The announcement of two new devices of the Xperia line took place, as you know, not only Z and ZL are alive, we also need models in the mid-price segment and even budget ones. Today we want to introduce you to these new products and talk about the main points associated with them. I'll start with what I liked the most, this is the Xperia SP.
Sony Xperia SP
It’s very good that Sony has been making spring announcements for quite some time along with the whole world, literally in those minutes when they showed us SP and L, they were demonstrated in other countries. True, Sony has adopted the vicious practice of not announcing the price, which is in vain. This parameter is the most important for consumers and there is nothing to be afraid of giving at least approximate figures. Otherwise it will be journalists. For example, I can blurt out that SP will cost 20,000 rubles, and then readers will say that they don’t need that. And if I say that it will cost 17,000 rubles, then many will think about it. What if it’s 15,000 rubles? Even more interesting. In general, to avoid experiments, it is better to provide at least more or less specific figures. No company is shy about doing this.
Now about the device, the Sony Xperia SP was clearly created for young people, moreover, for those who want something beautiful, who don’t care about performance, but design matters. Here we remembered the transparent insert at the bottom of the case (hello, Sony Xperia S), you can set its behavior in the settings, it looks beautiful. The girls will definitely like it. Three body colors, black white and red, the press release has a lot of words about the TVs: “The Xperia SP display is created based on many years of experience in developing Sony BRAVIA TVs. The stunning 4.6" HD Reality Display lets you enjoy crystal clear, vibrant images. Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology makes images even more impressive by intelligently analyzing content type and automatically adjusting image settings. This technology not only improves sharpness, color accuracy and reduces noise, but also optimizes image contrast in real time.” In fact, all this is the usual marketing blah blah blah, the display is like a display, the resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels, it seems to be covered with tempered glass. A 2370 mAh battery is installed, the stated talk time is about 10 hours, which I think is another plus. Traditionally for Sony there is a radio, this applies to L too. They also talk about an aluminum insert, I don’t know, I still don’t understand where it is. The button on the side is in place, it is made of aluminum and is convenient. The device weighs 155 grams, slightly heavier than the iPhone 5. Dimensions are 130.6 x 67.1 x 10 mm. There is NFC, LTE is supported (works in Russia), naturally, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. 8 MP camera, 1.7 GHz Qualcomm MSM8960 Pro Dual Core processor, there is a slot for microSD memory cards, 8 GB of memory installed inside (about 6 GB available). The delivery set is usual, however, there will be a high-quality headset, as included with the Sony Xperia V. In the settings, you can independently play with the color temperature of the display, now there is a special mode for working with gloves, in the photographs you can see that all this has been added to the settings display. The device is well assembled, I liked the matte plastic of the white sample, reminiscent of the Sony Xperia S. There is a shooting button, screw heads are exposed, in general, this Xperia is inexpensive, but it looks cool - this is the word that best characterizes the SP. The battery cover is removable, there are slots for a SIM card and a memory card. Android 4.1 is used. In my opinion, the SP could become Sony's best-selling device in the middle of the year - it will arrive here in a couple of months.
Sony Xperia L
And then we remembered the Arc design, the curved lid at the back. Three color options, white, black and red, the device looks somehow strange - without even picking it up, you immediately understand that this is an inexpensive thing. The display, to put it mildly, is not at all interesting. 1 Hz processor (1 GHz Qualcomm MSM8230 dual-core), Android 4.1 inside, no stereo headset included. Display diagonal 4.3 inches, resolution 854 x 480 pixels, memory 8 GB (about 6 GB available to the user). There is a slot for microSD memory cards, a battery capacity of 1750 mAh, and a stated talk time of about 8 hours 30 minutes. There's also a button on the side, but it doesn't look very good. In general, they didn’t say anything about the price of the device either - if it’s 10,000 rubles, then the Xperia L will be interesting. But even at the first acquaintance you understand where the savings were. The display is some kind of strange plastic, it looks like L doesn’t know what. One word - budget smartphone with Android. Due to the name, it may become popular, but everything will very much depend on the final price. In addition, there is also this plus, an 8 megapixel camera, the press release says this: “The stylish and functional Xperia L smartphone is equipped with an 8 megapixel camera with a unique Exmor RS sensor for mobile devices, providing bright colors and stunning clarity Images. HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology ensures that your photos and videos turn out clear even when shooting at night or in bright backlight conditions. And thanks to a special camera power button, which allows you to switch from standby mode to shooting mode in one second, even when the screen is locked, you won’t miss a single interesting moment.” Yes, there is a shooting button, which is also nice. Naturally, NFC is supported, there is a Stamina mode (and in SP too). Maybe this will attract the audience; compared to other budget smartphones based on Android, the L has at least some differences.
