Sony has launched its new mid-tier smartphone Xperia XA1 Ultra in India, months after it was announced at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC 2017) in Barcelona. It is available in Black, White and Gold colours, and comes with a price tag of Rs 29,990. However, it won't be a cake walk for the device as there are dozens of handsets under similar price range currently available in the Indian market.
It is obvious from the pricing that Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra will have to take on the mid-tier smartphones like the OnePlus 5, OnePlus 3T, Apple's iPhone SE, Moto Z2 Play and Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) among others in the market.
Also read: Sony Xperia XZ Premium vs Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Google Pixel XL: Which device should you buy?
The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra sports a 6-inch full-HD display with 1,080x1,920 pixels (367 ppi pixel density), measures 165x79x8.1mm in dimension and weigh 188g. Under the hood, it has a a 64-bit Mediatek Helio P20 processor, an Android 7.0 Nougat operating system, a 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage that is expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card, and a 2,700mAh battery with Qnovo Adaptive Charging feature.
The device features a 23MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture, 24mm wide-angle, 1/2.3" Exmor RS, hybrid autofocus, ISO 6400 and 5x Clear Image Zoom, and a 16MP secondary camera with f/2.0 aperture, 23mm wide-angle, 1/2.6" Exmor RS, ISO 6400, OIS (Optical Image Stabiliser) and smart selfie flash.
The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra has impressive features especially the camera but it will have to compete with many handsets in the Indian market and here are some of them:
OnePlus 5
The device comes in two variants -- 6GB RAM+64GB storage model priced at Rs. 32,999 and 8GB RAM+128GB ROM variant priced at Rs 37,999. It features a 5.5-inch full HD Optic AMOLED screen with 1,920x1,080 pixel (401 ppi pixel density), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, an Android 7.0 Nougat operating system, and a 3,300mAh (non-removable) battery with Dash Charge technology (5V, 4A).
In terms of camera, it has a dual 16MP Sony sensor (IMX 398) with f/1.7 aperture, 1.12 µm pixel size, EIS (Electronic Optic Stabilisation), DCAF + 20MP telephoto Sony sensor (IMX 350) with f/2.6 aperture, 1.0 µm pixel size, PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus) and dual-tone LED flash, and a 16MP selfie camera with Sony sensor (IMX 371), f/2.0 aperture, 1.0 µm pixel size, EIS, and fixed autofocus.
iPhone SE
The device is priced at Rs 21,999 for the 16GB model and Rs 27,490 for the 64GB with both variants sharing 2GB of RAM. It has a 4-inch retina display with 1,136x640 pixels (326 ppi pixel density), an A9 chip, and an iOS 9.3.2 (upgradable to iOS 10.3.2). It also features a 12MP iSight main camera with f/2.2 aperture, 29mm lens, 1.22 µm pixel size, phase detection autofocus and dual-LED (dual tone) flash, a 1.2MP front-snapper with f/2.4 aperture and 31mm lens, and a 1,624mAh battery.
OnePlus 3T
It is currently priced at Rs 27,999 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant, while the 128GB model is not available for purchase in India at the time of filing this story. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD Optic AMOLED display with 1,920x1,080 pixels (401 ppi pixel density), powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, and runs an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based OxygenOS. It has a 16MP main camera with Sony IMX298 sensor, 1.12µm lens, OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation), EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation), f/ 2.0 aperture and PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus, a 16MP camera with Samsung 3P8SP sensor, 1.0µm lens, EIS, PDAF and f/2.0 aperture, and a 3,400mAh battery with Dash Charge technology (5V, 4A).
Moto Z2 Play
The device is priced at Rs 27,999. It has a 5.5-inch full HD super AMOLED IPS display with 1,920x1,080p (401 ppi pixel density), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor, runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system, 4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory that can be expanded up to 2TB via microSD card, and a 3,000mAh battery with fast battery charging technology (50 percent in 30 minutes).
In terms of camera, it has a 12MP dual autofocus pixel camera with f/1.7 aperture, 1.4µm pixel size, Laser Autofocus (Up to 5 meters), Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), Color Correlated Temperature (CCT) dual LED flash, Professional mode and Auto Night mode, and a 5MP front-snapper with ƒ/2.2 aperture, 1.4µm pixel size and Wide-Angle lens.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
Priced at Rs 26,900 (Rs 31,800 at launch), the device has a 5.2-inch full HD super AMOLED touchscreen with 1,920x1,080p resolution, an Exynos 7880 processor, an Android 6.0.16 Marshmallow operating system, 3GB RAM, and 32GB internal memory that can be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card. It also comes with a 16MP main camera with f/1.9 aperture, 27mm lens, autofocus and LED flash, a 16MP selfie camera with f/1.9 aperture, and a 3,000mAh battery with fast charging technology.
