Sony Xperia 1 gets disappointing DxOMark score for both front and back cameras

DxOMark published its review of the Sony Xperia 1 and the conclusion is that it doesn’t perform on par with flagship phones – with an overall score of 91, it matches the Pocophone F1 and is a point behind the iPhone 8.

The triple camera on the Xperia 1 has all the basics covered, but the execution isn’t perfect. The autofocus was commended for its fast and reliable operation, even in the dark. Exposure and color-rendering were in the “pros” column as well.

However, the still camera – with an unimpressive score of 94 – suffered from corner softness and some noticeable image artifacts. This includes everything from halos to ringing and moire. Auto HDR failed to trigger several times too. The flash was found to be weaker than the competition as well.

The 2x zoom camera didn’t measure up to 2019’s best either. And not just in terms of focal length – low levels of detail along with artifacts dropped Xperia 1’s score.

In terms of video recording, the phone got points for its image stabilization and good exposure. However, the Texture score is quite low, dragging the total down to 84 – simply put, videos were low on detail, even in good light.

The otherwise accurate autofocus was found to be too eager to refocus. Judder during panning shots was noticed as well.

The selfie camera on the Sony Xperia 1 doesn’t score particularly high either. With 78 points it just beats the Pixel 2. It also leaves some other prominent (though old) phones behind it – iPhone X (71), Galaxy S8 (73) and Mate 20 Pro (75).

Actually, if all you shoot is photos, the front camera is decent – its 82 points match the iPhone XS Max (though the best in the biz score in the high 90s, some even over 100). It’s the video recording that drags down the overall score, however.

The still camera proved good at group shots, especially because it focuses on faces when calculating the auto exposure. However, color rendering was unreliable and the dynamic range was found to be on the low side.

For more details, read DxOMark’s full review of the rear camera and the front camera.