Introduction
The Xperia L1 marks Sonys return to the still growing and highly-competitive entry-level market. Putting together a good smartphone for beginners can often turn out to be an even tougher task than designing a flagship. Maybe thats why Sony is retiring its E-series and introducing a new contender in the Xperia L1.
Sony used to cover the budget niche with the pocket-friendly E series, some water-proofed handsets in the M lineup and the selfie-centric C-series adding adequate depth and continuity all the way up to the flagship Z lineup.
Its now the Xperia X thats in charge and Sony is obviously keen on revising its alphabet further down the ranks.
Other than the name change, the newly unveiled Xperia L1 isnt dramatically different from the typical Sony entry-level handset were used to. Almost a year sharp after the Xperia E5, we get a pre mium looped surface design - well executed given the tight budget - as well as a big screen, LTE connectivity and a high-res camera. Reasonably priced and powered by an up-to-date Android version, this starter package has all the right bases covered.
Sony Xperia L1 key features:
- Body: Polycarbonate Loop Surface design, scratch-resistant screen glass
- Screen: 5.5" IPS LCD of 720 x 1,280px resolution (267ppi)
- Camera: 13MP camera with AF, f/2.2 aperture; LED flash; 1080p @ 30 fps video capture;
- Selfie cam: 5MP f/2.2; 1080p @ 30fps video capture
- Chipset: MT6737T, quad-core 1.45GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, dual-core Mali-T720 GPU
- Memory: 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage; microSD slot (hybrid)
- OS: Android 7.0 Nougat with Xperia UI
- Battery: 2,620mAh Li-Ion (sealed); Qnovo adaptive ch arging
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM (optional); LTE-A (Cat.4 150/50Mbps); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS/GLONASS; Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; FM radio
Main shortcomings:
- Chipset delivers low-cost performance
- No panorama mode in the camera app
The Mediatek chipset is perhaps the biggest question mark - a small bump in clock speed over the Xperia E5 will hardly help the four Cortex-A53 cores make a difference and the graphics chip isnt particularly good either. That said, two of the most likely rivals, Nokia 3 and the Moto C Plus, are relying on the same chip to do the math.
Anyway, if Sony optimized the performance right, the Xperia L1 will be going places. Amid recent reports of improving smartphone sales, another potentially s trong seller in the pipeline will be a welcome boost for the recovering company.
Lets get on with it then - the Xperia L1 is coming out of the box right after the break.
Unboxing the Xperia L1
Our Sony Xperia L1 unit came in a regular box featuring a pretty slow 5V/850mA charger and a USB Type-C cable. Depending on where you are, you might get a pair of headphones too, but we werent so lucky.
The Xperia L1 retail box
Sony Xperia L1 360-degree spin
The Sony Xperia L1 measures 151 x 74 x 8.7mm, as much as a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and a millimeter thicker than the recently announced Galaxy J7 (2017) with a 5.5" AMOLED screen. The L1 weighs 180g, which is well on the heavy side. Now, the 5.5-inch smartphone is by no means a compact handset but the polycarbonate shell feels extra solid too.
Design
The Sony Xperia L1 gets to use the so-called loop surface design, first introduced on last years flagship, the Xperia XZ. The double rounded frame got rave reviews back in 2016 and has worked fine since for a number of recent Xperia phones.
Now, Sony is clearly cutting costs with the L1 design, but doing it the right way. Everything thats not a screen is made of solid polycarbonate. Its not the most premium solution and makes for a rather heavy body, but the L1 is sturdy and feels really solid.
The origin of protective sheet above the 5.5" screen is undisclosed but Sony promises scratch-resistance of up to 6H, so it should survive plenty of abuse before picking up any scratches. Time is yet to put this to the test, but we are happy Sony has even one of its cheapest offers sufficiently protected.
Curved sides, flat top and bottom, minimalist front and clean rear, the Xperia L1 keeps it simple and practical. The phones body has a nice matte finish to it and the grip is quite secure. Handing the L1 is a nice experience: the extra body weight is reassuring without being burdensome.
