Earlier today, Sony held a virtual launch event to debut its new Xperia smartphones, with the spotlight on the flagship Xperia 1 VI. The phone has a new processor, some improvements in the camera department, and a more conventional design.
Design & display
The Xperia 1 VI continues to follow Sony’s minimalistic design philosophy, offering a boxy design with flat edges and a flat back. The back also has a pill-shaped camera island, reminiscent of its predecessor.
The biggest change in design comes from the display, which is now a more conventional 19.5:9, rather than the 21:9 cinema aspect ratio. This change has made the smartphone shorter and wider compared to its predecessor.
Sony has also decided to ditch the 4K OLED display in favor of a 6.5-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2340 pixels) panel. The phone still uses an OLED panel which has HDR certification, full coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut & X1 for mobile. It offers a 1-120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, and 240Hz Motion blur reduction. The display, along with the back comes with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. Despite the changes to the aspect ratio, the phone still has massive top and bottom bezels.
Performance
Under the hood, the Xperia 1 VI packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, that has onboard Andreno 750 graphics. The processor is paired with up to 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage (512GB model will be available in Japan and East Asia). Sony also offers memory expandability up to 1.5TB via microSD card. To tackle thermals, the phone has included a vapor chamber cooling system.
For audio, the device offers full-stage front stereo speakers that come with improvements in bass, clarity, and the spread of sound across width and depth compared to its predecessor. It also has a 3.5mm jack for wired listening and has included technologies like 360 Reality Audio, 360 Reality Audio hardware decoding, 360 Spatial Sound, Dolby Atmos, LDAC, DSEE Ultimate, Qualcomm aptX HD audio and LE Audio for a rich audio experience.
The battery pack offers a 5,000mAh capacity, paired with 30W USB PD fast charging as well as Qi Wireless charging. For connectivity, it has support for 5G, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6E 802.11 ax, and Bluetooth 5.4 LE. For navigation, the phone supports GPS and GLONASS. Additionally, it has a USB 3.2 Type-C port, NFC, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security. It has an Android 14-based operating system, and Sony promises to deliver three Android version updates and four years of security support.
Cameras
Coming to the main highlight of the phone, the camera system features a 48MP primary unit with a 1/1.3.5″ Exymor T sensor in it. This is the same sensor as last year’s flagship Xperia model. It has an f/1.9 aperture with Hybrid OIS and EIS support. The second camera on the back is the 12MP ultra-wide with an f/2.2 aperture and a 16mm focal length. The third and last camera on the back is a telephoto camera with a 1/3.5″ sensor, and an improved 85mm-170mm optically-zoom lens that offers 3.5x to 7.1x optical zoom (21.3x hybrid zoom). All of the rear cameras have ZEISS T* coated lenses.
The front camera houses a 12MP 1/2.9″ Exmor RS mobile sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 84° field of view. The camera system of the Xperia 1 VI is capable of recording videos in up to 4K 120FPS. Sony has also revamped the camera app on the Xperia 1 VI to make it more accessible and user-friendly for point-and-shoot users. The Pro mode is still there for users who prefer customizing the camera settings to their liking.
Pricing & availability
The Xperia 1 VI starts at €1,399/£1,299 and will be available from early June. It comes in Black, Platinum Silver, and Khaki Green.
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