboard - a long space bar, an L-shaped Enter, but it obviously takes a long time to get used to. Moreover, some keys simply require this. For example, a button with a Windows icon or a completely “intuitive” “ok” key. And the lack of cursor control arrows is confusing at first - to move the cursor you need to move your fingers to the upper block with the display, where the navigation module is located.

Despite the fact that we received a test copy and it was severely “beaten by life” (for example, this explains the absence of a rubberized plug hiding the mounting screw in the upper right corner of the photo). But the metal battery cover and soft touch material on the back look like new. Sony Ericsson did not skimp on materials in this model. Apart from the dust that constantly gets stuck in all the small cracks on the case, the device looks like new.

At the bottom end there is a loop for tying a keychain, cord or other pendants. At the top there is a 3.5 mm jack and a power button.

The right side panel contains the traditional camera power button and volume control keys. Pay attention to the speaker gap (on the left side of the top and right side of the bottom pictures). There is a USB connector on the left - it is used for charging and for exchanging data with a computer. By the way, the XPERIA comes with a charger, as in the case of the HTC, in the plug of which you need to plug this same USB cable. That is, charging in any case comes from USB.

The lid makes an ambivalent impression. On the one hand, it looks reliable. On the other hand, after the phone accidentally fell, it flew off along with the battery that fell out of its compartment. She's not sitting tight in these two shots, so maybe it's worth re-shooting that angle for a full look. The stylus with its black cap hides in the phone body like a partisan in the forests of Transcarpathia - finding it is not so easy and quick. However, I have completely lost the habit of using it. Moreover, my last three phones had touch screens and I got the hang of hitting the right place (if necessary) with the tip sharpened like a razor nail

The navigation block, to be honest, ended up being redundant. Six keys, a navigation key, and even an optical joystick (which is actually neither optical nor a joystick - everything is just like a guinea pig). Basically, there is a small touchpad in the center of the navigation block. The same is found in Samsung Witu and a number of other models. To be honest, the author of such navigation would like erect a monument Ask some questions. For example, why, with two soft keys, make a separate “ok” button (duplicated, by the way, on a QWERTY keyboard and at the same time it is still completely unclear in what situation it is used). The buttons for accepting and rejecting calls are quite justified. As well as a separate key that launches the very X Panels that were discussed so much in the announcement. But this key should be placed separately somehow. For example, I would make the panels launch in a simpler and more natural way - by pressing the center of the navigation key. Which is usually used to enter the menu. By the way, this optical joystick can be disabled in the Windows Mobile settings and you can use the navigation key as usual.

The SIM card is easy to install. It is supported by a special plate, which must be pressed in order to pull the card back out.

But although the memory card can be removed without turning off the phone, its connector is hidden under the cover. Therefore, when replacing a memory card, the cover will have to be removed. This photo also clearly shows the stylus in its niche and the 3-megapixel camera module with LED backlight.

Appearance video

Interface and X-Panels

X-panels are a key element for working with Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. As an alternative, you can use the standard Windows Mobile menu, but it’s hard to say which is worse. There was a feeling that the developers of X-panels did not bother to familiarize themselves with similar add-ons to the operating system (there are already a lot of them, but we could start from the most common one - TouchFLO 3D, created by HTC). To be fair, it must be said that there are already eleven additional panels available for free download (lucky phone owners can get access to download new panels directly from the phone). These are panels for accessing Evernote, Facebook, Skype, Windows Live services. But in general, for a phone that went on sale six months ago, these are, of course, crumbs. The X-panel menu is called up by pressing a special key. At the same time, an icon gallery appears with all installed panels. There are not so many of them and they duplicate each other, differing for the most part only in color design. Visualization of the panels is implemented in 3 ways - you can arrange them like a fan this way, or you can arrange them like that. But this is all self-indulgence; the only convenient way is to arrange them in a table. To remove or add new panels, you need to press the settings button.

The Google panel is used to launch the corresponding services. Its presence is more like a nod of politeness to your partner, rather than a reasonable necessity. The problem with all X-panels is that to launch some application that is not on the current panel, you need to enter the panels menu, select a “more different” panel, wait for it to load (a few seconds) and only then launch the application. It would be difficult to come up with a more complex mechanism. Another useless but beautiful panel is the fish panel. They simply float across the screen with a clock and react to the touch of your fingers - you can drive them away. This is where all the fun ends.

The remaining panels are quite similar to each other. The panel loading process is implemented like in the Apple iPhone. That is, first the recompressed image is loaded (apparently, it is believed that since it is there, the idiot user is sure that the application loaded instantly), and after 3-4 seconds, it does not acquire clarity - this is the downloaded application with the X-panel. But in general, it’s all better to see in the video below.

X-panels

The most useful (and the only truly convenient) panel is developed by the St. Petersburg company Spb Software. Apparently, it will be included in the standard package (let me remind you that I had a test sample). The panel has three tabs - diary, main applications and contacts.

But, as popular wisdom says, it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times: Spb Shell panel

Two more standard panels have purely entertainment functions. It is completely incomprehensible why their functions are not combined - I have never seen a phone in my life in which switching between the radio and the media player required so much time and action. In addition, if you load one of them, the second will inevitably be unloaded from memory, which is generally strange for a multitasking device. The media panel is animated quite nicely and, in addition to listening to music, allows you to watch videos and photos. But the radio panel is extremely ascetic - it looks quite adequate and is convenient to use, but the stations in the memory, you must admit, this is, to put it mildly, wrong. Most likely it's all about the haste with which the developers made this panel.

Radio panel

Among the “relatives”, the most interesting (after the Spb Shell panel) panel is called XPERIA. It has many settings, allows you to add RSS feeds, select blocks that will be displayed on the desktop. It would be appropriate to say here that XPERIA is a phone aimed at those who prefer to be constantly online. The first thing the smartphone does after entering the PIN code is connect to the Internet and try to keep its owner up to date with all the news (mail and RSS channels). These opportunities cannot but be appreciated by those who are truly interested in them. The device does not let you forget that it is now 2009.

Similar settings, however, are available for the remaining two panels, which are modestly called (minus for marketers - it was possible to come up with something memorable, but there was not enough time, intelligence, or both at once) “panel 1” and “panel 2”.

A couple more interesting screenshots - the first shows access to Google's Picasa panel, the second shows the Comm Manager application used by HTC. It allows you to easily and simply manage all the communication capabilities of the phone (although it is not clear how the “airplane” mode differs from turning off the phone).

But Google Maps has never looked as good on a phone as it does here. Of course, this is due to the high resolution of the screen and its size. Perhaps, in this form they are really comfortable to use.

For the sake of formality, I’ll also provide screenshots of the Windows Mobile settings. They are standard, as you would expect. And they don’t carry anything unusual or previously unseen.

Camera

It is worth saying that premium smartphones, which certainly include the XPERIA X1, have never been distinguished by advanced cameras. It's not that their customers would refuse a good camera in their device. Rather, manufacturers do not equip their devices with advanced cameras so that the price, already comparable to the cost of a laptop, does not rise to the cost of an expensive laptop, limiting the number of buyers (and reducing production resources, which, in turn, will also lead to higher costs). The camera in the XPERIA X1 is quite standard, three megapixel with autofocus and LED backlight. Logically, it should be similar to the one in the HTC Tocuh Pro, but I liked the camera in the HTC Touch Diamond, which I had the pleasure (or displeasure - depending on how you look at it, there were a lot of disappointments) to use, less. Plus, the XPERIA X1 camera has the ability to select an autofocus zone when shooting - to do this, you just need to activate the appropriate mode and simply tell the device what to focus on by pointing your finger at the corresponding area of ​​the display. By the way, the autofocus, either due to the unfinished version of the device or something else, gave frequent failures during macro photography, focusing on the general background (in this case it was the background, the focus of which did not interest me at all). But in the forced focusing mode, everything worked just fine - no matter how hard I tried to find flaws in the operation of the automation, it would not have been possible. The default resolution is 2048x1280, corresponding to the display proportions. But if you wish, you can choose 2048x1536 (that is, 4:3). In practice, the camera simply cuts off a strip at the top and bottom, but everyone can decide at what resolution to shoot on their own. For printing, of course, 2048x1536 is better. But maybe someone takes pictures to watch them on their widescreen monitor or TV. Examples of pictures in original resolution are available by clicking on the preview. The images will open in a new browser window. You can view the entire gallery, consisting of fifty photographs, in

: Hooray! Less than a year has passed since the almost final pre-commercial sample of the Xperia X1, a communicator that forced many to reconsider their attitude towards Windows Mobile, reached the hands of your humble servant. Is this communicator worth reconsidering your attitude towards these devices? Let’s try to figure it out in our review today.

Introduction

We can talk about this device for a long time, we don’t have to talk at all, but one point will remain a fact: on the first day of MWC’08, the public’s main attention was focused on the Xperia, which then still existed mainly in the form of dummies or fully working prototypes, but with basic Windows version Mobile 6.0 Professional. A little later, by April of last year, the first samples with the operating system version 6.1 began to appear, and at the same time with the beginnings of one of the main functions that were actively promoted for this new product. But the device’s journey to the shelves was truly long, if we consider November 2008 as the start date of sales.