Handling the Sony Xperia L1
Xperia L1 overview
The Xperia L1 hasnt got any controls at the front. The 5.5" screen occupies most of the available space, the earpiece and the selfie camera at their usual positions above the display. There is a small notification LED in the upper left corner, though its invisible unless lit.
Sony Xperia L1s front
The left side of the L1 has the nano-SIM and microSD trays. The power key and the volume controls are on the right.
The left side • the card trays • the right side • the power key
The analog audio jack is at top of the L1, and the secondary mic is nearby. The USB Type-C port is placed at the bottom, flanked by the loudspeaker grille and the primary mic.
The audio jack is on top • the bottom • the loudspeaker grille
The 13MP camera lens and its LED flash are the only things of interest over at the back.
The 13MP camera on the back
Display
The Sony Xperia L1 features a 5.5" IPS LCD of 720p resolution. The resulting 267ppi is hardly impressive, but adequate for the class - and considering the underpowered GPU you probably dont want the extra strain that more pixels would have added anyway.
The L1 screen is capable of 450 nits of maximum brightness - not bad for an entry level device. The screen managed to surprise us with an even higher brightness of 530 nits in Auto mode, so the L1 wont fail you even in the brightest of days. The black levels arent that deep though and thus the average contrast of 957:1.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.47 | 450 | 957 | |
| 0.571 | 531 | 930 | |
| 0.513 | 475 | 925 | |
| 0.512 | 537 | 1049 | |
| 0.38 | 523 | 1376 | |
| 0.453 | 480 | 1060 | |
| 0.614 | 463 | 754 | |
| 0.383 | 521 | 1360 | |
| 0.00 | 331 | ∞ | |
| 0.60 | 541 | 898 | |
| 0.353 | 477 | 1351 | |
As for color reproduction accuracy, the Xperia L1 screen scored surprisingly well with an average deviation (DeltaE) of 4.4. The blue hues are somewhat oversatured, but other than that the colors are displayed with remarkable accuracy.
The display on the Xperia L1 managed a very decent performance in our sunlight legibility test. This means you will have little issues using it outdoors.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo M oto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873< /li> - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 LG V20 Max auto
3.798- Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.19 5 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xp eria M5
2.69 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Mot orola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544< /li> - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.02 6 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xper ia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Battery life
The Sony Xperia L1 is powered by a sealed Li-Ion battery with a somewhat mediocre capacity of 2,620mAh. In our tests the L1 proved to be excellently efficient when playing video, lasting over 12h, which is great for a smartphone, entry-level or not. Web browsing over Wi-Fi depletes the Xperia L1 battery in few minutes short of 8 hours, while you can use it for 3G calls for about 10 hours. These, coupled with frugal standby power consumption, the above numbers add up to a combined endurance rating of 63 hours.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Sony Xperia L1 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. Weve established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case youre interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones weve tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Sony Xperia L1 comes in single and dual SIM flavors. Ours is the single SIM version, so we cant comment on how the Dual SIM one handles the two cards. The Mediatek MT6737Ts modem supports Cat.4 LTE for download speeds of up to 150Mbps.
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n is supported, but not ac. You can str eam wirelessly over Miracast but the L1 isnt DLNA certified. Bluetooth is v4.2with Low Energy and audio-focused aptX on board as well. NFC is available too, and so is an FM radio receiver.
For positioning, you get GPS and GLONASS, but no BDS and Galileo.
Peripherals can be connected via the USB-C port, but it only adheres to USB 2.0, so transfer speeds are limited to 480Mbps. Theres a good old 3.5mm jack for attaching headphones too.
Purebred Xperia launcher on top of Nougat
The Xperia L1 is running Android 7.0 Nougat at launch - not quite the latest 7.1.1, but more recent that the majority of its competitors still. And youd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the different Nougat releases anyway so we wont be deducing any points here.
Sonys customizations are light and consistent between devices and OS versions so if you ever owned an Xperia smartphone you will feel right at home. And if you ha vent chances are you will like what Sony has done with the place.
Smart Lock gives you conditional security - trusted nearby devices, locations, faces, or voices can allow you to skip the security unlock protocol that you have setup on the phone.
Lockscreen • A notification • Clock styles • Smart lock with face detection
The homescreen offers a cool feature on swiping down: it shows a screen of the apps you use the most, along with recommendations for new apps to install. The search field is selected so that you can start typing the apps name immediately.
