Sony xperia l1 dual black. Test of the Sony Xperia L3 smartphone: durable and very budget-friendly. Mobile communication technologies and data transfer speeds

Sony Mobile presented the spring update of the Xperia line

It looks like prolific Sony - or more precisely, its mobile device division Sony Mobile (formerly Sony Ericsson) - has no plans to slow down. Last year, the constantly updated range of mobile products from this company made up a noticeable part of almost every report from exhibitions dedicated to mobile new products.

Sony Mobile started the new season no less fruitfully: already in January, at the very first exhibition of the year - CES 2013, the company's most noticeable and currently advanced mobile creation was presented - the Sony Xperia Z smartphone. At one time, we wrote a lot about it in the time of its first presentation, and since then we even managed to test it in detail, although the device officially reached the shelves of our stores only now. However, the birth of a smartphone, which absorbed all the best developments of Sony in recent years, did not cancel the existence of other models in lines for different purposes. For example, company representatives now admit that the previous top-end smartphones Xperia TX and Xperia V, which were released quite recently, last fall, remained, as they say, in their places. It’s just that Sony Xperia Z has “climbed” even higher. All this is a prelude, in fact, to the fact that the new smartphones presented today do not displace or replace anyone in the numerous branches of the Xperia family. It would seem that if a new flagship such as the Xperia Z comes out, then it would be logical to expect that the Xperia TX and Xperia V should move down a rank and at least become cheaper. But no, this will not happen yet, everyone remains in their places, and the price positions “just below 20 thousand” should now be replenished with two new models: Xperia SP and Xperia L. At the presentation of the new products, specific numbers were not mentioned, but behind the scenes, Sony representatives firmly they made it clear that prices would not rise above 20 thousand rubles for any of the presented models. Well, let's see. In the meantime, let’s tell you more about the presented new products themselves.

But first, a little about the presentation itself. It was held at the very beginning of this week in one of the fashionable Moscow restaurants and brought together at least a hundred journalists from all well-known Russian publications. The noisy and large-scale event was organized with the typical Sony scale, and the honor of opening the welcoming speech fell to the head of the Russian Sony Mobile himself, the young and ambitious Alexey Ermakov.

Alexey is an excellent speaker, listening to him is easy and not boring. Obviously, this is why he has personally opened the largest events organized by his division for several years now. We will not retell his speech in full, we will only say that it was full of optimism appropriate to the situation, but we will still dwell on one point. The most important thing that should be emphasized in the speech of the head of the Russian Sony Mobile is that the company confidently strives to take a place in the top three global smartphone manufacturers, and, judging by the mood prevailing in its depths, it will most likely achieve this in the near future it will work out.

Now about the new products themselves. In addition to the previously seen Xperia Tablet Z and Xperia ZL, only two completely new devices, still unfamiliar to us, were presented that day: Sony Xperia SP and Xperia L. Here they are in the picture lying next to each other.

It is no coincidence that the models are listed in this order: of the two smartphones presented, the Sony Xperia SP is, of course, the most technically advanced and more expensive device. In technical terms, the filling of the new product is more than worthy. The “heart” of the smartphone is a powerful dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro processor operating at a frequency of 1.7 GHz. The device has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash memory on board. The storage initially available to the user for uploading their own files is not that large: of this nominal 8 GB, the user is left with about 5.5 GB, but the memory can be expanded using microSD cards with a capacity of up to 32 GB.

The smartphone is equipped with a large 4.6-inch screen with support for digital image enhancement technology Sony Mobile Bravia Engine 2. The screen, in general, is not bad, quite responsive, but there is even more good news: you can operate the screen of the Sony Xperia SP smartphone without taking off your gloves . In our country, where winter obviously intends to “hold out” right until summer, this is more relevant than anywhere else. This technology for controlling the screen with gloves is now used in top Nokia and Samsung smartphones, so the trend is good news.

Another notable feature of the Sony Xperia SP is the ability to work in domestic frequencies of 4th generation networks (LTE). Sony promises support for LTE in Megafon and Yota implementations, but with MTS in this regard, everything is somehow sad.

