Sony Xperia L2 review

Software

The Xperia L2 runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat - that's 0.1.1 more than what the L1 got, but nowhere near the 8.0 Oreo of the current times which is to be found on the higher-end Xperia XA2s. As is usually the case with Sony handsets, the build is very close to stock Android, with only the subtlest in-house touches.

Oreo or Nougat, an Xperia's UI will look almost identical regardless of OS version. The lockscreen and homescreen, for example, have remained unchanged for quite a while. This includes the swipe down gesture on the homescreen, which shows a screen of the apps you use most along with recommendations for new apps to install. The search field is highlighted so you can start typing the app's name immediately.

Xperia launcher: Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App search

The traditional app drawer is present on the Xperia L2, and you'll find a number of proprietary apps pre-installed - business as usual. Sony takes great pride in the A/V prowess of its devices, and the multimedia apps are all custom and feature-rich - Album, Music, and the Video app. There's also an FM radio app that is as stylish as is it full-featured.

App drawer • Album • Video • Music • FM Radio

Themes are available (both free and paid) that can customize the look and sound of the Xperia L2. Some themes are even interactive, with their wallpapers reacting to your touches. Besides themes, the Xperia launcher also offers wallpapers, grid settings and various transition animation options.

Homescreen customization • Themes

The notification drawer and the task switcher are very similar to the vanilla Android ones. There is also a Split Screen feature available to a limited number of apps - quite a feat given the modest processing power of the L2, but the 3 gigs of RAM sure help.

Notifications • Toggles • Task Switcher • Split Screen

Fingerprint recognition has made it into Sony's entry-level L-series with the L2. The setup is the the usual drill of multiple taps on the sensor after you've dialed in a PIN or a pattern for backup. In addition to the fingerprint unlock, you can setup Smart Lock. It gives you conditional security - trusted nearby devices, locations, faces, or voices can allow you to skip the security protocol that you may have set up on the phone.

Security

Performance

The Xperia L2 is powered by a rather low-end Mediatek MT6737T chipset - at least the 'T' stands for the higher clocked version. It's a 28nm chipset (so far from state-of-the-art) and features a quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU ticking at 1.45GHz (up to 1.3GHz for the non-T version). The GPU is a Mali-T720 MP2 clocked at 600MHz (50MHz less on the non-T). The notable upgrade here is the 3GB of RAM, up from last year's 2GB.

An extra gig of RAM won't make any miracles, though the Xperia L2 does put up a reasonably decent performance. The single-core numbers provided by GeekBench put the L2 on the same level as the rest of the devices packing low-clocked Cortex-A53s - those would be all Snapdragon 425, 430, and 435 phones. It's easy to see how clock frequency directly affects single-core performance - the 1.6GHz A53 in the Galaxy J7 Pro gives it a distinct edge, then it's the 1.8GHz vivo V7 and Redmi 5, with the 2.0GHz+ units easily at the top.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi A1
  877
• Sony Xperia XA2
  865
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  848
• vivo V7
  775
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  766
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  735
• Sony Xperia L2
  679
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  678
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  677
• Sony Xperia L1
  673
• Nokia 5
  672
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  665
• LG Q6
  652
• Motorola Moto G5S
  635
• Nokia 3
  551

The picture changes drastically in the multi-core test, where 8>>4. Okay, maybe not so drastically in the case of the Moto G5S and the LG Q6, but the point is that the L2 is trailing in this rather broad range of potential competitors. On a positive note, this test shows that the 'T' means something - the Nokia 3 with an MT6737 chip can't keep up with the Xperia L2 and its MT6737T.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  4331
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  4292
• Sony Xperia XA2
  4215
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  4018
• vivo V7
  3935
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3768
• Nokia 5
  2851
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2841
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  2610
• Motorola Moto G5S
  2277
• LG Q6
  2244
• Sony Xperia L2
  1932
• Sony Xperia L1
  1890
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  1781
• Nokia 3
  1529

In the graphics department, the Xperia L2 does an okay job, more or less on par with the Xiaomi Mi A1... in the onscreen tests in GFXBench, that is. You know, an underpowered GPU mated to a 720p display can still offer half-decent performance.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XA2
  9.6
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  6.4
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  6.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  6.1
• vivo V7
  6.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  4.9
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  4.6
• Motorola Moto G5S
  4.6
• Nokia 5
  4.6
• LG Q6
  3.8
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3.3
• Sony Xperia L1
  2.6
• Sony Xperia L2
  2.6
• Nokia 3
  1.4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  13
• vivo V7
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  11
• Sony Xperia XA2
  10
• Nokia 5
  10
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  6.9
• Sony Xperia L2
  6.3
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  6.3
• Sony Xperia L1
  6.1
• Motorola Moto G5S
  5
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  4.5
• LG Q6
  3.6
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3.3
• Nokia 3
  3.2

To compare overall performance, we look to Basemark OS II 2.0 for a numerical representation. Here the Xperia L2 shows an improvement over the L1 (the extra gig of RAM, maybe?), but it can't really keep up with more powerful offerings.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia XA2
  1545
• vivo V7
  1310
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  1262
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  1222
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  1038
• Nokia 5
  982
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  942
• Motorola Moto G5S
  899
• Sony Xperia L2
  816
• Sony Xperia L1
  767
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  707
• Nokia 3
  568
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  389

Satisfactory, is what you could call the Xperia L2's performance if you needed to sum it up in one word. It's no powerhouse but delivers acceptable results in day-to-day tasks. Performance is definitely more fluid than the L1 which has the same CPU but a bit less RAM.