What was the first reason for the delays in the release of the model, which was planned to begin implementation in July–August? The first reason lies in the original intention of Sony Ericsson to become the first manufacturer to use the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system in its device, the announcement of which was planned in June 2008. But already in May, all the company’s plans began to slowly collapse, as Microsoft decided to concentrate on the early announcement of Windows Mobile 7.0, which was originally planned only for 2010. In this situation, Sony Ericsson programmers faced the fact of the final using Windows Mobile 6.1 only by the time HTC spectacularly announced Touch Diamond, with the same OS 6.1 and its own Today screen shell, called Touch FLO 3D.

But this only partially delayed the communicator’s entry into the market, while other ambitions associated with unusual hardware and software components ensured that Sony Ericsson was simply unprepared for parallel development of the communicator before its launch in England, and in a number of other markets where the option was not ready local keyboard layout. Russia was also included in the number of countries with unfinished localization, which is why the communicator did not manage to hit store shelves before the new year, but at the moment when you are reading these lines, the new product has probably already taken its place in store windows, so now is the time take a closer look at it.

Appearance

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 can rightfully be called one of the most beautiful communicators based on Windows Mobile, which is due to one simple property. Unlike most other devices from E-TEN, ASUS and HTC, the Xperia's body is made primarily of metal, and metal is not aluminum, which is often used in other Sony Ericsson products, be it steel.

As a result, Xpreria, made in the form factor of a side slider with dimensions of 111.2 x 52.7 x 18 mm, fully corresponds to the title of a technological image solution. If you compare the dimensions of the Xperia X1 with other communicators based on Windows Mobile, it will not be difficult to notice a certain minimalism of the new Sony Ericsson product, although comparison with it reduces the size of the communicator to a minimum.

If we take smartphones based on the Symbian OS for comparison, we won’t be able to notice a significant difference in size, and this is taking into account the fact that this is not a candy bar, but a slider.

The Xperia X1 lies comfortably in the hand, completely concentrating tactile impressions on the steel parts that make up the lion's share of the surface of the communicator. Initially, in the mechanics of the communicator, you can notice a tight transverse play of the lower and upper edges of the front half, which is caused by the mechanics of the guides without any frills, as in a monolithic one. Additional sophistication is given to the tightly assembled body of the X1 by a significant weight of 158 grams, which removes the breast pocket of a shirt and trousers from the list of places to wear, while in jeans and a jacket the communicator can be worn all day without negative sensations.

The entire front surface of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is made of one sheet of steel, most of which is concentrated at the top. We are dealing with a matte surface, the corners of which are polished to a glossy finish. Unfortunately, since this is not stainless steel, abrasions in the matte areas appear after only a week of use, and after a month there is no doubt that the device was used daily.

Close to the upper edge of the front surface there is a narrow rectangular cutout in the steel panel, on the left of which a light sensor is visible, and on the right there is an additional camera for video calls. The rest of the space is occupied by a protruding silver insert, from the bottom edge of which you can see a slot for a speaker.

A centimeter lower, another cutout begins in the sheet of steel, this time much larger, since it ends only 5 mm from the bottom edge. The purpose of the cutout leaves no doubt thanks to the familiar film touch screen, which acts as the main means of controlling the communicator.

The actual area of ​​the touch screen suggests that it protects a widescreen TFT matrix with a diagonal of 3 inches, capable of displaying up to 65,536 colors. The physical dimensions of the communicator's screen are 38.7 x 65 mm, but the matrix resolution is 480 x 800 pixels. It would seem that a similar screen was used in the communicator, but the similarity between the matrices remains only in terms of the record small grain size of 0.08 x 0.08 mm, while the color rendering and white balance parameters are clearly on the side of the Xperia X1. The image on the communicator’s screen is distinguished by a rich color palette, only limited by software to 65,536 colors, with a good level of brightness and contrast, but the elaboration of white color is slightly shifted towards the warm range of 5000-5700K, which made it possible to achieve deep black color without going into gray tones. As for the brightness of the backlight, here we are presented with a uniform scale of 11 gradations, the minimum value of which is comfortable in the case of reading texts at night, and the maximum value is perfect for watching videos or reading the same texts during the day.

In the sun, the behavior of the Xperia X1 screen is quite expected due to the use of a film touch screen, which reduces the sharpness of the image by half, while also reducing the image contrast. Accordingly, comfortable viewing of images and graphics is already difficult, although all contrasting areas are readable, and navigating through the menu is not satisfactory. In addition, the X1 screen matrix used also provides excellent viewing angles without inversion, both horizontally and vertically, and when viewed from the corners of the screen.

Immediately below the screen display, a black area of ​​the key block begins, the beginning of which is a monolithic strip with a logo and floating corners along the edges. Significantly protruding thin keys are inscribed into these protrusions, duplicating the virtual strip of the lower contextual elements. Continuing along the edges, we see triangular answer/end call keys, the last of which is also used to lock the keys and screen. The keyboard block at the bottom is interesting with the OK key on the right, as well as the panel launch button on the left, which we will talk about in more detail in the corresponding part of the review.

All the remaining space is given over to a large navigation key with elongated triangular edges on the left and right. Due to the millimeter protrusion above the surface, working with the four-way navigation key is quite convenient, although some may not like the clear click of all the buttons with a ringing mechanical click. Only one button has a silent click, namely the recessed confirmation key inscribed in the center, whose soft stroke adds ease of use. And one of its interesting features may discourage the use of mechanical cursor deflection keys.

We are talking about the presence of an optical navigation pad, along which you just need to move your fingertip in the desired direction to move the cursor to a position to the side. Using only an optical element for navigation, no particular problems arise, but in conjunction with the navigation key, erroneous actions are too frequent to not take advantage of the option to disable the “optical joystick” in the settings.

Continuing our movement downwards, we again come across a steel front panel, tightly adjacent to a plastic chrome insert at the bottom end. At their junction you can see a tiny hole for the microphone, and from the end of the main half you can see the hole for fastening the strap with a thin loop.

On the upper side of the case, the slightly recessed power button is of interest, located right on the edge of the spectacular end kink strip, which forms the angular relief of the ends of the Xperia, with an arcuate bend of the edge at the bottom and top. In addition to the power key, another interesting feature is the 3.5 mm headphone jack - a first for Sony Ericsson, but familiar to communicators based on Windows Mobile.

On the left side of the case there is an ordinary miniUSB connector for connecting a communication cable with a PC, which, in turn, can be connected to the charger’s power supply. At the bottom edge there is an empty recess in the ribbed edge of the case, identical to the other three, also located at the edges of the left and right ends. Closer to the back surface, under the recess, you can see a hole in the polyphonic speaker, which is often blocked by a finger during operation, causing the sound volume to decrease by 70%.

The right end of the case is no less interesting, fortunately there is a key on top - a volume rocker with an adjacent central notch. Working with the key is inconvenient for one reason only: the distance between the volume up and down buttons is less than a centimeter. In addition, the flat shape of the button and the indistinct click with a short stroke do not add any ergonomic points. At the bottom edge of the end there is a silver key of identical size, also equipped with two levels of pressure, but this time we are talking about the shutter button. The focus pre-pressure is quite expressive and accurate, but to release the shutter you will have to double the pressure, resting your thumb directly on the speaker hole on the opposite edge of the body.

Instead of moving on to a description of the rear surface, we suggest taking a closer look at the left and right ends of the case, where two black stripes on the front half of the case are clearly visible. Along the edges of these plastic inserts, four LEDs are inconspicuously placed, effectively acting as an indicator of missed and ongoing events by pulsating blinking.

And now we return to the lower and upper edges of the case, where a curved gap between the halves is clearly visible, suggesting an unusual opening mechanism. The mechanism really looks interesting, although we are talking about two ordinary guide rails made of steel, as well as a mechanism for finishing the half halfway. On paper, everything looks ordinary, but in practice, the side shift of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 can surprise those who have tried the HTC Touch Pro in practice. Holding the device in right hand, the middle finger easily pushes the front half of the body to the right, and halfway through the path the auto-close is triggered, completed by a dull metallic clap. After this, the thumb easily feels the rebounded edge, and the half is easily pushed back. And again there was a clap with a pleasant dull sound. It’s funny, but you can just clap the halves of the communicator with nothing to do - some owners find exactly the same entertainment interesting, so there’s nothing strange about it.

Keyboard

Opening the Xperia X1 body, we immediately encounter a large QWERTY block - a keyboard consisting of 4 rows of keys separated from each other, the total number of which is 42, and 32 keys can be used for various keyboard layouts. As you understand, it was the letter “Ё” that was included in the write-off of Cyrillic characters, while all other letters found their place on the layout, and the symbols were placed on the keyboard in the same way as the NUM block on the keyboards of ordinary laptops. By the way, since we remembered about laptops, it’s time to talk about two interesting points:

• The Xperia X1 keyboard looks similar to the Sony VAIO P-series keyboard unit


• The rectangular keys are spaced apart in the tradition of Sony laptop keys.

In addition, enhancing the similarity of the communicator keyboard is provided by the presence of a massive Enter key, as well as a brick structure of horizontal rows located at a 50% offset from the adjacent block. Minor points include the presence of a layout change button, a large Tab key, a small Shift key, a monstrous space bar, and duplicate Start and OK keys.