Let me remind you that both smartphones will go on sale in the second quarter of this year. Soon we will introduce you to the Sony Xperia ZL in more detail, but for now you can watch the video from the presentation of the Xperia SP and L on our channel.
Sergey Kuzmin ()
Sony Xperia L2 has received an updated design, which is recognizable as the company's corporate identity. In our opinion, the phone is not that beautiful, but this is a matter of taste.
The front panel of the smartphone is located, as it were, in a small recess - due to the frames, slightly rising around the perimeter. Interestingly, compared to its predecessor, the frame at the top has become thinner, and at the bottom, on the contrary, has grown slightly. It is not clear why such metamorphoses are necessary, but, as they say, the sum has not changed due to such a rearrangement of terms. The bottom frame could well have contained control buttons, but they are not there; they find their place on the bottom of the display.
The rear panel became slightly convex and received the same frame around the perimeter. It also underwent rearrangements - the camera lens increased and moved from the corner closer to the middle. There is also a fingerprint scanner on the back, which Sony usually forgot about in budget models. But now you can’t easily forget about it, when it is found in almost every ultra-budget phone for six thousand rubles or less.
The phone dimensions are 150x78x9.8 mm, weight is 178 grams. Thick and heavy, it is slightly shorter but wider than the inexpensive one. The case materials are budget-friendly - polycarbonate without the use of metal.
Sony Xperia L2 will be available in three colors: black, gold and pink.
Screen
Sony Xperia L2 has a large, but not the clearest 5.5-inch screen. It only has HD resolution (1280x720 pixels), which is not enough for a clear picture. The pixel density is low at just 267 per inch, but you'll only notice this if you're already spoiled by sharp displays. There is no special information about the screen other than the presence of Gorilla Glass protection and high brightness of up to 500 nits.
Cameras
The Sony Xperia L2 has 13 and 8 MP cameras that are quite typical for its level. You can’t call it a camera phone, but it’s quite suitable for passing shots.
The manufacturer has revealed some data about the cameras, from which we can say that there is nothing unusual in the cameras. So, the main one uses a typical size sensor (1/3.1″) and a medium-width aperture (f/2.0). The only feature that was mentioned is the ability to increase ISO to 3200. There is also some kind of “high-quality 3x digital zoom,” but I don’t really believe it.
The front camera can also be called average. Yes, it has 8 MP, but the sensor itself is not that big (1/4″), and the aperture is “dark” (f/2.4), but the viewing angle is wide (120 degrees).
Communications
It is curious that the Xperia L2 is equipped with a completely non-budget set of communications:
- dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
- LTE Cat support 4 (up to 150 Mbit/s)
- Bluetooth 4.2
- NFC chip
- FM radio
- A-GPS.
For an entry-level model, this is more than enough. There's even a modern USB Type C connector and a separate connector for . The smartphone will be produced in two versions, for one and for two SIM cards. True, this also means that the slot for the second will be combined: either additional communication or additional memory.
Battery
One of the important (if not the only) improvements of the new product is the increased battery capacity. Previously, it was 2620 mAh, which was not serious for 5.5 inches, but now it has grown to an adequate 3300 mAh. For comparison, y has 3000 mAh, and y has 4100 mAh. The manufacturer does not state any specific numbers, but the phone should last for a day and a half.
Performance
The performance of the Xperia L2 remained at the level of its predecessor, that is, below average.