In general, if you remember, when presenting its top-end new Xperia Z, Sony talked about the smartphone as having absorbed all the company’s achievements in many areas in recent years. So, almost the same can be said about the Sony Xperia SP. There is also a new Exmor RS sensor with support for HDR technology. Here is Stamina - a new energy-saving mode. It provides better battery management and increases the phone's standby time. If your phone has this mode enabled, when the screen turns off, the phone automatically closes unused applications that use a lot of energy, and launches them only when the screen turns on again. From Xperia U, last year's modest youth baby, Sony Xperia SP took a transparent strip at the bottom of the screen, notifying about incoming messages and calls by changing its color. She can also “mimic”, adapting to the color of the wallpaper or the general background of the photo being viewed, and also flash “color music” to the melody being played.

From the older model, Xperia P, the smartphone took chiseled shapes with sharp corners and the presence of metal in the body. From there came support for faster charging using a “high power” charger (included). It is promised that a half-hour charge will be enough to support the smartphone in talk mode for an hour. Support for 4G LTE networks, taking into account the frequencies used by domestic operators, also seems to be a good foundation for the future. Although the big question is whether the majority of smartphones equipped with an LTE module will survive until the time when fourth-generation networks flourish in our country. In the meantime, some manufacturers speak on this topic in the spirit of: “Let the LTE networks work normally first, and then we’ll make you devices that support them. But the life cycle of a smartphone is now so short that the availability of support for fourth-generation networks does not yet seem to be a really usable advantage.”

And, of course, everyone noticed the round metal plaque in the middle of the side edge - the manufacturer could not leave the Sony Xperia Z alone with such a “find” in design.

He really wanted to attach this noticeable element somewhere else. So we fitted the roundel from Sony Xperia Z to Sony Xperia SP. Well, even the Sony Xperia Z itself does not have such a function as operating the screen with gloves. A general list of the main characteristics of the Sony Xperia SP is presented below.

Key Features of Sony Xperia SP

• SoC Qualcomm MSM8960Pro, 1.7 GHz, 2 cores
• Touch LCD display, 4.6″, 1280×720
• Communication 3G UMTS HSPA+ 850, 900, 2100 MHz
• LTE Band I, III, V, VII, VIII, XX (2600/800 FDD are used in the Russian Federation)
• HSPA+ 21 Mbps
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• Support DLNA, MHL, OTG, Media Go, MTP
• GPS/Glonass
• Front-camera
• Non-removable battery 2300 mAh
• Dimensions 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98 mm
• Weight 155 g

Speaking about the presence of metal in the body of the Sony Xperia SP, you need to understand that not the entire body is made entirely of metal, like the HTC One, for example. There is only a wide frame made of metal, encircling the entire perimeter of the smartphone. The rest is plastic and glass.

The smartphone feels good in the hand: there is no gloss, all surfaces are rough, and even the metal frame is matte. The body is not easily soiled or slippery; thick enough (9.98 mm) to comfortably fill the entire palm; not too large, because the frames around the screen are very thin, which made it possible to reduce the overall dimensions. But the weight is probably too much: 155 grams is already more than the average 120-130. With such small dimensions, in general, such a mass in the hand feels like an unusually heavy brick.

All controls and connectors are located conveniently, right down to the power button - here it is on the side, not on top, which is good news. By the way, there is also a separately dedicated hardware camera control key, but this is no longer seen as such a big plus: all top manufacturers (except Sony) have already learned to hang the camera control on the volume rocker, and successfully do without unnecessary keys on the body.

The smartphone runs Android operating system version 4.1 Jelly Bean. All the variety of programs that Sony traditionally pre-installs on its smartphones is in place. The mini-application menu, which now sits next to the ribbon of the latest open applications in new Sony smartphones, has also not gone away. There is an FM radio, a voice recorder, and an excellent program for backing up all data and applications. Traditionally, devices coming from Sony are some of the most loaded with additional software, and smartphones are no exception.

The Sony Xperia SP comes in three color options: black, white and red. This set has already become a classic for Sony. I would like to see an expansion of the range of colors used in the future.

As for the second smartphone presented during the event, it, of course, seems simpler than the Sony Xperia SP. However, the Sony Xperia L model also has its strengths. The main advantage of the new smartphone is its good appearance. It is designed in the style of the Xperia Arc, the smartphone that gave rise to the “concave back” style.