And now it’s time to move on to impressions of working with the keyboard, albeit in the case of entering text in English, due to the lack of factory Russian letters. The buttons themselves practically do not protrude above the surface, so the only guide for the fingers is their rough matte texture, in contrast to the glossy panel framing the keys. A funny thing is the peculiar convex texture of the keys, with a diagonal relief for the thumbs of the right and left hands. Due to these bevels, the tactility of the keys is quite acceptable, while their mechanics leave only a pleasant impression. The noticeable elastic movement of the buttons is completed with a clear click with a dull click. As for the text input speed, the situation here is quite comparable with the HTC Touch Pro, so we can take the speed at 80 characters per minute as a base value, with possible deviations to the side.

The back surface of the device continues to please the eye with brutal protrusions and a metal surface. From the top edge, two screw plugs are easily visible, immediately under which there is again a rectangle, and again with corners at the edges. Included in this protruding frame is a slightly recessed protective glass with a black backing, under which hides a weak LED flash and a 3.2 MP camera module with autofocus optics.

From the opposite edge of the case there is another protrusion, together with the first one, protecting the steel cover of the battery compartment from unnecessary contact with the surface. The metal is under such symbolic protection for a reason, since its textured matte surface is prone to the appearance of small abrasions, which will become noticeable after a couple of months of using the device.

The lid floats significantly onto the ends of the body, where you can see the grooves under the nail, allowing you to hook it and pull it towards you. As you understand, you have to pull on the end of the sheet steel, so it’s better to forget about preserving the manicure, since the external shape of the communicator is designed primarily for a man’s hand, where even a nail remains a tool. The lid is secured by metal protrusions soldered on the inside and two guides on top, which contact the recesses in the plastic frame, the condition of which has not deteriorated over the month of using the communicator.

But before we look under the cover, let's look again at the upper part of the back surface. On the right edge there is an inconspicuous stylus cap with convenient marks for prying off with a fingernail. The stylus fixation is devoid of magnets, but the tight fit of the cap to the groove in the body ensures moderately tight movement of the control element in the slot. Having taken out the stylus, all that remains is to note the convenient design of this thin steel stick with a small plastic tip, as well as the comfortable length of 85.7 mm.

So, the battery compartment cover has already been removed, so it’s time to head to the microSDHC memory card slot, located on the left side. Removing and installing cards does not require long nails, and you can easily use the edge of your fingertip, which is convenient.

Now is the time to take a look at the massive lithium polymer battery BST-41, whose capacity is 1500 mAh. It seems that everything about it is good, and the capacity is optimal for such a functional device, but it reminds me of something. To answer this question, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at their battery. Also lithium-polymer and also - 1500 mAh. We take both batteries in one hand, and doubts disappear by themselves. We are dealing with an accessory produced by Panasonic for both companies, so you can rest assured that after a year the battery capacity of the Xperia X1 will remain at the proper level.

This means that on one charge you can:

• read books on minimal backlight for about 22 hours


• 5 hours of watching video at maximum backlight


• 17 hours listening to music or radio


• 6 hours to surf the web via Wi-Fi.

In normal operation, with half an hour of calls a day, an hour of using Wi-Fi to view WEB pages, two hours of listening to music and 20 minutes of destroying balls in a standard game, the battery charge reaches a critical 2% after three days. If you use the communicator even more harshly, the operating time will be about 1.5 days, and a more gentle mode is no longer relevant for Xperia. Accordingly, we suggest counting on 2 days of work, deviations from which will be insignificant.

Under the battery we find an interesting slot for installing a SIM card, with a large plastic stop that is pressed down when removing the card. To install it, first thread the edge of the card into the black casing, after which all that remains is to pull it in until the plastic stop is flush with it.

Hardware Features

Taking into account the well-known fact, regarding the production of the Xperia X1 by HTC for Sony Ericsson, it seems quite logical to use the Qualcomm MSM7200A complex component, which is based on a computing processor with a clock frequency of 528 MHz, as the basis for the computing power. On the one hand, this is an optimistic picture of a high-performance device, but in comparison with the HTC Touch Pro, one small detail immediately becomes clear. The HTC communicator uses the MSM7201A, which differs from the one used in the Xperia X1, an active video processing component with the QTv codec, while in the hero of our today's review all tasks are performed by only one processor, and nothing more.

As for memory capacity, Xperia looks more than interesting here, offering the user:

• 256 MB DDR RAM - memory, of which more than 200 MB is available for running applications


• 512 MB ROM – memory for storing user data, although in practice only 281 MB is available


• slot for microSDHC memory cards up to 32 GB.

The characteristics look quite impressive, but they are clearly not worthy of the title of records. However, this is another result of the long delay between the announcement and the release of the communicator for sale.

Software features

As was said in the introduction, Sony Ericsson had many plans to be the leader in the use of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, but in the end the Xperia X1 received a by no means new operating system from Microsoft with the index 6.1 Professional. In terms of basic capabilities, the system is so typical that it makes no sense to describe the software again.

But we will definitely tell you about all the other interesting applications today. Let's start with the panels.

X-Panels

It is under the Xperia Panels brand that Sony Ericsson has been promoting in the minds of users for almost a year this software idea of ​​bringing personalization to the standby mode, since the capabilities of Windows Mobile Crossbow allow you to place anything on the Today screen, from standard shortcuts to 3D applications with level graphics PC, model 2000. In theory, these possibilities looked so tempting, and HTC's first step, with its Home plug-in utility in Touch Cruise, looked so bland that the February announcement of the panels managed to surprise many fans of Sony Ericsson, and communicators in general. But time turned out to be so fleeting that now the panels already have a tough competitor in the form of Touch Flo 3D, where the level of visualization is an order of magnitude higher than all sorts of third-party add-ons, and the convenience is quite sufficient for real use, which could not yet be said about Touch FLO with its laggy animation triangular bookmarks.

The original idea behind the panels is to be able to use the entire Today screen space to place main windows, the format of which depends on the current situation or the need for entertainment functions. From the company's perspective, the panel profile provides users with the opportunity to:

• use the device as a regular communicator;


• keep abreast of current affairs and promptly monitor communications;


• quickly view current tasks and quickly launch applications of interest;


• use Multimedia Menu without any restrictions;


• listen to your favorite radio stations;


• be able to quickly find the necessary information on the Internet.

On paper, everything looks tempting, but in practice we are dealing with the same add-ons on the standby screen, which can be changed by pressing the dedicated panel key, after which a window with thumbnails appears before our eyes.

Our attention is drawn to two small virtual buttons at the bottom of the screen, the first of which switches the display of panels, and the second allows you to customize the matrix of 9 panels to your liking by deleting an existing panel or selecting other panels from the Sony Ericsson/Fun website. At the moment, no interesting panels could be found there, but they promise to develop the service for at least six months, which
already makes me happy.

Panels

Clock, screen and more

The first and second panels are identical in capabilities, and differ only in content. By the way, the miniatures of these panels are drawn anew each time, so you won’t be surprised at the discrepancy between the depicted content and the real appearance. Having called up the panel, we are presented with rows of various icons and indicators, where you can turn on/off any wireless communication, view the date and weather in the selected region, and at the same time be aware of the current time.

If you are not satisfied with this content, the best step is to go to the settings, where you can change the clock, select a different window theme, adjust the number of bars on the callouts, and also add application shortcuts.

Fish

After the service panel with many shortcuts, the most natural look is the description of fish that are much easier to master, leisurely swimming around the virtual aquarium of the Today screen. There are four fish in total, all of which carry various functions on their shoulders, or rather their backs. So, a small goldfish can suddenly turn white as soon as you turn on the silent alert profile. And if there is a missed call, another one will join the trio of funny fish. But these are just some of the variations on the theme of the life of fish on the screen, while we are interested not so much in their serene life as in the reaction to the user’s subconscious desire to knock on the wall of the aquarium when a fish swims nearby. And this point was well taken into account by the creators of the panel, since not only blurry contours of the impact appear on the screen, but also the reaction of the fish remains quite expected. Any of the fish immediately swims to the side, sometimes releasing bubbles, which looks interesting, even after 2 weeks of using the communicator.

Those who often resort to the help of the Google network search engine will probably find it interesting to be able to return to the search bar along with returning to standby mode, and at the same time use the capabilities of Maps, Gmail and Picasa web services.

Multimedia menu

Recently, not a single Sony Ericsson product in the upper price range can do without a proprietary multimedia menu, first seen in. In the Xperia X1, the menu has found its place in a number of panels, which automatically puts this add-on among the most functional and well-implemented panels. However, let's take a look for ourselves at how Sony Ericsson programmers managed to port the menu to Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

When you turn on the panel, we are greeted by a pleasant, unobtrusive menu background, whose color scheme depends on the current time, varying between sky blue and bright orange. At first glance, you are presented with exactly the same menu items as in the A200, but after scrolling the list a couple of positions down, you will find a contacts shortcut, immediately after which you will find settings.

In the settings, you can change the size of the icons, select an animated effect of interest, and at the same time hide unnecessary menu items, be it contacts, or music, or something else that is not interesting specifically for the owner. As for the animation and speed of movement between points, everything here is implemented much more interesting and . and in comparison with phones on the A200, during navigation, items literally fly, and the background animation runs smoothly and without delay. As for the description of the remaining points, in our opinion, it would be much more correct to describe them in a separate part of the review, while we will move on to the last point.

