Sony Xperia XA1 Plus hands-on review: First impressions

31 August 2017
It's fairly easy to get swept away by all the Snapdragon 835 beasts of the day. It's just the way IFA goes. But while the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are soaking up all the spotlight at the Sony booth, there is another newcomer in the company's ranks. One that is frankly likely to sell in greater volume than its flashy siblings, since it is meant to further saturate the mid-range Xperia XA1 line.

Sort by:

  • K
  • Kimi
  • 7vt
  • 01 Dec 2017

Anonymous, 06 Sep 2017Im my country we got M4 16GB also dual sim. Helio P20 is ... moreHi, does your dual sim model have dedicated slot for microsd or it uses sim card 2 slot ?
Share ur experience of using that phone as im thinking of buying it

    • A
    • Anil
    • 7ke
    • 06 Oct 2017

    Anonymous, 08 Sep 2017When will the xa1 plus and xz compact be available in INDIA... moreI purchased Xperia XA1 from Canada. The phone has touch screen and speaker problem. Read more reviews before you buy.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • IbE
      • 20 Sep 2017

      Love the screen Sony

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • Xue
        • 19 Sep 2017

        I want to buy xa1 plus as soon as it is released..

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • fC$
          • 08 Sep 2017

          When will the xa1 plus and xz compact be available in INDIA........there phones are awesome, no doubt, but if they reduce the intial cost then they will surely have a great market in India

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • LkA
            • 06 Sep 2017

            Anonymous, 31 Aug 2017Sells like it hasn't changed much since I bought my not-so-... moreIm my country we got M4 16GB also dual sim.
            Helio P20 is same level.of S625.
            Almost as powerful as 801.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • PA7
              • 04 Sep 2017

              Great sony manage slim down choice, it was c,e,l,m, p,t, z almost full alphabet series but now is simple: z related flagship, a to entry to mid, but the name is more complicated: xz, xzs, xz1 compaq, xa1 ultra hello? Make it simple pls

                • M
                • MrJulli
                • UD{
                • 03 Sep 2017

                The naming strategy may be a little confusing, but I agree, this device will sell greater than it's bigger brothers. Finally, a much generous phone (except perhaps with the chipset or a little less bezel.)

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • tZ0
                  • 03 Sep 2017

                  why sony?, 01 Sep 2017I don't remember there being an XA Plus. Sony urgently need... moreIf you watch the Neon Genesis Evangelion the first EVA is name eva00 and second is eva01, so it is just a name for it generations.

                    • w
                    • why sony?
                    • gIS
                    • 01 Sep 2017

                    I don't remember there being an XA Plus. Sony urgently needs to reexamine their naming strategy. So all the ''1" models are supposed to be the first or second generation?

                      • D
                      • AnonD-632062
                      • 3Ye
                      • 01 Sep 2017

                      I hope Sony adopts bezel-less designs sooner rather than later.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-696491
                        • XMw
                        • 31 Aug 2017

                        Thank you for sharing

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 043
                          • 31 Aug 2017

                          Sells like it hasn't changed much since I bought my not-so-good-and-overpriced M4 Aqua. Still a plastic back which scratches when looking at it, still that bad bottom speaker even though there would have been room for dual front facing speakers, still huge bezels, still just 1 major update (which will maybe mean an update from 7.1 to 8.0 or what?), still way underpowered chipset. Only things that got better is the fingerprint reader, metal frame and high-end camera which will hopefully not be slow af and look like a 2MP potatoe shooter. And enough internal storage (where the SD card will hopefully be configurable as internal, which was off to force people to upgrade their 8GB M4 Aqua to a newer model). And an acceptable battery which doesn't need 4 hours to be charged. But water resistance seems to be gone. So you can clearly see how Sony is cutting back to make people buy the flagship

                          Anyway, I would never ever buy a mid range phone, especially from big companies which are just making phones which look like their high end obeys, but are really cheap internally (Galaxy A, LG Q, HTC Desire, ...) the only different one is Apple, because their SE contains a little bit older high-end high-quality tech, which is something totally different. The Xperia X also wasn't that bad if it was priced more reasonable.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 043
                            • 31 Aug 2017

                            ", yet arguably more durable and scuff-resistant than a metal and glass setup"

                            Wrong, plastic is the worst material you can use if you don't care about removable battery (which isn't the case here)

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • krW
                              • 31 Aug 2017

                              AnonD-368020, 31 Aug 2017If those big front bezels had front firing speakers that wo... moreThat's the issue. They don't. Even in XZP. Like battery.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-510275
                                • 7um
                                • 31 Aug 2017

                                Sony's midrange had more battery than its flagship.

                                  Rafe Firmani, 31 Aug 201768% screen to body ratio lol.. is this 2014 or something?71% not 68%

                                    68% screen to body ratio lol..
                                    is this 2014 or something?

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-368020
                                      • XQh
                                      • 31 Aug 2017

                                      If those big front bezels had front firing speakers that would have been awesome. I think people would complain less if those bezels had something on them to justify its size.