Sony Xperia 1 II to get night mode, eye AF in ultrawide camera in first update

20 March 2020
Sony will add a few important camera features to the Xperia 1 II after launch.

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  • Chris.Y
  • d%5
  • 22 Mar 2020

Hopefully we will get at least night mode on Xperia 1 and xperia 5, feel so stupid left behind spending 800+ on my Xperia 5 three months ago

    Nice move to add these features, but just like the other major smartphone makers, Sony is making a huge phone. 165mm tall, and I was thinking that my XZ premium with 155mm of length is really big, and it is.

    Seeing that smartphone makers are losing the point here. These devices are suppose to be mobile phones. Durable and small.
    I honestly don't mind if people like big phones, i really don't. But looking at every smartphone maker going overboard with the phone sizes, making my choices quite limited. So I have to look at what's the best version of a manageable phone, and there is none anymore.
    So I have to look for other phones.. yes I'm talking about last gen flagships. At least they weren't that big.

    My XZ premium barely fits in my palm with its length, I have a hard time holding it in portrait between my fingertips. Seeing that this phone is 165mm tall, means it's impossible for it to fit in portrait between my thumb and my fingers. And every smartphone nowadays is this big.

      Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020You sing a different tune every time. You are pro-lcd until... moreThe difference between 2.5D display and "waterfall" edge is 2.5D much flat then waterfall edge, the waterfall edge is a big curved edge, some of the display content are hidden around the edge!

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • LQu
        • 22 Mar 2020

        BliTTzZ, 21 Mar 2020You can quite easily use the device. You can open notificat... more70% of netflix catalog is 21:9.
        :)

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • LQu
          • 22 Mar 2020

          Fearghast, 21 Mar 2020Good luck getting anything on the left top side of the Xper... moreSince C5 Ultra (2015) there is the one hand mode. Also, it is dumb to try to use a phone of 16,7 cm (same size of s20 ultra) with one hand. I dont have small hands, but even I cant use a Z5 (14,6cm) with one hand.

          All UIs have option to drag down notification.

          If people watch youtube vids on cellphone, why not movies?
          Dont forget, all other so far are coming 20:9, those that were 19:9 last year.
          This means all flagships will be 21:9 in 2021.


            Fearghast, 21 Mar 2020Good luck getting anything on the left top side of the Xper... moreYou can quite easily use the device. You can open notification panel by swiping down any area on the screen. After that you can reach anything you need. If you are using an app at the moment, you can also open notification panel using Side Sense. For exmaple you can set swipe up gesture to open notification panel.

            I agree that it is sometimes tricky to hit right buttons on keyboard and SwiftKey helps here immensely. It's much better than Google keyboard.

            Netflix right now has a lot of content in 21:9 aspect and 4K. I'm watching movies during trips very often and it's really great. I own Xperia 5. I had a chance to compare it with Xperia 1 while watching 4K content. Can't say about others, but my eyes see the difference.
            I can also say that majority of smartphones use screen ratio between 19:9 and 20:9 these days. So it seems like 21:9 will be new standard soon. Some may like, some not.

              Senseurheart Kimochi, 21 Mar 2020I prefer 21:9 ratio because it has more space to keep the o... moreGood luck getting anything on the left top side of the Xperia 1 or 5. Sure you can hold it with one hand, but you surely can't control it with one.
              21:9 is really bad for typing on a device because you do not have enough space for a proper key size - god bless auto-correct on Switftkey.
              21:9 is great for scrolling through Facebook pages or "social" media, but real web pages are a pain to use - constant scrolling left and right and zooming.
              I never used to split my screen in half, I use floating windows on Youtube - much more convinient.
              If I need more things in my field of view, I use ultrawide ... or take two steps backwards.
              + Watching a movie on a phone seems like a proper waste of time, when I have more devices with 4K. bigger screen, much better sound etc.
              21:1 is excesive and really pointless on a phone ... but it's Sony ... it's kinda tradition to mess something up and PR the hell out of it.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • LQu
                • 21 Mar 2020

                " At first, we were skeptical about the need for 4K displays in smartphones, but after watching a 4K HDR video, we can attest that there’s a noticeable degree of difference between it and today’s quad-HD panels."

                Phone Arena Xz2 Premium review

                Nice that since XZ2, all flagships can turn SDR into HDR. Something lately adopted by HMD and one chinese brand (oppo or vivo).

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • LQu
                  • 21 Mar 2020

                  Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020How about Sony fans be more consistent? When Sony uses L... moreNo... Crystal Led is the best.
                  For $5.000.000 you can have a 16K Crystal LED wall at home.

                  XZ2 Premium offers best image among all LCD phones.
                  1 offers best image among all oled phones.
                  Oh, both are 4K. What a coincidence.