Radio

Of course, from a certain point of view, displaying the radio separately from the multimedia menu does not look the most logical, but from the point of view of expanding the number of panels, this step is quite justified. We can only state that while listening to the sound of your favorite radio station, viewing photos using the multimedia menu is impossible, but through third-party programs no restrictions arise, as for other programs.

The radio receiver interface is made without any animation or other interesting aspects that we could observe in the same . Moreover, the interface does not have a list of memory cells, instead there are only six shortcuts to which you can save the currently found radio station. But before this, the receiver must be turned on using the virtual key in the lower right part of the screen, after which the current radio frequency will appear under the large digital clock. To navigate the supported range from 87.5 to 108 MHz, you can use the automatic search with the two outer virtual keys with double arrows, and fine tuning in 0.1 MHz steps can be done with the central navigation buttons. In addition, there is a 12-step volume control, the maximum value of which does not put pressure on the ears, but is quite enough for most situations.

As for the visualization capabilities, the scope of thought is limited only by the description of the supported RDS line output function, as well as AF adjustments. There are no complaints about the quality of signal reception, and there are no complaints about the sound quality. Moreover, the sound has a pronounced emphasis on low-frequency Kick BASS, which is relevant in the case of radio stations broadcasting rhythmic electronic music.

Panels in practice

To be honest, I wanted to avoid any particular desire to describe subjective views from the panels, but it still turned out that there were no other justifications for the idea. What is the main convenience of the panels, and can they make life easier for the user? Look at the picture: if you need to call the right person, you can display the multimedia panel, go to the contacts tab, scroll through the list, select the person you are interested in and call him. Or you can press the call button, dial the first digits of his number, or start right away, enter his first/last name according to the T9 scheme, after which the Windows Mobile filter system will quickly display the required number, to which the call will be made. You can call up the multimedia menu and get to the music, or you can install Pocket Music with an equalizer and a bunch of different themes, or limit yourself to Windows Media Player. Photos can be viewed with a standard program included with the OS, or you can install a much more functional and convenient utility from a massive list of third-party software. You can display a bulky panel with shortcuts and a calendar, or you can take SPB Panel. You can disturb the fish on the screen, or you can look at the top line of indicators, where silent mode and missed calls are succinctly indicated by their icons.

It turns out that the meaning of the panels lies beyond ergonomics and convenience, allowing you to diversify the communicator's desktop only in cases where you do not see in the device a really popular means of facilitating work with various tasks outside the PC. To some extent, the situation is reminiscent of the multimedia menu in Nokia smartphones, where the ergonomics are also questionable, and a separate key is reserved for start. However, we are talking more about a functional smartphone, and the relevance of such functions in similar devices was clearly shown back in the G700/G900, while a communicator based on Windows Mobile is too flexible in terms of individual adjustment, and the panels reduce the capabilities of the Today screen to the area of ​​widgets. If we give some intermediate ratings to the panels, they deserve the attention of fans of Sony Ericsson solutions, and for users of other communicators this feature in the Xperia X1 will seem fun in the first week of use. Then, every day the feeling will grow that the device is unsuitable for thorough adjustment to the necessary tasks, since simply switching to another panel deprives you of all the information available in the previous version.

Communications

In terms of communication capabilities, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 does not open up new opportunities for us, as is the case with, and the implementation of existing wireless communications is standard.

There is a Bluetooth 2.0 communication module with support for EDR and most other profiles, including:

• Dial-Up Networking Profile


• File Transfer Profile


• Generic Access Profile


• Generic Object Exchange Profile


• Handsfree Profile


• Headset Profile



• Object Push Profile


• Personal Area Network Profile


• Serial Port Profile


• Service Discovery Application Profile


• Synchronization Profile


• Sync ML OBEX binding


• Phonebook Access Profile.

The data transfer speed to another device with similar characteristics does not exceed 120 Kb/s, but data reception can occur at speeds of up to 130 Kb/s. In the case of using wireless headsets using the A2DP profile, there are no complaints, since everything is identical to other communicators on Windows Mobile.

The communicator also has a Wi-Fi communication module IEEE 802.11b/g, to work with which a standard utility is used that combines extensive options for adjusting WLAN parameters - access points and wireless networks, with a frankly inconvenient interface.

Finally, it is worth noting the possibility of changing the usual connection to a PC by launching the Active Sync utility to a removable disk mode, which blocks access to the installed memory card through the communicator, and at the same time displays only the connected media on the computer. On the one hand, this connection method deprives us of the ability to synchronize, but on the other hand, the read/write speed increases to 6 MB/s.

Performance

The use of Qualcomm MSM7200A hardware components in the communicator seems quite justified from the point of view of the balance between power consumption and performance, although in reality everything is limited by HTC’s reluctance to improve the QTv drivers - the image output algorithm for Sony Ericsson, and those, in turn, were more interested in the panels. As a result, we are dealing with exactly the same speed results for displaying images on the screen as in Touch Diamond using Direct Draw. The only amendment concerns the screen resolution of the Xperia X1, which is equal to 800 pixels in length, imposing certain restrictions on maintaining 100% image sharpness when encoding an image.

Sample 1
489 Kbps, 320 x 188
1.31 Mbps, 267.42%

Sample 2
1.29 Mbps, 640 x 272
1.35 Mbps, 105.15%

In addition, in the applications section you can see a utility for working with JAVA midlets from Esmertec, which provides the ability to work with MIDP 2.0 applications, while MIDP 3D is not supported. Accordingly, it was possible to test performance only using the first two versions of JBenchmark.

JBenchmark: 5408
Text: 1415
2D Shapes: 2446
3D Shapes: 413
Fill Rate: 184
Animation: 950

JBenchmark 2.0: 228
Image manipulation: 232
Text: 386
Sprites: 291
3D transform: 347
User interface: 68

Yes, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 has SIRF Star III - a signal receiver with
GPS satellites, and it is quite functional. Yes, this is the same common component from HTC solutions that most navigation software can work with. Accordingly, since there are no hardware differences, the start-up time and signal reception quality can be taken from memory, focusing on 30-40 seconds of a “warm” start and a couple of minutes of a “cold” start. As for navigation out of the box, we have nothing to say yet, since there seems to be a disk with Wifinder 7, but the program itself has to be installed from a PC, initially having only a utility for loading data similar to that received via aGPS.

Menu items

We have already mentioned the graphical component of the multimedia panel in the description of Xpanels, so now is the time to go directly to the description of the menu items themselves.

First of all, let's take a quick look at the games section, where two demo versions and a standard set of ball solitaire are hidden.

Next come contacts, where you can search for records by subscriber names, or boringly scroll through the list. The selected contact cannot be edited, but communication options are not limited to calls. In the drop-down list of actions, you can also switch to a message editor that supports displaying correspondence as a chat.

Video

In the video section, you can view all MP4 and 3GP videos available in the memory, among which you can initially find a trailer for the latest film about agent 007, since Sony Ericsson remains one of the brands actively advertised in this series of films.
Having selected the video of interest, the video immediately opens in landscape orientation on the entire screen, and by simply touching the display, playback is interrupted by a navigation bar that supports scrolling along the scale, changing the display mode between real
resolution and scaling, and the list is completed by a volume scale of 16 gradations.

Photo

As you might imagine, the possibilities of the photos section are also not very diverse, although there is the same sorting by month, displaying pictures separately from photographs, and the animation has not become less. We are not talking about a library of images, but about the implementation of the image viewing itself.

Having selected the image you are interested in, a full-screen image viewing window with navigation icons appears on the screen. The top line contains icons for deleting an image, viewing information about the image, calling up the zoom window, and rotating the image. Of these functions, special attention should be paid to image rotation, since in this mode you rotate the image with your finger around the corner along the central axis, and it automatically centers itself in the nearest position. Taking into account the smoothness of the rotation animation, working on changing the position of the pictures may well occupy you for several minutes, throwing aside thoughts about Multi Touch - navigation. However, thoughts about controlling the screen with two fingers come again when scaling the picture, since the speed of image magnification is not at all pleasing to the eye, although then you can move around the picture area again with smooth movements of the picture on the screen.

The following miracles of animation for Windows Mobile communicators open when you scroll through pictures with your finger across the screen, as a kind of carousel of thumbnails appears here with reflections drawn, and the choice of image is again tied to centering.

The last thing worth noting in the image viewing utility relates to the bottom line of virtual keys, where there are tools for scrolling through pictures, returning from the library matrix, as well as the Play button, which launches the usual Xpict Story, without any advanced features and other delights from the G700, G900 .

Music

For listening to music, there is a completely familiar tool from the multimedia panel, reminiscent in organization of the library in the Sony Ericsson G700, G900 and only then similar to phones on the A200. It is quite natural that a different level of hardware capabilities entailed getting rid of possible slowdowns in the process of moving between menu items. And in the music section, items can be presented sorted by artist, album and playlist. However, to top off this meager list of criteria, there is also a display of all songs en masse, which can hardly be called an actual listening mode. Among the interesting features of displaying lists, it is worth highlighting only the viewing of albums with the cover displayed in the upper right corner of the screen, while all other lists are more than standard.

