Fans of smaller size smartphones can rejoice as Sony will be releasing it’s latest mid-range 5″ smartphone, the Xperia XA1. But is it worth buying?

The Sony Xperia XA1 has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB. It runs on the Google Android N on its “MediaTek Helio P20 Octa Core 64bit (Quad core 2.3GHz + Quad core 1.6GHz).” Weighing at only 143g, it is one of the lightest smartphones in the market. But this should be the case for all 5 inches phones anyway.

The best feature of the Sony Xperia XA1 is the cameras. It is hard to find a mid-range smartphone that has a 23 MP rear camera with a 24mm f2.0 wide-angle lens. The images taken out of the XA1 should still be better than some flagship smartphones.

At it’s front, it is rocking a 23mm wide-angle lens with a f2.0 aperture. This means that taking a wefie with a group of friends should not be a problem at all. You also should not run into much issues taking selfies at low-light condition. But sadly, these images are restricted to only a 720p HD display so they may not look as appetising as how it should.

In addition, the battery size of 2,300mAh could potentially limit you to the number of photos and videos you can take. So it is not ideal to use it primarily as your only travel camera. The STAMINA mode works well to reduce the burning of your battery life but I doubt it can help much when you go all out using the camera and frequent usage.

Conclusion

The Sony Xperia XA1 is a good mid-ramge phone with great cameras. The main issue with this phone is the battery life, which is something that can easily be fixed with a powerbank.

At the price of just $398, the Sony Xperia XA1 is worth exploring if you can overlook that it will never outperform in terms of overall specifications than other juicier flagships. 

The Sony Xperia XA1 will be out on 6 May and will be available in Gold, Black and White at Sony Centre, Sony Store, Starhub, M1, SingTel and all authorised partners.