Review of Sony Xperia XA2 - another Japanese product with no surprises. OS and software

Sony's smartphone business is unprofitable, and there are objective reasons for this - the company persistently ignored customer demands and trends. But it looks like things are starting to change. For example, the tested smartphone will receive a FullHD display, while its predecessor was content with HD, the display dimensions have become larger, and the overall dimensions of the body, on the contrary, have been smaller, while the battery capacity has been increased in one fell swoop by an impressive 44%. In addition, a fingerprint reading sensor appeared, without which there was nothing to do in the mid-price range.

Specifications

Appearance

The design of Sony smartphones, the so-called “loop surface”, has been in use for several years, and the differences between smartphones are often minimal. This approach and the design itself have become the subject of heated debate between fans of Xperia smartphones and fans of products from other manufacturers. Sony smartphones suffered from thick top and bottom frames, sharp corners, and a fingerprint scanner on the lock key. It is noteworthy that fans praised him for this. Their position is a recognizable design, and not an iPhone-style remnant. And it seemed that Sony was not even going to change anything or follow fashion trends. While there is a lot of activity around promoting smartphones with thin bezels all around, wide displays with an aspect ratio of 18:9, unibrows, multiple cameras, both back and front, Sony continued to promote pure classics with the same design. But it seems that something has broken in the management of the unprofitable mobile business. And no matter how Sony representatives assure us that smartphones are a relic of the past, an obstacle to a truly new type of device, so they say we are doing them only for the love of art, and so as not to fall out of modern fashion trends in the mobile sector. But the fact is clear: Sony has begun to follow the trends. Whether this will benefit the Sony Xperia line – time will tell.

Already at CES 2018, we received the first signs of imminent changes. At this summit, the tested Sony Xperia XA2 was presented, as well as the older version of the XA2 Ultra. The recognizable “Loop Surface” design is still used here, but now the case is slightly thinner at the edges than in the center. By the standards of the Sony Xperia line, even this is a serious innovation. But what is much more important is that a fingerprint scanner has appeared, and it is not in the usual place for Sony Xperia (in the lock key), but on the back side. Further more. At MWC 2018, the new flagship XZ2 and its mini version XZ2 Compact were presented, which have completely changed beyond recognition - no sharp corners and an elongated FHD+ display, and a fingerprint sensor, like our test subject, is also installed on the rear surface. Supporters of the already familiar appearance of Sony smartphones expressed their violent indignation, focusing on the “soapy” design and the lack of uniqueness in appearance. But fans will have to come to terms with the fact that the company’s course is changing dramatically. But we will look at the flagship in future material, and now about our test subject - the Sony Xperia XA2.

The screen of the new product has become larger by 0.2 inches, but the body dimensions are smaller, and the lower and upper frames have become thinner. It would be a shame not to praise such positive changes. The build quality is high, but when you try to twist the case, it gives in quite readily and creaks a little. The back panel is made of plastic, while the frame is made of aluminum. The coating is scratch-resistant, but fingerprints on the dark version are clearly visible.

In front, above the screen, there is a sensor unit, an earpiece, as well as an activity LED and a front camera.

From the rear you can see the camera, LED flash and fingerprint scanner.

On the left side, only a hybrid tray compartment is visible for a pair of SIM cards in nanoSIM format, one of which can be replaced with microSD format media. On the right are the lock and volume control keys, as well as a dedicated camera and photo key, which is familiar to Sony smartphones.

A microphone and a headphone/headset jack are installed on top. At the bottom there is a second microphone, a USB Type-C connector, and a system speaker.

Software

The smartphone runs almost pure Android 8.0.0. The changes made are minor and concern only the display settings, sound, wireless interfaces, power management and security. In general, pure Android is now a trend, so formally this is a plus of the device. What’s more important is that everything works smoothly and quickly, without noticeable lags.

Display

Sample pictures

Video recording

Unlike its predecessor, the tested smartphone can record video in 4K resolution. In addition, H.264 and H.265 codecs are supported. Of course, 1080/60p recording mode is supported. Slow-motion video recording is also announced, but the flow rate is only 120 frames/s, which won’t surprise anyone now, especially against the backdrop of 960 frames/s, which is demonstrated by the flagship devices of the Xperia XZ family, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+.
Sample 4K/30p video

Example video 1080/60p

Autonomous operation

The screen in the new product has become larger, its resolution is higher, and its brightness is higher. Of course, all this requires more energy. Therefore, the battery was increased, and in one fell swoop from 2300 to 3300 mAh. For its class, this is a very good indicator, often typical of larger models. However, a significant increase in battery capacity did not increase the battery life too much, but, nevertheless, the test results are encouraging.

The smartphone was provided for testing with a simple charger (5 Volts/1.5 A), but the technical specifications stated that the test subject supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology, so a charger supporting this technology was used to measure the charging speed. The configuration of the charger used is 5V/2.5A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A. The measurement result was a little disappointing. It takes 90 minutes to charge from 0 to 85%, and just over two hours to charge fully - too slow for the claimed Quick Charge 3.0 technology. Traditionally, Sony smartphones have Stamina and Ultra Stamina battery saving modes, which allow you to save battery by disabling secondary functions of the smartphone.

Conclusion

The middle price segment pleases with a wealth of choice, and the number of competitors for the tested smartphone is so large that it makes no sense to list them all. Fighting for a buyer in the face of such serious competition is a very difficult task, and the Sony Xperia XA2 does not have any significant advantages over its competitors. Of course, compared to its predecessor, the tested smartphone has become much better, but, in fact, it has only caught up with its competitors. But if in the case of XA1 all that remained was to refer to the brand’s eminence and recognizable design, then the hero of the material can compete on equal terms without any concessions.
Minuses:
— body torsional rigidity;
— extremely high color temperature of the display;
— errors in the operation of the camera automation (exposure metering errors);
— unsuccessful photo processing algorithms;
— rather slow battery charging despite the stated support for Qualcomm QC 3.0.
Pros:
— the screen has become larger, and the overall dimensions are smaller than its predecessor;
— good sound quality from the built-in speaker;
- battery life;
- NFC;
- USB Type-C;
— presence of FM radio (for some users this module is still relevant);
- battery life.

Detailed testing of the new flagship in the line of Sony Mobile smartphones

Sony Mobile has once again updated its flagship smartphone from the top Xperia Z series. The new flagship was presented at the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S5 - during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the beginning of the year, but it appeared in Russia later than the Korean flagship. By this time, we managed to test not only the Samsung Galaxy S5, but also the new HTS One (M8) and the Chinese Oppo Find 7a. All these new products are united by the fact that they work on the latest version of the Qualcomm hardware platform - Snapdragon 801, and, accordingly, are currently the most powerful and advanced mobile devices on the world market.

Sony's new flagship smartphone is called Xperia Z2 and is generally an updated version of the Xperia Z1 smartphone, presented in the fall in Berlin. The Japanese firmly adhere to the once chosen course: update the flagship line every six months - rightly believing that during this time enough reasons have accumulated to update the model range.

