Sony Xperia 1 V Review: A Samey Sony Sequel

Worth When Reviewed

$1,399.99

Greatest Costs At the moment: Sony Xperia 1 V

$1,375.00

You actually couldn’t name Sony inconsistent. 

The Xperia 1 V is the fourth Sony flagship cellphone in a row to look primarily equivalent. It’s not simply the design that’s stayed comparable both, with a essentially comparable ethos meaning this shares the identical strengths and weaknesses because the telephones that got here earlier than. 

Anticipate a slender construct, an in depth show, and a strong chipset on the coronary heart of the cellphone – all held again by sluggish charging, an advanced digital camera, and an excessively excessive worth level. 

If Sony’s idiosyncrasies line up with your personal you then would possibly effectively love the Xperia 1 V, but when their former flagships have left you chilly then this newest mannequin will do nothing to alter your thoughts. 

Design & construct 

• Tall, skinny physique 
• Dimpled, grippy glass end 
• IP65/68 

From the entrance, the Xperia 1 V seems to be precisely the identical as final yr’s 1 IV. The cellphone is sort of precisely the identical dimension, form, and weight – which means you get an unusually tall, slim system that’s designed to be snug to make use of with one hand. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The one actual change is to the again, the place Sony has changed its earlier matt end with a brand new textured impact. It’s nonetheless completed in toughened Gorilla Glass (Victus, with the newer Victus 2 commonplace on the display), however the glass is now dimpled throughout. 

It sounds a little bit odd, however the impact is that the cellphone feels grippy and textured reasonably than slick – actually, it doesn’t actually really feel like glass in any respect, which is sufficient to screw along with your head a little bit. 

I’m an enormous fan of the impact, which is refined however actually distinctive, and makes my black mannequin really feel a little bit extra fascinating. The cellphone can be out there in silver or inexperienced if you happen to choose. 

The cellphone is waterproof too, with Sony’s uncommon IP65/68 score. This makes extra sense than it appears – the 2 scores are technically completely different, with the previous guaranteeing a sure degree of splash safety and the latter safety from being immersed in water. With a score towards each, that is the very best water-resistance assure in the marketplace. 

Display & audio system 

• 4K, 120Hz OLED panel 
• Not LTPO 
• Stereo audio system 

Few areas of the Xperia 1 V name again to its predecessor as a lot because the show, which Sony itself admits is strictly the identical. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

For probably the most half, that’s not a nasty factor – this can be a 6.5in OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh charge and still-rare 4K decision – Sony surprisingly stays primarily the one producer kitting its flagships out with 4K panels. 

The draw back is that it additionally means Sony nonetheless hasn’t jumped on the LTPO bandwagon – the more moderen improve to OLED tech that permits excessive refresh charge shows to dynamically scale their refresh charge, dropping low to preserve battery when applicable. It’s de rigueur for Android flagships now, and Sony’s display – whereas good in different respects – feels a contact behind right here. 

It’s additionally uncommon in sticking to a cinematic 21:9 side ratio, although this quirk is one I’m a fan of. It makes this an excellent cellphone for watching films on, but it surely’s additionally merely extra snug to make use of, and it matches in further content material vertically whenever you wish to doomscroll via Twitter or Instagram. 

The stereo audio system right here aren’t too unhealthy, with a properly balanced sound profile, however the most quantity is a little bit restricted and slight distortion units in as you get near that mark. There are higher on the market, which is odd given Sony’s audio credentials. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The place the cellphone does set itself aside is the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s possible you’ll not care if you happen to’re already dedicated to Bluetooth cans, however if you happen to’re an audiophile for whom solely a bodily connection will do, that is the premium cellphone for you. 

It additionally helps the LDAC codec for Hello-Res audio over Bluetooth, for audiophiles who’ve ditched their wires. 

Specs & efficiency

• High-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip 
• 12GB RAM as commonplace 
• Unreliable fingerprint sensor 

It’s no shock that one of many particular upgrades to the Xperia 1 V is the bounce to the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.  

This places the cellphone among the many strongest Android fashions in the marketplace proper now, bolstered by 12GB of RAM as commonplace and both 256GB or 512GB of storage, various by market. 

