Huge smartphones seem to win a lot of ground despite the fact that they are not too easy to handle one-handed. The large displays are great for playing games, browsing the internet, and for checking and writing important emails. The user experience provided by these gadgets is simply terrific. Two of the large smartphones released this year are the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra, a 6-inch monster, and the slightly smaller, 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8. The Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra is more affordable than the Samsung Galaxy S8. But is it able to keep up with the S8? Let’s take a look at both of them.
Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra
Sony’s 6-inch device is a truly amazing smartphone, even though it’s not the company’s flagship handset. Its pointy corners may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they make the Sony Xperia Xa1 a true Xperia handset. Thankfully, the back of the device is a little rounded, making it more comfortable to use. With both hands. Users can’t really do anything on this handset one-handed. The 6-inch display offers a 1080p resolution, which is quite nice. The colors of the IPS screen are vivid, and images are clear. It’s not the same image quality as the one offered by quadHD displays, but it still is a good one.
Under the hood, the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra houses an octa-core MediaTek MT6757 Helio P20 processor paired with a Mali-T880MP2 GPU. The handset includes 4GB of RAM, which turns it into a zippy one, and it offers 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. Users can add up to 256GB of extra storage to this, thanks to the microSD card slot of the device. This is more than enough for users to be able to store all their favorite music and videos on the smartphone.
One of the best features of the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra is its camera setup. The rear camera of the handset has an amazing 23-megapixel 1/2.3-inch sensor, a f/2.0 aperture, and phase-detection autofocus. It is able to capture incredible photos and outstanding 1080p videos at 30 frames per second. The smartphone also has a 16MP selfie camera, which is quite impressive compared to other smartphones which only offer 8MP or 5MP cameras. It also features optical image stabilization and front-facing flash. The resulting images will be clearer, even in low-light conditions. This is practically the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra’s selling point.
While the cameras are the Xperia Xa1 Ultra’s best features, its battery is probably its worst. Customers would expect a big battery from a 6-inch handset. Unfortunately, the device only packs a 2,700mAh battery, which is quite concerning given the size of the display, which will use up a lot of power. Of course, the smartphone offers fast charging support, but that won’t make up for the small battery and the short battery life. The Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra runs on Android 7.0 out of the box, which offers some energy saving features, so this might give a helping hand to the battery. The Xperia Xa1’s starting price is $299, so the Ultra will cost more when it becomes available. For now, customers can pre-order it in Europe for a €380 starting price.
Specs
- 6-inch 1080 x 1920 pixels IPS LCD screen
- octa-core MediaTek MT6757 Helio P20 processor
- 4GB of RAM
- up to 64GB internal storage+ 256GB extra storage
- 23 MP rear camera, 16MP front-facing camera
- 2,700mAh battery
Samsung Galaxy S8
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is most likely the best smartphone of this year. At least until the new iPhones launch. However, this beauty comes at a high price. The starting price of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is $755, which is a lot more expensive than the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra. Of course, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a high-end smartphone while the Sony handset is a mid-ranger, so the price difference is quite understandable. The 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 is a beautiful device with its infinity display. Given its new screen technology, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is not as large as one would expect it to be, which is a great feature. Also, it is a quadHD screen, which makes it even better. The Super AMOLED display is able to ensure an amazing image quality that will turn watching videos on it into a blast.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is not only a good looking handset, it is also an extremely powerful one. It houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset with an Adreno 540 GPU in the US version. The global version comes with an Exynos 8895 chipset and a Mali- G71 MP20 GPU instead. Both versions include 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Just like the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra, the Galaxy S8 also supports a microSD card slot, this way users can add up to 256GB of storage to their handset.
When it comes to cameras, the Sony smartphone seems to be more impressive, Instead of the Xperia Xa1 Ultra’s 23MP rear camera and 16MP front-facing camera, the Samsung Galaxy S8 only offers a 12MP 1/2.5-inch sensor with a f/1.7 aperture and an 8MP front-facing camera for selfies. The images it can capture are still good quality, but they aren’t as impressive as the ones delivered by the Sony smartphone. However, the Samsung Galaxy S8 can record 2160p videos at 30 frames per second, and it also features dual video recording.
Even though the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is slightly smaller than the one of the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra, its battery is slightly bigger. The Galaxy S8 comes with a 3,000mAh battery which still feels a little small for the 5.8-inch display, but it is better than the 2,700mAh battery of the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra. Just like the Sony smartphone, the Galaxy S8 features fast charging support, which makes it easier for users to pump up their handsets. It runs on Android 7.0 out of the box, so it is quite energy efficient. Besides this, the Samsung Galaxy S8 also offers a number of great features, including Bixby, the AI assistant, a fingerprint scanner, an iris scanner, and even face recognition.
Specs
- 5.8-inch 1440 x 2960 pixels Super AMOLED display
- octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
- 4GB of RAM
- 64GB internal storage + 256GB extra storage
- 12MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing camera
- 3,000mAh battery
Conclusion
When it comes to specs, the clear winner of this battle is the Samsung Galaxy S8. It offers more on almost any level, except for the camera setup. Then again, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a high-end smartphone, and the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra is a mid-range handset. Naturally, this also means that the S8 will cost almost twice as much as the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra does. So, if you are not that into smartphones and you don’t really want to have a high-end handset, the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra might actually be the best choice for you. However, if high-end specs are what you are going for, choosing the Samsung Galaxy S8 over the Sony Xperia Xa1 Ultra is a no brainer.
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