The Sony Xperia Z2 does not have any special differences from previous models in the series - in appearance it is practically the same Z1, only improved in many ways. The smartphone has acquired a more powerful single-chip SoC, an IPS screen, a new battery, improved camera performance, two stereo speakers that have moved to the front side, and the notorious films from the protective glass of the screen have disappeared. In general, there are enough changes to explore the new product in more detail.

Key Features of Sony Xperia Z2 (Model D6503)

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AB), 2.3 GHz, 4 cores
• GPU Adreno 330
• Operating system Android 4.4 KitKat
• Touch IPS display, 5.2″, 1920×1080
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 16 GB
• MicroSD card slot up to 64 GB (SDXC)
• Protection against dust and moisture according to IP 55/58 standard
• Communication GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communications 3G UMTS HSPA+ 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz
• LTE Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20 (2600/800 FDD are used in the Russian Federation)
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• Support DLNA, MHL 3.0, OTG, Media Go, MTP, Miracast
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot
• GPS/Glonass
• Exmor RS 20.7 MP camera, autofocus, LED flash, 4K video
• Front camera 2.2 MP
• Non-removable battery 3200 mAh
• Dimensions 146.8×73.3×8.2 mm
• Weight 163 g

Contents of delivery

The Sony Xperia Z2 kit sent to us for testing looks exactly the same as that of previous products in the series: the smartphone is packaged in a fairly simple-looking, flat and square box made of thin unvarnished cardboard, which has already become classic for the latest products in the Sony mobile line, with several compartments inside.

The equipment is standard: a compact charger (output current 1.5 A), connecting cable, ordinary headphones without additional ear pads and a thick stack of paper documentation. This is the most modest set of all possible: for example, the Sony Xperia Z2 is supplied to the Asian market in a much larger box made of hard varnished cardboard, which contains a richer set of accessories, including a docking station. In the case of the Russian market, nothing like this was found in the kit, which is a pity: such a docking station would not be at all useful for domestic users.

Appearance and ease of use

Externally, the Sony Xperia Z2 has not changed much, and those changes that exist have not brought any improvements. The smartphone is still a candy bar, consisting of two glass plates and a metal frame between them, which makes up the frame of the device and forms the outer side frames of the case. The frame, as before, is made of aluminum that has been anodized. However, previously a thin plastic gasket was inserted between the frame and the glass, so the previous smartphones in the series felt more comfortable in the hand, not to mention the first Xperia Z, the frames of which were made of rubberized polycarbonate. The situation with the Sony Xperia Z2 is worse: the chamfers on the frame are somehow more roughly removed, the edges are sharper, and this makes holding the smartphone in the palm of your hand less comfortable. Now the edges of the metal frame feel noticeably rougher and sharper when touched, literally everyone notices this.

The smartphone feels like a very large and heavy monolithic block, it doesn’t have that “airiness” that is felt in Samsung’s plastic cases, and it doesn’t have that smooth streamlining of pleasant-to-touch metal that the HTC One has. In general, the body of the new Xperia Z2 is quite rough, and nothing can be done about it. Why they removed the plastic pads between the glass and metal that soften contact with the palm remains a mystery.

On the front glass panel, as well as on the back, there are now no those factory protective films about which there was so much controversy. On the one hand, films naturally wore out faster and became covered with a lot of scratches than glass. On the other hand, supporters of the presence of films argued that they could be removed at any time, giving the smartphone an updated look. True, it is difficult to say how many people have actually done this or whether these are purely theoretical considerations: after all, the glass under the film did not have an oleophobic coating, and besides, along with the film, the corporate logo disappeared from the front panel, not to mention the fact that This film was, in principle, extremely difficult to remove without damaging the glass itself and the edges of the frame around it. So, perhaps, Sony did the right thing by depriving its products of this atavism - modern protective glasses are ready to provide quite reliable display protection even without additional films.

The back cover is exactly the same as the front: it is made of glass, there are no protective films on it, there are no gaskets between the glass and metal, and the only functional elements on it are the camera window and the flash eye.

The flash here consists of one section, while the flashes of most competing flagships have long been dual, and now also multi-colored. It’s good that they didn’t forget to provide the smartphone with pre-installed software that allows you to use this module in flashlight mode.

There are no grilles for sound output from the speakers on the rear panel - they have been moved to the front side, now the role of grilles is played by two long longitudinal slits in the glass - at the top and bottom. A completely logical solution is to turn the speakers towards the user, and not away from him, and there are now two speakers themselves, so the sound of the new flagship has become much louder than its predecessors, even despite the gaskets protecting it from water. By the way, it is through the top slot that the indicator light shines through, which notifies you about the charging status and incoming events.

Traditionally for Sony, there are no hardware buttons under the screen; their role has long been played by virtual icons on the display itself: in some applications this strip of buttons can be removed, but in others it remains, occupying part of the working area of ​​the screen.

The SIM card here is inserted into its own side slot, equipped with a plastic retractable tray into which the card is placed. There are no hidden buttons to press in here, just as you don’t need to carry a paperclip with you—the tray simply pulls out with your fingernail. Perhaps the method of installing cards in Sony Mobile devices is the most convenient.

All slots and connectors, except for the audio output, in the Sony Xperia Z2 are covered with plugs made of the same material as the side frame itself. They are held on the body by rubber clamps. The covers have rubberized gaskets, because the smartphone, like its predecessors, provides protection from dust and moisture. When the covers on all ports are securely closed, this smartphone is protected against low pressure water jets from all directions to IP55 and/or can be kept in 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes to IP58.

Based on the results of our testing, it was confirmed that the smartphone is not only impervious to water, but is also perfectly controlled with wet fingers - until the screen is completely immersed in water. Plus, due to the presence of a dedicated hardware camera control key, the smartphone can be used as a camera for shooting underwater.

On the left side there is an open contact group for connecting to the docking station connector - such an element is found in many modern Sony smartphones. This option for daily charging of the phone is convenient for those who do not want to open and close the cover of the Micro-USB connector every day. True, as mentioned above, the docking station is not included in all delivery kits.

The power and lock button is located on the right side, next to the volume key. Traditionally for the latest Sony smartphones, it looks like a metal round piece, but in new models it already consists of two parts: a ring and a round button inside it.

At the bottom of the right side there is a dedicated hardware camera control key, thanks to which the smartphone can be used for shooting even underwater, although the screen at this time becomes insensitive to touch. In general, there are no special complaints about the mechanical controls of the Sony Xperia Z2, except that the volume key protrudes too slightly from the body, so it is quite difficult to feel it blindly. In terms of ease of use, the large and pliable keys of Korean Samsung and LG look preferable to the thin metal and hard keys of Sony and HTC.

The audio jack for headphones (3.5 mm) is located on top in splendid isolation. Other leading manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG and HTC, have already taught us that another very convenient element should be located here - an infrared port, with which a smartphone can control various equipment as a remote control. Sony, unfortunately, did not provide anything like this.

There are nice holes in the lower left corner of the case - this is a traditional strap mount that is present on all Sony smartphones, and it’s a shame that other manufacturers neglect this useful element.

The body of the new product, like its predecessors, is available in three colors: black, white and purple. It is curious that the bevels of the side edges of the metal frame here are painted in the general color of the case, that is, if the case is purple, then the bevels of the sides are also purple, but the very top edge always remains silver and unpainted.