Homescreen • Homescreen • App search and suggestions • Folder view • Homescreen settings
The traditional app drawer is present, and youll find a number of proprietary apps pre-installed. Sony takes great pride in the A/V prowess of their devices, and the multimedia apps are all custom and feature-ri ch, but more on them in their dedicated folder.
The app drawer can be sortedby frequency of use, name, date installed or a custom arrangement. The app search works here too, and you can go into a management state, allowing you to uninstall multiple apps instead of having to drag each one to a virtual waste bin.
App drawer • Sorting options • App management • App search
Themes are available (both free and paid) that can customize the look and sound of the Xperia L1. Some themes are even interactive, with their wallpapers reacting to your to uches.
Xperia themes • A new theme
The notification area features quick toggles that you are free to rearrange and a brightness slider. Whats missing is a toggle for Auto brightness and you still need to go into the settings for that.
The app switcher is vanilla Android, with the familiar 3D rolodex look and a Close-All button. The native Nougat multi-window is present - in Sonys implementation if a running app supports split screen, you will be able to snap it at the top or bottom of the screen right from the rolodex. Its easy to use the split s creen mode, but there is no way of knowing which app supports it - you have to start it first and then try to snap it.
No-nonsense task switcher • Split screen apps • Notification area is vanilla Android • No auto brightness toggle
The Smart cleaner feature will periodically close apps you havent used in a while. You can switch this off, or just manually tell it not to mess with certain app s.
Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds
Sony has a proprietary backup solution built-in on its latest Xperias. It can backup applications, contacts, messages, and phone settings. The backup info itself can be stored in the cloud under your Sony online account, or locally on the microSD card or an external USB device. Backups can be scheduled, including conditions like "Connected to Wi-Fi" and "Charging device", depending on your preferences.
Performance
The Sony Xperia L1 is powered by the MediaTeks MT6737T chip - a slightly improved version of the MT6737 with a slightly higher CPU clock. The CPU is a quad-core Cortex-A53 ticking at 1.45GHz, while the GPU is Mali-T720MP.
The MT6737 is as basic a chipset as they come these days with dated GPU, though it still comes with Open GL ES3.1 support. And this chips seems to be a popular choice for entry level handsets lately - it was put in charge of the Nokia 3, Moto E4, Moto C, Galaxy J2 Prime, Huawei Y3 and Y5, and the Meizu M5c.
As usual we kick off our benchmark routine with some Geekbench. The Xperia L1 has an edge over the rest of the MT6737 pack with its slightly higher clock and thus it outperforms its competitors in both single and multi-core operations. Its quad-core CPU is no match for the octa-core Meizu smartphones (M5, M5s, M5 Note) though.
Note: You can hover with your mouse on the benchmark results for details on the tested devices.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Meizu M5 Note
683 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
658 - Sony Xperia L1
655 - Nokia 5
653 - Meizu M5s
610 - Meizu M5
592 - Meizu M5c
565 - Nokia 3
557
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Nokia 5
2731 - Meizu M5 Note
2690 - Meizu M5s
2480 Meizu M5
2428- Sony Xperia L1
1775 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
1670 - Nokia 3
1487 - Meizu M5c
1213
Sony Xperia L1 uses a Mali-T720MP2 GPU (MP2 means dual-core). The Meizu M5c and Nokia 3 have the same Mali-T720 GPU, but only with one graphic core. The Redmi 4a has Adreno 308 as part of its Snapdragon 425.
The offscreen tests reveal the L1 superiority over the M5c and Nok ia 3 thanks to the extra GPU core. The Mali-T720MP2 scores 50% better than the Adreno 308 too, but was some way off the Mali-T860MP2 in the upper Meizu M5 series.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Meizu M5 Note
5.5 - Meizu M5
5.2 - Meizu M5s
4.5 - Sony Xperia L1
4.1 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.8 - Meizu M5c
2.2 - Nokia 3
2.2
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Meizu M5 Note
3.6 - Meizu M5
3.4 - Meizu M5s
2.9 - Sony Xperia L1
2.6 - Meizu M5c
1.4 - Nokia 3
1.4
The onscreen give the Xperia L1 an even better chance to impress as it uses a 720p display, as opposed to some of its competitors. S o, the L1 doesnt actually need the same GPU as the M5 Note for example to do just fine with games.