This unusual design with a curved rear wall was subsequently successfully used on such notable models of last season as the Xperia TX and Xperia V, mentioned above. The new Sony Xperia L is designed to continue the successfully found concept.

The device is not large, due to its dimensions and low weight, as well as the aforementioned bend of the back wall, it fits perfectly in the hand and is held there quite comfortably. The case materials are rough, pleasant to the touch plastic with a soft-touch coating. Due to this matte coating, the surface of the smartphone does not glare in the sun and does not become very dirty.

The design of the Sony Xperia L, even if you do not take into account the curvature of the back cover, is quite unusual: smooth lines and curved shapes suddenly coexist with sharp edges. And just the fact that the company’s developers are in constant search, trying to find and present something new to the market every time, rather than marking time with the same design, is in itself worthy of respect. This, of course, is a criticism of Samsung, which, with the release of its Galaxy S4 in a design practically no different from the previous model, finally proved that independently developing something new is not its strong point.

As for the most noticeable details in the appearance and technical structure of the new product, they are as follows: the screen is 4.3 inches, the processor is dual-core, the case is collapsible, the battery is removable, there is a front camera. The main camera module of the Sony Xperia L is equipped with a new Exmor RS sensor; using HDR technology, both photos and videos can be processed here. As for the controls, there is also a separate hardware camera control key, and even the notorious round power button sparkles on the side, as if it were the metal emblem of the entire new line of Sony smartphones.

In principle, the Xperia L has a lot in common with the Xperia SP, but there are also differences. First of all, this is the lack of an LTE module, although so far this does not seem to be too serious a disadvantage. But the fact that there is a removable battery here may be an even stronger argument in favor of the Sony Xperia L. Although this device will, of course, occupy a position below the Xperia SP and, accordingly, cost less.

There is also no ability to control the display with gloves, and in this regard the Xperia SP looks clearly superior. A more detailed list of the main technical characteristics of the new product is presented below.

Key features of Sony Xperia L

• SoC Qualcomm MSM8230, 1 GHz, 2 cores
• Operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Touch LCD display, 4.3″, 854×480
• Random access memory (RAM) 1 GB, internal memory 8 GB
• MicroSD card slot up to 32 GB
• Communication GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communication 3G UMTS HSPA+ 900, 2100 MHz
• HSPA+ 21 Mbps
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• Support DLNA, Media Go, MTP
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Exmor RS 8 MP camera, autofocus, LED flash
• Front-camera
• Removable battery 1700 mAh
• Dimensions 128.7×65×9.7 mm
• Weight 137 g

The smartphone runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and will be available in three colors, just like the Sony Xperia SP: white, black and red.

As for the cost and release date of new products on our market, then, as was said at the beginning of the article, the exact price has not yet been disclosed, but it promises to not be exorbitantly high. Sony Xperia SP and Xperia L smartphones should go on sale in the second quarter, but we will probably find out and report the recommended retail price even before the release of the new products. Follow the updates on our website.

Budget smartphone from Sony. This even sounds funny, because the products of this Japanese brand are associated with quality and considerable cost. In the case of the Xperia L1, the manufacturer managed to make a budget smartphone with a budget filling, but an interesting appearance and not at all budget functions and modules, namely NFC, USB Type-C and Wi-Fi 5 GHz. All we have to do is find the flaws.

Specifications

Appearance and ease of use

Sony Xperia L1 is a typical budget smartphone, but its appearance hardly gives it away. Of course, all the panels are plastic, but the material is of high quality, and the surface is pleasant to the touch, especially the rough back side. Even on the dark version, fingerprints on the lid are barely noticeable and can be wiped off quite easily. The body of the smartphone is similar to the flagship model, which uses the proprietary Loop Surface design, or literally translated “loop surface,” implying a smooth transition between the front and back sides. Unfortunately, there is a smooth transition only from the back to the ends, and between the side and front surfaces the transition is quite sharp. Perhaps this was done in order to separate budget and expensive models, but at the same time maintain recognition. Separately, I would like to note the thin display frames, which is not typical for budget solutions.