Screen

The Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone is equipped with an IPS touch matrix. The screen dimensions are 64x114 mm, diagonal - 5.2 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. A parameter such as pixel density per inch is 423 ppi here. The display received the brand name Triluminos, but the most interesting thing is that the developers also mention here the new Live Color LED technology, which allows you to expand the color palette, providing 130% coverage of the sRGB palette.

The outside of the screen is covered with protective glass without a factory protective film - this proprietary distinctive feature is now disappearing from Sony screens. The thickness of the side frames from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is approximately 4 mm - the frames are not that narrow.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment. Multi-touch technology here allows you to process up to 10 simultaneous touches. The display can be operated with gloves or wet fingers. When you bring the smartphone to your head, the screen is locked using a proximity sensor.

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.

Just like the tablet of the same name, the Z2 smartphone does not have the traditional Sony protective plastic film with low oleophobic properties and quickly becomes scratched. Let's hope that the company has finally and irrevocably abandoned this atavism. 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, there is a very effective anti-glare filter, which is superior to the screen filter of Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7) in reducing reflection brightness. For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens of both devices (Sony Xperia Z2, 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 90 versus 96 for the Nexus 7). The tripling of reflected objects in the Sony Xperia Z2 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 under strong 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 (very effective, perhaps better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was about 450 cd/m², and the minimum was 14 cd/m². The maximum value is quite high, and, given the good anti-glare properties, the image on the screen should be clearly visible in bright daylight. 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 left of the logo on the front panel). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the brightness adjustment position. If it is at maximum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 95 cd/m² (too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 190-195 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment ( corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to a maximum of 450 cd / m². If the brightness slider is about halfway up, then the screen brightness for the three conditions above is: 56, 120 and 450 cd/m² (suitable values). If the brightness control is set to minimum - 18, 50, 450 cd/m². As a result, the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately. At any brightness level, there is practically no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

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 and without significant color shifts, even with large viewing deviations 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 Z2, with the brightness of both screens set to approximately 200 cd/m². White field perpendicular to the plane of the screens:

Uniformity is good, but the color tone is noticeably different from the Nexus 7 screen tone (when photographing, the color balance on the camera is forced to 6500K). And a test picture:

Colors on the Z2's screen are oversaturated and clearly red-shifted. 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, and the contrast at an angle has been preserved. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (by at least 4 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of the Sony Xperia Z2 the drop in brightness is less (brightness according to photographs is 237 versus 217 for the Nexus 7). However, the color tone did not change much. When deviated diagonally, the black field is lightened weakly and acquires a red-violet tint or remains almost neutral gray. 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 very good:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is good - about 915:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 23 ms (14 ms on + 9 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 32 ms. Constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, the gamma curve did not reveal any blockage in either highlights or shadows, and the index of the approximating power function was 2.29, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve strongly deviates from the power law:

The smartphone has some kind of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness - either in some way depending on the nature of the displayed image, or depending on the current temperature of the device. But it definitely exists. 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 consistently average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

They are very atypical. However, Sony writes in black and white that this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows you to obtain a wide color gamut. Unfortunately, as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and these are the vast majority) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, the variation in color temperature and ΔE is small, which also has a positive effect on the visual perception of color balance. (Dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, 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 intensity 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 reduced ΔE on white and brought the white point a little closer to 6500 K. At the same time, judging by the reduced intensity of red, there was a little less redness in the image. However, this correction did not reduce the oversaturation of colors.

If someone still finds the image on the screen of this smartphone not bright enough, they can turn on the proprietary X-Reality for mobile mode. The result is shown below:

Saturation and contour sharpness are increased programmatically. Read more about saturation. X-Reality for mobile is disabled:

And included:

There is a strong decrease in shade gradations in the area of ​​saturated colors. But the picture, yes, has become brighter.

Let's summarize. The brightness adjustment range of this screen is wide, and the anti-glare filter is very effective, which allows you to comfortably use the smartphone both on a clear day outside and in complete darkness. It is permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works absolutely adequately. The advantages also include a very effective oleophobic coating, the absence of flicker and air gap in the layers of the screen, weak black bleed when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the screen surface, excellent uniformity of the black field, high contrast and good color balance. The colors are, however, a little oversaturated. However, overall the screen quality is very high.

Sound

The sound of the Sony Xperia Z2 has improved compared to previous models in the series due to the fact that the device now has two stereo speakers, and they are facing the user, like the HTC One. The speakers are located in the upper and lower parts of the front panel, the sound output is realized through two barely noticeable slot-shaped longitudinal symmetrical grilles, due to which it is possible to realize surround external sound, called here S-Force Front Surround. The sound is not bad, but still not as powerful and loud as that of the HTC One - this is due to the waterproof gaskets that protect the speakers from water.

As for the sound in headphones, there are no complaints here. The sound is excellent, clear throughout the entire frequency range, there is enough bass, and the maximum volume is high. In conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor, timbre and intonation remain recognizable.

To play music, the device uses its own proprietary player. The standard audio player, traditionally called a Walkman, is rich in settings and additional software sound improvements, such as a built-in equalizer with a lot of preset values ​​(you can set your own), Clear Phase, xLoud technologies or virtual surround sound. Control of most settings is available if the complex ClearAudio+ function is turned off, otherwise all settings are left to the machine.

Camera

Sony Xperia Z2 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 20.7 and 2.2 megapixels. The front camera takes pictures with a resolution of 1920×1080, and videos in 1080p resolution. The capabilities of the front camera are more than sufficient for taking self-portraits; examples of test images are presented below.

The main rear 20.7-megapixel camera is equipped with a G Lens series lens with a focal length of 27 mm and an aperture of F2.0. The camera uses a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS for mobile sensor and a Bionz for mobile processor.

By default, the cameras of all Sony devices operate in the so-called super auto mode (iauto) with a wide aspect ratio, but you can switch the shooting to manual settings. It is noteworthy that when you use the hardware button on the side of the device to quickly turn on the camera, it always activates it only in automatic shooting mode, even if the manual setting mode was previously enabled. If you launch the camera application by touching the icon on the display, then everything goes as usual, and the camera leaves the previous settings intact, that is, it starts in manual mode, if one was set earlier. Note that there is a big difference between automatic and manual modes, because the maximum resolution can only be set in manual adjustment mode. When shooting in automatic mode, which is set by default, photos are obtained with a size of 3840 × 2160 (8 megapixels), and in manual mode the maximum possible resolution is exactly the same 20.7 megapixels (5248 × 3936).

In addition to automatic and manual, the Sony Xperia Z2 camera software has several interesting additional shooting modes. The Info-eye mode, for example, provides contextual information to an object in the frame using augmented reality technology. In Timeshift burst mode, the camera takes up to 61 shots two seconds before pressing the shutter button, from which you can then choose the best one. The Social live function allows you to upload footage directly to Facebook and view comments on it on your smartphone screen. AR effect makes it possible to combine pictures with animation using proprietary augmented reality technology SmartAR.