Indeed, the Xperia L1 did quite well in the onscreen benchmarks.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Meizu M5
10 - Meizu M5s
9.2 - Sony Xperia L1
8.8 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
5.7 - Meizu M5 Note
5.5 - Nokia 3
4.5 - Meizu M5c
4.4
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Meizu M5
7.9 - Meizu M5s
6.5 - Sony Xperia L1
6.1 - Meizu M5 Note
3.6 - Meizu M5c
3.2 - Nokia 3
3.2
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Meizu M5 Note
5276 - Meizu M5
4767 - Meizu M5s
4646 - Sony Xperia L1
4045 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
3335 - Meizu M5c
2292 - Nokia 3
2210
The compound AnTuTu and BaseMark tests saw two more decent scores from the Sony Xperia L1. The smartphone outperformed its competitors and wasnt far behind the Meizu M5 Note with its Helio P10 chip with twice the processor cores and GPU power.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Meizu M5 Note
47806 - Meizu M5
40831 - Meizu M5s
39166 - Sony Xperia L1
37813 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
36110 - Meizu M5c
29001 - Nokia 3
28441
Basemark OS II
Higher is better
- Nokia 5
1055 - Meizu M5 Note
944 - Meizu M5
846 - Meizu M5s
842 - Sony Xperia L1
802 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
801 - Noki a 3
620 - Meizu M5c
522
The scores are in and the numbers look good. The Xperia L1 delivers on paper just as Sony promised on its promo materials. Even better, the phone doesnt heat up at all under full load, but given the number of CPU and GPU cores this was expected.
Using the Xperia L1 is a slightly different , though. We experienced noticeable lag when scrolling the user interface and thats before we even begin to fill the L1 with content. The gallery, Play Store, various games and apps werent as quick to load as we hoped after seeing the decent benchmark performance. Its not too badand the L1 would never freeze, but its there and if you are coming from a more powerful phone - it might bother you. Then again, its not like its competitors are doing much better either, so we guess less than stellar speeds are the n orm in this price range.
Telephony
The Sony Xperia L1 unit we have is the single SIM version (G3311). Dual SIM versions are also available in some markets.
The call log is separated from the contacts, but theres a shortcut to those in the upper right corner. It can be filtered by missed, incoming and outgoing calls. Smart dial is supported too.
Dialer with smart dial • Phonebook • Favorites
Loudspeaker
There are no stereo speakers on the Xperia L1 - those are next to impossible to come by in this price bracket. Sony offers two different audio enhancements for t he single speaker, which affect both the speaker loudness and audio quality. By default, the xLOUD option is turned on, and it boosts the speaker loudness by a lot. In fact, the speaker scored one of our all-time best scores, beater only by the fellow Xperia XA Ultra. There was just minor sound distortion even at maximum volume and the output was crisp and deep enough.
The single bottom-firing speaker isnt pumping out that many decibels without the xLOUD setting, only posting an Average score.
Finally, opting for the ClearAudio will flatten the sound and ruin the quality, while the gain in loudness isnt big enough to make it worth it.
We suggest keeping the xLOUD turned on and forget everything else - Sony did well to turn it on by default.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Overall score | |
| 62.9 | 65.2 | 71.6 | Below Average | |
| 62.8 | 67.5 | 72.1 | Average | |
| 61.7 | 69.7 | 71.8 | Average | |
| 64.7 | 70.4 | 72.3 | Average | |
| 68.5 | 72.2 | 72.8 | Good | |
| 65.4 | 69.1 | 84.2 | Good | |
| 67.3 | 70.3 | 81.5 | Very Good | |
| 68.3 | 71.6 | 81.0 | Very Good | |
| 65.1 | 70.7 | 86.8 | Very Good | |
| 91.5 | 74.3 | 83.2 | Excellent | |
| 88.9 | 79.3 | 82.7 | Excellent |
Other apps
Sony has this neat app called Whats new that will show you the hottest apps and multimedia today. It isnt limited to just the Google Play Store, and will display content from Sonys Theme store too.
