One of the more odd aspects of the Sony Xperia X family is that despite the Xperia XA (pictured above) being a mid-tier device compared to the Xperia X, its design aesthetics are actually superior in some ways when compared against its higher-priced brethren. That’s because, as you can see from the above photo, the Xperia XA has a thinner bezel than the Xperia X (pictured below) and even Xperia X Performance.

So why does a lower tier phone have a thinner profile design? The answer is surprisingly fairly straightforward.

Well according to Sony’s Chief Art Director Daisuke Ishii the reason for the difference in side bezels is due to the need to fit the fingerprint sensor power button in the Xperia X and X Performance. This sensor requires a certain amount of thickness, which limits how thin the bezels can be. The Xperia XA has no such restriction and therefore Sony was able to provide a near bezel-free display. 

When looking on Sony’s site for simple, front-facing pictures of the Xperia X, I couldn’t really find much, other than what you see above. All shots of the phone in various colors are curiously placed at an angle where you can’t see the bezel as much where on the Xperia XA page, there are more direct photos of the phone.

Discuss:

Does the thicker bezel bug you or is the fingerprint sensor worth it?

[Via XperiaBlog]