In playback mode, the screen is literally crammed with all sorts of buttons and icons, although the hand first reaches out to the album cover in order to display it on the entire screen. But this does not happen, and you don’t have to look for visualizations in the player, while the rest of the possibilities are present, with the exception of one more. We are talking about an equalizer, which is simply not present in the music player, and in the options menu there is a list setting, turning on/off repeat and random playback mode.

Sound quality

You can pay a lot of attention to this parameter, since in the Xperia X1 we are dealing with dense sound at a sufficient volume level, a third higher than the latest A200 phones. There is clear reproduction with a minimum of noise, deep bass, and soft highs, which could indicate an excellent implementation of this parameter. But, alas, good elaboration of individual frequencies does not at all indicate high-quality reproduction of the music itself, where complex elaboration of the frequency range is important. And here we are faced with the low bit depth of the DAC, which results in a flat, unexpressed midrange and a decline in the lows on multi-instrumental compositions. And we have no way out of this situation, just like there are no sound settings. Accordingly, at the output we have the usual audio path of HTC communicators, with a slightly larger volume reserve and an unnaturally flat sound without color or dynamics. However, for pre-installed jazz compositions at a bitrate of 192 Kbps, the quality is quite enough, but for audiophile sound you should turn to other solutions.

Camera

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 has a 3.2 megapixel camera module with autofocus optics and a weak LED flash. The module used in the communicator is quite comparable to what we saw in the C702, although this is where the similarities between the cameras end and a series of differences begin. The interface for working with the camera is partially adopted from the G900 smartphone, where we also actively used the touch screen for most actions, but here the widescreen display allows you to move out the main buttons and indicators without affecting the main area of ​​the full-screen viewfinder. By the way, if you are still interested in using the entire screen area for the viewfinder, there are always image size options available to match the Xperia X1's 16 x 10 aspect ratio screen.

But the user’s main attention is quite naturally drawn to the virtual settings key in the lower right corner of the screen. The key is assigned to call up the menu that is already familiar from the company’s last two smartphones for setting up various shooting modes, be it:

• selection of ready-made shooting scenes


• selection of focusing type to suit your taste (usual auto, macro, infinity and focusing on the part of the frame indicated by your finger)


• turning on/off the LED backlight.

As you can see, the possibilities are by no means surprising in their breadth of coverage, although everything basic for operational adjustment is collected here. For other camera settings, please refer to the other settings section, located behind the same button in the lower right corner. In this settings section you can find almost everything that we were missing in the initial shooting adjustments, be it adjusting the white balance and color effects, choosing the image resolution and other small settings, which include adding Geo Tags and changing the sound of the electronic shutter.

It’s better not to evaluate the quality of the communicator’s photos initially, since everything here is still divided into tolerable and good quality of the photos. Actually, as you can see for yourself in the following photo examples, the Xperia X1 not only belongs to the category of good cameras in a communicator, but also raises the quality bar one step higher.
.

Like a phone

Despite the abundance of metal in the body decoration, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 boasts good signal reception quality of cellular networks, slightly superior to most of the company's phones and smartphones. The speaker in the device has a 40% volume reserve in the room, but in a noisy subway car you can increase the volume to the maximum. In the interlocutor’s speech, it is worth noting a somewhat unusual harsh transmission of mid frequencies, slightly muffled clean highs and a certain hint of the low-frequency range. The polyphonic speaker cannot boast of loudness, and it is not difficult to completely block it. Apart from the average volume level, you won’t be able to hear anything interesting in the polyphonic dynamics, since there is practically no bass. And the middle wheezes at 70% volume, not spoiling us with quality. The vibration motor in the communicator performs a little better, providing vibration across the entire area of ​​the device that is noticeable in clothing pockets, and again thanks to the steel case for this.

conclusions

It's funny, but more than a year has passed since the announcement of a certain mythical flagship from Sony Ericsson in the form of the Xperia X1 communicator. Now we are again being fed some kind of new product without an index in the face, and we can calmly present to your attention our review, and to top it off, talk about the realities of the product on the market. This communicator today occupies an indistinct niche on display in communication stores, providing a frightening mixture of an image product with an impressive price tag of 32,000 rubles, and on the other hand, this is the same “Xperia” about which there were rumors and some opinions of a varied nature a year ago. Oddly enough, over the past year the veil of novelty characteristics has really disappeared, the spark of technology has faded, and only two strong features remain in the product, if you forget about the Sony Ericsson logo for a moment. The product has a good, brutal design with a Sony Style keyboard, and there is thick steel in which this fashionable communicator is forged. And everything seems to be good, but its cost somehow does not justify the year of waiting for the device on the market. At the same time, not every connoisseur of phones from this manufacturer wants to get many functions and new sensations from the unhidden Windows Mobile, and a lover of high-quality communicators has already made a choice in favor of Touch Pro or MAX 4G. It turns out that the core of potential buyers of the Xperia X1 can amount to no more than a few hundred thousand? And so it is, because you cannot create the perfect product for everyone, and any attempt will be broken by a barrage of criticism from reviewers.

© Tikhonov Valery, Test laboratory
Article publication date: March 3, 2009

Here is an excerpt from the press release: “The XPERIA X1 mobile communicator is distinguished by its unusual design and powerful functionality. A unique arc-shaped slider with a horizontal QWERTY layout and a 3-inch diagonal touch screen made entirely of stainless steel...”

Indeed, the design of the XPERIA X1 is very unusual: a large number of decorative and functional elements, the triangular shape of the keys of the external unit, the edges on the QWERTY keyboard keys, the metal body - all this creates a very pleasant, attractive, expensive look. The only thing that is not entirely true in the quote is that the body is completely metal. Yes, the front panel is entirely metal, with a characteristic “steel” texture, the silver edging on the sides of the slider is also metal, and only the back side of the case, divided into three parts, is not entirely steel. Only the battery compartment cover is made of metal, although this “only” steel occupies about two-thirds of the surface. But the edges of the rear part are still made of plastic, although of very good quality. The steel is also quite good, does not bend, and, most importantly, practically does not get dirty with fingerprints. On plastic, by the way, fingerprints and other body parts are not visible at all. Yes, looking ahead, I will say that the buttons are also made of plastic - both the black block under the screen and all the keys on the QWERTY keyboard.

The slider mechanism is excellent - it opens without any significant effort, the auto-close does everything itself, all you need is a desire to open the device and an initial push with your finger. When opened, the upper part of the case moves away and is fixed with a slight inclination towards the keyboard. The lower inner part (also metal, by the way), on which the QWERTY keyboard is located, has a slightly concave shape. Plus, the design of the end with a silver edging emphasizes this concavity. Due to this, the effect of a “unique arc-shaped slider” is achieved. In addition to the beauty of this effect, the concavity of the keyboard and the elevation of the upper half make typing more comfortable; when the device is open, it fits perfectly in the hands and rests on the index fingers.

Let's talk about the keyboard right away: there are only 42 keys, separated from each other by a fairly large distance, each of which has a diagonal edge (and the “big” keys: Tab, Enter and spacebar have two whole edges!). The direction of the edges is from the edge to the center of the keyboard block, from top to bottom. On two standard keys (F and J) there is a no less standard tactile designation of the center of the letter part of the keyboard - corner protrusions. It's really difficult to find them, but they look beautiful.

Switching the language is convenient: you need to hold down the Fn key (the leftmost one in the bottom row, with a blue rectangle) and the Sym button adjacent to it (that’s what it says on it). The only bad thing: you can't see what language is currently enabled.

There was no room for navigation buttons in the full layout, so moving the cursor will have to be done using the joystick on the external key block.

The keyboard backlight is quite bright and uniform, all characters are perfectly readable in the dark.

There are no complaints about the convenience of typing: the keys have a small, clear stroke, accompanied by a soft click, and due to the spaces between the keys, there are practically no erroneous presses. Working with the keys of the top row is also comfortable, since when typing with your thumbs, the latter (fingers, not keys) are located almost parallel to the sliding part of the body, and your fingers do not rest against it.

Now about the external keyboard: firstly, it is plastic, and secondly, the keys are triangular in shape, which, however, does not impair their ease of use. Two narrow silver soft keys are raised high above the surface, making them very comfortable to press, although the first impression of their shape and size evokes exactly the opposite thought. In the center there is a large black rectangle - if you click on it, it will be the confirmation key. And if you run your finger over it, it turns out to be a touch panel. Although it is small in area and recessed quite deeply into the body, holding your finger over it will scroll through four items in the menu if you move along the long side, and three if you follow the short side. If you swipe your finger more slowly, the points already passed will be five and four, respectively. It’s quite a convenient replacement for scrolling on the screen, especially if the scroll bar is narrow but long, and you only need to scroll through anything. For example, in the phone book. The scroll bar will help you find the first letter of the contact name, and the touch panel will help you scroll the list to the desired entry. Don't need a touchpad? It can be disabled.

Around the touch key there is a rectangular frame with sort of triangular “wings” on the sides. These are navigation keys. The navigation block is slightly raised above the surface, and there are no problems with keystrokes: the “winged” ones already have a large area, and the narrow ones stand out clearly against the background of the flat touch panel and are easy to find blindly.

Screen. The screen here is a TFT touch matrix, which has a widescreen resolution of 480 by 800 pixels, its physical dimensions are: 39 x 65 mm, diagonal 3 inches (75 mm). It is possible to display up to 65,000 colors, which won’t surprise anyone now, but this is quite enough: the picture is bright, viewing angles are quite wide, grain is practically not noticeable at all. The only bad thing is that the screen is very dirty. This is not visible when it is turned on, but in standby mode all traces of its use appear. When you open the case, the screen turns to a horizontal position - it slows down a little, though.

