Sony Xperia L

Introduction

Sony's ticking along nicely and it's almost hard to believe this is only its second season on its own. Having finally made their presence felt in the premium end, the Japanese are showing enviable focus and determination in bringing the middle ranks up to date.

The good thing is they have a solid foundation to build on and the Sony Xperia L looks ready to take advantage. It picks up exactly where the Xperia U left off and tries to fix only what needed fixing, without overspending on gimmicks. A bigger screen, beefier battery and still resolution up from 5 to 8MP are things we wouldn't say no to. Yet, the expandable memory is what seems to be the most exciting piece of news.

  
Sony Xperia L official photos

The Xperia L is about to enter a segment that saw some of Sony's most compelling performers last year. This is no small responsibility but the L seems to have the right tools for the job. It comes across as one of the hottest prospect in Sony's lineup - one that's more likely to pleasantly surprise than disappoint. Let's take a closer look at what the Sony Xperia L has to offer.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual or quad-band HSPA support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) at around 228 ppi
• Android OS v4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• Dual-core 1 GHz Krait CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8230 Snapdragon chipset
• 1 GB of RAM
• 8 GB of inbuilt storage (5.8 GB user available)
• microSD slot (32GB supported)
• 8 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geotagging, touch focus, HDR, proper shutter key
• 720p @ 30fps video capture with HDR
• VGA front-facing camera
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• NFC
• PlayStation certified
• Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• LED strip for breathing light and notifications
• 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery, user-replaceable

Main disadvantages

• No 1080p video capture, poor video quality
• No Mobile BRAVIA engine
• Sub-par viewing angles
• Rather big and heavy for its display size

The Sony Xperia L obviously cannot escape the issues that even the flagship had to deal with. In honesty though, it's a lot easier to get away with less than stellar contrast and viewing angles in the midrange. No Bravia and lower ppi than the Xperia U are the only things that don't sound right when you look at the lists above.

This was a compromise obviously that had to be made and the reasoning must've been that screen size is what ultimately matters in this price range. Elsewhere though, the Xperia L is clearly superior and in ways that will make a real difference to the majority of users.

 
The Sony Xperia L at HQ

OK, a good enough display and adequate processing power are a start. The styling of the Bond phone was readily available - no points for creativity but in the end, the Xperia L has good looks and character with minimum effort. That's the thing here, Sony makes upgrading look so easy and it's a skill that sometimes evades even the most talented competitors. Let's see though if the Xperia L can keep it up. Make sure to check back in after the break.

Display

There's a 4.3" FWVGA (480 x 854) LCD on the Sony Xperia L, and no budget for Mobile BRAVIA. It's the same resolution as what the Xperia U has, but with the size increased by nearly an inch, the pixel density has dropped to just 228 ppi. It's clearly not the best you can get, but overall, the screen is reasonable for the price.

The display

Brightness is adequate and the contrast looks good even without the Bravia engine optimizations - the colors look punchy and, all things considered, the screen is less likely to disappoint you than that of the flagship Xperia Z.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia L	0.30	321	1085	0.50	542	1077
Sony Xperia ZL	-	-	-	0.44	575	1294
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
HTC One	0.13	205	1580	0.42	647	1541
HTC Butterfly	0.14	173	1200	0.45	501	1104
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
Oppo Find 5	0.17	176	1123	0.51	565	1107
Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II	0	215	∞	0	402	∞
LG Optimus G Pro	-	-	-	0.41	611	1489
Nokia Lumia 920	-	-	-	0.48	513	1065
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

Using the Sony Xperia L in bright outdoor conditions isn't the best experience. The glass on top of the display is reflective and the brightness isn't really enough to make up for it, so finding a proper angle for working with the Xperia L can be a bit tricky at times.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Sort by Label
• Sort by Value
• Expand

• Nokia 808 PureView4.698
• LG Optimus G Pro1.552
• LG Optimus 3D1.542
• Nokia Asha 3021.537
• Nokia Lumia 6101.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G13551.361
• Sony Xperia L1.351
• HTC Desire C1.300
• LG Optimus L71.269
• LG Optimus L91.227
• Meizu MX1.221
• Sony Xperia E dual1.203
• Samsung Galaxy mini 21.114

You can find all about our display testing routines here.

Controls

The prominent power button is a signature Sony accent that makes an appearance on the Xperia L as well. But the control that makes an even stronger statement is the hardware shutter key. The 8MP camera is central to the marketing of the Xperia L and Sony is genuinely trying to deliver the complete imaging experience. We tend to agree that a proper shutter key, half-press and all, is an important part of that.

So, all the physical buttons on the Xperia L are on the phone's right side: volume rocker at the top, the power/lock key not far below and the camera key near the bottom. A long press of the shutter key unlocks the screen and launches the camera.

 
The right side of the phone

The left side of the Sony Xperia L is where the microUSB port is.

 
The left side of the Xperia L

The 3.5 mm headphone jack is centrally placed at the top of the Xperia L and there's a secondary noise-cancellation microphone right above the camera lens.

 
On the top

At the bottom we find nothing but a lanyard eyelet.

 
The bottom

Undoing the back panel is a bit tricky as you need to undo the top part and pop the phone out of its wrap. The risk of breaking the panel is minimal but it's still worth the caution.

 
Removing the back cover

The NFC transmitter is integrated within the back panel, under which we find the SIM card slot, microSD card slot and the 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery. You'll need to remove the battery to get to the SIM compartment.