Sony Xperia SL Review

Introduction:

Sony did with the Xperia SL what it did with the Xperia arc and arc S last year – a new version with more colors, newer Android version, and souped-up processor speed. The only notable difference between the specs of the Xperia S and the SL, is that the dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor went up from 1.5GHz to 1.7GHz.

Other than that, ICS and the few fun new colors, like the pink SL unit we have here, it carries the same 12MP camera with Exmor R sensor, and is shipping with the same generous 32GB of internal memory, as the Xperia S. Is there anything new in the performance aspect? Read on to find out...

In the box:

• Wall charger
• microUSB cable
• Warranty and information leaflets
• Sony in-ear headset

Design:

The phone looks like a boxy slab, and weighs more than usual for a 4.3-incher, yet when picked provides a firm grip precisely because of the sharp edges. It still offers the slightly curved back of the former Xperias for added grip comfort, but its matte plastic is a bit slippery, so the phone not being overly thin as some other anorexic handsets helps to grip it tight. The boxy phone has this rugged good looks, which the girly pink version we got tries to balance out.



You can compare the Sony Xperia SL with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Sony has gone with the narrower but more elongated design that first appeared in the Xperia arc, and which we very much appreciate, as it allows your thumb to reach more places on the screen. Even if your hands are not as large, you’ll still be able to navigate fairly comfortably the interface with one hand, compared to other big-screen phones that come wider.

Speaking of one-handed operation, the Xperia S offers good weight distribution, not most of it concentrated in the upper part around the camera module, as is so often the case. Thus we weren’t worried that it might tip over when we push it up a bit to press the three capacitive Android buttons under the display.

We had a ho-hum experience with these buttons - the transparent strip that is a trademark of Xperia's NXT design line lights up with the Android navigation symbols like a back arrow or home, but the keys are three teeny-tiny dots above the respective icon lit up in the strip, and are very easy to miss. You have to tap precisely on the miniature dot, and they are not very responsive to boot, making us tap two or three times to register an action very often.

There is no arguing that the transparent illuminated strip is a thing of beauty, though, and the contrast with the edgy black slab when it lights up leaves a very futuristic impression, which Sony has been aiming for with the “Iconic Identity” design. The firm says that this strip, which also houses the antenna parts for improved reception, is meant to emphasize the screen part above it.

Looking around the sides we barely notice any buttons and ports, we notice the microUSB and microHDMI ports covered with protective flaps in the chassis paint too. The flaps are a bit hard to pry open, especially if you are the nail-biting type, and even harder to push back in, but they should break in with time.

The volume rocker and the two-stage camera key on the right, as well as the lock/power button at the top are painted silver, distinct to find and tactile. The rocker in the middle of the right side, however, sits too low, and tends to get operated with the thumb joint instead of the tip.


Display:

We have a 4.3” HD display with 720x1280 pixels of resolution on the Xperia SL, the same one we have on the S; we have 342 ppi pixel density, one of the highest of all HD mobile screens, since most others are bigger. We get crisp small text, no icon jaggies, and readability even for zoomed-out websites.

The LCD screen is bright, with popping colors, but the horizontal viewing angles degrade the image more than they should on a high-end screen. Sony has included its Mobile BRAVIA engine that boosts colors and contrast while watching media, which can be turned off. Brightness and screen reflectance are decent, so outside visibility will only be an issue if the sun shines directly onto it. The touch layer is very responsive and registers even the slightest finger tap.

Interface and functionality:

We have the typical for Sony Timescape UX in the Xperia SL layed over Android 4.0 ICS, and offering the recognizable multimedia widgets for controlling your music, pictures and video collection, as well as the Timescape feed one which integrates your social networking updates in one on your homescreen. The “Facebook inside Xperia” functionality is also present, and integrates your friends into your contacts list, your Facebook photos in your Album gallery app, and so on.

The connectivity switch widget has been slightly overhauled to rotate and become bigger when you tap on it, allowing you to easily select which radio to turn on/off. There is a Power Saver widget as well, for easy access to tweak the saving mode that automatically kicks in when your battery falls below 25%. You can time it now as well, telling it to come on when you go to bed, and exit Power Saver when you wake up, for instance.


The on-screen keyboard that pops up when you are trying to write a message is well-spaced, and functional, there is text prediction and Swype-like functionality built-in.


As for apps, Sony has provided a few to enhance the communication with its own ecosystem, like the Media Remote, which works with Bravia TVs and Sony Blu-ray players, as well as the PlayNow media service.



Processor and Memory:

The Xperia SL, which sports 1GB of RAM, utilizes a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 with Adreno 220 GPU to move the UI with its transitional animations and transparent backgrounds, and it does the job fine, despite being last year's tech.

Internal memory is 32GB, which is good, since we don't have a microSD card slot for its expansion. Out of those we have 2GB for installing apps, and 25.8GB user-available memory for your files.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
Sony Xperia SL	3218	7229	37,4
Sony Xperia T	4839	6925	60,1
HTC One X	4848	11024	47,4

Internet and Connectivity:

The browser on the Xperia SL is decent because of the dual-core processor that renders scripts and pages quite fast, and also because of the very high pixel density of the display. Adobe Flash is supported, but not installed out of the box, and you can't find the latest Flash Player 11 version in the Play Store now, so you'd have to sideload it, if you need Flash for some reason.