The build quality is high; when you try to twist or squeeze the case, the case does not make any sounds, and when you lightly tap on the case, the keys do not rattle. Everything seems to be fine, but there is something to complain about - even with a little pressure on the screen, rainbow stains appear at any point, but not under the finger, but at the left edge in the center.

In front above the screen there is an earpiece, a sensor unit, an LED activity indicator and a front camera window. Under the display in expensive Sony models there is usually a second speaker that provides stereo sound playback, but the test subject has nothing here. Not according to rank. At the back there is a peephole for the main camera, which protrudes slightly above the general surface, an LED flash and an NFC zone, indicated by the corresponding logo.

A wired headset connector (mini-jack 3.5 mm) and a microphone are installed on top. At the bottom there is a second microphone, a system speaker and a USB Type-C connector. I am glad that the manufacturer did not think of using an outdated microUSB in the budget series.

On the left side surface, under a single rubber plug, a pair of connectors are hidden, one of which is used to install a tray with a pair of SIM cards, and the second is used to install microSD memory cards.

In general, you don’t have to choose between a second SIM card and a memory card, which is good news, especially considering the extremely modest amount of built-in memory. On the right side surface there are only volume control and lock keys, but, unfortunately, there is no dedicated photo key, which is usual for expensive Sony smartphones.

Display

The smartphone has a 5.5-inch IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. For such a large diagonal, this may seem insufficient, but in practice, individual dots are only noticeable if you bury your nose in the screen, which has nothing to do with the usual use of a smartphone. Apparently there is an oleophobic coating, but it’s far from the best. The display supports up to 5 simultaneous touches, which is less than the usual 10, but is the norm for budget solutions, and most importantly, this is more than enough for work. The viewing angles are quite large, which is typical for the type of matrix used.
When setting the maximum backlight power, the brightness of the white field is 396.0 cd/m2, while the brightness of the black field is 0.68 cd/m2, which gives a static contrast of 582:1. Adaptive level control ensures sufficient brightness in all lighting conditions. The response to changes in illumination is slow - about 4 seconds, which is sometimes a little annoying. The actual process of changing brightness lasts no more than a second.

The color gamut is slightly smaller than the standard sRGB color space, but the difference is not too great. The color temperature is traditionally significantly higher for Sony and ranges from 8079...9057 K depending on the luminosity. The color deviation Delta E on primary colors (CMYRGB) is in the range of 1.1...9.7, which is normal for non-professional equipment, but on the gray scale the deviation gradually increases from 2.9 on black to 20.9 on white, which already quite a lot.

Sound

Frankly speaking, the speaker was a pleasant surprise. The interlocutor can be heard perfectly in any conditions, even if he speaks in a whisper. The microphones are also good - the interlocutor hears much better than when using a personal Xiaomi Mi5. Unfortunately, the earpiece is not designed to work as a system speaker, so there is no stereo sound in the case of the tested smartphone. The only system speaker on the bottom is quite loud, but the playback quality is low. Not only the bass is missing, but also the high-frequency range, and in general, the sound is flat and inexpressive, and sometimes choke at maximum power. In general, the system speaker is not suitable for listening to music compositions in principle. But the call signal can be heard well. When playing a sinusoidal signal with a frequency of 1 kHz at a distance of 1 meter, a sound level of 78.7 dBA was recorded. Not a record, but very worthy.

The situation with the analog audio output is similar - the signal is powerful, but its playback quality is far from ideal. When playing a sinusoidal signal with a frequency of 1 kHz and operating at a load of 32 Ohms, a record level of 928.5 mV was recorded in our results database.


The result is incredible, especially considering the fact that for smartphones the normal signal level is 150-200 mV, and a level of about 1 Volt is typical for stationary equipment. The previous record holder in this discipline is also a Sony smartphone, namely the Xperia X Compact model, which showed a result of 718 mV. Unfortunately, it was not possible to conduct traditional testing of sound quality on the audio output. From a purely subjective point of view, you can listen to it, but music lovers will not be delighted.

Performance

The smartphone is based on the MediaTek MT6737T system-on-chip. This is a 64-bit solution with 4 Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of 1.44 GHz and a video subsystem based on Mali-T720 MP2 (550 MHz). There is no need to talk about high performance here. Modern demanding games are too tough for the Xperia L1, but its capabilities are sufficient for surfing the web and watching Full HD videos.