Whats New
There is a file manager, strictly speaking, but its buried in the storage options in the Settings menu. It does allow basic copy and move actions, on multiple items too. However, you cant access it from the app drawer, all you get there is a shortcut to a downloads folder.
The Explorer is hidden deep in the Settings Menu
Sonys health-tracking app Lifelog doesnt come pre-installed, though all it takes to get it is a trip to the Play Store.
Gallery
The Album app is among the most comprehensive and feature-rich gallery apps weve seen, and its fast and easy to use.
At the very top of the list is a slideshow, showing off your photos. Lower down, the first photo of each month is shown at twice the size of other images. Photos are organized by month, and you can use pinch-zoom to change the size of thumbnails (then they smoothly animate into the grid).
The Album app is beautiful and functional
You can also browse photos on a map (you can manually add geotag info too) or by folder. This includes network storage so that you can view photos from a DLNA server (your home computer, for one). Then theres integration with online albums - Facebook, Flickr, and Google Photos (someone should tell Sony engineers this is no longer called Picasa).
Image editing can be handled by several apps, including the default Image Editor and Googles Photos.
The image editor is quite powerful
Music app
The Music app is another part of Sony custom software package. The contextual side menu offers many of the same browsing options - by folder, network folder, and online services like Spotify (its just a link to the Spotify app though). You can share music from the phone to compatible players.
Music app
The app can find the tracks video on YouTube, look up info about the artist on Wikipedia, and search for lyrics on Google.
The Music app offers a variety of audio settings - ClearAudio+ determines the best audio settings depending on the track youre listening to (or tries to, anyway). Then theres DSEE HX, which is supposed to extrapolate compressed music files, like MP3s into high-res audio. According to Sony, the result is near Hi-Res Audio Quality, but it only works with wired headphones. It also helps with streaming audio but not Spotify.
Dynamic normalizer evens out the volume differ ences across tracks, which is great if youve mixed multiple albums from multiple sources.
Audio settings
FM Radio with TrackID
The Xperia L1 comes with an FM radio receiver and an app to go with it - and Sonys is probably the best one weve seen. It has nice visuals, pulls the stations names over RDS, and you can pick favorites. You can also assign colors to group the stations - say blue for news, yellow for rock music, or purple for house statio ns.
The FM radio app is tightly integrated with TrackID, too. TrackID is Sonys trusted song identification software which has since evolved way past simple recognition. It can now show you music charts by country, give you live updates on recent searches across the world, and store your search history.
FM radio • FM radio • Track ID • Track ID
Video
Named simply Video, the app can play your local videos and videos on your home network, plus it has extensive subtitle settings. Additionally, you can flip a switch and have videos played in the backgro und.
Video player
But if your region is supported, it can also pull info on TV schedules, shows currently airing, and highlights of what to expect.
Audio output is surprisingly good
The Sony Xperia L1 demonstrated perfectly clean output when hooked up to an active external amplifier. Its loudness was very high too, rounding up a great performance here.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with Sony handsets, volume plummeted to below average when we hooked up our standard headset. Good news is this is much easier to forgive on an entry level handset as most of its competitors aren’t doing any better. Clarity takes a moderate hit with some intermodulation distortion and stereo crosstalk creeping in, but all in all the Xperia L1 does decently.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| Sony Xperia L1 | +0.10, -0.11 | -93.6 | 92.9 | 0.0090 | 0.013 | -93.8 |
| Sony Xperia L1 (headphones) | +0.79, -0.10 | -92.9 | 91.9 | 0.010 | 0.420 | -53.1 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 4 | +0.02, -0.06 | -91.6 | 92.4 | 0.0016 | 0.0081 | -93.3 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 4 (headphones) | +0.04, -0.04 | -91.4 | 92.2 | 0.0058 | 0.036 | -64.0 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 3s | +0.02, -0.07 | -94.3 | 90.6 | 0.0024 | 0.0087 | -91.8 |
| Xiaomi Redmi 3s (headphones) | +0.02, -0.10 | -93.7 | 90.3 | 0.028 | 0.061 | -72.2 |
| Oppo F1s | +0.37, -0.00 | -71.2 | 75.3 | 0.936 | 1.190 | -41.2 |
| Oppo F1s (headphones) | +0.80, -0.05 | -67.8 | 74.6 | 0.336 | 0.579 | -42.3 |
| Huawei Honor 7 Lite (5c) | +0.03, -0.44 | -90.4 | 90.9 | 0.0019 | 0.011 | -87.9 |
| Huawei Honor 7 Lite (5c) (headphones) | +0.04, -0.47 | -90.3 | 90.7 | 0.0067 | 0.072 | -73.1 |
| Motorola Moto G4 | +0.02, -0.07 | -92.4 | 92.5 | 0.0028 | 0.0084 | -92.1 |
| Motorola Moto G4 (headphones) | +0.04, -0.08 | -92.0 | 92.0 | 0.0073 | 0.070 | -63.8 |
Sony Xperia L1 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
13MP camera with autofocus
One of the Xperia L1 headline features is probably the 13MP camera on its back. Sony doesnt give us a specific model, but it confirms that its an Exmor sensor inside. The sensor is behind an f/2.2 lens, a decent setup for an entry-level smartphone.