The lengthy and in need of it’s that the cellphone is quick and fluid, dealing with day-to-day duties with ease. This can be a superb choice for on a regular basis customers, dedicated avid gamers, or the productivity-focussed hoping to make use of the cellphone to energy their work life on the go. It doesn’t get significantly better. 

Connectivity comes within the type of 5G help, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E, and NFC – all as much as the most recent requirements. 

It solely helps a single bodily SIM card, however you should utilize two SIMs if certainly one of them is a digital eSIM. There’s, nevertheless, a slot for a microSD card, which helps as much as 1TB of additional storage – and is accessible and not using a SIM software, for straightforward swapping out on the go. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

As for biometrics, you get the choice of face unlock or fingerprint utilizing a scanner constructed into the ability button. These was once extra dependable than under-display choices, however the tables have turned now and Sony feels left behind – this scanner is a little bit sluggish, and sporadically fails to recognise my thumbprint in any respect. Different telephones are merely higher right here. 

Digicam & video 

• Triple rear digital camera 
• Variable telephoto lens 
• Complicated digital camera apps require images expertise 

The Xperia telephones have lengthy been a contradiction with regards to cameras, and the pattern continues right here. 

For one, Sony makes arguably the very best smartphone digital camera sensor on the planet proper now, within the 1in IMX989, present in telephones just like the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and Vivo X90 Professional – however you gained’t discover it right here. 

As a substitute, the primary shooter within the Xperia 1 V makes use of a unique, customized sensor – referred to as the Exmor T – cropping a 52Mp sensor barely to make use of a 48Mp part of it. 

That’s an enormous change from the 12Mp important digital camera final yr, and Sony says the improve ought to allow a big efficiency bounce, particularly in low gentle. 

I’ll be trustworthy: I’m not offered. Photographs out of the primary digital camera look nice in good gentle, however that’s true for each high-end cellphone round proper now. 

The 1 V nonetheless holds its personal in dim however easy lighting – taking pictures at golden hour or snapping photographs of your dinner in a candlelit restaurant, for instance.  

However as soon as it will get genuinely darkish, high quality drops dramatically, and isn’t helped a lot by the cellphone’s devoted evening mode – astonishingly, in 2023, the primary time Sony has ever supplied one. 

Photographs in low gentle are grainy and missing element, and if there’s any gentle supply in body – a bulb, or the night sky – you possibly can count on it to be blown out and too vibrant. The photographs I took at an Alvvays live performance are among the many worst I’ve had from a flagship cellphone at a gig. 

It is a good digital camera, but it surely’s clearly beneath the extent of different telephones at this worth. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The corporate has caught with 12Mp sensors for the cellphone’s ultrawide, telephoto, and selfie cameras, all three of which seem to have been lifted straight from the 1 IV.  

The spotlight stays the telephoto, which has a variable zoom able to hitting 3.5x or 5.2x optical zoom – although in observe, these two are so shut that you simply’re unlikely to note a lot distinction between them. 

It’s nice at these optical zoom ranges, however element drops sharply if you happen to push it additional, with blurry, delicate photographs – and a great deal of noise if you happen to attempt to use it in low-light, like at a live performance. 

The issue lurking behind each lens is the Sony software program, which is unnecessarily sophisticated.  

Your important digital camera app is known as Pictures Professional, however incorporates inside it a separate set of professional instruments modelled on Sony’s Alpha digital camera software program.  

It’s also possible to shoot video in right here, but when that doesn’t fulfill there are two separate video apps pre-installed on the cellphone – Video Professional and Cinema Professional – every modelled on completely different Sony digital camera traces. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

One of the best case state of affairs could be that having all these apps would merely be a bit complicated – but it surely’s unimaginable to flee the sensation that the one solution to get the very best out of those cameras is to dive into the professional settings and go handbook. 

I believe {that a} photographer keen to dive into the small print may use the 1 V to take photographs on a par with a Pixel 7 Professional or Galaxy S23 Extremely, however that’s not how most of us use our telephones. Should you simply need to have the ability to level and shoot, you’re higher off elsewhere. 

Battery & charging 

• Stable day-and-a-bit battery 
• Wired and wi-fi charging – however slowly 
• No charger included 

Regardless of the slim body, the Xperia 1 V packs a surprisingly chunky 5000mAh battery inside. 

