MWC 2016
Xperia X smartphones bring new faces to Sony’s midrange efforts
Sony has been hush-hush about its Mobile World Congress 2016 announcement, but now the wraps are off, and what we are left with are three new smartphones under the Xperia X lineup, smart wearables, and accessories for the connected home. Not bad for a company that wasn’t even sure its flagging smartphone business could stay afloat in the long term.
Neither the Xperia XA, Xperia X, and Xperia X Performance will set the world alight with bleeding-edge specifications, but Sony may have done enough to make them seem as desirable as any option in the midrange. And if you think about it, a standout mid-tier phone or two, or three, might be what the Japanese outfit needs to make its smartphone efforts lucrative again. Based on what we know so far, the Xperia X series fits the bill.
Obviously, there’s the design, which stays true to Sony’s smartphone styling: boxy, with subtle curves along the metal edges and top and bottom bezels that are a little big for our liking. All phones come encased in metal bodies and feature 2.5D curved glass on the front, giving them a better feel in the hand. The finish on the rear varies from model to model (matte for the Xperia XA and Xperia X; brushed metal for the Xperia X Performance.)
Another bright spot for the Xperia X series is the rear camera; Sony’s mobile division has worked more closely with the people behind the Sony Alpha cameras, and what they have come up with is a camera module that not only focuses on the subject at a blistering speed, but eliminates motion blur as well by predicting movement.
As for the specs, you’re looking at a 5-inch IPS display across the board, with the higher-end Xperia X models flaunting a resolution of 1080p. Speed-wise, the Xperia X Performance is the McLaren of the bunch, packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset under the hood. That said, the combination of Qualcomm’s most powerful system-on-a-chip yet and a modest, full-resolution screen should translate into a premium gaming experience — and some intriguing benchmark numbers.
The Xperia X, on the other hand, carries a hexa-core Snapdragon 650, and the Xperia XA an octa-core MediaTek MT6755.
Sony says the Xperia X smartphones will arrive in summer 2016.
[irp posts=”2589″ name=”Sony’s newly unveiled Xperia XA Ultra is a selfie lover’s dream”]
Accessories
LG G5 Hands-On
LG puts the fun back in function with the announcement of its latest flagship smartphone at Mobile World Congress, the LG G5. It has everything a 2016 flagship is expected to have: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, Quick Charge 3.0 that promises 83% of battery after 30 minutes of charging, a fingerprint scanner, quad HD display, USB Type C, Android Marshmallow, and great cameras.
Hands-On
Sony Xperia X Hands-On
In a surprise announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sony said goodbye to its top of the line Xperia Z smartphone, unveiling in its place a trio of new smartphones collectively referred to as Xperia X.
Specs-wise the new Xperia X line isn’t going to be the most high end smartphone release of 2016 but Sony’s left just enough for the phones to be desirable. (more…)
Features
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