Sony has announced its latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1V. At first glance it doesn’t look much different from the Xperia 1 IV that preceded it, with its tall 21:9 display, vertical row of rear cameras and sensibly square design. But internally it uses a new “Exmor T for mobile” sensor for its main camera, which Sony describes as a “2-layer Transistor Pixel stacked CMOS image sensor” that is 1.7 times larger than the sensor in last year’s model . claims Sony this provides twice the low-light performance compared to the Xperia 1 IV, producing images with “rich colors and textures”.
Like Sony’s other recent flagships, the Xperia 1 V is priced at the premium end of the spectrum. Preorders in the US open today for $1399.99 with shipping expected from July 28. Meanwhile in Europe the phone will cost €1399 / £1299 and will ship at the end of June.
The new sensor is not only larger, but also has a higher resolution than Sony’s in previous Xperia phones. GSMArena reports that the total resolution is technically 52 megapixels, but says it has a 4.3:3 aspect ratio, meaning a bit of cropping for 4:3 photos or 16:9 video. The result is an effective one 48 megapixel resolution which is designed to output 12 megapixel photos. Meanwhile, the telephoto and ultra-wide cameras still use 12-megapixel sensors.
On the software side, Sony has made some improvements to its Photo Pro and Video Pro apps with a new vertical user interface and support for focus peaking when you adjust focus manually. Other camera features include support for continuous shooting at up to 30 frames per second and eye-tracked autofocus. A new microphone has also been placed near the rear camera to ensure that your subjects can be heard even when filming in noisy locations.
Sony has continued to include increasingly rare but fan-favorite features in the Xperia 1 V. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD card slot and a dedicated camera shutter button on the side of the phone. The large 6.5-inch OLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and is flanked by dual stereo speakers that Sony optimistically claims “provide an authentic movie and music viewing experience without the need for an additional speaker”.
Internally, the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship processor paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of expandable storage. You get a 5000mAh battery with support for 30W wired charging and up to 15W wireless charging, per Stuff‘s review. Sony claims various optimizations should mean the battery still holds 80 percent of its charge after 3 years of use.
In addition to the Xperia 1 V, Sony also has the mid-range Xperia 10 V. It has a less premium design and is powered by a less powerful Snapdragon 695 chipset, but is significantly cheaper at €449 (£399, about $490). It will be available in Europe in mid-June, but there’s no sign of a US release in Sony’s press materials.
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