The new product uses the not-so-new quad-core Mediatek MT6737T chipset, the same one used in the Xperia L1. You shouldn’t expect any miracles from it; most likely, the interface will work smoothly, and most games will work normally only on low graphics settings. Yes, there is 3 GB of RAM, but this will rather allow you to keep several applications in mind.
Peculiarities
There is nothing all that unusual about the Sony Xperia L2, except for its proprietary design and interface. The phone works and it is unclear whether it will receive an update to eight. It's a pity, because the one presented at the same time is already released on Android Oreo.
Memory
They decided not to skimp on the memory of the Sony Xperia L2; there is enough of it here: 32 GB of storage and 3 GB of RAM. For a budget-level model, this is very worthy, and it can also be expanded via microSD (up to 256 GB).
Price
The start of sales of the smartphone is expected in January-February 2018, but the date of its appearance in Russia is still unknown. Its price has also not been announced, but its predecessor, the Sony Xperia L1, costs an average of 13 thousand rubles; you can expect the new product to cost more. And this is already a lot for, in general, a state employee.
Sony produces a lot of smartphones, but most of them are lost on the market and only a few models are truly interesting. Today we will get acquainted with the Sony Xperia L1 and find out whether this smartphone is worth your attention.
Appearance
What cannot be taken away from Sony devices is their original appearance - their rough, angular design is always recognizable.
Sony Xperia L1 is available in three colors - black, white and pink.
When you pick up the device for the first time, you immediately feel the relatively large size of the body, although the screen does not seem huge. The reason for this is that there is too much space above the screen. It is not clear why this was done, but the smartphone feels too elongated.
The display itself is slightly recessed inside. Above it is the earpiece, front camera, sensors, LED and manufacturer's logo.
It’s good that this time the mechanical keys on the right side of the case are located at a convenient height, and not moved down, as was previously the case. On the opposite side of them there is a tray, behind which there is a compartment for a memory card and two SIM cards in nanoSIM format. You can use two SIM cards and a memory card at the same time.
At the bottom end there is a USB Type-C port, a multimedia speaker and a main microphone. On the top there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and an additional microphone.
The main camera lens protrudes slightly above the plane of the rear panel. The back cover and sides have a pleasant soft-touch texture.
The thickness of the Sony Xperia L1 is 8.7 mm, so you might get the impression that there is a capacious battery inside, but no - its capacity is only 2620 mAh.
There are some complaints about the build quality; the back cover bends and creaks a little. Despite the fact that it is not removable, it has joints into which dust easily gets clogged. The compartment behind which the SIM cards and memory card are located can also creak. When you lightly press the center of the screen, streaks appear on it, as if it had been squeezed hard.
Display
The diagonal IPS screen of the Sony Xperia L1 is 5.5 inches and the resolution is HD. There is an oleophobic coating. During testing, I handled the phone carefully, but small scratches still appeared on the screen.
Brightness varies from 4.5 to 382 cd/m². The contrast is 1 in 625.
The color gamut does not match the sRGB triangle, the temperature is much higher than the reference, so the picture looks cooler than necessary. Subjectively, the screen is normal for an inexpensive phone, but nothing more.
Those who like to customize color rendering themselves will appreciate the ability to make adjustments using three sliders. In practice, it was not possible to make a “candy” out of the screen.
I didn’t like that the image fades greatly under direct sunlight - the lack of brightness and the display’s contrast are not the best.
Hardware platform
Sony Xperia L1 is equipped with a quad-core MT6737T processor. The chip is made using a 28 nm process technology and can operate at frequencies up to 1.5 GHz. Video core - Mali-T720 MP2.
The amount of RAM is 2 GB, and the built-in memory is 16 GB, expandable up to 256 GB using microSD memory cards. After the first power-up, only about 9 GB is available to the user.
The test results indicate the processor's budget. Benchmark scores are low. The smartphone is not suitable for modern games and has problems with overheating. While updating applications, I felt strong heating in the area of the main camera lens.
The quality of the speaker and microphone deserve high praise. There are no complaints about working on a 3G and Wi-Fi network.
