If the new smartphone from Sony impresses on many aspects (display, performance, battery life), it was expected on a particular point: the photo. Unfortunately, the manufacturer remains entangled in his choixtechniques still amazing.
This is already the fourth model of the Year of the series Xperia X. Unveiled at IFA in Berlin at the end of August, the Sony Xperia X Compact inaugurates new brand Photo device in which much hope is placed. It is supposed to reduce the backlog in the field by Sony.
When the out of the box for the first time, it is first seduced by its design and color "blue haze" of our exemplary, such as Sony has christened. It is also available in black and white, much more classic colors. The catch in hand is pleasant, despite the exclusive use of plastic to its hull. The finish is beautiful and does not suffer any default. We simply note its thickness of 9.5 mm, larger than competing models. But it allows, for example, the lens of the camera not to exceed the hull, as now on almost all smartphones. Note also the absence waterproofing on this model, unlike its big brother, the sony Xperia XZ.
SCREEN AND GOOD HOLD PERFORMANCE
Note that the screen still occupies as little space on the front. The bands top, bottom, sides are always important, just like what Apple also be still with his iPhone. This plays on the footprint of the phone and is not involved in its compactness. However, Sony delivers here a 4.6-inch HD panel in good order. It offers a brightness of 526 cd / m² and a contrast of 1143: 1. The manufacturer is therefore continuing its habits in the area of the display that will make the screen readable in all circumstances, including in the sun
Question performance, midrange Snapdragon processor 650 to 1.8 GHz coupled with a HD display only promises rather good results especially in terms of 3D performance. They are excellent reality. Never the sony Xperia X Compact is be found wanting There have been no slowdown at the interface navigation. Its Adreno 510 graphics chip turns out to be perfect for 3D games which do not undergo any stutters. This is confirmed by our tests with Epic Citadel smartphone application that displays 58 frames per second. Best of all, the entire manages the heat very well and has never unpleasant in hand.
AUTONOMY A MARKED INCREASE
Another pleasant surprise: autonomy. The Xperia X Compact and its battery of 2700 mAh realize 9 am to 15 our versatile test and 22 h 13 in communication. Good scores, especially compared to the rest of the Xperia range that had disappointed us on this point. One could thus compare the Xperia X, it also equipped with a Snapdragon processor 650 and a nearly equivalent battery of 2620 mAh, who had reached only 7 h 13 to our versatile test. The use of a Full HD screen, more resource hungry, surely has played a negative role.
Finally comes the question of the photo characterized by two points: the application responsiveness and image quality achieved. Was repeated for several generations of Xperia, Sony has a concern about the image processing time. After pressing the shutter button, the result is only available to two seconds later. Certainly not enough to make the phone unusable, but still baffling at a time when the competition offers a snapshot.
THE INCONSISTENCIES FROM SONY PHOTO
Despite Sony's efforts on this Sony Xperia X Compact thanks to the triple image detection helping a tune actually very fast focus we found exactly the same shortcomings as the previous models. We even compared to the reactivity of the Xperia X tested last June and since updated. But the conclusion remains the same, both models are equally slow to process the image.
On the second point, there either, no particular improvement in image quality. Sony still uses its "smart" mode to deliver only a default image to 8 megapixels, built from the 23-megapixel sensor. This process is supposed to improve the quality of shots, but finally made that slow processing. The Sony Xperia X Compact remains still lagging behind compared to the best models on the market.
If the photos are far from bad, they do not offer, despite everything, not even a stung Galaxy S7 or iPhone 6s, both high in low light. Thus the repeat again, it is urgent that Sony software review its approach to photography, strange for a company that provides some of the best devices of the market and its team of sensors of many smartphone brands.
SONY XPERIA X COMPACT
Although more successful than previous Xperia X, thanks to a much better managed autonomy, smartphone, however, leaves a sense of unfinished business. The fault still and always the quality of the photos, a notch below the best market players. When Sony will solve this problem, the company will finally be able to play on equal terms with its competitors.