Completely new modes and effects have appeared:

• Timeshift video- a mode that allows you to shoot at 120 frames per second and select scenes to create expressive slow-motion effects exactly where you need it - even underwater. Playing such a video is accompanied by the same slow-motion playback of the recorded audio as on the Apple iPhone.
• Creative effect- Available in real time when shooting video, these settings allow you to enhance your video with effects such as mirroring, motion trail, color correction and miniature.
• Background defocus- This new application simulates depth of field (bokeh). It automatically takes two photos with different focus settings and stitches them together to make your photos look professional.
• AR effect, an augmented reality effect, has become available for video recording. Now you can experiment with both photos and videos using new animation effects with augmented reality elements, including sound effects for video shooting.

The camera can shoot video in 1080p and UHD (4K) resolution, and also has the ability to shoot videos in slow motion, standard for top smartphones. Examples of test videos are presented below.

• Video No. 1 (115 MB, 3840×2160)
• Video No. 2 (36 MB, 1920×1080)
• Video No. 3 (118 MB, 1920×1080, 60 fps)

Examples of photographs with our comments are presented below. Under some pictures there are links to similar ones taken with a resolution of 20 megapixels.

	Good sharpness in all plans and across the entire frame.
	Noises in the shadows are barely noticeable.
	Sharpness drops slightly only in the upper left corner.
	Good sharpness and exposure.
	You can probably tell that this is a tree cut.
	Excellent sharpness and refinement of small details in distant plans.
	The camera copes well with noise and fine details at the same time.
	And at the same time, she also chooses the exposure very well.
	A very decent shot for a compact camera.
	Excellent noise reduction performance is also reflected in good color and smooth sky structure.
	The car numbers are clearly visible.
	At both resolutions, there is no sharpening in the image.
	If you can see minimal sharpening in the crown, then it is quite appropriate there.

20 MP	20 MP	20 MP
Text in daylight, room light, low light, and with flash. In all cases, the camera captures text well, with only a slight drop in sharpness in the corners.
—	20 MP	20 MP
Macro photography in daytime indoor and low light, as well as with flash. In all cases, the camera copes well, perhaps a little worse in low light.

	Lighting ≈3200 lux. The camera does a good job.
	Lighting ≈1400 lux. The situation remains virtually unchanged.
	Lighting ≈130 lux. The grain from the noise reduction becomes a little larger.
	Lighting ≈130 lux, flash. The outbreak does little to improve the situation.
	Lighting<1 люкс. На снимке вполне можно что-то различить.
	Lighting<1 люкс, вспышка. Камера справляется немного хуже, чем в прошлый раз.

It looks like Sony engineers have finally achieved what they set out to achieve. And initially the goal was very noble - to achieve the quality of compact cameras. Now we can say with confidence that it has almost been achieved.

The previous two attempts - Sony Xperia Z1 and Z1 Compact - although very unsuccessful, still showed a slow but steady increase in the quality of images from a camera with a 1/2.3″ sensor, typical of simple compact cameras. Installing such a sensor in a fairly thin smartphone was in itself a serious step forward. It seems that the only thing missing was good optics capable of covering it entirely - as a result, we observed blurry corners and edges of the frame, and sometimes only the center was sharp. However, Sony brought the idea to a good practical implementation, and with the help of engineers and programmers they finalized the camera. To be fair, it is worth noting that even now 20 megapixel photographs taken in manual mode do not always turn out good. However, such errors are small and there are not many of them. Pictures with a resolution of 8 megapixels taken in auto mode almost always turn out good. True, for them to turn out great, you need to shoot slowly, carefully, with bated breath and without jerking your smartphone. This technique will allow you to avoid the appearance of small areas of blur that pop up in isolated cases.

Considering that the camera module has not changed externally and has not increased in size, we must give credit to the same engineers and programmers who still “crammed” a good camera into small dimensions.

As for the quality of the images themselves, there is practically no noise in them. Of course, you can see small spots of color in the shadows, but they are not striking. In addition, the grain after noise processing is barely noticeable (by the way, this is one of the advantages of small pixels - a stone in the NTS garden), so the sky acquires a uniform and smooth structure. This means that the company has finally learned how to make good noise reduction for small matrices. No other software processing is visible in the images. That is, there is no sharpening in principle. At least in the form in which we knew it. Sometimes the edges of the image are a little soft, but these areas are small and infrequent. True, 20-megapixel images often look blurry, especially at the edges - apparently, the optics still cannot fully process them. But after “recalculation” to 8 megapixels, the pictures acquire amazing sharpness that looks very natural.

It should certainly be concluded that the camera is well suited for both documentary and artistic photography. And for almost any subject.

For artistic shooting, among other scenarios, a new background defocus function has been added. Unlike the HTC One M8, which used two cameras so that the focus area could be selected on the finished photo, everything here is implemented more simply, but no less interesting. Sony offers to create a bokeh effect, but greatly limits your freedom of choice. For everything to work, you need to shoot a relatively small object at a distance of half a meter from the lens, and the background should be located at a distance of 5 meters. In this case, after shooting, the camera will allow you to select the desired background blur. If not all conditions are met, the function will not work, which the camera will, of course, report. It must be said that the function does not handle all objects equally well. Below are the three most suitable scenarios for defocusing the background.

As you can see, the best shot of the squirrel was successful, since it is “spherical” and also does not have a clear outline. In general, this function is probably most applicable to portrait photography. The program often makes mistakes, so you have to look for a convenient angle for it, but the result looks nicer than in the case of different plans for the HTC smartphone, which, by the way, could not work this way when shooting macro.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for fourth generation networks (LTE) used in Russia. With a SIM card from the domestic operator Megafon, the smartphone in practice confidently finds and works with the LTE network. Additional network capabilities include support for the second Wi-Fi band (5 GHz) and NFC technology. The external device connection mode (USB Host, OTG) is supported here, so any flash drives connected to the Micro-USB port, as well as mice and keyboards, are perfectly recognized. The navigation module supports both GPS and domestic Glonass and works very clearly and quickly.

There were no spontaneous reboots/shutdowns observed during testing, as well as system slowdowns or freezes. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen is blocked by the proximity sensor. An LED sensor at the top of the front panel provides notification of charging status and incoming events.

There is no dedicated top row with numbers on the standard keyboard, like Samsung devices - you need to switch the layout every time. The layout itself and the location of the keys are standard: to switch the language layout, just click on the button with the corresponding icon. The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. There is a convenient opportunity to “press” the keys of the virtual keyboard closer to one side or another to make it easier to reach with the fingers of one hand (here this is called “Keyboard for one hand”) - a typical functionality of top modern devices with a large screen diagonal. Naturally, there is also the possibility of continuous writing by sliding your finger from letter to letter - Swype.

OS and software

The operating system is the latest version of the Google Android 4.4.2 KitKat software platform, on top of which is traditionally installed its own proprietary graphical user interface. It does not change the appearance and organization of all elements as much as HTC Sense, and at the same time it is not as rich in various functions and modes as the interface in Samsung devices. The Sony shell in the updated version (by the way, previous top models, such as the Xperia Z Ultra, also received it) has some improvements and additions, but overall retains its main distinguishing features: the seriousness of the overall appearance, the conciseness of all menus and submenus, and also a familiar traditional set of proprietary pre-installed applications.