Above the screen there is a silver insert, under which a slot for the earpiece is hidden. To the right of it is the front camera peephole for video calls, and to the left is a light sensor that regulates the brightness of the screen backlight. The microphone hole is hidden at the junction of the front metal panel and the side edge at the bottom end of the device. It’s a small hole, and it’s made not round, but in a corner. It might seem like a small thing, but even here they thought about how to make it beautiful. At the same end there is a mount for a strap - only those about to drown themselves would hang such a device on their neck, but on their hand, so as not to drop it, it would do just fine. The top end is notable for its 3.5 mm jack - a first for SonyEricsson! (in this case, the device is not positioned as a music model, please note) – and the device’s power key.

There is a stylus socket in the upper corner of the device. The stylus can be removed from its slot with some effort, but it is rarely needed. But it won't get lost.

On the back side, in addition to the metal cover, there are two plastic sections. On the cover there are only engraved the names of the manufacturer (Sony Ericsson), the line (XPERIA) and a small insert with the name of the model (X1). The plastic parts are also not without built-in elements - closer to the bottom of the device there is a green Sonerik logo and an incomprehensible protrusion. On the opposite plastic side there is a 3.2 megapixel camera module with a flash, all this is slightly raised above the surface of the body, but slightly recessed relative to the edging that frames the whole thing, so the camera window can get scratched (it certainly can, how could it not be) ), then not immediately and not much.

Under the steel cover you can find a BST-41 lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh, and already under it there is a connector for a SIM card. Also under the cover on the side on the right (if you look at the device from the back) there is a slot for MicroSD memory cards; hot-swapping of cards is supported (without turning off the device).

The sides are also not devoid of any buttons: on the left side there is a miniUSB connector and a polyphonic speaker hole, and on the right side there is a volume rocker at the top and a camera power button at the bottom. If you look closely, you can also notice black narrow stripes on both sides of the device. Light indicators are hidden there - with any action from the list specified in the backlight settings (the user can choose which actions should be “highlighted”), two indicators on each side begin to blink, and in different colors: the spectrum contains not only pure green or pure red color; the device, for example, notifies about recharging using a three-color signal: orange, violet and green. He is just captured below in the photograph. If flashing lights annoy you, you can turn them off completely.

We’re done with the exterior, we’ve looked at it from all sides, now let’s move on to the “insides” of the device.

Hardware and software components, communications

SonyEricsson XPERIA X1 is built on a Qualcomm 7200 processor (528 MHz), has 256 MB of RAM, of which about 200 MB remains for the user after turning on the phone - this is quite enough for simultaneous operation of several “heavy” applications. Of the 512 MB of memory for storing data, about half is initially available to the user, this is not much, but given the support for memory cards, there should be no problems with free space (though, alas, a memory card is not included in the package).

SonyEricsson XPERIA X1 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with the proprietary X-panel shell. There is nothing unusual in the software: there is a contact manager on the SIM card, Adobe Reader, QuickGPS for updating satellite data, Google Maps for navigation, a Java application manager, the Handandgo InHand application - something in the spirit of a program catalog, where they are all paid.

GPS is represented by a built-in gpsOne chip on the Qualcomm 7200 platform, there are no surprises here. To work with navigation, the manufacturer offers only Google Maps, but you can install the program according to your own taste, if you wish. Google Maps is good for everyone, except for downloading the map via GPRS, you can use navigation only if you have Internet access. A-GPS finds the location quickly, but not entirely accurately, and finding satellites took about five minutes during a cold start. Subsequently, the launch was carried out faster - 1-2 minutes.

The OperaMobile 9.5 browser is installed as an alternative to the standard IE; it is familiar to us from HTC communicators. The browser supports bookmarks, history, screen settings (fit to width, mobile view, disable pictures, change font sizes), cookies, CACHE, and simultaneous use of several windows (up to three tabs), which is not the case in Internet Explorer by default.

For ease of use and activation of supported wireless networks, a wireless connection manager is provided, which, like Opera, is illustrated in the style of the Touch Flo 3D shell from HTC.

Wi-Fi works flawlessly, connected access points and settings for them are remembered for repeated connections. It is possible to adjust the module power to save energy.

Bluetooth version 2.0 + EDR, all modern services are supported from the profiles, including the transmission of stereo sound to Bluetooth headphones (A2DP), and the module itself works quite correctly.

When the device is connected via USB, it is possible to synchronize all information with Outlook and work with the built-in memory using ActiveSync, or work in removable disk mode (this is for a memory card).

SonyEricsson XPERIA X1:: Review:: X-Panel

X-panel is a proprietary interface for working with the communicator; one of the soft keys on the external keyboard unit is specially dedicated to it. Each panel is a kind of desktop, which can be changed using the Panel key.

Let's press this key. In total, up to 9 panels can be installed simultaneously. If you don’t like one of the panels, you can delete it and load another one in its place; a link to the available panels is in the first line. The only exception is the first panel - it is completely standard and cannot be removed. Let's start the description with it.

Today panel– a standard desktop that can be found in any WindowsMobile communicator. All its capabilities and settings are standard and are carried out through the Settings menu.

Sony Ericsson Panel 1 And SoyEricsson Panel 2– functionally identical panels, two of them were made so that they could be configured differently. Here everything gets more interesting: let's start with the fact that the Panel Settings item is assigned to the right soft key. I quite rarely change the settings of my phones, be it the interface theme or adding/removing application shortcuts on the desktop, but I use the contact book every day and many times. The developers of this panel apparently change settings more often than use the phone book, so here we have the Settings key assigned to the right soft key instead of Contacts. In principle, it is very clear - after activating the panel, the user immediately sees that the panel settings are there, no need to go to the Start menu and look for where to change something on the desktop. But it is impossible to remove these Settings from the soft key, even after making all possible settings until you are completely satisfied with the functionality of the desktop; instead of the usual access to Contacts, the user is asked to change the panel settings again and again. Why not make a Settings Wizard that would turn on every time the panel is activated again? Or turn on the touch button in the corner of the desktop, and put all the settings on it? Of course, you can display Contacts on the desktop as a button - at least in the list of recently opened applications. But the right soft key is more familiar.

Now let's move on to the panel settings themselves: the desktop can simultaneously include a certain number of blocks, in both panels - 10 pieces maximum. The number of required blocks for each type of data can be different: a clock, for example, can take up as many as 5 blocks (two analog clocks and a calendar), or maybe just one (a simple digital clock). You can display only 10 or fewer blocks on the desktop. There is even a special counter for this at the top right; it shows how many blocks are activated. If the limit is reached, the system will not allow you to save the panel settings, you will have to remove something.

You can display tasks and calendar entries, you want one entry at a time, you want any number you need (but don’t forget about blocks!), RSS feeds, recently launched applications, necessary program shortcuts, quick access to any contacts, communication buttons (turning on Bluetooth modules , Wi-Fi, volume, etc.). Alas, you can’t select only the buttons you need: if you want to display only the Bluetooth button, you will get four more buttons along with it - in general, an almost complete set of Comm Manager.

The nice thing is that there are two inactive buttons: they become active when you receive a new message or there is a missed call. This is very convenient.

See for yourself what kind of desks you can get.

Here you have access to all game, photo, video and music files, as well as contacts. The gallery is made according to the same principle as in SonyEricsson photo-musical devices.

You can customize its appearance: select a comfortable font size and disable or change the background animation.

Contacts are a basically useless thing here, although they are nice. When you come to listen to music or watch a movie, the last thing you will probably need is contacts.

You can make a slide show from the photos or scroll through them with your finger one at a time, you can expand them if they are in the wrong orientation, you can delete them, and you can zoom in using the “Magnifier” button and the zoom bar.

The video is shown only in horizontal orientation, photos can be shown in any orientation.

Games - there is Sudoku, Bejeweled 2 (like Tetris) and two standard ones - gorgeous Bubbles and just Klondike.

The music player is not very functional; there are no sound settings except volume. The screen displays information about the track name, album, artist, rewind bar, a standard set of player control keys and two buttons: shuffle and cyclic playback. Through the Menu button you can only add a song to the list and view full information about the track. No equalizers or other sound enhancers for you. But there is a 3.5 mm jack. The sound quality and volume with the included headset are quite good.

Google Panel– here popular Google services are simply displayed on the desktop: Search, Maps, Mail, Calendar and Photos. All.

3D Fish panel– splash panel. I'm tired of all? Turn on and enjoy the white screen with a gray clock and three fish: two orange, one purple, swimming across the screen. If you click on a fish, it swims away. No settings, contacts instead. Although this is where you could make the settings: change the fish, their number, gender, color.

XPERIARadio Panel- this is a radio. We connect the headphones, adjust the frequency manually or automatically, and save the stations you like by holding down the number key. The keys to which waves are already assigned have a small circle in the corner, but there is nowhere to see the name of the saved station, fortunately RDS is supported. You can output sound to the built-in speakers - there is also a special button for this.

There is another interesting panel in “Downloads” - SPB Mobile Shell. Its functionality is exactly the same as if it were on any other communicator. Quite comfortable, but “ordinary”.