The Xperia L1 uses Sonys latest camera UI but cuts back on features. There is no section for shooting modes, which means you cant even capture a panoramic photo. You change between Auto, Manual, and video by swiping up and down (or left and right, if youre holding it in portrait).
Other than HDR override, in Manual mode you get access toshutter speed selection (1/4000s - 1s), exposure compensation, white balance, and a manual focus slider. The manual ISO setting (100-3200) is still tucked away in an extra settings menu.
Camera app interface
The 13MP samples came out with enough resolved detail and above average dynamic range. The contrast is good, though weve seen better, and the colors stayed close to real life. There is a lot of noise pretty much everywhere across the samples, but even with that in mind we will remember the Xperia L1 camera with mostly positive impressions.
Sony Xperia L1 camera samples
While the Auto mode would occasionally activate the HDR mode (Backlit scene) when needed, if you really want to force it, youd have to go to Manual mode and select HDR from Settings. The HDR mode brought back detail in the shadows, while it prevented the highlights from clipping. There is less resolved detail in the HDR images, though, especially in the foliage, while the colors turned were often over-saturated. Note these happen only in the manual HDR mode, the Auto is much better in getting the right settings for a Backlit scene.
HDR off • HDR on
As we mentioned before - Panorama isnt available on the Xperia L1.
Selfie camera
We also tested out the 5MP front-facing camera. Photos came out with nice colors, but mediocre detail and very high levels of noise. The selfie camera good at all in low-light conditions and the photos we tried to take came out way too soft.
Picture Compare Tool
Feel free to check how the Xperia L1 stacks against the Redmi 4a and Meizu M5 Note in our Photo Compare Tool. You will be able to clearly see its sharpness advantage in the corners.
Sony Xperia L1 vs. Xiaomi Redmi 4a vs. Meizu M5 Note in our photo compare tool
Video recording
Sony Xperia L1 is capable of recording videos at 1080p resolution with 30fps. The samples are encoded at about 16.8 Mbps - more than fine for the class. Audio is recorded in stereo at 128Kbps.
The video samples lack in detail and came out very soft and noisy. The colors are accurate, the contrast, while and the dynamic range is about average.
You can download a short original 1080p video sample (10s, 20.7MB) straight out of the camera.
Finally, we give you the opportunity to compare the quality of the regular video recording mode of the Xperia L1 to any of the numerous phones and tablets weve tested. Weve pre-selected the Redmi 4a and Meizu M5 Note to get you started.
Sony Xperia L1 vs. Xiaomi Redmi 4a vs Meizu M5 Note in our video compare tool: 1080p
Final words
The Sony Xperia L1 is keen on getting a piece of the entry-level market and you can tell by just looking at the pho ne and the spec sheet. For less than €200 you get upmarket design and feel, a big screen, decent camera, fast network data and the latest Xperia launcher on Android Nougat. The L there may stand for many things but loser isnt one of them.