If we talk about changes, then it is worth mentioning, first of all, the improvements that have occurred with the notification menu and the installed programs menu. A second horizontal tab has appeared in the notification drop-down menu with access to the most popular smartphone functions - Quick Settings. In previous versions of the shell, it was replaced by a proprietary widget, which was located on one of the desktops on the left. Now there is no need for such a widget.

The main distinguishing feature of the program menu is its wide possibilities for sorting, selecting and working with icons of installed applications. To work with them, there is even a whole contextual panel that slides out from the left with a side swipe. In it you can search by category, set your own, arbitrary arrangement of icons, or sort them in several provided ways. It is very convenient that right here you can delete any application without having to go to a special section of the main menu - functionality that partially replaces the file manager. Naturally, the ability to create folders is supported, but to do this you need to keep the icons in the “own order” mode, otherwise all the applications sorted into folders will again be distributed across the desktops - for example, in alphabetical order. We first saw the new retractable panel on the mini-flagship Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, now it appears on all top Sony models with a firmware update.

The branded menu of “small applications” has not disappeared anywhere. It can be found if you open the list of recently launched programs by clicking on the far right button. From this menu you can get quick access to the calendar, calculator, stopwatch and notes, and you can also add other applications there, of which there are more and more in the Google Play Store. Not only can these applications be quickly launched from this menu, but they also open in separate small windows, which creates a kind of multi-window operating mode.

The set of pre-installed programs in the Japanese company's smartphones does not change too noticeably from handset to handset. Several online services, such as TrackID, Sony Select, What's New, offer you to select, buy and immediately play music, movies and games. Timescape collects information about friends' social activity. There is a file manager, a package for working with office documents, there is also a QR code scanner and the popular note-taking program Evernote. It’s very convenient that Sony always preinstalls a useful program for a complete backup and restoration of both settings and other data. When you launch the program, curiously named “Sketch,” a set of drawing and handwriting tools appears. Here you can choose brushes, paints, colors, line thickness, texture, etc. The functionality is reminiscent of the famous stylus-based Samsung Galaxy Note, only much more modest in capabilities, and here quickly recording long texts is impossible due to the delay (lag) between the touch and the appearance features on the screen. In this program, you can only slowly draw something, select a collage from ready-made elements.

Performance

Like the new flagships from Samsung and HTC, the Sony Xperia Z2 hardware platform is based on the latest single-chip quad-core system (SoC) Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with four Krait 400 cores. Let us recall that the new platform has the functionality of the Snapdragon 800 with a slightly higher frequency of processor cores: Snapdragon The 801 can operate at frequencies up to 2.45 GHz, while the core frequency of the previous version of the chip was limited to 2.36 GHz. True, the Sony Xperia Z2, as in the case of the HTC One (M8), has a maximum processor core frequency of only 2.3 GHz (CPU-Z shows 2.27 GHz), which is less than the Samsung Galaxy S5 (2.46 GHz). This is explained by the fact that a slightly different version of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AB) is used here. Unlike the MSM8974AC version, which is installed in the Samsung Galaxy S5, here the maximum possible CPU frequency is limited to 2.36 GHz, and the GPU frequency is 550 MHz (for MSM8974AC these characteristics are 2.45 GHz and 578 MHz, respectively). Thus, of the three most recent new products presented on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 platform by top manufacturers, only the Samsung device runs on the maximum version of this platform - the other two, Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One (M8), are equipped with a slightly less productive platform from the new series.

The processor here is supported in graphics processing by the same Adreno 330 video accelerator. About 11 GB of 16 GB of own memory for the user’s needs is initially available in the device. The smartphone's RAM capacity is 3 GB, and this makes the Sony Xperia Z2 stand out among its direct competitors - all the others received only 2 GB of RAM. This characteristic does not affect performance in any way - it only affects the number of applications that can be launched simultaneously on the smartphone. MicroSD memory cards in this model are supported up to 128 GB; you can also connect external flash drives, keyboards and mice to the Micro-USB port using a special adapter in OTG mode.

Since the most powerful and most productive of the competing serial platforms is now the SoC MediaTek MT6592, whose configuration includes eight full-fledged processor cores [simultaneously] operating at frequencies up to 2 GHz, it is logical to include its results in the comparison. Let us remind you that we recently released a review of the powerful TCL Idol X+ smartphone, which is built on the maximum version of this platform, so now it makes sense to compare the new Qualcomm platform only with this most advanced of all eight-core MediaTek platform.

To get an idea of ​​the performance of the platform of the smartphone under test, we will conduct a standard set of tests.

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 of 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 in MobileXPRT, as well as in the latest versions of AnTuTu 4.x and GeekBench 3:

This is what emerged from testing. As for the competing MediaTek MT6592, the latest Qualcomm system (Snapdragon 801) handled it confidently. In general, this is not at all surprising, considering that the previous version (Snapdragon 800) was faster than the top-end MediaTek solution. As for the Snapdragon 801 itself, according to the results of all tests, no special increase was found in relation to the Snapdragon 800, and there should not be any at a core frequency of 2.27 GHz, which is not very different from the core frequency of previous flagships on the Snapdragon 800. B In the “honest” version of the AnTuTu X test, the test subject demonstrated almost the same results as in the regular AnTuTu, which is reassuring (we always place a screenshot of the results of the “anti-cheat” AnTuTu X to the right of the main one).

There is also a difference in benchmark results between the top new products presented on the newest platform, but it is very small. All four of the latest smartphones are approximately equal in performance, the difference lies within the margin of error - especially considering that we are now talking about such high results that are simply not available to all other smartphones. So, in any case, we are now talking about the Sony Xperia Z2 and other new products on the Snapdragon 801 as the most powerful smartphones to date, the hardware power of which will be enough to perform any tasks for a long time.

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).

Results of testing the graphics subsystem in the Epic Citadel gaming test, as well as Basemark X and Bonsai Benchmark:

There is an advantage in the operation of the Adreno 330 video subsystem over the Mali-450MP4, which is part of the eight-core MediaTek MT6592, but it is not too great.

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.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. 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.

According to testing results, the Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone was not equipped with all the decoders necessary for full playback of most of the most common files on the Internet. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, even in it you will first have to change the settings, switching from hardware decoding to software or to a new mode called Hardware+(not supported by all smartphones), only then will sound appear. All results are summarized in a table.

¹ MX Video Player only played sound after switching to software decoding or a new mode Hardware+; The standard player does not have this setting

Additionally, the MHL interface was tested. To test it, we used the LG IPS237L monitor, which supports direct MHL connection using a passive adapter cable from micro-USB to HDMI. In this case, output via MHL was carried out at a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels at a frequency of 30 frames/s. Additionally, we tested using an MHL adapter, which provided output at a lower resolution (720p) but at 60 fps. Regardless of the actual orientation of the smartphone, the image is displayed on the smartphone and monitor screens only in landscape orientation with the connector on the smartphone facing down. In this case, the image on the monitor fits exactly within the boundaries of the display area and replicates the image on the smartphone screen one to one.

Sound is output via MHL (in this case, the sounds were heard through headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of good quality. In this case, sounds are not output through the loudspeaker of the smartphone itself, and the volume is not adjusted using the buttons on the smartphone body, but is turned off. In our case, the smartphone with the MHL adapter connected was charging, judging by the charge indicator.