SonyEricsson XPERIA X1:: Review:: Camera

The communicator has a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, the settings are the usual:

Shooting conditions: automatic, portrait, landscape, twilight, sports, document

Focus: Flashlight, Auto, Macro, Infinity

Backlight: turn on and off

Shooting mode: single frame or series

White Balance: Automatic, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Sunny, Cloudy

Effects: negative, overexposure, sepia, black and white

Image size: 3M (resolution 2048x1536 or 2048x1280 pixels), 2M, 1M, VGA, QVGA

Image quality: high quality, normal and economical (meaning the mode, probably)

What can we say about the quality: outdoors in good lighting the pictures turn out quite well, indoors noise appears and color is distorted with automatic settings. Macro photography is not sharp as often as we would like, however, the text in the Document shooting mode can then be read. Such a camera will be quite enough for a spy tourist to shoot a secret A4 document and click a few sights for cover.

Video recording is carried out in VGA resolution (QVGA is also possible) at a speed of 15 frames per second. There are fewer settings than for a camera, but they are also available. In terms of quality, everything is quite good, the footage does not slow down.

SonyEricsson XPERIA X1:: Review:: Impressions and conclusions

The quality of communication is at a good level, the network did not disappear, but it was not found where it did not exist. The vibration and ringer volume are rather weak, and if the device is in a bag, it’s easy to miss a call. The device showed good operating time: under an average load (20-30 minutes of calls per day, Internet via Wi-Fi for about an hour, listening to music for 40 minutes, very frequent changes and adjustments of panels) the device lasted two days and in the evening it began to ask for recharging, threatening to lose all unsaved data.

What can you say about the communicator as a whole? Externally, everything is great: a high-quality case, pleasant heaviness, a good display with a good response to pressure. Internally, there is an unusual X-panel shell; for those who are unfamiliar and inconvenient with their functionality, there is the SPB Mobile Shell panel, the Start menu and a sea of ​​applications on the Web; for users who do not need the SPB Mobile Shell, there is 3D Fish and the regular Today screen.

By the way, if we ignore the idea that all WM communicators are created only for the business segment of users, even the most beautiful ones, then you can notice the same HTC Touch Diamond in the hands of many girls and men who are far from belonging to the business segment. They are not so interested in the bells and whistles of the system, synchronization with Outlook, the amount of RAM and ROM, and the functionality of SPB Mobile Shell. They are much more interested in a beautiful, unusual design and a beautiful, unusual interface where they can scroll through photos with their finger and find out the weather for tomorrow in a very beautiful design.

For such a user, the SonyEricsson XPERIA X1 is a godsend. Not only is it expensive, and therefore not widespread, it is also beautiful in appearance, with still decent functionality. X-panels may not be the most convenient for those whom we mean by the term “user of the business segment of devices,” but for the user of the fashion segment everything is quite good and quite convenient. The XPERIA X1 is unlikely to be chosen for its advanced functionality or for the “optimal price-to-anything ratio”; it will be chosen for its design. And the design is top notch. By the way, do you still think that a QWERTY keyboard is only needed by business users who write a lot of emails on their PDA during the day? Not true. For ICQ, such a keyboard is just right.

Mid-level model with a nice design and balanced characteristics

Last spring in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress, Sony not only felt proud of its flagship smartphone Xperia XZ Premium, which was favored by the press and critics, but also managed to present a new product from the middle class, which became the successor of the Xperia XA family. The new smartphone, called the Sony Xperia XA1, does not have cool flagship features, such as recording slo-mo videos at 960 frames per second, but it can also do something. Today we present a detailed review of one of the most balanced and affordable models of modern smartphones from the Japanese manufacturer.

Main characteristics of Sony Xperia XA1 (G3112)

• SoC MediaTek Helio P20 (MT6757), 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @1.6/2.3 GHz
• GPU Mali-T880
• Operating system Android 7.0
• Touch display IPS 5″, 1280×720, 293 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 32 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• MicroSD support up to 256 GB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE Cat.4/6 networks (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 28, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
• USB Type-C, USB OTG
• Main camera 23 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, 1080p video
• Front camera 8 MP, f/2.0, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensors, lighting sensors, magnetic field, accelerometer
• Battery 2300 mAh
• Dimensions 145×67×8 mm
• Weight 143 g

Appearance and ease of use

In the new season, Sony Mobile is not going to deviate from long-standing traditions: all new smartphones, including the Xperia XA1, use the familiar Loop Surface principle. That is, the metal frame, bending, with its curved edges extends onto all panels - front, back and end.

At the same time, the body continues to remain “square”, with sharp corners, this is also a signature touch of all mobile devices of the Japanese brand. Company representatives steadfastly endure all user complaints about the sharp corners of Sony smartphones tearing their pockets, and continue to stand their ground.

The body of the Sony Xperia XA1 has a shape that is not quite familiar to ordinary smartphones, with a very thin frame on the sides of the screen, but with very wide upper and lower margins. The result is a thin and long, elongated device, and its sharp corners (without any rounding at all) visually lengthen it even more. Of course, the narrow device is held well in the hand due to a comfortable grip, but it cannot be said that, for example, the Huawei Nova 2 with slightly wider sides, but much smoother contours and rounded corners, fits worse in the hand.

The case turned out to be non-slip and non-marking, but its matte plastic back wall is instantly covered with numerous and quite noticeable scratches, this is noted by many users who have encountered the problem. The cute Sony Xperia XA1 can quickly lose its presentable appearance if measures are not taken to protect it.

At the top of the front panel, in addition to the sensors and front camera, there is an LED event indicator.

At the bottom, as usual for Sony smartphones, there are no touch buttons, but at the same time there remains an empty, unoccupied space almost two centimeters high. By modern standards, a device with such indents looks somehow old-fashioned, old-school.

The glass surface of the panel has subtle curves on the sides, but the sloping edges are barely defined and the bends are minimal. The smartphone, which costs 22 thousand rubles, did not receive a fingerprint scanner at all, and this is a rather strong disadvantage of the Xperia XA1; it is impossible to find an excuse for this at such a price.

On the back side there is only a single camera eye with a flash, also single. The flash is not very bright. These elements do not protrude beyond the surface, so the smartphone lies firmly on a hard surface.

Hardware buttons are located on the right side. The one that is responsible for power and locking has a round shape, the rest of the buttons are of the usual shape, oblong.

Naturally, there is a traditional Sony dedicated key responsible for working with the camera. The Xperia XA1 model does not have protection from dust and moisture.

You can simultaneously install three cards into the smartphone: two Nano-SIM format SIM cards are placed on the sled, and next to it there is a separate slot connector for a microSD memory card, without a retractable tray. All connectors are covered with a convenient cover that does not need to be pulled out with a special key or paperclip. All Sony smartphones automatically reboot as soon as the SIM card slots are removed from the case, regardless of whether the cards are installed in the slots.

At the top end there is an audio output for headphones (3.5 mm), as well as an auxiliary microphone.

The bottom end is given over to the speaker output and a universal USB Type-C connector that supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode. The main conversational microphone is located at the very bottom of the front panel, not at the end.

Sony Xperia XA1 is available in four colors: white, black, gold and pink. The front panel under the glass in all cases matches the overall color of the case, which visually makes the design more holistic. In addition, Sony has decided to always set the color themes of the interface in accordance with the color of the body, which makes the image of the product complete.

Screen

The Sony Xperia XA1 features an IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Perhaps, formally, this glass belongs to the category of 2.5D glass, but the sloping edges are very weakly expressed, the curves are barely visible. A certain image enhancement technology is used without any symbols or names. The screen dimensions are 62x110 mm with a diagonal of 5 inches. The resolution is 1280×720, the pixel density is about 293 ppi. The frame around the screen has a minimum (about a millimeter of the black frame and about a millimeter of the body itself) thickness on the sides, a total of 2 mm. But the indentations at the top and bottom range from 16 to 17 mm.

You can manually adjust the display brightness or set automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 4 simultaneous multi-touch touches.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens of both devices (Sony Xperia XA1, as it is not difficult to determine, is on the right; then they can be distinguished by size):

Both screens are dark, but the Sony screen is still darker (its brightness in the photo is 108 versus 112 for the Nexus 7). The tripling of reflected objects in the Sony Xperia XA1 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the outer glass (also known as the touch sensor) and the surface of the matrix (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower rate than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, its maximum value was about 490 cd/m², and the minimum was 40 cd/m². Maximum value high, and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, in bright daylight the image on the screen should be clearly visible. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the logo on the front panel). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. This function is dependent on brightness adjustment. If it is at a minimum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 5.5 cd/m² (a little dark), in illuminated conditions artificial light office (approximately 550 lux) sets to 110 cd/m² (normal), in a bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a slightly cloudy day outdoors - about 10,000 lux) increases to 500 cd/m² (even slightly more than the maximum with manual adjustment). If the brightness slider is at half scale, then the screen brightness for the three conditions indicated above is as follows: 50, 210 and 500 cd/m² (a little bright in the dark). If the brightness control is set to maximum - 110, 320, 500 cd/m² (the first two values ​​are too high). We were more satisfied with the option with a slider of about 10% - 30, 140, 500 cd/m². It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This screen uses an IPS type matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without inverting shades (except for the very, very dark ones when deviating along one diagonal) and without significant color shifts even with large deviations of the view from perpendicular to the screen. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of the Nexus 7 and Sony Xperia XA1, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² (over a white field in the entire screen), and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K .