Sony Xperia L1 runs Android 7.0 with a proprietary shell. The interface looks the same as on previous Sony models.
The smartphone works slowly and periodically froze during testing. It even happened that the user interface stopped working. Such work is unacceptable for a new device.
Autonomy
The capacity of the built-in battery is only 2620 mAh, which is not serious by modern standards, but do not forget that a weak processor is installed here.
In practice, with moderate use, the device can work for 2 days with an active screen time of 7 hours.
In the PCMark test at a brightness of 200 cd/m², the operating time was 6 hours 13 minutes. Considering that the smartphone discharges predictably and linearly, the autonomy indicator is not bad. The included power supply charges the device in 2 hours 45 minutes, which is a long time by modern standards.
Cameras
The main camera is a 13 megapixel module with f/2.2 aperture. The maximum ISO value is 3200. The interface of the standard Camera application looks similar to other Sony smartphones. There is a manual mode and HDR.
The first thing I want to say is that photos are saved for a very long time, especially in HDR mode. Unfortunately, almost all photos taken on the Sony Xperia L1 in HDR mode have an excess of green color. There are also focusing problems. Despite this, if you try, the smartphone can take a good shot.
Front - 5 MP module with wide angle and f/2.2 aperture.
Earlier this year, the company introduced one of the cheapest smartphones in recent history. The Sony Xperia L2 is a budget model that follows the style of other devices from the Japanese manufacturer, but has a number of additional advantages, such as a wide-angle front camera with a viewing angle of 120 degrees and a fingerprint scanner.
Sales of the smartphone will begin on February 9 and the retail price in the US is 15,590 rubles, which places it in the category of entry-level devices and significantly lower than much more attractive models like. Let's see what this device is.
Design Sony Xperia L2
The Xperia L2 has a typical appearance for Sony devices, but with a twist. The front is an obvious rectangle, the frame is rounded, the SIM card and memory card compartments are typical, but the back surface has a curve that makes it more comfortable to hold the smartphone in your hand. The body is plastic, but the matte finish is similar to metal. The device will not attract much attention, the thick frames around the screen immediately indicate a low price, but it cannot be called ugly, rather just ordinary.
In terms of hardware controls, there's a plastic power button and volume rocker on the right edge of the case. The feel of them is not bad, they do not wobble and click clearly when pressed. There is a fingerprint scanner at the back, which does its job quite quickly. There is no hardware button for the camera, which is found in more expensive Sony smartphones. Instead, double-click the power button.
Sony Xperia L2 screen
L2 has a 5.5-inch screen with a classic 16:9 aspect ratio. Resolution 720 x 1280, pixel density 267 ppi. On paper this doesn't seem like a significant value, but there are no visible pixels and the picture is of good quality.
Xperia smartphones often have a cold screen tint, and in this case the situation is repeated. The color temperature is 8102K, which is far from the reference value of 6000K, so there is a blue tint. Luckily, there are RGB sliders in System Preferences that let you change the color balance. As you change the settings, the colors will become warmer and easier on the eyes.
The screen brightness was disappointing, the maximum value is only 370 nits, which shows up in everyday work. When the environment is bright, it is difficult to watch videos or images. If you need to answer a phone call, you will still be able to see the desired button in the sun.
Interface and functionality of Sony Xperia L2
The Sony interface has been created on the same principles for several years now. This is a slightly modified version of Android without a lot of additional functionality and background processes that would slow down the device. There are several visual changes and widgets, as well as Sony's own apps.
In addition to the usual Android applications, you will get Movie Creator with the ability to select photos and videos on the basis of which new videos will be created. The PlayStation application is pre-installed to synchronize with the profile of the game console, Xperia Lounge will send you coupons, offers for installing applications. There is also a Theme Store.
The device runs on Android 7.1.1, although six months have passed since its release. Supports split screen between two apps, Google feed to the left of the main home screen, Google Assistant, etc.
