Sony Xperia L Review and Specification

The handset doesn't have a spectacular specification, but it all works well as a package. You get a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and Android 4.1 - not much on paper, compared to the near-2GHz monsters we're now seeing on premium smartphones, but we've no complaints about the handset's performance. Apps open and shut with a snap and animations are silky-smooth.

As we expected, the phone's performance in our Sunspider 1.0 JavaScript benchmark wasn't spectacular. It completed the test in 2,646ms using the default Chrome browser, which is twice as long as we saw from the Xperia SP with its 1.7GHz dual-core chip.

Chrome is slow in Sunspider, but even with the faster Dolphin browser we only saw 1,564ms, which is very much a middling result.Subjectively, this average benchmark score didn't make much difference to the phone's web browsing performance. The Maps app glides smoothly under your finger, and there's barely a hesitation while panning smoothly around web pages - only a barely perceptible slowdown when scrolling past a large image. When compared side by side with a Samsung Galaxy S3, the more powerful S3 had slightly smoother browsing, but there's not much in it.

The Sony Xperia L is no Xperia Z, but then it was never meant to be. What it tries to do is take as many of the great qualities from the flagship Sony phone and blend them into a cheaper, more affordable body and it does a generally decent job of it.

The 8-Megapixel camera is a slick performer and the build is surprisingly quite good even if we are not entirely convinced by the sharp bezel.

There are issues with the responsiveness of the touchscreen and some sluggishness operating simple tasks, so if you are really sold on buying a Sony smartphone that is not the Z we'd probably still opt for the Sony Xperia SP (as a more suitable smartphone partner.