                  It is a fact, not my fault if most use cheap screens (Cheap LCD and cheap oled) and those that buy better screen love punchy/warm colours.

                  BTW, if LCD was that bad, poor and ancient Sony and Samsung would not be using for their most expensive 8K TVs.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • LQu
                    • 21 Mar 2020

                    Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020And you never criticise Sony for using OLED in their flagsh... moreI would not buy. It will have burn in like all other.
                    Oled is a fail tech, praised just because Samsung is main supplier.

                      Fearghast, 21 Mar 2020I take vids of my kids ... if I would go for cinematic feel... moreI prefer 21:9 ratio because it has more space to keep the on-screen keyword and web content all in one screen in portrait position and it is a movie standard ratio in landscape position.
                      Furthermore, you can split screen into 16:9 at upper and 9:16 at bottom of the screen, upper play video and bottom read website or 50:50 for 2 apps same screen, which is very useful because you no need to jump apps by turn.
                      Not only that, you can capture movie style video because it is 21:9 ratio and totally fit the screen nicely and capture group photo/tree building things with much wider/taller view of fields.
                      Finally, if above no a great design please remember a phone mostly grasp by one hand, and 21:9 ratio has slimmer width which is very nice to grasp compare to those 16:9 chubby one!

                        Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020How about Sony fans be more consistent? When Sony uses L... moreYou seriously don't get the point. We are supporting display for resolution and image processing and not because it is having OLED display. 4K is noticeably sharp over QHD or FHD even at 5" and here we are talking about 6.5" which is huge. Really don't care of it being OLED or LED as long as it gives best image quality and is sharp which it does.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • uH}
                          • 21 Mar 2020

                          [deleted post]How about Sony fans be more consistent?

                          When Sony uses LCD, oh LCD is the best thing.
                          When Sony uses OLED, oh Sony has the best OLED. Ermm.. what happened to LCD is the best thing?

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • uH}
                            • 21 Mar 2020

                            Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020I prefer LcD over oled because of whole burn-in issue. Po... moreAnd you never criticise Sony for using OLED in their flagships.

                            What a hypocrite.

                              Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020I prefer LcD over oled because of whole burn-in issue. Po... moreThat's not the story, that's BS :D
                              Seriously it's not that simple and burning argument is laughable compared to much common PWM and other issues.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • LQu
                                • 21 Mar 2020

                                Anonymous, 21 Mar 2020You sing a different tune every time. You are pro-lcd until... moreI prefer LcD over oled because of whole burn-in issue.
                                Point is, with LCD or Oled Sony end up with better image than other.
                                That is the story.

                                  Anonymous, 21 Mar 202021:9 is pretty awesome even for your own videos. It does br... moreI take vids of my kids ... if I would go for cinematic feel I would not used "crappy camera phone", I would buy something like Sony AX53 instead.
                                  16:9 is where 99% of the usual content and display technology is, buying display 21:9 sounds like the worst decision I could do right now.
                                  Soon I will upgrade my old trusty Dell 4K IPS to new Acer 4K@120, IPS, HD1000 panel and buying 21:9 didn't seriously even crossed my mind.
                                  Cinematic feel is useless when you watch Netflix, YouTube, pictures you taken with a camera or phone etc.
                                  I use 21:9 phone every day, but even something like having phone in my pocket when I sit down is not comfortable because it is poking my belly :D

                                  There is a reason why most of the displays, tablets use 16:9 and phones mostly implemented narrower format (not 21:9).

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Lgw
                                    • 21 Mar 2020

                                    Fearghast, 20 Mar 2020Don't take me wrong but shooting a video in 21:9 never ocur... more21:9 is pretty awesome even for your own videos. It does bring a more cinematic feeling compared to 16:9 so I think in the future we will see more and more. Most of the other phone makers are also shifting to higher ratios (19.5:9, 20:9 etc.) so I think at some point 21:9 could be a new "standard" like 16:9. I am even considering that my next TV should be 21:9 OLED as movies just look amazing without the top black bars. Trade-off would of course be that most content is still 16:9 so the TV would have black side bars in most situations...:)

                                      • z
                                      • zsk
                                      • myq
                                      • 21 Mar 2020

                                      Flgshp2020, 20 Mar 2020Lol sony giving 4K60 in 2020. And brand boys were justifyi... moreSony's 4K is different from all others as it records in Rec 2020, 10-bit HLG. Just take the Xperia 1 and Iphone 11 pro max, point them at something in video and notice the color difference and detail.

                                        Nevitas, 21 Mar 2020Actually the Xperia 1 and the Xperia 5 support Camera2API o... moreI am glad you think so, but non-working GCam ports say otherwise.