Sony Xperia L2 hardware components and performance
L2 runs on a 4-core MediaTek 6737T processor with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, 3 GB of RAM. This is quite enough for everyday tasks; no problems were found in chats or the browser. There's some sluggishness inside Snapchat Lenses or when watching YouTube videos at 60fps, but that doesn't make the phone unusable.When it comes to games, it all depends on the specific game. Simple ones like Break Liner run great, Shadow Fight 3 with 3D models also runs smoothly. Rules of Survival strains the device more and it begins to skip frames, which affects the battle.
We can say that the Xperia L2 copes well with basic smartphone tasks, but there is a limit. You shouldn't expect high speeds from it in heavy games and applications.
The flash memory capacity is 32 GB, of which 23 GB is available to users. Additionally, you can install a microSD memory card.
Cameras Sony Xperia L2
The camera app here is quite basic compared to what's offered on other Sony phones. There is the usual Sony Intelligent Auto mode, a rather limited manual shooting mode, and video. It also supports tracking objects by tapping the screen, which is not bad for a device of this class.
The rear camera resolution is 13 MP with a pixel size of 1.12 microns, F 2.0 aperture. The camera does an excellent job of capturing detail in objects without a lot of digital noise, but don't expect ultra-high definition.
The colors are balanced and quite accurate. You could say that there is a slight problem with some shades of green, like grass. The dynamic range is quite narrow and bright and dark areas can be overexposed. This is especially noticeable when shooting indoors, but on cloudy days the same thing happens outdoors. In low light at night, you shouldn’t expect miracles.
The front camera is wide-angle with a viewing angle of 120 degrees, so that more people can fit in the photos. There is a normal shooting mode, when the image is enlarged in the center. The sensor resolution is 8 megapixels, it conveys detail well both in standard mode and in wide-angle shooting. The colors are not the most accurate, but it can be worse. There are faded bright areas here too, but if you keep your face in the shadows, everything will be fine.
The automatic shooting mode can recognize the backlight and compensate for it, but to improve the situation it is better to switch to manual mode, open the settings and turn on HDR. To do this, you have to tap the screen a couple of times, which may be annoying for some.
When it comes to video shooting, continuous autofocus helps in dynamic scenes. There is no stabilization, so it is advisable to move less. The maximum video quality is 1080p at 30 fps.
Connection
Present, which is not available on all budget smartphones. Many manufacturers still use the old microUSB instead. The LTE communication standard and many frequencies are supported.Multimedia
As already mentioned, the screen brightness leaves much to be desired, as does color reproduction, so viewing videos and images is not amazing. It all depends on the video itself and the images.
For audio listening, there is a single speaker at the bottom of the case, which sounds quite rattly. It is suitable for ringtones and alarm calls, but the music will not sound the best. Sony has installed an equalizer, which is especially valuable when using a Bluetooth speaker and headphones. There is also an FM radio, which is available even in maximum power consumption mode.
Battery life Sony Xperia L2
In 2014, they appeared, which were distinguished by high autonomy. It used Stamina Mode, which was not available in the stock version of Android at that time. This mode has been simplified these days, and Sony has also added a more radical Ultra Stamina mode. Here almost all functions and applications are disabled, the device turns into an analogue of a simple cell phone, but energy consumption is radically reduced.
L2 runs for 7 hours 50 minutes in tests with the screen on, which is not a record result. Together with the power consumption mode, you can achieve a day and a half of operation of the device, especially if you use it just as a phone, without any games.
Conclusion
What do we get for 16,000 rubles? An entry-level Android smartphone that has all the necessary basic advantages, as well as disadvantages and limitations. For example, the screen is large, but looks quite cheap due to thick bezels and unimpressive quality. Performance in everyday tasks is not bad, but you shouldn't count on complex games. The rear fingerprint scanner works no worse than its competitors. The camera also copes with its task, but there is nothing special about it.
For comparison, it costs 18,000 rubles, has a metal body, an equally capable rear camera and a front camera with LED flash, and longer and longer battery life.
Pros of Xperia L2
- Build quality
- Fingerprint's scanner
- Productivity in everyday work
Cons of Xperia L2
- Mediocre screen
- Sound from speaker
- Heavy games and applications will run slowly
