Xperia XA1 Plus: Sony’s slightly better mid-ranger

Besides the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact flagship smartphones, Sony has also announced the Xperia XA1 Plus. This is the middle-child that sits right between its current 5″ Xperia XA1 and 6″ Xperia XA1 Ultra.

Hitting the sweet spot is a 5.5″ Full HD display that hides its side bezels with its edge-to-edge design. Under the hood, it is powered by the same mid-range MediaTek Helio P20 processor that’s mated to either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. Storage comes in either 32GB or 64GB on board which can be expanded via microSD up to 256GB extra.

Although the screen is smaller than the Ultra, it gets a larger 3,430mAh battery which supports MediaTek’s Pump Express Plus 2.0 fast charging and Sony’s Qnovo Adaptive charging technology. Also included in the XA1 Plus is an integrated fingerprint sensor on the home button which was previously lacking on the XA1 series.

For taking picturers, the main camera is the same as the XA1 Ultra with a 23MP f/2.0 Exmor RS camera with Hybrid AF assist. Meanwhile, the front selfie shooter is a notch below with an 8MP f/2.0 camera instead of a 16MP f/2.0 unit with Auto Focus on the XA1 Ultra. While the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are already running on the latest Android 8.0 Oreo, the XA1 Plus is still released with Android Nougat.

The Sony Xperia XA1 Plus comes in Gold, Blue and Black with availability expected in the coming months. Just for reference, the Xperia XA1 was launched in Malaysia at RM1,199 while the bigger Xperia XA1 Ultra is priced at RM1,899 in Malaysia.