Sony Xperia XA1 review: Square one

Synthetic benchmarks

The Xperia XA1 is powered by the Mediatek Helio P20 chipset - an evolution of the P10 found in the original XA. Like the majority of chipsets in the midrange, the P20 relies on an octa-core CPU based on Cortex-A53 cores. Here the processor is in a 4x2.3GHz + 4x1.6GHz configuration, and both clusters clock higher than the previous version's 4x2.0GHz + 4x1.0GHz. They are also built on a 16nm process node in comparison to the 28nm process used for the Helio P10 so we're talking a really modern midrange chipset here with great power efficiency.

On the Xperia XA1 it's coupled with a reasonable amount of RAM - 3GB instead of the 2GB used on the XA.

The uptick in clock frequency proved effective in GeekBench, where the XA1 consistently outperformed the P10-powered Moto M and Oppo F1s - slightly so in single-core, and more significantly when all cores are put to work. The Snapdragon 625s (Huawei nova and Redmi 4 Prime) and the Galaxy A5 (2017) with its Exynos 7880 did produce higher scores in multi-core, but not necessarily so in single core tests. The processor's performance was also quite close that that of the Kirin 658, which is found on the Huawei P10 Lite.

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Honor 8
  5447
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3987
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3958
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3554
• Huawei P10 lite
  3307
• Huawei nova
  3105
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3016
• Lenovo Moto M
  2921
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2719
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  2621

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Honor 8
  1720
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  1682
• Huawei P10 lite
  886
• Huawei nova
  842
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  819
• Sony Xperia XA1
  800
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  795
• Lenovo Moto M
  771
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  764
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  638

Antutu is here to help put a number next to overall performance. The XA1's P20 was on par with the Exynos 7880 in the A5 (2017), though still behind the S625 in the Moto Z Play and the Huawei nova. Last year's P10s were clearly not on the same level - look at the Moto M and Sony's own XA's scores.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  131758
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  131666
• Huawei Honor 8
  94892
• Huawei nova
  65021
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  62316
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  62217
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  61020
• Huawei P10 lite
  60895
• Sony Xperia XA1
  60707
• Lenovo Moto M
  51831
• Sony Xperia XA
  47170
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  44062
• Moto G5
  43755
• Oppo F1s
  30657
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  27487

In Basemark OS II 2.0 - another compound benchmark, the Galaxy A5 (2017) pulled ahead of the XA1, but Snapdragon 625s and Helio P10 were left trailing.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  2378
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  2180
• Huawei Honor 8
  2099
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  1417
• Sony Xperia XA1
  1351
• Huawei P10 lite
  1284
• Huawei nova
  1218
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  1031
• Sony Xperia XA
  1013
• Moto G5
  795
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  532
• Oppo F1s
  269

In the graphics department, the Helio P20's dual-core Mali-T880MP2 GPU showed more than adequate oomph to drive the 720p display. Offscreen tests carried out at 1080p may have produced unimpressive numbers, but in the onscreen runs the XA1's fps counts were unrivaled in the mid tier.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  45
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  39
• Huawei Honor 8
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  15
• Huawei nova
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.8
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  9.8
• Sony Xperia XA1
  9.6
• Huawei P10 lite
  7.8
• Sony Xperia XA
  7.2
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  7.2
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Lenovo Moto M
  7.1
• Oppo F1s
  5.1
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  1.8

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  44
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  43
• Sony Xperia XA1
  19
• Huawei Honor 8
  19
• Sony Xperia XA
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  15
• Huawei nova
  10
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  10
• Oppo F1s
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.6
• Huawei P10 lite
  8.4
• Lenovo Moto M
  7.6
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  7
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  3.8

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  30
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  26
• Huawei Honor 8
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  9.1
• Huawei nova
  6.3
• Sony Xperia XA1
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.2
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  6.2
• Sony Xperia XA
  4.8
• Lenovo Moto M
  4.7
• Huawei P10 lite
  4.6
• Moto G5
  4.6
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  4.6
• Oppo F1s
  2.4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  26
• Sony Xperia XA1
  15
• Sony Xperia XA
  11
• Huawei Honor 8
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  9
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  6.7
• Huawei nova
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.1
• Oppo F1s
  6
• Lenovo Moto M
  5.2
• Huawei P10 lite
  5
• Moto G5
  4.6
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  4.6

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  17
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  16
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.3
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3.7
• Huawei nova
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.4
• Huawei P10 lite
  2.8
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.5
• Moto G5
  2.5
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.5
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2.5

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  17
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  16
• Sony Xperia XA1
  7.9
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.9
• Sony Xperia XA
  5.4
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Huawei nova
  3.7
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Huawei P10 lite
  3
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.7
• Moto G5
  2.5
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2.5

The Mali-T830MP3 GPU of the Galaxy A5 (2017) clearly has more raw power, though, as evidenced by the offscreen tests in GFXBench above, and also the score in Basemark ES 3.1. The XA1 was still comfortably ahead of the other competitors here, even before accounting for its lower-res display.

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  588
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  580
• Huawei Honor 8
  345
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  259
• Sony Xperia XA1
  191
• Huawei P10 lite
  145
• Huawei nova
  138
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  138
• Sony Xperia XA
  131
• Moto G5
  100

Overall, we can't say we have any grounds to complain about the XA1's performance - quite the opposite. The Xperia and its Helio P20 chip were in the upper half of the charts in most instances and showed particular promise in the graphics department thanks to Sony's conservative choice of 720p display resolution.

The performance has certainly improved over the Helio P10 and coupled with the power efficiency improvements which come courtesy of the 16nm fabrication process, we'd say the Helio P20 is an excellent choice for chipset - one that would make Mediatek relevant and competitive again.