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Sony Xperia X review

6.7/10 AVG.
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Sony Xperia X
Sony Xperia X
Sony Xperia X
Sony Xperia X
Sony Xperia X
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6.7/10
Informr score
The Sony Xperia X currently has an Informr score of 6.7 out of 10. This score is based on our evaluation of 33 sources including reviews from users and the web's most trusted critics.

What's good

  • Comfortable grip and premium design
  • Bright, colorful display
  • MicroSD support
  • Good performance

What's bad

  • Cost
  • Inconsistent camera performance
  • Weak audio

With it’s smaller screen and mid-tier hardware, Sony Xperia X shows a different approach from Sony on their flagship line. Can a series known for pushing the spec envelope still deliver with the settings dialed back? Let’s see what the reviews are saying.

If you’ve seen any other Xperia phone, you’ll likely recognize the design on the Xperia X. It takes Sony’s classic omnibalance design and adds a bit of budget-friendly plastic to the mix. The back is a textured metal while the sides are a soft, smooth plastic. AndroidPIT loved the look, saying, “Although little has changed, appearance-wise, on this 5-inch smartphone, the Sony Xperia X still makes a good impression.” Unfortunately, many other reviews found the design a bit boring. The words “familiar” and “safe” were common.

The phone includes Sony’s normal mid-phone power button. Though now that button hides a fingerprint sensor as well. Most reviews indicated that as long as you didn’t mind the placement of the button, that it performed on par with the best scanners available. Mirror praised it as “exceedingly fast, and far more convenient than other sensors I've tested that have been incorporated into the home button.”

Heading around to the front of the phone, you’ll find a 5-inch, 1080p IPS panel. This is one area where all reviews agree that the phone shines. Sony’s Triluminous technology provides a boost of brightness while the high-quality display offers a great visual experience as well. Mirror loved the screen, saying, “[It] looks utterly fantastic, delivering almost AMOLED levels of depth and richness without appearing oversaturated.” If you’re frequently on-the-go, AndroidPIT praised the phone for it’s visibility in direct sunlight.

Pushing all those pixels, you’ll find one of the first debated aspects of the phone--a hexa-core 1.8Ghz processor. This is far from what you’ll find in many of the current flagships. However, reviews on daily usage don’t appear to suffer. Mirror notes, “It naturally fell quite a long way behind rivals like the HTC 10 and LG G5 in our benchmark tests. In all fairness, though, the Xperia X still feels exceedingly fast.” Many reviews even noted that it handles gaming with no signs of delays or overheating. You’ll also find 32GB of internal storage and microSD support for those gaming and movie marathons.

Many of the reviews attribute this to Sony’s tweaks to Android 6.0.1. Nearly every site mentioned how fluidly the phone swipes between pages and loads apps. They also loved the minimal touches to the stock interface. Stuff dug into the phone’s interface and declared, “[You] Get a nice, stripped-back experience without too much bloat. Everything but the Music app and photo album can be eradicated, so making your Sony Xperia X bloat-free only takes two minutes.”

Keeping your phone chugging along throughout the day, you’ll find a 2,620mAh battery. While many reviews questioned the ability for the phone to last through a day, nearly all found that you could make it back to the charger at night without an issue. Alphr summed up findings well, saying, “As with any modern smartphone, if you use it constantly, you won’t get much more than a day out of it. However, as I write this, the battery gauge is sitting on 19% after a day and a half of use.”

Unfortunately, the phone has a few quirks that reviewers didn’t love. The main issue being the cameras. Rated at 23MP, many reviews applauded the image stabilization of the rear shooter. However, almost every review mentioned that low-light performance was terrible. Alphr summed up the issues, noting, “Things start to go wrong when the light isn’t optimal. Examining a shot captured on a grey London day closely reveals lots of noise and overprocessing, which are evident in smeared blocks of color and odd speckles around the edges of objects.”

Many of these same quirks carried over to the front-facing 13MP lens. AndroidPIT was nicer with their opinion of the camera, saying, “Details can become washed out, but the results, for a smartphone camera, are very strong.”

Overall, reviews were mixed on the Xperia X. Stuff perhaps highlights the core issue with most of the reviews when they say, “There's really nothing much to hate about it, but nor is there quite enough to love about it.” Alphr feels that the weak point is something else entirely, saying, “The Sony Xperia X is an odd fish. In its own right, it’s a very good smartphone, with lovely design, decent battery life and performance, a great screen and (in some circumstances) an impressive set of cameras. Yet, given its specifications, it’s entirely the wrong price.”


Android
Operating system
Operating system
Android
1.8 GHz
Processor
Processor
1.8 GHz
5"
Screen Size
Screen Size
5"
23+ MP
Camera
Camera
23+ MP
2620 mAh
Battery


What the Critics Are Saying...


Recombu
Recombu

The Xperia X is unfortunately eclipsed these days by the freshly launched OnePlus 3T, which offers seriously impressive performance for the same asking price. But despite this, there’s still plenty to like here. Sony’s more compact design is easier to use one-handed, while the dual camer...

- Chris Barraclough, Recombu
Techgoondu
Techgoondu

The Xperia X is a decent mid-ranged device, pairing good quality (no washed out screen or trashy camera) components with a good finish.