The Xperia SL sports a 14.4Mbps HSPA+ radio and takes microSIM cards only. It also sports the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, FM Radio, NFC, DLNA and has an HDMI-out port for hooking up a TV. The DLNA wireless streaming function is managed by the Connected devices app, as usual. The LiveWare app that allows you to program which application to launch when you insert various accessories to the phone is also here - you can tell it to start the music player when you plug headphones in, for example.

Camera:

One of the camera advantages of the Xperia SL is how quickly it can be accessed. The Quick Launch mode is on by default - the phone goes from a locked state with the screen off to taking a picture in a little over a second, claims Sony, and it is indeed so. Well, maybe two seconds if it is darker, as the camera takes more time to focus.

The camera interface is the same rich in camera functions Timescape UI as in the other Xperias, down to the 3D Sweep Panorama mode, whose results can only be watched on Sony's 3D HDTVs via the HDMI port.


There is also a 3D Sweep Multi Angle panorama mode now, taken directly from the Sony Cybershot camera series, which has a narrower frame range, but can be previewed directly on the phone by tilting the screen left and right for a nice stereoscopic effect

Moreover, the pictures themselves are good as well - sharp, with a very good amount of detail, and a bit oversaturated out of the box, like with most Sony handsets. We have a 12MP camera here, which seems to capture slightly more detail than the typical 8MP ones on current flagships, but there are slight white balance issues at times, casting yellowish hue over the picture. Indoors there was quite a lot of noise visible in the frame, even at strong lighting, but pictures turned out fairly sharp with slight yellowish overcast when the lights dimmed down.


The 1080p video capture is very smooth with 30fps average, and the videos exhibit a lot of detail, jolly colors and clear sound. Indoor video was also very good, with plenty of sharp detail and fluid 30fps, but also a tad more noise than usual.

Sony Xperia SL Sample Video:



Sony Xperia SL Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The WALKMAN-branded music player has a more minimalistic interface now, with “tiles” under the My Music tab that categorize your songs by artists, albums, playlists and so on. There is a “Sense Me” category that can pick tracks based on your mood, and the Music widget appears on the lock screen so you can control your playback faster from there.


We report with delight that the powerful loudspeaker we are accustomed to in most Xperias is here - it is strong, clean and doesn’t sound tinny like most smartphone loudspeakers.

The phone played all MPEG-4, and even DivX/Xvid files we threw at it out of the box, up to 1080p definition, but the default video player is pretty bland - no loop function, subtitle support, battery life indicator, or any other additional eye-candy for that matter, only basic playback and screen settings.

Call quality:

Call quality with the Xperia SL is very good, with clear voices in the earpiece on our end, which could use more volume, though. The other side said we sounded very clean, with strong volume, and the noise-canceling mics managed to weed out the ambient sounds while we were talking.

The loudspeaker is very strong, as we mentioned, meaning that it will be unlikely you’ll miss a call. As long as the sound is turned on.

Battery:

Another feature in the Sony Xperia SL is the improved lithium-polymer technology that allows the device to charge in half the time of a regular battery, but only with the EP851 adapter (sold separately), whereas the retail box has the regular EP800 one.

Sony says that just 10 minutes of charging time will juice the Xperia S enough for an hour of talk time, and 30 minutes will get you up to 80% charge. After the 80% threshold is reached, the phone starts charging normally to 100%, in order to preserve the battery.

The 1750 mAh unit is rated for the very good 8 hours and 15 minutes talk time and 33 hours of music playback. 17 days of standby is also good, yet if the screen is on a lot, the phone drains the battery like a typical Android high-end for a day, day and a half, depending how you stress it. Video playback time has been improved compared to the Xperia S, though, squeezing half an hour more out of the SL, for 6 hours and 30 minutes rated playback time.


Conclusion:

With the Xperia SL, Sony introduces only marginal improvements over the Xperia S, like a slightly faster processor and new color schemes. It is shipping with Android ICS out of the box, which the Xperia S also received, though, and both now support DivX/Xvid video playback.

The pricing in the US hovers around the $450 mark and below, whereas the Xperia S can be found for around $400, so the only thing you might want the Xperia SL over the S, save for the 0.2GHz faster processor, would be the color choices – that pink one is a chick magnet. We kid, but for this pricing the Xperia SL is a very good Android phone with fast processor, HD screen and zippy, high-res camera that shoots nice pictures and video.

In that sub-$450 price range you can't find many phones with the Xperia SL specs, so Sony is doing the right thing to attract customer attention towards what would otherwise be considered a lame upgrade.

The Galaxy Nexus is a formidable opponent, with its $350 price tag, dual-core processor, HD screen, and rapid Android updates. You can also look at the Xperia P, which has a smaller screen, but a very bright display, though with some color gamut issues. The Samsung Galaxy S II is also a good option, but it doesn't have an HD screen. The HTC One S costs about the same as the XL, with a faster processor, slimmer and lighter, but it doesn't sport a high-res screen either, and has less internal memory with no expansion slot.

Software version of the reviewed unit: 6.1.A.1.2.45

Sony Xperia SL Video Review: