Sony Xperia L1 review: Level one

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

The Sony Xperia L1 features a 5.5" IPS LCD of 720p resolution. The resulting 267ppi is hardly impressive, but adequate for its class - and considering the underpowered GPU, you probably don't want the extra strain that more pixels would have added anyway.

The L1 screen is capable of 450 nits of maximum brightness - not bad for an entry-level device. The screen managed to surprise us with an even higher brightness of 530 nits in Auto mode, so the L1 won't fail you even on the brightest of days. The black levels aren't that deep though, and thus the average contrast is 957:1.

Display test	100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia L1	0.47	450	957
Sony Xperia L1 (Max Auto)	0.571	531	930
Xiaomi Redmi 4a	0.513	475	925
Sony Xperia XA1	0.512	537	1049
Sony Xperia XA	0.38	523	1376
Meizu M5	0.453	480	1060
Meizu M5 Note	0.614	463	754
Lenovo K6 Note	0.383	521	1360
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)	0.00	331	∞
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)	0.60	541	898
Nokia 3	0.353	477	1351

As for color reproduction accuracy, the Xperia L1 screen scored surprisingly well with an average deviation (DeltaE) of 4.4. The blue hues are somewhat oversatured, but other than that the colors are displayed with remarkable accuracy.

The display on the Xperia L1 managed a very decent performance in our sunlight legibility test. This means you will have very few issues using it outdoors.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768
Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439
OnePlus 3
4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376
HTC One A9
4.274
Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
OnePlus 3T
4.232
Google Pixel XL
4.164
ZTE Axon 7
4.154
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09
Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019
OnePlus X
3.983
Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983
Apple iPhone 7
3.964
Oppo R7s
3.964
Huawei P9 Plus
3.956
Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935
Lenovo Moto Z
3.931
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918
OnePlus 5
3.914
Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911
Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859
Sony Xperia XZs
3.818
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802
Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798
LG V20 Max auto
3.798
Sony Xperia XZ
3.795
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789
Apple iPhone 6s
3.783
Meizu Pro 5
3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772
Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756
Oppo F1 Plus
3.709
Vivo X5Pro
3.706
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688
Apple iPhone SE
3.681
Huawei Mate 9
3.68
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Meizu PRO 6
3.659
BlackBerry Priv
3.645
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588
LG G6
3.556
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53
Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523
Acer Jade Primo
3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512
Oppo R7 Plus
3.499
nubia Z11
3.466
Huawei P10 Plus
3.456
HTC U Ultra
3.453
Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422
Meizu MX5
3.416
LG V20
3.402
Huawei P10
3.379
Oppo R9s
3.352
Honor 8 Pro
3.341
Oppo R7
3.32
Lenovo P2
3.316
Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276
Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244
Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228
Motorola Moto X Play
3.222
Oppo F3 Plus
3.218
Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206
Huawei P9
3.195
Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113
Motorola Moto X Force
3.105
LG Nexus 5X
3.092
HTC U11
3.089
Huawei Mate S
3.073
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065
Sony Xperia XA1
3.012
Sony Xperia L1
2.994
Sony Xperia X
2.989
Huawei P10 Lite
2.974
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Huawei Mate 8
2.949
Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913
Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906
LG G5
2.905
HTC One S
2.901
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877
Sony Xperia Z5
2.876
Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851
Lenovo Moto M
2.813
Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803
Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784
Meizu MX6
2.751
LG V10
2.744
Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714
Meizu M5
2.71
Sony Xperia M5
2.69
Huawei P9 Lite
2.679
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679
Vivo V3Max
2.659
Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658
Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641
Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635
Sony Xperia XA
2.609
Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582
Meizu M5s
2.58
Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574
LeEco Le Max 2
2.567
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563
Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563
Lenovo Moto G4
2.544
Lenovo K6 Note
2.544
Oppo F1
2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525
Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503
Oppo F1s
2.481
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473
Huawei G8
2.471
Huawei nova
2.467
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459
Meizu m3 max
2.447
HTC 10 evo
2.407
Huawei Honor 7
2.406
Sony Xperia E5
2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378
HTC 10
2.378
Oppo F3
2.376
vivo V5 Plus
2.371
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Huawei nova plus
2.329
HTC One E9+
2.305
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249
Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
Huawei P8
2.196
Meizu M5 Note
2.189
Huawei Honor 6
2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166
OnePlus Two
2.165
HTC One X
2.158
LG Aka
2.145
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095
Acer Liquid X2
2.084
Huawei P8lite
2.078
vivo V5
2.059
Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026
Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996
Sony Xperia E4g
1.972
OnePlus One
1.961
Meizu m3 note
1.923
BlackBerry Leap
1.892
Meizu m2 note
1.892
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675
ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Motorola Moto E
1.545
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Sony Xperia L
1.351
HTC Desire C
1.3
Meizu MX
1.221
Sony Xperia E
1.215

Battery life

The Sony Xperia L1 is powered by a sealed Li-Ion battery with a somewhat mediocre capacity of 2,620mAh. In our tests the L1 proved to be excellently efficient when playing video, lasting over 12h; this is great for a smartphone, entry-level or not. Web browsing over Wi-Fi depletes the Xperia L1 battery in a few minutes short of 8 hours, while you can use it for 3G calls for about 10 hours. Coupled with frugal standby power consumption, the above numbers add up to a combined endurance rating of 63 hours.

Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Sony Xperia L1 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity

The Sony Xperia L1 comes in single and dual-SIM flavors. Ours is the single-SIM version, so we can't comment on how the Dual SIM one handles the two cards. The Mediatek MT6737T's modem supports Cat.4 LTE for download speeds of up to 150Mbps.

Wi-Fi a/b/g/n is supported, but not ac. You can stream wirelessly over Miracast but the L1 isn't DLNA certified. Bluetooth is v4.2with Low Energy and audio-focused aptX on board as well. NFC is available too, and so is an FM radio receiver.

For positioning, you get GPS and GLONASS, but no BDS and Galileo.

Peripherals can be connected via the USB-C port, but it only adheres to USB 2.0, so transfer speeds are limited to 480Mbps. There's a good old 3.5mm jack for attaching headphones too.

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3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Sony Xperia L1 reviewPage 3