Next, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”), we checked how the video is displayed on the screen of the smartphone itself. 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 rates of 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps. In the tests, we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware+” mode. The results of this (block entitled “Smartphone Screen”) and the next test are summarized in the table:

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 high, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. However, uniform alternation of frames is a relatively unstable state, since some external and internal background processes sometimes lead to periodic failure of the correct alternation of intervals between frames and even (very rarely) to the skipping of individual frames. The displayed brightness range is equal to the standard range of 16-235, that is, all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels), the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly across the width of the screen, in the original Full HD resolution.

With a monitor connected via MHL, when playing video, the monitor displays an exact copy of the smartphone screen, that is, the output is in true Full HD resolution in the case of 1080p files. The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235 - all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights. The results of the monitor output tests are shown in the table above in the “MHL (monitor output)” block. For 50 and 60 fps files, we used an external adapter that provided 60 fps output but at 720p resolution. The output quality is very good.

The conclusion is typical - an MHL connection can be used for games, watching movies, displaying web pages and other activities that benefit from an increase in screen size.

Battery life

The lithium-ion battery installed in the Sony Xperia Z2 turned out to be larger in volume than that of all direct competitors (Oppo Find 7a, HTC One (M8) and Samsung Galaxy S5), and has a capacity of 3200 mA very decent for a modern flagship h. However, the new Sony flagship did not become a record holder in terms of battery life, and it certainly did not outstrip its main rivals in this matter, demonstrating approximately the same battery discharge time in the same tests.

The standard charger has an output current of 1.5 A, our testing showed that in half an hour the device charges to about 25%, in an hour to 45%, and the battery is fully charged within about 3 hours. In this regard, Sony devices do not break any special records: for example, the new Oppo Find 7a - it actually charges in just 1 hour 10 minutes, but the output current of the included charger is 4.5 A.

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted more than 15 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos from YouTube in high quality (HQ) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted 11 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked for 3.5 hours and signaled the need to charge.

Bottom line

As for the cost of the new product, it is not yet known for certain at what price the new Sony flagship will be officially sold on the Russian market, but presumably it will be within the same limits as the flagships of other manufacturers - about 30 thousand rubles at the start of sales. This is a high price, but commensurate with the realities of our market, for a top-end device in all respects, which is in no way inferior to the latest flagship solutions from manufacturers of the same level, such as Samsung and HTC. And now only the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) can compare with it - the same extremely powerful devices with top-end characteristics. Each of them has its own advantages over competitors, but there are also weaknesses. The Japanese flagship boasts a noticeable stylish design and premium materials, protection from adverse external conditions, decent technical equipment, good performance, a powerful battery, and good sound, but all this is also present in its closest competitors. Relative disadvantages include a non-removable battery, a body that has increased in size and has become rougher to the touch, and a camera that still lags behind advanced Samsung devices in terms of shooting quality - but this, again, is only when compared with equal competing top-end solutions from other manufacturers. Well, for the user, the basis for choosing between these flagship devices will to a large extent be the emotional preference of one brand or another, because in general, all the top new products are quite worthy of each other.

In conclusion, we invite you to watch our video review of the Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone.

• Android 8.0, Sony Xperia UI
• Display 5.2 inches, FHD (1920x1080 pixels), 424 ppi, automatic brightness adjustment, white balance adjustment, 2.5D protective glass
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset, 8 cores 2.2 GHz, Adreno 508 video accelerator
• 3 GB RAM, 32 GB internal (eMMC), memory cards up to 400 GB, combo slot
• nanoSIM, up to two cards, one radio module, hybrid slot
• Li-Ion 3300 mAh battery, fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0) in 90 minutes to 100 percent
• Front camera, 8 megapixels, autofocus, f/2.4
• Main camera, 23 megapixels, f/2.0, LED flash, 4K video recording
• Google Pay (NFC)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0 LE (aptX HD support), USB Type-C, NFC, FM radio
• GPS, GLONASS
• Fingerprint scanner (on the back cover)
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, light sensor
• LTE cat.13
• Dimensions – 142 x 70 x 9.7 mm, weight – 171 grams

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Charger
• USB to USB Type C cable
• Instructions

Positioning

At the moment, Sony has three current lines. Flagship models XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, mid-segment XA2 and XA2 Ultra and budget L2 series. The XA2 we are considering today, both in positioning and price, is a typical strong mid-ranger.

The target audience of this model is Sony fans who prefer not to pay more than 30 thousand rubles for a smartphone. At the same time, such users are not ready to compromise on the display, time and speed. They also want to see a full set of wireless interfaces, like in flagships.

Design, dimensions, control elements

Before us is one of the latest models in the old classic design from Sony: sharp corners, “rectangular” body, strict appearance. The smartphone is easy to recognize against the background of faceless devices from some Chinese companies.

The back cover is made of matte smooth plastic; fingerprints remain on it, but are not as noticeable as on glossy surfaces. The ends and edges of the device are made of aluminum.

On the left are the power button and volume rocker, and on the right is a tray for two nanoSIM cards and a memory card. More precisely, there are two trays, one for a SIM card, the second for a nanoSIM or memory card. I would also like to note that the second tray is very difficult to pull out; you have to pry it off with your fingernail. Also keep in mind that when you remove the tray, the smartphone will automatically restart.

Since the fingerprint scanner was moved to the back cover, the design of the power button in the model is the same as that of older Sony smartphones.

At the bottom you can see the USB-C port, an external speaker and the main microphone, and at the top there is an additional microphone and a mini-jack for headphones.

The fingerprint scanner was moved to the back cover; this is one of the innovations in the control elements. Personally, I fully support this decision; using the scanner on the side was not very convenient: due to the fact that it was included in the power button, you immediately went to the main screen, and viewing notifications on the lock screen was problematic. I have no complaints about the speed of the scanner; unlocking occurs instantly.

The smartphone itself is perfectly assembled, there are no gaps, creaks or other problems with the body. There will be four colors on sale: black, silver, blue and pink. Sony traditionally pleases with interesting colors; you definitely don’t want to take the boring black version.

Model dimensions – 142 x 70 x 9.7 m, weight – 171 grams. The device is thicker and heavier than most of its competitors, but its battery capacity is far from the maximum (3300 mAh). Sony explains the thickness by the large camera module, but I can’t say that the smartphone takes better photos than its competitors in this segment.

Interestingly, after the XA2 Ultra, the dimensions of the regular XA2 do not feel so bulky; you get used to them after a couple of days of use. However, if you switch to the XA2 from a regular, more or less thin smartphone, you will definitely notice the difference.

Screen

For its price, the XA2 has an excellent display: a good range of brightness, large viewing angles, narrow side frames (paired with 2.5D glass, it seems as if there are almost no frames), natural color rendition and an excellent oleophobic coating.

Note the small frames

In terms of white balance, the screen was initially calibrated for cooler colors, this is clearly visible in a direct comparison with the iPhone 7 Plus. However, in the settings you can set the white balance yourself if you prefer warmer tones.

In addition, there are three presets to customize the display colors. In the first case, the quality of the picture does not change, in the second it becomes more juicy and colorful, and the third mode makes the colors more poisonous, I did not like it.