White field perpendicular to the plane of the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

Colors are moderately saturated on both screens, and the color balance is noticeably different.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Sony Xperia XA1 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the greater brightening of blacks, and there are also signs of inversion of dark shades.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens decreased noticeably, but in the case of the Sony Xperia XA1 the drop in brightness is slightly less. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a purple or reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same for the screens!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 860:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 25 ms (12 ms on + 13 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 35 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.20, which is equal to the standard value of 2.20, while the real gamma curve deviates little from the power dependence:

Due to the presence of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the output image (in dark images, the brightness tends to decrease), the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) may not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential output of shades gray almost all over the screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. In general, such non-disabled brightness correction does nothing but harm, since it reduces the visibility of gradations in the shadows in the case of dark images. In addition, this dynamic adjustment when displaying any image other than a white field on the entire screen significantly reduces the brightness, which impairs readability in bright light, and the constant adjustment of brightness can be very annoying.

Color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

As a result, visually the colors have a natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since Colorful temperature is close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since there is no color balance of great importance, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This smartphone has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the intensities of the three primary colors.

That's what we tried to do, the result is data signed as Corr. in the graphs above. As a result, we slightly improved the balance on the white field, but in fact it makes no sense to make corrections in this case. In the settings you can choose one of three correction profiles.

The photos above are taken for option Switch off. Note that the correction only works in Sony applications - when viewing images and, apparently, in the video player. This is what happens if you select a profile Extreme brightness mode:

The color contrast increases, nothing remains of the naturalness of the colors. In mode Image enhancement image correction is not so extreme:

Let's summarize. The brightness adjustment range of this screen is wide, the anti-glare properties are excellent, which allows you to comfortably use the smartphone both on a sunny day outside and in complete darkness. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages include an effective oleophobic coating, no air gap in the screen layers and no flickering, good uniformity of the black field, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and good color balance. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, as well as the non-switchable dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices (and the most important thing is the visibility of information in a wide range of external conditions), the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Cameras

The front module has a 1/4″ Exmor R sensor with a resolution of 8 MP, as well as a 23 mm wide-angle lens with f/2.0 aperture and autofocus, but without its own flash. The maximum light sensitivity of the matrix is ​​ISO 3200.

The shooting quality is good: the image is bright, the sharpness across the entire field of the frame is satisfactory, there are no complaints about detail.

For the main camera, Sony used its 1/2.3″ 23-megapixel Exmor RS module for mobile devices with a pixel size of 1.22 microns. The 23mm wide-angle lens has an f/2.0 aperture. The maximum light sensitivity of the matrix is ​​ISO 6400, but you can manually set only ISO 3200. There is a digital 5x Clear Image zoom and proprietary electronic stabilization SteadyShot, as well as fast hybrid autofocus.

The control menu is standard for all Sony devices; it is not very convenient, since the settings are scattered in different places, but for regular users this is no longer a problem. Automatic and manual shooting control modes are standard; it is possible to download and install additional modes. As usual, there is an AR effect with augmented reality.

Manual settings, as usual, offer access to shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, white balance and focus options. True, the camera always turns on in auto mode if you use the side button.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 1080p with the H.264 codec; there are no 4K and 60 fps modes. The camera does not cope well with video shooting. Focusing does not fail, but the image is loose, detail is not as high as we would like. The sound recording is clear, but the noise reduction system suppresses certain frequencies too much, deafness appears, and the sound loses its natural liveliness.

• Video No. 1 (27 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (25 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

	The sharpness across the frame is quite good.
	The camera does relatively well when shooting indoors.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	The text is well done.
	The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable.
	Sharpness according to plans is not bad.

The camera turned out, as follows from most reviews, not bad. It copes well in high light, but at the slightest drop, large grain from the noise reduction begins to appear. However, it does not always spoil the details: in most cases, the noise reduction is quite accurate. You can often notice small areas of out of focus around the edges of the frame. Otherwise, the camera is really quite good and will cope well with documentary shooting.

Telephone and communications

The MediaTek Helio P20 supports LTE Cat.6 with a maximum download speed of up to 300 Mbps, and in some regions it is supported by the Sony Xperia XA1, while in others it can use the slower LTE Cat.4 (up to 150 Mbps) . A large number of LTE FDD and TDD frequency bands are supported, including all three of the most common bands in Russia (Band 3, 7, 20). In the city limits of the Moscow region, the device did not behave quite confidently, it took a long time to “catch” the network, demonstrated far from the maximum possible speeds in familiar test places, and there were always one or two “sticks” on the indicators, although this, of course, was not A completely objective indicator. In general, I got the impression that once again the Sony smartphone is not doing very well with the sensitivity of the radio modem, such a sin is common with them.

In addition, Bluetooth 4.2 is supported, both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), there is NFC with support for Mifare Classic, that is, the device works with an application for travel documents. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The USB Type-C connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

When dialing a number, Smart Dial is supported with search by the first letters in contacts. In the phone book you can find standard Android capabilities for sorting and displaying contacts.

Software and multimedia

The software platform uses Android OS version 7.0 and its own proprietary shell, which changes little from series to series. However, updates happen, and right now it's the closest thing to stock Android.

This is not the first time that Sony Xperia smartphones have used Xperia Actions technology, which studies user behavior and helps in various situations with customizable settings and personalized recommendations. For example, Xperia can learn to detect what time you usually go to bed and wake up, so it can dim the screen brightness and lower the call volume at those times. Smart Cleaner automatically disables unused apps and clears the cache to free up memory.

Also familiar is the set of pre-installed programs that move from model to model (Movie Creator, Sketch, AVG antivirus). By default, all Sony smartphones come with a SwiftKey keyboard pre-installed.

To play music, the device uses a familiar branded player with a familiar set of settings for optimizing ClearAudio+ sound.

The sound of the main speaker is rather faded and quiet; there are no two stereo speakers, as in older models. In headphones, the device sounds more or less decent: the sound is clear, loud and rich, although there is not an abundance of low frequencies, and it cannot be called crystal clear. To use certain models of in-house headphones, Sony has preinstalled ready-made profiles. There is also a built-in FM radio. But, as usual, there is no voice recorder application on Sony smartphones.

Performance

The Sony Xperia XA1 hardware platform is based on a single-chip system MediaTek MT6757 (Helio P20), made using 16-nanometer technology. This SoC includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores in two clusters with a frequency of 1.6 or 2.3 GHz. The dual-core Mali-T880 GPU is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 3 GB, and the built-in flash memory is 32 GB. Initially, 23 GB of file storage and 1.7 GB of RAM are free.

MediaTek MT6757 (Helio P20) is a relatively recent SoC released in 2016, designed for mid-range smartphones and tablets. It is quite productive: at the level of Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 and noticeably more powerful than the previous MediaTek MT6755 (Helio P10). In the AnTuTu test, the hero of the review demonstrates a quite decent 60K-plus points, this is a confident average level.

This SoC provides the system with reliable performance and in real scenarios allows the smartphone to cope with any modern tasks. There are no problems with games either; all the games we tested, including Modern Combat 5, Mortal Kombat X and others, run without slowdowns.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Sony Xperia XA1 (MediaTek MT 6757)	Huawei Nova 2 (HiSilicon Kirin 659)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek (MT6755)	Asus Zenfone 3 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	Nokia 5 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 430)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot (more is better)	671	413	421	466	299
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps)	15	5,2	5	6	10
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	6	4,7	5	6	4,6
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps)	32	20	17	22	20
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps)	21	18	17	23	16

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

the most common formats that make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We were unable to check the theoretically possible support for adapters for outputting images to an external device due to the lack of an adapter option that connects to the USB Type-C port, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files to the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Fine No 720/30p Fine No 720/25p Fine No 720/24p Fine No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and, in most cases, without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1280 by 720 (720p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the actual range - all gradations are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in the Sony Xperia XA1 traditionally has a small capacity of 2300 mAh. As expected, a smartphone with such a small battery, and even on the MediaTek platform, which has never been famous for its economical power consumption, does not demonstrate a high level of autonomy. The level, one might say, is barely satisfactory by modern standards.

Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features. Naturally, there is a proprietary energy-saving Smart Stamina mode, and the proprietary Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology is responsible for a more gentle approach to battery charging.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted no more than 13 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p ) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device operates for 8.5 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can operate for about 4 hours.

Using a regular AC adapter, the smartphone is fully charged within 2 hours 45 minutes with a current of 1.28 A at a voltage of 5 V. The smartphone does not support wireless charging.

Bottom line

The device has already been presented in Russian retail; the official price of the Sony Xperia XA1 is 22 thousand rubles. For this money, the user gets a balanced mid-range smartphone that is not the highest flight, but also without noticeable failures. The screen, the camera, the performance of the hardware system, the set of communication modules, the sound in the headphones - everything is at a completely satisfactory and even good level. The sound of the main speaker and the level of autonomy are worse than we would like at this price, but overpricing has always been the norm for Sony products. This does not stop true fans of the brand; they overpay for a popular brand, as well as for confidence in the high quality of the company’s products.