The Xperia L1 is not without issues though. The low-end Mediatek chipset struggles to deliver a consistently smooth performance and has issues with even simpler games such as Angry Birds. There goes L for lackluster.
Sony is trying to make up for that with ample screen size and an improved battery life, which was our main gripe with the Xperia E5. But if performance is a must, dont count on the Xperia L1 to be an overachiever.
Being an entry-level smartphone the Xperia L1 is perfectly good for calls, web browsing, email and everything social media. You can stay connected, shoot and post photos and videos, wa tch away YouTube and play your favorite music or radio station. Sounds like more than enough for a beginners phone, doesnt it?
Sony Xperia L1 key test findings
- Good looks, solid build and scratch-resistant screen.
- The display impresses with high maximum brightness, good color accuracy and sunlight legibility, but its contrast is just average. The 720p resolution is a bit of a stretch on a 5.5-inch diagonal, but it isnt terrible.
- Decent battery life at 63 hours, great for video playback, but average performer at web browsing and 3G calls.
- The user experience is typical Xperia: near-stock Android, wide theming support, a few bonus features (theres the Stamina battery saving modes, but the file manager is buried deep). We do appreciate Sonys multimedia app bundle. TrackID nicely complements the FM radio.
- The MT6737T chip offers acceptable perf ormance, but below average graphics capabilities. While it does the job required of an entry-level phone, you should be prepared to put up with some lag in more demanding apps.
- The single loudspeaker is one of the loudest around with xLOUD turned on. But even without the boost, it still offers decent enough loudness.
- Audio quality is very impressive with an active external amplifier, but only par for the entry-level course when headphones are hooked up
- The 13MP primary camera takes pleasant photos with enough detail, accurate colors, and good dynamic range. The contrast isnt that good and the images are quite noisy.
- The 5MP front-facing camera will do for an occasional selfie but the pictures are quite low on detail and high on noise.
- The 1080p videos are of average quality - they turned out soft and noisy. The dynamic range is unimpressive, as is the sound quality.
No big deal breakers as far as we can tell and a number of comprom ises are all but implied by the price tag. Of course, there are alternatives that can do more for less but with a different sort of caveats. There are a few Xiaomis to consider, particularly the Redmi Note 4 series, which can not only deliver superior performance, but metal build too and Full HD screens.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (MediaTek)
There is also the Meizu M5 Note, which offers superior screen, performance and design, but its limited availability might be an issue. Meizus recently released M5c is an option too - it cuts on the screen real estate but matches the rest of the Xperia L1 specs.
Meizu M5 Note • Meizu M5c
The Moto E4 Plus matches the Xperia L1 specs completely: screen size and resolution, processor, camera, design, even the price. But it comes with double the battery capacity so if you prefer longevity before the Xperia launcher, you should definitely check it out. The Moto C Plus is pretty much the same package but notably cheaper - a smaller screen and a lower-res cameras are things you will have to live with to get the discount.
Motorola Moto E4 Plus • Motorola Moto C Plus
The highly-anticipated Nokia 5 is another option, which gives you a faster chipset, better cameras and a larger battery for the same price. HMDs pure Android is quite tempting to many, but may n ot be as great for first time smartphone owners and general non-power users that these phones target..
Nokia 3 has a smaller screen, but otherwise closely matches the Xperia L1s hardware.
Nokia 5 • Nokia 3
The Sony Xperia L1 is taking over from the E-series but is by no means a complete rethink of the Sony low-end smartphone as we know it. No surprises whatsoever for anyone familiar with the Sony Xperia E5 and the likes. You wouldnt be far off if that L works out as learner or lite.
The Xperia L1 is a sensible offer from a top-tier manufacturer thats hard to ignore. Its a statement as Sony returns to a niche, which it wouldnt give up to Xiaomi or Meizu without a fight. Nokia and Motorola want a piece of it too though, and the Xperia L1 will have to work hard t o prove its worth.
Performance-wise, the Sony Xperia L1 fails to impress but its clearly not targeting power users to begin with and seems to do just enough to keep up with the competition, hoping to get a boost from Sonys design language and proprietary apps. Its a tactic that should work for the most part if youre not looking for the best possible punch for your budget.
! ( hope useful)
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