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System performance was measured in synthetic PCMark, 3DMark, Geekbanch 4 and AnTuTu v6.2.7. Memory speed was assessed using the AndroBench application

Testing was also carried out in cross-platform javascript tests (Mozilla Kraken JavaScript and SunSpider). The results of these tests significantly depend on the browser used, therefore, to minimize the impact, Google Chrome will be used in all reviews, as the most common one.

Camera

The front camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels and f/2.2 aperture is not capable of taking clear pictures even in daylight.

The main camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, which is the maximum value for the system-on-chip used. The sensor model could not be determined. Aperture opening – f/2.2. In manual photography mode, you can select the white balance setting, exposure compensation, set the shutter speed (from 1/4000 to 1 second), manually adjust the focus, select the resolution, activate the HDR mode, and select the sensitivity level in the range of 100-3200 units equivalent ISO. The flash consists of one not very powerful LED. When determining the illumination level at a distance of 1 meter from the smartphone, a level of 18.5 lux was recorded, and this is one of the most modest indicators.

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Transferring camera control using the Camera 2 API is impossible, just as shooting in RAW is impossible, so measuring the noise level of the matrix is ​​essentially pointless, because when saving in JPEG, the software noise reduction is too aggressive. To evaluate image quality, a test pattern was captured with all available sensitivity values. Below are cropped fragments.

Examples of pictures

Macro photography

In video recording mode, everything is quite budgetary: the maximum resolution is 1920x1080, the bit rate is 30 fps, there is no optical or even electronic stabilization. Resolution and bit rate limitations are primarily related to the MediaTek MT6737T SoC used, for which these values ​​are the maximum possible.
Example of recording in 1080/30p mode

Autonomous operation

The smartphone uses a non-removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2620 mAh, which is a rather modest figure for a device with a 5.5’’ screen. Plus, don’t forget that the SoC, although not particularly productive, is made using a 28 nm process technology, and accordingly, efficiency is not its strongest side. But nevertheless, in reading mode the smartphone lasted 771 minutes, which is a very good indicator. In FullHD video playback mode, the battery was drained in 592 minutes, and in game mode – in 217 minutes. A description of the testing methodology can be found in the review.

Conclusion

Sony has managed to develop a budget smartphone, by Sony standards, that doesn't look cheap. The Sony Xperia L1 has high-quality materials and workmanship, an interesting and recognizable design, and thin display frames. With the exception of the system-on-chip, screen and camera, the hardware is not inferior to flagships. It has everything you need: separate connectors for a memory card and a tray for a pair of SIM cards, an NFC module, a USB Type-C port, and the Wi-Fi module supports 5 GHz networks. Not every smartphone, including more expensive ones, can boast of such a set.
But, unfortunately, there is more than one fly in the ointment. The main disadvantage is the low quality cameras. Of course, it is possible to record some event, but even in sunlight, the quality of pictures and videos is disappointing. Smudges on the screen at one specific point when pressure is applied to any part of the screen indicate flaws in the design of the case. The lack of a fingerprint sensor is also disappointing, because it is not that expensive. Low performance is clearly not a plus, but if the user is not an avid gamer, then there is no particular need for a more powerful system-on-chip.
Let's briefly go over the advantages and disadvantages.
Pros:
— interesting and recognizable design;
— high-quality case materials;
— separate connectors for installing a SIM card tray and a memory card;
— thin display frames;
— high-quality speaker, good microphones;
— NFC module;
— support for 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks;
- USB Type-C;
— record powerful sound on analog audio output.

Minuses:
— low sound quality of the system speaker;
— streaks on the screen under pressure;
— not the best calibrated display;
— lack of a fingerprint scanner;
— low quality of both cameras;
- weak flash.

Sony Xperia L1 is an affordable smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen, a fast quad-core processor and a proprietary 13 megapixel camera. It is the combination of high performance and low cost that is emphasized in this popular gadget.