In the sun, the display noticeably dims, the information remains visible, but using the smartphone becomes less comfortable.

Scaling is also located in the settings; if you wish, you can change the display of elements so that more information fits on the display or so that the interface itself becomes, on the contrary, larger.

Battery

Sony usually does not install capacious batteries of 4000 mAh or higher; the company compensates for the lower capacity with various energy-saving technologies. For example, turning on Stamina mode can, on average, extend the operating time of a smartphone by 15-20% by limiting background activity of applications and reducing the processor frequency. Ultra STAMINA mode is suitable for those situations when you need to extend the operating time as much as possible so that your smartphone does not run out of charge before you get home. When you turn it on, only a few applications remain available; in fact, you can only make calls, write SMS, listen to music and take photos.

Xperia UI also has a separate battery care mode. It is suitable for those who charge their smartphone at night and unplug it in the morning (and get up at about the same time). The device charges up to 90%, then charging stops, and half an hour before you wake up it charges up to 100%. Keep in mind that it will take several days for the utility to remember your daily routine.

For everyday use (mail, Twitter, social networks, mobile Internet, brightness 70-80%), you can count on 4 hours of display time; if you lower the brightness and turn on Stamina mode, you will get an additional hour of screen time. I was particularly pleased with the slight discharge during the night.

The device supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging; a full charge takes approximately 90 minutes.

Memory, chipset, performance

The performance of the Snapdragon 630 is enough to work with FHD resolution, and the Xperia XA2 once again confirms these words. In two weeks of use, I did not have any problems with stuttering or stuttering in the interface. Here it is worth saying thanks not only to the chipset, but also to the optimization in Android 8.0. The device heats up only when running benchmarks or performance games; the rest of the time the heating is absent or unnoticeable.

Communication capabilities

Sony traditionally pleases us with a good set of wireless interfaces, here you have Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD support, and a full-fledged NFC that works with Troika, and even Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE. The first one already works at MTS, and the second one at Megafon. It's always nice to test a device that hasn't skimped on the little things.

Camera

Sony cameras have a laconic but functional interface, with all the necessary elements at hand. By default, the camera shoots in super auto mode, which is notable for the fact that the device automatically detects the scene and adjusts the camera settings to it. If you don’t like how the software works, it’s easy to switch to manual settings mode; it has a convenient slider for adjusting the brightness of the photo and setting the white balance.

As many as three new models of smartphones Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, Xperia XA2 and Xperia L2 were brought by the Japanese company to CES 2018. Previously, leaks surfaced with the design and some parameters of the devices and now everything has been officially confirmed. To be honest, such an abundance of mobile new products at this exhibition is not entirely typical for Sony - usually mass releases, including flagships, take place in March at MWC, but they decided to please us earlier.

All three smartphones inherit the Loop Surface design, but with some restyling. In particular, the top and bottom margins above the screen have been slightly reduced in the XA2 and XA2 Ultra. Yes, the currently popular “full screen” trend is not here, but complete framelessness is also a matter of taste. Thin side frames and not very bulky “forehead” and “chin” are just the thing, in my humble opinion. And here it’s already better. All three models received a fingerprint scanner located on the back cover under the main camera window, which has moved to the center. This was a notable innovation that also influenced the appearance of smartphones. Now let's look at all three models in order.

Sony Xperia XA2 – a good replacement

I’ll probably start with this smartphone, since it’s most interesting to me in terms of weight and size parameters. I don’t like phablets, sorry J. Compared to its predecessor Xperia XA1, the newcomer has taken a step forward. With smaller dimensions, the Xperia XA2 has a 5.2-inch diagonal screen and it is a Full HD matrix, covered with Gorilla Glass with noticeable rounding on the sides (soon we will make a quick comparison of both smartphones). The dimensions of the smartphone are 142 x 70 x 9.7 mm and it weighs 171 grams. Side frame made of anodized aluminum with chamfers along the contour of the bottom and top edges.

It was also pleasant to use a solution from Qulcomm as a chipset - this is a Snapdragon 630 with a 64-bit processor with 8 cores and Adreno 510 video. 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory with a microSD slot. I was pleased to see the battery increase to 3300 mAh (the predecessor had 2300 mAh) - it should last quite well. Out of the box, the smartphone comes pre-installed with Android 8.0 Oreo.

In terms of photography, we have a 23-megapixel module with an 84-degree wide lens and f2.0 aperture, hybrid autofocus. The camera can record 4K video, FullHD at 60 FPS, as well as slow motion 120 frames per second. The front camera is 8 megapixels with a 120-degree ultra-wide-angle lens and f2.4 aperture; there is no optical stabilizer. It's a pity that the front camera wasn't equipped with a flash.

Among other things, there is a headphone jack, USB Tupe-C, NFC and Bluetooth 5.0.

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra – double selfie

This model is the first Xperia smartphone with two front cameras. This is the “killer feature” of the model, although its significance is a little questionable. We have two modules: the first is 16 Megapixels with optical stabilization with an 84-degree wide-angle lens and f2.0 aperture. The second module is 8 Megapixels with ultra-wide-angle optics with an f2.4 aperture. In addition to the duo, a flash is also used so that the user’s selfies are good even in a dark environment. Do you need two cameras on the front? No more than yes. The main camera is 23 Megapixels with a wide lens, f2.0 aperture, and can shoot slow-motion video at 120 fps, as well as 4K. Everything is the same as Xperia XA2.

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra has a 6-inch FullHD display covered with Gorilla Glass, and therefore its dimensions are not small - 163 x 80 x 9.5 mm and weighs 221 grams.

The hardware base is Qualcomm 630 with 8 cores at 2.2 GHz and Adreno 510 video, the chipset is complemented by 4 GB of RAM, an internal storage of 32 or 64 GB (there is a slot for microSD). With such dimensions, a decent battery was installed - 3580 mAh. We note the presence of a fingerprint scanner, a USB Type-C connector, and NFC. Also has the new Android 8.0 pre-installed.

Sony Xperia L2 – for those with a budget

This smartphone represents the 2018 series. Compared to last year's Xperia L1, the new Xperia L2 has not received many changes. The back has changed slightly due to the presence of a fingerprint scanner. On the front we have a 5.5-inch HD screen; the frames are not as narrow as those of the above-described models. Dimensions are 150 x 78 x 9.8 mm, weight 178 grams.

The attitude of Sony Xperia L2 to the lower price segment is also emphasized by the use of the old Mediatek MT6737T chip with 4 cores and a Mali-T720MP2 video chip, however, the memory volumes have increased - now we have 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. The battery capacity has also increased to 3300 mAh.

The main camera is a balanced 13-megapixel module with an f2.0 lens, and for selfies the same camera is used as the XA2 models: 8-megapixels, a lens with a wide angle of 120 degrees and f2.4 aperture. There is Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, a microSD card slot and a USB Type-C port.

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Review of the Xperia XA2 Plus - Sony's first smartphone in the mid-price segment that doesn't make you yawn. A really interesting, albeit peculiar product that deserves attention.

Before starting the Xperia XA2 Plus test, it seemed to me that the XA2 series could no longer be saved from failure. The top one in the line turned out to be completely sad, and the brand new XA2 Plus seemed almost a complete copy of it.

