Gadget review: Sony Xperia X

Remember all the memes on social media that joked about how one would have to sell their organs in order to afford the new iPhone7? Sony may have a solution. Its flagship offering, Xperia X, packs in a powerful camera, a long-lasting battery, and is even available in new-age colours such as rose gold and lime green. Moreover, the lock screen displays the same colour tone as the phone, giving it a sleek metallic shine.

The phone also features some of Sony’s strongest selling points — a waterproof and dustproof screen that previously gave Xperia’s Z series an edge over its competition. Additionally, in an era of big phones, a compact and sleek design — 143 x 69 x 7.7mm body — is a welcome change. But, is it worth your money?

What’s good: Xperia X’s most remarkable feature is the camera — a 23MP primary camera and a 13MP secondary camera with an impressive motion capture feature. With an intuitive focus, it predicts how and where the subject will move and keeps it in focus at all times. The device also offers a dedicated camera button that lets users point and shoot, without unlocking their phones.

The phone offers a solid battery life (2620mAh), that lasted us an entire day on a single charge. The charger provided with the device deserves a special mention — it charged the phone in under 20 minutes.

Read: Gadget review: ENRG EpiCam Action Camera

What’s not: The Xperia X continues to suffer from the same technical glitch as its predecessors — overheating. For starters, the device heated up when we put it on charge. Though we are willing to overlook this, given the high charging speed, the device would warm up even as we used basic apps such as WhatsApp. The body temperature shot up yet again when we tried playing heavy-duty games such as Pokemon Go. In fact, we were forced to shut the game down, even at the cost of spotting a Pokemon near by.

The device also significantly lags when heavy apps function at the same time. For instance, Netflix and Need for Speed running simultaneously caused the phone to hang more than once.

Verdict: The phone’s size, design and camera are impressive enough to ignore the cons, but they are not worth the cost. However, priced significantly lower than the iPhone 7, Sony Xperia X may be a wiser choice. Our advice? Use your discretion.

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QUICK SPECS

At a glance: Qualcomm Snapdragon 650, 3GB RAM, 23MP rear camera and 13MP front camera, 2620mAh battery

USP: Superior picture quality, long lasting battery, powerful camera

Best buy: Rs 36,985 on flipkart.com (for Xperia X, lime green, 64GB)

Rating: 3 stars