Design and ergonomics

The smartphone has a recognizable and in many ways unique appearance. Strict lines, sharp corners, small roundings at the ends - this is the signature Loop Surface design, which is complemented by thin screen frames. A minimum of details and a maximum of practicality, due to which the smartphone feels very comfortable in the palm of your hand.

The rectangular form factor is complemented by a solid feel. The body is made of pleasant-to-touch plastic and is assembled without gaps or backlash; each component of the shell fits tightly together.

Screen

The 5.5-inch IPS screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720, a pixel density of 267 ppi and an effective oleophobic coating. Moreover, among all the budget gadgets that you can buy in our online store, the Sony Xperia L1 stands out for its truly excellent image quality and wide viewing angles. There are also several advanced features here, such as color temperature adjustment.

Performance

The smartphone will impress with the speed of the 4-core MediaTek MT6737T chipset with 2 GB of RAM. Impressive information processing performance is due to support for pure Android 7.0 Nougat OS and HD screen resolution, which puts little strain on the hardware.

The 16 GB built-in memory can easily be overclocked to 256 GB using a memory card. Despite its budget, Sony Xperia L1 supports wireless interfaces, including Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS and GLONASS.

Cameras

Even in affordable smartphone models, Sony tries to install high-quality photo modules, fortunately they produce them themselves. Therefore, the Sony Xperia L1 will delight you with excellent pictures taken with a 13-megapixel camera with autofocus and a wide-angle 5-megapixel front camera.

Battery life

Thanks to Qnovo's proprietary battery optimization technology and STAMINA energy saving mode, the smartphone's modest 2620 mAh battery shows impressive results for an inexpensive model. At maximum load, the charge indicator will flash red alarmingly only after 7–8 hours of use. A standard load in the form of alternately switching on wireless modules, accessing the Internet and watching videos will drain the battery no earlier than after 12 hours.

Positioning

Sony Xperia L2 is the company's most budget smartphone. This is an inexpensive solution for those who want a Sony phone, but are not ready to spend a lot of money on it. Despite the low price, the company did not skimp on such little things as the NFC module, Type-C port and operating speed. The compromises, in my opinion, were the display, camera and chipset.

Design, dimensions, control elements

This is one of the last models in the old "angular" design from Sony. Fans of conservative Sony Style and strict, calm design will definitely like the device. However, the model is also aimed at a youth audience, so in addition to classic black, this device can be purchased in pink or gold colors.

The back cover is made of matte smooth plastic. It does not slip in the hand and almost does not get dirty, the tactile sensations from it are pleasant. The lid has a fingerprint scanner and the main camera. The scanner is fast, there were no problems with it.

Above the display there are light and proximity sensors, an earpiece mesh, an indicator light and a front camera. There is nothing under the screen, so the bottom margin could be smaller.

On the right is the power button and volume rocker, and on the left is a tray for two nanoSIMs and a memory card. The slot is hybrid.

At the top end you can see a mini-jack for headphones and a second microphone, and at the bottom there is a Type-C port, an external speaker and a hole for a spoken microphone. It’s nice that Sony didn’t follow Apple’s lead and make an external speaker in the form of five round holes.

Model dimensions - 150 x 78 x 9.8 mm, weight - 178 grams. Despite its great thickness and weight, I can’t say that the device feels like a clumsy brick in my hand. It's weighty, but not overly so.

During a week of use, I did not have any problems with assembly, the smartphone is perfectly assembled, no protruding joints between elements or other problems.

Screen

This is one of the few smartphones with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, I personally don’t find this a problem, and a week of use only confirmed my assumptions. The screen itself is very average, its brightness is not the highest, it fades in the sun, and the viewing angles are also not maximum.

But there is a normal oleophobic coating, and there is no inversion of colors at angles. I will say this: this display perfectly meets my minimum level of comfort, it did not cause irritation during use, and this is the most important thing.

Battery

Sony traditionally does not like to install capacious 4000 mAh batteries in their models, but in terms of battery life there are usually no complaints about their smartphones. The same is true for the Xperia L2. The device lives well for one day with three to four hours of display activity at 70-80% brightness. This includes mobile Internet, mail, web surfing, reading social networks and instant messengers. The discharge overnight is relatively small. Among the minuses, I would highlight the lack of fast charging; by the way, a full charge of the smartphone takes about two hours.

