Sony Xperia Neo L Review

Camera

The Neo L comes with a 5 megapixel camera on board. There’s no dedicated shutter button and you’ll have to hold down the icon on the screen to focus. We weren’t too happy with the autofocus capabilities of this phone – shots had to be taken more than once from the same distance for the phone to be able to focus.

There’s no touch to focus and strangely, we couldn’t zoom in on the camera either. Outdoor shots with ample light are easy clicks and they have a good amount of detailing, but low light and indoor shots require an LED flash. Macro shots weren’t the easiest to click as the camera had trouble focussing on the subject. The camera is best suited for uploading to Facebook and other social media sites - don’t expect it to surprise you. On a comparative basis, photos with the One V were much better. 

The front camera is good enough for video calling and self portraits. Video on the Neo L in 720p mode was somewhat framy and the colours didn’t appear too natural. A lot of noise was observed as well. It’s best to restrict the Neo L to casual shooting. 

Battery Life

The 1500mAh battery on the Xperia Neo L

The Neo L is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. It's interesting that Sony has put a 1320 mAh battery for a dual core handset and a 1500 mAh battery for a single core one. As a result, our gripes for the battery life of the previous dual core handsets (the Sola and the U) are definitely valid.  In our video loop test, the Neo L lasted for 10 hours and 20 minutes, comparable to the HTC One V. On an average, you’ll get more than a day’s usage from this Xperia. If you are a heavy user, we’d advise you to carry a charger along - Android owners will attest to that.

Verdict and Price in India

Worth a buy?

The Neo L is priced at Rs. 19,449. Let’s compare it to the competition - the One V and the Xperia Sola being the main competitors out here. The One V is two grand cheaper but you compromise on the 4-inch display and a front camera. You do gain a better rear camera and HTC Sense though. The Sola comes with a more powerful processor on paper but has an inferior display size, Gingerbread, no front camera and a poorer battery. If you’re not a power hungry user, the Neo L won’t disappoint you. If you’ve already set your hearts on a dual core or more, then it’s best you look elsewhere. The specs may be very 2011 to some, but the overall performance of this handset isn’t too shabby.