“The new phablets offer powerful front cameras and tons of selfie-related features”

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra10

After several days characterised by high anticipation and excitement, MWC 2017 is finally about to end in Barcelona. As expected, the event has witnessed tons of interesting new product launches, especially smartphones that take innovation to an all new level. Among the plethora of devices announced at the event were the new phablets from Sony and Gionee – the XA1 Ultra (first impressions) and the A1 Plus respectively. Can the two new phablets mark their presence in the highly competitive smartphone market? In fact, can they stand up against one of the most popular 6-inch phablets from Samsung, the Galaxy C9 Pro (first impressions)? Only time can tell. Until then, here’s how the three compare against each another on paper. Let’s get started.

Related read: LG G6 announced at MWC 2017

Design and Display

Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro first impressions11

Talking about the design of the three smartphones, it’s great to see all three brands utilise metal unibody designs in their devices. However, while the Galaxy C9 Pro and the Gionee A1 Plus come with more rounded corners, the Xperia XA1 Ultra is quite blocky. If you can look past the gigantic top and bottom bezels on the XA1 Ultra, the device actually looks pretty decent. But if you’re one who likes a front physical home button, you’re better off leaving the Xperia XA1 Ultra alone. All said and done, if we had to give our vote to just one smartphone in the design department, it has to be the Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro with its slim bezels and an overall more polished design than the other two.

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra12

All three smartphones also come with 6-inch screens with an identical resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. But once again, the Super AMOLED panel on the Galaxy C9 Pro gives it an edge over the other two devices in our comparison. That said, the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra finishes a close second.

Performance and Storage

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The Galaxy C9 Pro opts for a Snapdragon 653 SoC, while the other two smartphones settle for MediaTek chipsets. A Helio P25 processor resides inside the Gionee A1 Plus, whereas you’ll find a Helio P20 processor powering the Xperia XA1 Ultra.  The difference continues when we talk about the amount of RAM in each of the devices, as the Galaxy C9 Pro is the Korean giant’s first ever device to sport a mammoth 6GB of RAM. On the other hand, the new phablets from Sony and Gionee pack in 4GB of RAM each. Either way, multitasking shouldn’t be much of an issue on either of the devices. On the storage front, each of the three smartphones comes with up to 64GB of storage with room for further expansion with the help of a microSD card.

Camera and Battery

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One of the most intriguing aspects of these three smartphones are the cameras, especially the ones on the front. So let’s first talk about the selfie snappers. The C9 Pro comes equipped with a 16MP front-facing camera with an aperture of f/1.9. Impressed? What if we told you the Xperia XA1 Ultra’s front camera also sports the same resolution but comes with additional features like optical image stabilisation and a dedicated front flash? In fact, the front camera on the Gionee A1 Plus also boasts features like a selfie flash, but comes with a 20MP shooter instead. On paper, the front cameras on all three phablets sound amazing. However, we do need to test out the camera prowess of the new phablets from Sony and Gionee before giving you our judgment.

Coming to the rear cameras, the Galaxy C9 Pro comes stacked with a 16MP CMOS sensor with dual LED flash. On the other hand, the XA1 Ultra flaunts a 23-megapixel camera on the back with hybrid autofocus, a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS image sensor, along with features like 5X Clear Image Zoom and Steady Shot. The Gionee A1 Plus takes it one step ahead with dual rear cameras (13MP + 5 MP), f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens and an LED flash.

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra3

None of the devices come with removable batteries. But this is one place where Sony’s Xperia XA1 Ultra disappoints. It comes with a 2,700mAh battery, which is miles behind the 4,000mAh battery and 4,550mAh battery found in the Galaxy C9 Pro and the Gionee A1 Plus respectively… at least on paper. In fact, Sony touts Qnovo Adaptive Charging, Stamina Mode and Pump Express+ 2.0 technology for its new Xperia device. So overall, we’d want to wait till we test out the real-life performance before offering judgement on the battery life.

Software and Connectivity

Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro first impressions14

Owing to the fact that the XA1 Ultra and Gionee A1 Plus have just been announced, it is a given that the devices run the latest version of Android, that is, Nougat. However, the Galaxy C9 Pro still runs Android Marshmallow, though we expect the device to be updated to Nougat sometime in the future. Choosing a UI is completely a subjective affair. You might be a fan of Samsung’s refined TouchWiz, or Sony’s clean and polished UI, or you might want to give Gionee’s Amigo 4.0 UI a try. If you ask us, the TouchWiz on the Galaxy C9 Pro will be our pick, owing to its added functionality and better stability.

On the connectivity front, all three phones feature 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot, Bluetooth, and A-GPS. The Xperia XA1 Ultra and Galaxy C9 Pro also come with NFC support.

Pricing and Availability

Sony XPeria XA 1 Ultra FB

Presently, the Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro is the only device available in India, priced at about Rs 34,000. Meanwhile, the Gionee A1 Plus has been priced at 499 Euros (~35,500), with an expected availability sometime in April this year. But if you’re looking to buy the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra, you might have to wait even longer, as the brand has revealed that the smartphones will start rolling out globally in spring 2017, which is when the pricing will be revealed.

Closing Thoughts

samsung galaxy c9 pro vs xperia xa1 ultra vs gionee a1 plus

If your primary use of your smartphone will be media consumption and you want a smartphone that looks good, comes with a vibrant display and has a decent pair of snappers, then the Galaxy C9 Pro might be a good option. However, if camera is your priority then the Gionee A1 Plus and the Xperia XA1 Ultra can prove to be very worthy too. We can’t wait to test out the camera prowess of the two new devices. Considering that out of the three, the Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro is the only device currently available – you can go with that as a safe option if you’re in a hurry. Otherwise, you could wait till the others land in India and for us to review them properly, so we can point you towards the best one.