Memory, chipset, performance

The chipset is also not a smartphone’s strong point; you and I know that the MT6737T is found in very inexpensive models. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of work. This is not a slow device, but quite a fast smartphone, which once again confirms that optimization still plays an important role in the speed of a smartphone, and it’s great that Sony is doing well with this. Yes, the smartphone will not pull heavy toys at maximum settings, but in everyday use its speed is enough for the eyes.

Communication capabilities

As a rule, everything is sad with wireless interfaces in inexpensive models, so it was nice to see in the Xperia L2 not only dual-band Wi-Fi, but also an NFC module! Moreover, there is support for aptX HD, and they didn’t skimp on the Type-C port. These are the little things that are so lacking in inexpensive smartphones.

Camera

The camera interface is standard for Xperia UI. By default, the camera is open; if you wish, you can switch to manual mode by swiping left or in video mode by swiping right. If you press the settings button in manual mode, you can quickly change the white balance, exposure value and other settings. By default, the camera shoots with automatic scene selection, but you can disable this by simply shooting in manual mode.

Don't expect miracles from this camera. More or less decent pictures are taken only during the day. As soon as we switch to artificial lighting or start photographing at night, the quality of the photo decreases significantly. However, you can see this for yourself in the pictures below. The maximum video recording resolution is FHD.

The front camera is wide-angle, which is very cool, you can take pictures with friends. The other day we met with Roma Belykh and took a photo together.

Multimedia capabilities

The sound quality in the headphones is normal, the smartphone plays about the same as dozens of other models in the segment up to 15 thousand rubles. The external speaker sounds clear, but is a little lacking in volume. But it doesn’t wheeze at maximum. To play music and movies, Sony has its own separate applications with good functionality, for example, the music player can pull up your library of tracks from Google Drive.

Software features

The smartphone runs Android 7.1.1 and the old version of Sony Xperia UI. In general, Sony didn't change the interface of stock Android much, so you can count on a minimum of third-party garbage and a user experience similar to Google phones. At the same time, Sony also left several of its applications, these are audio and video players, a gallery, a camera and a launcher. Apart from this, the settings menu is also slightly different.

Since this is a budget device based on MediaTek, you shouldn’t expect any global updates for it, and local updates sometimes arrive; I’ve already received a couple during my use. You can read more about Xperia UI using the link below.

Impression

I had no complaints about the quality of speech transmission; you and your interlocutor can hear each other perfectly.

We have greatly delayed the review of this model, and for this I apologize to you, dear readers. One of you asked Eldar how good the Xperia L2 is as a smartphone, since on sale it could be bought for 10,000 rubles. For the money, the device is quite good: NFC, Type-C, close to stock Android, good body materials and original design. Unfortunately, the sale in the company store has ended, and now L2 is sold there for 14 thousand. At this price, it has very strong competitors.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus. The model beats the L2 in almost all respects, and costs only 1,000 rubles more. Here you have 18:9, FHD resolution, and a more capacious battery.

Honor 9 Lite. A real bestseller, one of the best offers in the segment up to 15 thousand rubles. Cool display, beautiful glass case, NFC and higher resolution. Now it costs 14 thousand rubles.

Meizu M6 Note. Another long-lasting competitor with an aluminum body and a dual camera. Now on sale for 13 thousand.

As you can see, for 14 thousand rubles the Xperia L2 has plenty of competitors. So we just have to wait until it comes back on sale for 10 thousand, because at that price it’s much more difficult to find anything with NFC and Type-C.

When developing the Xperia L3, Sony did not take the most innovative path in the field of design and used an all-plastic body in this model. Even from a distance, the device doesn't seem sophisticated or particularly high-quality. And in the hand it feels more like an inexpensive plastic device. The fact that everything could have been done much better is evidenced by the example of Honor 10 Lite with a luxurious finish. One thing is good - with dimensions of 154x72 mm, a thickness of 9 mm and a weight of 156 grams, the Xperia L3 feels comfortable in the hand.

