Sony has launched its new Xperia 1 VI smartphone, however for all of the helpful upgrades and top-tier specs, the show has misplaced its most spectacular characteristic.
Final yr’s Xperia 1 V and all 4 of its predecessors had a display with a 4K decision. It left Sony as the one main firm releasing telephones with such a high-quality panel.
Whereas a distinct segment characteristic, there was one large profit in comparison with the 1440p or 1080p panels you see on most smartphones: watching TV exhibits and flicks.
When you had entry to 4K HDR content material, be it through a streaming service like Netflix or your personal digital obtain, the Xperia 1 V was the very best cellphone to observe it on.
Content material appeared merely gorgeous on the 6.5-inch OLED panel, particularly with a tall 21:9 facet ratio making certain there was no letterboxing (black bars above and under the content material) for widescreen video.
Nevertheless, each are gone on the brand new Xperia 1 VI. It’s now an unremarkable 1080p OLED panel with a extra typical 19.5:9 facet ratio. The energy of the 1080p display on the Xperia 10 V from final yr suggests it’ll be show, albeit with out something to face out from Android rivals such because the Galaxy S24 Extremely and Pixel 8 Professional.
On the plus aspect
It’s not all unhealthy information, although. The Xperia 1 VI’s display now helps LTPO know-how, which means it will possibly mechanically modify the refresh price between 1- and 120Hz, serving to to save lots of battery life when not required.
Alongside the decrease decision and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset (recognized to be extra energy environment friendly than the 8 Gen 2 on the Xperia 1 V), Sony says the 5000mAh cell provides the longest battery lifetime of any Xperia 1 cellphone – as much as two full days.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Sony can be hoping it’s the most effective battery life telephones as a manner of standing out in a tricky market.
Extra room to zoom
The Xperia V I makes use of the identical Exmor T sensor as its predecessor, which crops a 52Mp sensor to create a 48Mp one. It’s nonetheless joined by a 12Mp ultrawide and 12Mp selfie lenses, however the 12Mp telephoto has been upgraded.
Its variable focal lengths have been prolonged to 85-170mm which means an optical zoom vary of three.5-7.1x. That’s one of many highest on any cellphone, and means you received’t need to depend on digital zoom for many zoom photographs.
This provides loads of flexibility for portrait-style photographs, however Sony additionally particularly recommends it for close-up macro images, which may keep in focus as much as 4cm away from the topic.
However who’s it for?
It’s obscure who would purchase the Xperia 1 VI apart from loyal followers. Its predecessor suggests pictures can be a step down from the very best digicam telephones, whereas the show now not stands out from rivals.
The dedication to 3 Android OS updates (ships operating Android 14) and 4 years of safety updates is healthier than earlier than, however nonetheless effectively behind Google and Samsung, which supply seven on their newest flagships.
And the Xperia VI doesn’t come low cost – it prices £1,299/€1,399, making it one of the vital costly Android telephones you should purchase.
With that in thoughts, the brand new Xperia 10 VI could be a better option. With a beginning value of £349/€399, it’s very a lot a mid-range cellphone and retains the 21:9 show, albeit nonetheless with a 1080p decision and downgrades to the chipset and cameras.
Pre-orders for each telephones are dwell now. The Xperia 10 VI will go on sale “from the center of June”, however a launch date hasn’t but been revealed for the Xperia 1 VI.