Sony Xperia XA1 - Unlocked Smartphone - 32GB - Gold (US Warranty)

Such a bargain for the price (currently 300). I'm moving from a Lumia 1020 which had an amazing camera on it, and I knew Sony has great camera sensors but this blew me away with not only the picture quality but the rest of the phone as well.First of all the phone looks very elegant and at first glance looks like it should be priced way above the current asking. Functionally it's great, I have not ran into any slow downs or hiccups. Setting it up was a snap and I had no problems throwing in a sim card from ATT and a micro SD for more storage and using it immediately.The screen itself has great contrast and can easily be used in direct sunlight. The built in speaker leaves something to be desired when listening to music but the built in headphone jack makes up for it, the built in speaker works great for speaker calls and general use.As far as the camera goes It's incredibly quick from time it takes to press the dedicated camera button to when the shutter snaps. Automatic setting take great pictures and it has many manual settings in case you want to get fancy.

Phone arrived. Unformatted with somebody else's information still on the phone and it was all in French. Even when I changed it to English, it stayed in the French language. Now I know where they get their phones.

Great phone! I traded from a Samsung S7 edge and couldn't be happier. Minimal bloatware, excellent battery life, super fast. Blows the Galaxy away. I'm so sick of Samsung phones and this is just the remedy. I would typically have to charge my samsung 3x a day. I've yet to have to charge my Sony more than once a day. I can use maps, camera, video without worry of sucking the battery dry. Like many android phones though, the bluetooth stack is weak. Once you know that, you'll realize that sometimes it's a pain to connect to devices at first (it magically gets better over time), and if you leave BT on all day, it will drain your battery. However, that's my only complaint. Otherwise, this phone is fantastic. Oh yeah, one other thing - the led on the back (the flash and flashlight) is frigging hot. It's bright as hell, but if you ever try to use it to read your heart rate, you'll straight up burn your finger.

This review is not so much a review of the phone, which probably will work fine with the mobile operator of your choice, but a description of the challenge initially encountered to get it activated on the AT&T network.We purchased this phone as a replacement for a two year old Lumia 640 Windows phone which is still working fine but has dwindling app support.Day 1: Since the Xperia XA1 requires a nano-SIM card while the Lumia 640 uses a micro-SIM we visited our local AT&T store to get one. The charge for a new SIM card is currently $5.The agent stated that it would not work as AT&T does not support Sony phones. As we insisted it would, he inserted a SIM card in the Xperia XA1 with reported "No service". He then demonstrated that the SIM card was working by inserting it in an iPhone 8. We left the store somewhat frustrated but with the new nano-SIM card in the phone.We then contacted AT&T Tech support by chat. Level 1 was not able to make it work and offered to escalate to level 2.Level 2 suspected that the SIM card had already been activated in the past and stated that the issue would have to be handled by the "Backend" team and that it would take up to four hours. He promised to call back.As it was late we went to bed. Callback never came.Day 2: In the morning the Xperia still reported "No Service". We contacted Tech support again by chat. This time the agent reported that the "Backend" team had indeed done what it was supposed to and that the phone could now be activated. The phone was activated within a couple of minutes.HOWEVER, by the end of the day the phone was back to "No Service"Started another chat. Agent suggested getting another SIM card. Went back to store to get one. Still "No Service"Came back home. Started yet another chat. Another ticket was created.Day 3: After further chat with AT&T, agreed that the problem was probably an hardware issue. Contacted Sony's technical support which made me "repair" the phone (i.e. reformat it). It obviously did not help. Then Sony offered me to send it to a repair center in Canada for further assessment, which would take 14 business days (3 weeks including week-ends). I declined the offer and simply requested an exchange on Amazon, which was granted (Amazon service is great!).Day 11: Received new phone from Amazon. Moved SIM card in it and it worked right away. Most likely explanation is that cell antenna in first phone was defective or unplugged.To conclude: a good mid-range Android phone that works well on the AT&T network, but if the the one you get does not work properly do not waste too much time dealing with AT&T or Sony and just get replacement from Amazon...UPDATE 04-FEB-2018One month later, replacement phone continues to work fine. Clearly the first one had an hardware issue.It is a good midrange phone and I am happy with the purchase but you should know the XA2 has now been announced by Sony and you therefore have to decide if you would rather purchase the XA1 today (at a discounted price) or wait a few weeks for the XA2 (and probably pay full price for it)...UPDATE 19-MAR-2018The XA1 received the Android 8 (aka Oreo) update over the week-end and it works very well. Price has dropped further now that the XA2 is available for purchase. The XA1 is now a very good buy although you may want to spend more and get the XA2 if your budget allows.

This phone is not dependable.For the following reasons, after not even a month of usage,a) MOST of the time, calls are forwarded to a voicemail,b) camera does not focus every time, it has to be restarted or some time has to go by since last blurry picture for the camera to be able to gain focus again,and c) media volume is very low, it is hard to hear, even with the media volume at 100%.I figured it would be a good phone since I do not use it most of the time. Battery life can last for about 5-6 days for me, that is how often I use the phone. However, besides, calls being forwarded to a voicemail, I am unable to place a call successful, every time. For example, when I place a call, it looks like it is fine, the phone shows 'calling' on the screen but I cannot hear ringing at all. Sometime, I have to try a couple of times to make a successful call. Besides, it gets scratched very easily. Its quality is worse compared to for example any one of the Moto G phones I had previously. However, the screen on this phone seem to be good.I had purchased Honor 8 and returned it thinking that I will be fine with this lesser quality phone. But I was wrong, I purchased Honor 8 again and I placed a return order for this phone. Honor 8 is the most flashy (but very fast and well build phone) phone and it is worth buying and right now it is similar price as this phone. Doesn't make sense to keep this phone.