Sony Xperia L3 has an old-fashioned plastic body

Display test: entry level without notch

The 5.7-inch LCD display offers a resolution of 1440x720 pixels with an 18:9 aspect ratio and has disadvantages typical for its budget class. Of course, the display cannot be extremely clear, since the pixel density of 281 ppi is insufficient for this. But with color rendering and contrast, on the contrary, everything is fine here. The maximum brightness of 412 cd/m2 is quite high, although for taking photographs and viewing media content under the sun we would like more brightness.

Another drawback is noticeable when looking at the front side of the Xperia L3: the refusal of a notch on the screen has not only positive consequences, since the black bars at the top and bottom are very wide. At the same time, if on the upper side there is a front camera and speaker in a thick frame, then the lower part with a wasted area looks archaic.

HD-The display of the Sony Xperia L3 has disadvantages typical for its low class

Enviable battery life

Sony has integrated a Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22 processor into the Xperia L3, which has eight cores and runs at a clock frequency of 2200 MHz. The CPU is supported by 3 GB of RAM. During our online testing, where we downloaded a test PDF file over a WLAN network, the Xperia L3 took 24.8 seconds, which is a weak result. For comparison, the Motorola Moto G7 Play takes only about 9.1 seconds to complete the same task, and the Motorola One takes 11.8 seconds. But in everyday use this is not very noticeable, since the device operates smoothly and responds to commands well, although not with the same agility as Motorola devices.

When performing tasks that are more resource-demanding to the system and launching top games, the smartphone, of course, quickly reaches the limits of its capabilities and it comes to jerks and pauses. Still, you can play most of the top games here if you lower the graphics settings.

In terms of battery life, on the contrary, everything is fine here. The 3,300mAh battery managed to last a respectable 10 hours and 50 minutes in our online testing. For most users this will be more than enough. Thus, the device will be able to work without recharging for 1-2 days. However, a full battery charge takes 2 hours 55 minutes, which means you will have to be patient. Competitors manage this faster. And inductive charging is not possible on the Xperia L3.

Sony Xperia L3 is a smartphone with entry-level performance

Weak camera setup in Xperia L3

The dual camera unit on the Xperia L3 consists of a 13-megapixel camera with an additional 2-megapixel depth sensor. An 8-megapixel camera is built on the front side. In our experience, we have found that smartphones come with good, average, and bad cameras. So, the Xperia L3 has a bad camera: the image quality is low, there are few details, and the colors are faded. Although the bokeh effect works well, there is no good separation of details between the subject and the background. The front camera has to struggle unsuccessfully with the same problems. According to the results of our test, the camera receives only an “unsatisfactory” rating.

The quality of video recordings is approximately at the same level as photographs. However, the main problem here is that the Xperia L3 does not have good stabilization and recordings look very shaky when shooting handheld.

We rated the Sony Xperia L3 camera as “unsatisfactory”

The equipment is quite normal

The operating system is Android 8.1, on which Sony has attached its own interface. In fact, we are talking about slightly modified character graphics and several pre-installed applications. We found only Facebook and AVG-Protection as applications from third-party developers. You cannot delete them, they are only disabled.

Of the nominal amount of built-in memory, 20.9 GB remain free for free use. But this storage can be expanded using Micro-SD memory cards. And in the Xperia L3 there was room for a “real” Dual-SIM slot. Thus, you can use both a memory card and two SIM cards at the same time. In addition to the 802.11 ac WLAN module, wireless data transmission is provided to this device via LTE with download speeds of up to 300 Mbps and Bluetooth 5.0.

As an unlocking option, you can use the fingerprint scanner located on the side. During our touch tests, it responded quickly and unlocked the device reliably. Of course, you can also use traditional methods such as a graphic template or a PIN code.

Affordable price, but not the most suitable

Even at a low cost of about 12,000 rubles at the time of testing, the Sony Xperia L3 does not demonstrate the fairest price-quality ratio. In our opinion, the price of 6,000 rubles for this model will be more appropriate. For the same money you can find much better entry-level smartphones. For example, the Motorola Moto G7 Play costs even less, but performs better in almost all test categories.

Product Conclusion

With the Xperia L3, Sony marks its presence in the low-cost entry-level device segment. The smartphone has a long battery life and a solid display. The whole picture is spoiled by a relatively poor camera, modest equipment and a long charging time.