- Desmond Koh, Techgoondu
VR-Zone
VR-Zone

The Xperia X is a lovely phone in my opinion. It’s just too expensive to put it bluntly. Is it worth the cash? Maybe? However I think that at this price, there are equivalent or better options. Nevertheless, I loved the “xperience” and I think that the Xperia is a great 5&rdqu...

- Zayne Seah, VR-Zone
Gearburn
Gearburn

There’s brisk performance, a solid design and a camera capable of excellent daytime snaps. But for R11 999, you’d expect better low-light camera performance, a cutting-edge processor and a phone that doesn’t overheat (yet again).

- Hadlee Simons, Gearburn
Notebookcheck
Notebookcheck

The Sony Xperia X does a lot of things right, but cannot entirely live up to its self-imposed claim of being a top smartphone. Nevertheless, there are many arguments in favor of the 5-inch Android phone. It features an elegant case made of aluminum and plastic, which also feels premium to the touch,...

- Manuel Masiero, Notebookcheck


Prices (Where to Buy)




Common Questions


We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the Sony Xperia X user manual here.


Sony backs up the Xperia X with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.


If your Xperia X has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact Sony support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find Sony's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.



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Quick view

Screen Size
5"

The Sony Xperia X's screen size is 5 inches with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution.

Processor
1.8 GHz

There is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 Hexa core 1.8 GHz processor (CPU).

OS

The phone runs on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow (Update Available: 8.0 Oreo) operating system (OS).

Camera
23+ MP

You can take photos with the phone's onboard 23+ MP camera.

There is also a secondary front facing camera with 13+ megapixels resolution.

Storage
32 GB

Internal memory is 32 GB. An external, MicroSD, MicroSDHC, microSDXC (up to 200 GB) expansion slot is available for increased storage capacity.

Battery
2620mAh

The phone is powered by a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion), 2620 mAh battery. Sony's performance ratings are 840 minutes.

Xperia X Specs

Overview
Release Date June 3, 2016
Regions Available USA, Canada, United Kingdom
Operating System Android 6.0 Marshmallow (Update Available: 8.0 Oreo)

Compare Android Smartphones

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 Hexa core 1.8 GHz
Internal Storage 32 GB
RAM 3 GB
Hearing Aid Compatible Yes
TTY/TDD Yes
Noise Cancellation Yes
SAR Head: 0.97 W/kg
Body: 0.97 W/kg
Manufacturer Warranty 1 Year
Accessories Included AC Charger, Manual
Cellular
Networks
GPRS, EDGE, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE
Mobile / Cellular Data
4G/LTE
Push-to-talk (PTT) No
Wi-Fi Calling Unknown
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Yes
SIM card size
Nano-SIM
Dual SIM No
Connectivity
USB Micro-USB 2.0
USB OTG Support No
GPS Type A-GPS
Infrared No
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth Profiles A2DP, AVRCP, OPP/FTP, HID, HFP, HSP, PAN
Bluetooth Audio Codecs SBC, aptX, LDAC
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Mobile Hotspot Yes
Memory Expansion Slot Yes
Expansion Slot Info MicroSD, MicroSDHC, microSDXC (up to 200 GB)
NFC Yes
Data Tethering Compatibility Yes
Camera
Main Camera
Resolution / Aperture
23+ Megapixels
Zoom
8x digital
Flash
Yes (LED)
Additional Rear Camera Info
Auto focus, Effects, Face detection, Geotagging, Image stabilization, Multi-shot, Panorama, HDR
Video Recording Formats
3GP / 3GPP, H.264 / AVC, MPEG-4, WMV, ASF, XviD, AVI
Video Recording Parameters
Front Camera
Resolution / Aperture
13+ Megapixels
Additional Front Camera Info
No
Video Recording Parameters
Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Display / Screen
Type Color
Technology LCD (IPS)
Colors 16.7 million
Resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels
Pixel Density 441 pixels
Size 5 inches
Secondary Display No
Sensors Ambient Light, Proximity, Motion / Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Digital Compass
Multi-Touch Yes
Fingerprint-Resistant Coating No
Additional Display Features Capacitive touch screen, Glove touch
Power & Battery
Battery Type Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)
Battery Capacity 2620 mAh
Removable Battery No
Wireless Charging No
Fast Charging No
Video Playback Time Up to 600 minutes
Internet Use (Wi-Fi) Unknown
Internet Use (Cellular) Unknown
Talk Time Up to 840 minutes
Standby Time Up to 25 days
Mixed Usage
Physical Characteristics
Design Type Bar
Material Aluminium
Colors White, Graphite Black, Lime Gold, Rose Gold
Dimensions [H x W x D] 14.3 x 6.9 x 0.8 cm (5.6 x 2.7 x 0.3 in)
Weight 153 grams
Water Resistant / Waterproof Unknown
Rugged design No
IP Rating No
Headset Jack 3.5mm
External Speakers Stereo
Input / Navigation
Sleep / Wake Key Yes
Home Key No
Input / Keyboard Type Touchscreen
Navigation Type Touchscreen
External Volume Control Yes
Fingerprint Sensor No
More
Additional Information Other Names (AKA): Sony F5121

Additional Sensors: Fingerprint sensor, Barometer, Pedometer
Related Links Manual (PDF)
Sony Xperia X Reviews
Where to buy Sony Xperia X
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