If you equate the power and performance of an Android phone based on the screen size and device size, you need to stop. Now. The reason is that the recently announced Sony Xperia X Compact destroys your paradigm. This 4.6″ device is a powerhouse with a phenomenal display and dare I say unbelievable camera. Seriously, it rivals a digital SLR in image quality and color correctness. I’ve been using the X Compact the last few days as my main phone and while getting use to the smaller size compared to my Nexus 6P was a bit tricky at first, the performance and design of this phone is exceptional. I’ll be doing a full review of the phone over the course of the next few weeks but here are my initial thoughts on the Xperia X Compact.
Specification Highlights
The Xperia X Compact is powered by the Snapdragon 650 processor. It is a hexa-core design that has four 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & two 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 cores. That is coupled with the Adreno 510 GPU and 3GB of RAM. The phone has 32GB of storage that can be expanded up to an additional 256GB thanks to the Micro SD slot built into it. The display is a 4.6″ IPS LCD display that is
Sony Xperia X Compact
protected by Gorilla Glass 4. It renders at 720 x 1280 which gives you a 319 ppi count. While that may seem light compared to the 500+ ppi phones out there, keep in mind that on a 4.6″ display, 319 looks fantastic.
The phone is sold here in the United States and supports a significant range of 3G and LTE bands. Using the phone on any GSM carrier here in the United State should not be a problem. I tested it out on both T-Mobile and AT&T and had excellent throughput and connectivity.
The cameras on the phone are impressive. The main camera is a 23MP f/2.0 unit with a 24mm wide angle view. It has phase detection autofocus and LED flash
Overall Performance
I can’t say enough good things about the Xperia X Compact’s performance. It is just rock solid. The phone is responsive to every touch and action and because of its size, you can comfortably handle it with one hand. Touch responsiveness is excellent as is reaction time from the time I press an app’s icon to the time the app starts. I always use EA’s Real Racing 3 as a benchmark for device performance along with Geekbench. Playing the game produced no hesitations or lag and generally had no problem keeping up.
Using the phone on a daily basis for common tasks is no problem whatsoever. The X Compact can easily handle things like email, phone calls, texting and streaming content without any issues or performance hits.
Camera Performance
Oh. My.
If there is a killer feature of the Xperia X Compact it is the main camera. The photos quality is impressive and Sony has done an excellent job with their camera app to give you the maximum color saturation but not overdoing it. I’ve taken a wide range of photos with the X Compact both indoors and outdoors and haven’t been disappointed in any of them. I’ve put together a gallery below of images shot with the X Compact. None of these have been edited or retouched.
Battery Performance
As you would expect on a device this size, the battery is small when you compare it to other devices out there. It is a 2700 mAh model and Sony indicates in the specs that you can get 14 hours of talk time. I think that’s a little optimistic to be honest. I had no problem getting through most of the day with the Xperia X Compact but usually by the evening after a full day I was looking for power to charge the phone. Sony has included a battery Stamina mode that will help manage the battery to give you a full day of use. If you enable that you can get through a full day with no problem.
Full Review Coming Later
I’ll be posting a more detailed review of the Sony Xperia X Compact in the coming weeks as I continue to use it a bit more. The bottom line for now is that it is a very impressive phone in a small package.
You can order one for yourself in White, Blue or Black for $499 on Amazon
