The Xperia XA1 Ultra has the Helio P20 chipset as its heart - a midrange offering from Mediatek based on two quad-core Cortex-A53 clusters in a big.LITTLE configuration - 4x2.3Ghz + 4x1.6GHz.
Midrange Mediatek chipsets have been getting a bad rep in the past couple of years for not being quite energy efficient. The best bit about the new Helio P20 is that unlike any of the company's other chipsets, this one is built on a 16nm fabrication process. Compare that to the 28nm used for the Helio P10 for instance and you'll know that the new chipset should really offer better power efficiency, less heat and why not better performance than the previous gen.
Indeed, that was our experience with the 5-inch Xperia XA1, and we expected a similar showing from the Ultra. The caveat with the big one is that it's got a FullHD display, as opposed to the XA1's 720p unit - a drop in graphics frame rates was to be expected.
But first things first - we start off with GeekBench to get a feel for CPU performance. Unsurprisingly, the XA1 Ultra posts similar numbers to its smaller bro in this benchmark, particularly in the multi-core test. The Ultra has a slight advantage over the non-Ultra in single-core, but it's not a night-and-day difference.
The Snapdragon 625 matches the Helio P20 near perfectly in single-core performance - look at the results posted by the Huawei nova plus, vivo V5 Plus, or the Redmi Note 4.
In multi-core applications, however, the Helio P20 has an advantage, hence the XA1 Ultra outperforms the competition. A Snapdragon 652, on the other hand, is a much more powerful affair in both single-core and multi-core benchmarks. It's represented here by the Galaxy C9 Pro. But that chipset comes from a higher performance tier than the Snapdragon 625 as its name suggests.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 1890
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 1815
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 1546
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 1440
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 862
vivo V5 Plus 846
Huawei nova plus 843
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 832
Sony Xperia XA1 800
Motorola Moto Z Play 795
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 776
Lenovo Moto M 771
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 638
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 4456
OnePlus 3T 4364
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 4333
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 4102
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 3976
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 3610
Sony Xperia XA1 3554
vivo V5 Plus 3136
Huawei nova plus 3100
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 3011
Lenovo Moto M 2921
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 2719
Motorola Moto Z Play 2621
For an assessment of the overall performance, not just the CPU, we turn to Basemark OS II 2.0. The XA1 Ultra underdelivers here, posting lower numbers than the XA1, and we gather it's the higher resolution to blame. The Snapdragon 625s of this world are scattered pretty wide with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 ranked lower than the XA1 Ultra, but the Huawei nova plus comes out ahead of the Sony phablet.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 2678
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 2434
Oppo F3 Plus 1890
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 1770
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 1728
Sony Xperia XA1 1351
Huawei nova plus 1215
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 1163
vivo V5 Plus 1107
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 1050
Motorola Moto Z Play 1031
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 987
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 497
According to Antutu 6, the Snapdragon 625s and the Helio P20s are quite on par with each other in terms of overall performance. That's also true for the 14nm Exynos 7880 (represented here by the Galaxy A7 2017), which scores closely to the other energy-efficient chipsets.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 165097
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 155185
Oppo F3 Plus 91458
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 85181
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 85162
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 64983
Huawei nova plus 64680
vivo V5 Plus 63812
Motorola Moto Z Play 62217
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 61616
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 60767
Sony Xperia XA1 60707
Lenovo Moto M 51831
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 50109
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 44062
Let's move on to graphics benchmarks. Looking at the frame rates in GFX Bench offscreen tests (rendered at 1080p regardless of actual display resolution) - there's hardly anything to split the S625s and the Helio P20s, but the Exynos 7880 has more oomph and this gives the Galaxy A7 (2017) an edge.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 49
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 44
Oppo F3 Plus 17
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 15
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 14
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 9.9
Huawei nova plus 9.9
vivo V5 Plus 9.9
Motorola Moto Z Play 9.8
Sony Xperia XA1 9.6
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 9.6
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 7.2
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 7.2
Lenovo Moto M 7.1
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 33
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 30
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 11
Oppo F3 Plus 10
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 9.5
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 9.1
Sony Xperia XA1 6.2
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 6.2
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 6.2
Motorola Moto Z Play 6.2
Huawei nova plus 6.2
vivo V5 Plus 6.2
Lenovo Moto M 4.7
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 4.7
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 4.6
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 20
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 18
Oppo F3 Plus 6
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 5.8
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 5.4
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 5.2
Sony Xperia XA1 3.7
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 3.7
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 3.4
Motorola Moto Z Play 3.4
Huawei nova plus 3.4
vivo V5 Plus 3.4
Lenovo Moto M 2.5
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 2.5
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 2.5
Since most of these phones feature 1080p displays, there's not much of a difference between offscreen and onscreen results. However, the 720p XA1 manages practically double the frame rates of the Ultra in all three tests. That said, the Ultra's scores are perfectly in line with what other phones in its class are capable of, save for the Galaxy A7 (2017), which has a notable advantage.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 48
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 47
Sony Xperia XA1 19
Oppo F3 Plus 17
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 15
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 15
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 10
Motorola Moto Z Play 10
Huawei nova plus 10
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 9.7
vivo V5 Plus 9.7
Lenovo Moto M 7.6
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 7.5
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 7
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 33
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 32
Sony Xperia XA1 15
Oppo F3 Plus 11
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 11
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 9.4
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 9
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 6.7
Motorola Moto Z Play 6.7
Huawei nova plus 6.6
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 6.2
vivo V5 Plus 6.1
Lenovo Moto M 5.2
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 5.1
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 4.6
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 20
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 19
Sony Xperia XA1 7.9
Oppo F3 Plus 6
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 5.8
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 5.4
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 5.2
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 4
Motorola Moto Z Play 3.7
Huawei nova plus 3.7
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 3.4
vivo V5 Plus 3.4
Lenovo Moto M 2.7
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 2.7
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 2.5
Basemark X puts a tiny bit more separation between the S625 and the P20 - the XA1 and XA1 Ultra are trailing the Qualcomm bunch. The Exynos 7880 is again out of reach, using the Galaxy A7 (2017) in our comparison.
Basemark X
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 36958
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 36062
Oppo F3 Plus 16695
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 15814
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 14619
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 13666
vivo V5 Plus 10542
Huawei nova plus 10524
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 10446
Motorola Moto Z Play 10401
Sony Xperia XA1 9714
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 9598
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 7522
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 6754
Lenovo Moto M 6732
It's the exact opposite in Basemark ES 3.1, at least as far as the S625-P20 feud is concerned. The Mediatek chip posts substantially higher scores than the Snapdragon, even if the two seemed more evenly matched in the OpenGL 3.1 parts of GFX Bench. Once again, the Exynos-powered Galaxy A7 (2017) is a notch closer to the devices packing upper-tier chips.
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
OnePlus 3T 641
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 538
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20) 287
Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro 261
Oppo F3 Plus 261
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 229
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 192
Sony Xperia XA1 191
Huawei nova plus 138
vivo V5 Plus 138
Motorola Moto Z Play 138
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 131
In a single sentence - the Xperia XA1 Ultra is a dependable performer, putting out benchmark results in the ballpark of competitors' numbers. The GPU of the Helio P20 chips is better suited to the 720p Xperia XA1, but in fairness none of the FullHD rivals in the Ultra's class have a lot going for them in this respect either. Well, except maybe the Galaxy A7 (2017).
Tip us
1.7m 126k
RSS
EV
Merch
Log in I forgot my password Sign up