Sony Xperia E1 Pro Reviews

The Sony Xperia E1 is a cheap phone, and it both looks and feels like one. Unlike some rivals it hasn't quite made enough right moves to ensure it brings a solid core experience to the table, while still including some fluffier elements like a dedicated music button. Thanks to the decent interface it's a reasonable low-cost option, but it's solidly beaten by the Motorola Moto E, which costs as little as £10 more.

All in all, the Sony Xperia E1 turns out to be a device that is affordable, yet offering an above average performance for its class. It will appeal to music lovers with its dedicated key for controlling music playback, but it does not offer much in terms of loudspeaker sound quality. It has a dark side too, though, as two of its most important components are compromised: the display is of underwhelming quality, and the camera captures mostly disappointing shots. The Xperia E1 price depends on market, varying from around $150 and up to €140 ($190). At this price, there are plenty of alternatives. One of the most popular devices around this class (it actually costs nearly 30% less) remains the Windows Phone 8-based Nokia Lumia 520. The Lumia 520 features a great 5-megapixel camera, an equally sized (but of better quality) 4-inch WVGA display and it’s very potent in terms of silicon power. Another option, this time running on Android, is the popular Motorola Moto G, a 4.5” device sold at a slight premium, but in exchange for that, offering a 720p display, the latest Android 4.4, much faster performance, and a good camera. All in all, the Xperia E1 seems like an affordable device that does little to stand out in the fiercely competitive low-end segment. The sub-par display and camera seem like too great of a compromise, especially given the fact that there are other phones at around the same price offering much more.