Mixed with its pretty environment friendly Snapdragon chipset that simply delivered a full day of battery life in my testing, and a good few hours the subsequent day too. 

I wouldn’t fairly belief the cellphone to run for a full two days with out actually stripping again my utilization and dropping down the refresh charge or decision, however so long as you’re joyful to cost day by day you need to be free from battery nervousness. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Charging might be both wired or wi-fi, however there are downsides. The primary is that Sony is without doubt one of the corporations that doesn’t ship any charger with its telephones any extra, so that you’ll must already personal a USB-C charger from one other system. 

The second is that even the wired charging is proscribed to pretty sluggish 30W speeds. Testing with certainly one of my very own third-party chargers, within the absence of an official Sony one, that was solely sufficient to revive 41% of the battery in half an hour, which is fairly poor by trendy requirements. 

Software program & updates 

• Ships with Android 13 
• Minimal Sony tweaks 
• Probably restricted long-term help 

The Xperia 1 V ships with Android 13, the most recent model of Google’s working system on the time of writing.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Sony doesn’t modify the expertise as a lot as many rivals. In truth, it leaves the core OS alone for probably the most half, focussing on tweaks like further show high quality settings and its ‘Aspect sense’ shortcut bar, an non-obligatory mode that hovers alongside the sting of the display with fast entry to apps and different features. 

Sony does set up a good few of its personal apps nevertheless. There are the three aforementioned digital camera apps, a recording app referred to as Music Professional, the Bravia Core movie streaming app (don’t fear, you’re not the one one who’s by no means heard of it), and a pair extra moreover. Most can’t be uninstalled, although fortunately you possibly can punt Bravia Core off the cellphone. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Sony hasn’t publicly promised how lengthy it’ll give software program help to the Xperia 1 V, or answered our request for clarification, however we will guess. The 1 IV was promised a paltry two Android variations and three years of safety patches, and a repeat of that appears probably. 

That may see the cellphone obtain Android 14 and 15, with its final main Android replace coming in late 2024 and safety help ending in 2026. That’s high-quality if you’re the kind to improve typically, however not adequate for individuals who count on a cellphone to final a superb few years. Samsung, Apple, and Google supply not less than 5 years of safety help every.

Worth & availability 

The Xperia 1 V isn’t truly out but – it goes formally on sale from 28 July within the US, or an earlier 29 June within the UK, although you possibly can pre-order the cellphone already not less than. 

It’s costly, setting you again $1,399/£1,299/€1,399. That’s a worth drop for the US not less than, the place final yr’s cellphone was an exorbitant $1,599, but it surely’s nonetheless proper within the higher echelons of smartphone pricing. 

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

You might decide up any of the Pixel 7 Professional, Galaxy S23 Extremely, or iPhone 14 Professional Max for lower than an Xperia, and I’d fortunately suggest any of these telephones over this one for nearly any purchaser. 

Take a look at our rating of the very best telephones for extra alternate options. 

Verdict 

Sony has doubled down on its uncommon choice to pitch the Xperia 1 collection firmly at creatives who already personal Sony gear. 

Should you shoot with Sony cameras and desire a cellphone with the identical really feel – and some particular compatibility options – then you might effectively love the Xperia 1 V. 

However that doesn’t describe me, and it gained’t describe most individuals. For nearly anybody else there’s little motive to pay extra for a cellphone that always delivers much less because of an advanced digital camera and sluggish charging. 

The one actual space it excels is its 4K show, however that’s outdated information now and of restricted use – there’s a motive no different cellphone producer has ever bothered to equal it. 

Sony’s {hardware} stays as slick as ever, however at this worth there’s little motive for most individuals to place up with the compromises. 

Specs 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 
• 6.5in 120Hz 4K HDR OLED show 
• 12GB RAM 
• 256/512GB storage 
• Cameras:
  • 48Mp, f/1.9 important digital camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide digital camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.3-2.8 3.5-5x telephoto digital camera
  • 12Mp, f/2.0 selfie digital camera
• 30W wired charging 
• 15W wi-fi charging 
• 5000mAh battery 
• 3.5mm headphone jack 
• Gorilla Glass Victus (rear) and Victus 2 (show)
• IP65/68 
• Black, silver, inexperienced 
• Android 13