Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra review – in pictures

The camera with all the megapixels, stabilisation and flash assistance? It’s usually facing backwards, rather than pointing at your photogenic features. Sony’s Xperia XA2 aims to reverse that trend. It takes the twin-cam setup you’d expect to find on the back of a phone, and shifts it to the front – so you can’t blame the hardware for any embarrassing shots. It’s also rocking one of the biggest screens you’ll find in a mid-range phone right now, which should make it perfect for multimedia addicts.

Cameras: big numbers

Around back, the 23MP snapper has one of the highest pixel counts you’ll find in a phone – which is no surprise, seeing how Sony makes the sensors for most of the industry. The bigger news is up front: a 16MP main camera with optical image stabilisation, to stop shaky hands from ruining your shots, paired with a secondary 8MP, 120° field-of-view snapper to squeeze more into every shot – or more friends into each selfie. There’s even an LED flash for low-light shooting.

Cameras: fine up front

That front lens does a great job when you feed it enough light, with OIS keeping facial features looking crisp and detailed. The LED flash can be a bit harsh, but makes all the difference to those late-night club selfies. What would have been a grainy mess without assistance is suddenly sharp and clear. The wide-angle shots don’t show the same clarity, but the wide angle lens means you can get three people into the frame instead of just one.

Cameras: OK at the back

For more traditional shooting, the rear camera packs in plenty of detail into each shot, with vibrant colours, but only when there’s enough light. Focusing can take a while when it gets dark, and unlike the front camera, there’s no OIS here. If you’re not careful, it’s all too easy to blur your shots. Overly aggressive noise reduction can strip out detail, too, leaving things a little muted.

Pictures: HDR’s the difference

The manual HDR mode makes all the difference, handling a variety of exposures better than the default Superior Auto mode, and adding extra vibrance to each snap. This would be fine if it was speedy to save your shots, but similarly-priced rivals are much more responsive. You really have to use the front camera more than the rear one to get the most from the XA2 Ultra.

Screen: big and bold

Packing a 6in Full HD display, the XA2 Ultra’s LCD panel was never going to have the vibrant colours of an OLED screen, but it does a decent job when you want to catch up on your Netflix streaming. The Full HD resolution is clear and detailed, if not quite as sharp as a QHD display. Colour temperature leans a little towards cool, but you can always head into the Settings screen and give things a tweak. Brightness is decent enough, too

Design: more of the same

If you’ve seen a Sony phone in the last couple of years, then the XA2 Ultra will feel very familiar – if not a whole lot bigger. You’d need hands the size of baseball mitts to make this look small when you grab it. Typing takes two hands to hold the thing steady, and at 221g it’s got some real heft, too. The angular design gives you plenty to grab on to, although the sides are thankfully that little bit curvier now, instead of sharp and square.

Fingerprint sensor: a new home

A fingerprint sensor on the back is a new move for Sony, one we’ve got mixed feelings about. The sensor is in a comfortable position, so you don’t have to stretch to unlock, but it can be a bit over-sensitive, trying to unlock the phone when you so much as brush it, even when it’s in your pocket.

Performance: plenty of pace

The Snapdragon 630 CPU is the same as the one found in the smaller Xperia XA2, and it’s just as nippy here. Sony has even paired it with more memory, so you’ve got 4GB to help when it comes to multitasking. Android 8.0 Oreo feels responsive enough, with no noticeable lag or stutter when swiping between home screens or scrolling through web pages. It’s not a speed demon, so apps can take a little while to load, but not so long that you’ll be tapping your feet.

Battery: juice to go

Sony has managed to squeeze in a 3,580mAh cell, which is enough to give you a full day of heavy use from a single charge. If you can resist the urge to crush some candies on your evening commute, you’ll make it home with at least a quarter left in the tank. Stick to the simple stuff, and activate the battery-saving Stamina mode, and you should last until the following lunchtime before it’s time to top up.

Software: pared back and better

Sony has done a great job streamlining the Xperia UI, and has even stripped down the number of bundled apps, although the familiar Music, Video and Gallery apps return. AVG Antivirus comes pre-installed too, with an annoying notification you can’t delete. Thankfully you can disable it and use an alternative app instead. That leaves a decent amount of the 32GB of built-in storage free for your own apps and games.

Verdict: selfie king

Are you selfie-obsessed, and in need of a massive screen? That’s quite a niche, but one the Xperia XA2 Ultra fills nicely. It’s fairly unexciting everywhere else, with mid-range internals and a design that’s really starting to show its age, but there’s no denying it snaps a good photo, thanks to those dual front cameras. At £379 (US$449), though, you’ll have to really value that picture quality.