Fortunately, I was very wrong, but in order to experience all the advantages, I had to use the smartphone as my main one for almost 4 weeks.

Specifications Sony Xperia XA2 Plus

• Display: 6 inches, 18:9, 2160x1080 pixels
• Camera: 23 MP, 1/2.3″ sensor, hybrid autofocus, f/2.0, 85 degree capture angle, 2160p or 120 fps video recording
• Front camera: 8 MP, 1/4″ sensor, f/2.4, 120 degree capture angle
• Processor: 8 cores, 4 x 2.2 GHz + 4 x 1.8 GHz, 14 nm, Qualcomm Snapdragon 630
• Graphics chip: Adreno 509
• RAM: 4 GB
• Internal memory: 32 GB
• Memory card: microSD up to 400 GB
• A-GPS, GLONASS
• FM radio
• Bluetooth 5, LDAC
• WiFi
• Ports: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm
• Fingerprint's scanner
• Battery: 3580 mAh
• Charging: Qnovo, Quick Charge 3.0
• Platform: Android 8.0 Oreo
• Dimensions: 157x75x9.6 mm with a weight of 204 grams

Design, ergonomics

The appearance of the Sony Xperia XA2 Plus does not evoke strong emotions; the body of the smartphone is made in approximately the same vein as other products in the XA2 line.

That is, it is a plastic case with a plastic back and metal insert ends. Inside there is a metal chassis, making the structure more rigid and durable.

Due to the screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and attention to detail, the smartphone does not seem old-fashioned, but a completely modern device. They even brought USB Type-C, but they forgot to remove the mini-jack. This already looks like a market trend - cutting out the 3.5 mm jack from flagships and leaving it in mid-segment smartphones.

The device cannot be twisted or bent, even despite the plastic parts. It seems almost monolithic, devoid of creaks and dents, as often happens with plastic phones. The assembly is wonderful, there is nothing to complain about.

Ergonomics

There are questions about the ease of use of the Xperia XA2 Plus. Not only is the phone large and wide (75 mm), but the metal inserts on the ends tend to cut into the palm. They turned out to be quite sharp on the edge.

I already mentioned durability; the smartphone is especially strong. As for wear resistance, everything is also in order - plastic shows itself noticeably better than glass or metal in terms of scratches.

Screen

Sony Xperia XA2 Plus has a 6-inch screen with FHD+ resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. The screen occupies almost 79%, which is almost a record for Sony Xperia smartphones.

The main complaint about the screen lies in the insufficient maximum brightness, something around 400 nits. It’s enough for indoor use, but in sunny weather the display goes blind and it’s not comfortable to use. Otherwise, everything is fine - the contrast is excellent, viewing angles are maximum, color rendition is close to sRGB.

In general, I liked the screen of the Xperia XA2 Plus more than the one on the Xperia XA2 Plus (both are LCD, FHD+ and lack maximum brightness). Nokia's incorrect color rendering is probably to blame for this.

Camera

The biggest pain point of the Xperia XA2 Plus is its main camera. It is based on the Sony IMX300 image sensor, which was installed in the Xperia flagships of 2014-2016. Now this camera is hopelessly outdated, which confirms the results of the shooting.

Take a look at the test images and you will understand everything. This is too low a result for a smartphone costing 21,000 - 28,000 rubles in official retail. Competitors from Huawei and Xiaomi are two heads higher in this regard.

Test shots:

Add to this a clumsy camera application that looks like a prehistoric artifact compared to analogues on the market and you will understand that it is better to perceive the phone as if it does not have a main camera at all. Or it is intended only for some extremely utilitarian things - taking a photo of the price tag in a store, documents, etc.

The front camera, on the contrary, even pleased me, it can make quite suitable selfies. But against the backdrop of the terribly weak main camera, this is only so-so consolation.

Software

As much as I am ready to criticize the camera in the inexpensive Sony Xperia, I praise them for their excellent firmware optimization.

Xperia XA2 Plus runs on the proprietary Xperia UI shell, which is not much different from stock Android. A few cosmetic improvements, a couple of programs, that's all the changes compared to Pure Google.

I don’t know how the Sony Mobile engineers managed it, but the Xperia XA2 Plus on the Snapdragon 630 works MUCH more stable and noticeably faster than the Nokia 7 Plus on a completely bare Android and Snapdragon 660. Both have eMMC memory, which is 2-3 times slower than UFS 2.0 memory, but the magic is that the XA2 Plus somehow opens applications faster, has less lag in the interface, and is more responsive in everyday use.

Therefore, do not believe the fairy tales that you just need to install a stock Android on the “Chinese” and everything will go like clockwork. It won’t work, there are many hidden nuances associated with perfecting the hardware + software combination. Sony Mobile developers are masters at this.

Performance, operating time

The Sony Xperia XA2 Plus is built on the Snapdragon 630 chipset, which automatically puts this smartphone in the “not for gaming” category. There is enough productivity for everyday tasks - social networks, YouTube, Twitch, photo editing in VSCO. The phone covered all my basic needs almost completely.

Yes, the XA2 Plus is not as fast as the flagships with Snapdragon 845/Kirin 970, but if you are not a power user, then you are unlikely to feel any inconvenience. At least until you try playing demanding games like PUBG or Fortnite.

Autonomy

I liked the operating time of the Xperia XA2 Plus; the 3580 mAh battery consistently lasted for 1.5 days. My usage scenario involves a lot of social networks (especially Twitter and Instagram), about two hours of YouTube, streaming music on Bluetooth headphones, browsing for about 30 minutes and calling for 15-20 minutes.

The battery life of the phone is above average, given the 6-inch FHD+ screen.

Communication, sound

There are no complaints about the quality of cellular communications and voice transmission during conversations. Like the older Xperia models I tested previously, the XA2 Plus is great for long calls. The speaker is loud and of high quality, and none of the interlocutors complained about the microphones either.

The situation with the sound from the speakers is worse; there is only one, but it is quite loud and clear in sound. Quite a decent level if you like to listen to music from your phone.

Everything is simpler with headphones. The device did not receive a separate DAC for audio processing, so it can only rely on the audio chip built into the Snapdragon 630. Sony's wireless sound, as always, is at the highest level, Bluetooth 5.0 and the LDAC codec provide top sound quality over a wireless connection, the main thing is to buy the appropriate Sony headphones. For example, h.ear in 2 or h.ear on 2 Wireless NC.

Xperia XA2 Plus review. Conclusion

The high price, compared to competitors, will be the main inhibitory factor in sales of the Xperia XA2 Plus. In the Sony Store, a smartphone costs as much as 28,000 rubles, and in Yandex Market it can be found for 24,000 rubles if you look for the PCT option.

This is very expensive, because for this amount you can find Mate 20 Lite and even the national flagship Xiaomi Mi 8 6/64 GB Global Version. I can’t imagine what could force a buyer towards the Xperia XA2 plus against the backdrop of such cool analogues.

Unless you love Sony and their firmware, love for quick updates. And in general, do not chase after technical innovations and the very best.

In any case, the Xperia XA2 Plus turned out to be a good phone for every day, a must-have for fans of the brand. The rest can pass by.