Sony Xperia 1, 10 Plus, 10, L3 hands-on review

25 February 2019
Sony's fresh new lineup can be best described as different and exciting. First off, we have the Xperia 1, intended as a continuation of Sony's "Premium" line, rather than the flagship "XZ" one. Then there are the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus, which are shaping up as successors to the popular "XA" lineup. Last and probably least, there is the new Xperia L3 entry-level model.

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  • 03 Mar 2019

Tann Hauser, 02 Mar 2019After wmc, well... this seems to be my only option. Would g... moreAll companies have to follow the trend.
Otherwise.. they will die quickly

    Calin, 03 Mar 2019There is no such thing as a battery lasting as long as a ne... moreWhat you call crap... is fact.
    I can atest to QNovo actually preserving battery capacity as good as new, after using it on my device for 2 years now.
    My device still on 6-7 hr SoT as it was 2 years ago when bought new. Can post proof anytime.
    Dont justify some other OEMs cheap crap battery managment by falsly denoting excellent and now proven inbuilt Sony battery managment as "crap".
    Cause that would be just a crap lie.
    So enough with that crap.

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      • Calin
      • aj}
      • 03 Mar 2019

      Anonymous, 26 Feb 2019Quick Charge 4 would neutralize the Qnovo and Adaptive Char... moreThere is no such thing as a battery lasting as long as a new one after three years of regular use. Cut the crap!

        After wmc, well... this seems to be my only option. Would go for Xperia 10, but no stereo is just a no.
        Also screen notches and specks really aint worth my money, I respect myself at least that much....

        Xperia 1 lacks a headphone jack, and stereo is not balanced anymore, and too wide an aspect ratio on an oled tech screen... but, what are other choices out there?
        Definitely nowadays it comes to choosing a lesser bad.
        A screen notch or a speck... definitely a no go.
        Mono speaker a no go.
        I guess I ll have to learn to live with a headphone adapter, pray to god Sonys oled managment doesnt cause burn ins and color degradation, hope hybrid unbalanced stereo wont bother me too much, and guess the 21:9 will grow on me with time.
        On plus tho, I get some Alpha camera photo and CineAlta video candy, no nonsense edges, and gladly only minimal barely noticable screen curves.
        Will wait for sth hopefully more compact from Sony till end of year, but if not.... guess this will be it.
        There are just no other evem remotely better options for me.

        This seems to be the best.

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          • Anonymous
          • LQv
          • 02 Mar 2019

          Mike, 02 Mar 2019They are referring to XZ2/XZ3 screens cause Xperia 1 is jus... moreNo....

          6.5" 21:9 has same area of 5.9" 16:9" ....
          Less screen than XA Ultra

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            • Anonymous
            • IbF
            • 02 Mar 2019

            XYZ, 28 Feb 2019Funny to see haters complain about the size of the phones. ... more I'm a proud owner of my Z Ultra I love this phone

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              • Mike
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              • 02 Mar 2019

              Gary, 02 Mar 2019"Extra screen real estate" This screen is actually a lot... moreThey are referring to XZ2/XZ3 screens cause Xperia 1 is just a vertical extension of the screen with same width. Of course Note 8 has more screen estate but it's also 5mm wider to hold. Xperia 1 and S10+ have the exact same screen estate for example.

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                • Gary
                • bxb
                • 02 Mar 2019

                "Extra screen real estate"

                This screen is actually a lot smaller than 6.5 inch 16:9 or 18:9

                  Xperia 1 is too tall.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • Tsr
                    • 01 Mar 2019

                    O ma gosh.. it's so ugly

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                      • Cali
                      • 42J
                      • 01 Mar 2019

                      Too tall like remote control.
                      But sadly it doesnt support infrared

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                        • Anonymous
                        • LQu
                        • 01 Mar 2019

                        The Sony Xperia 1 also processes photos in the same way as Alpha cameras, according to March. “Normally when you take a picture, the phone will then compress it into a JPEG and then add the noise reduction. How Alpha does it is that it takes the Raw image, adds the algorithm to reduce the noise on the Raw image, then compresses it to JPEG, then you put noise reduction on top. That’s how Alpha is doing it. From Xperia 1, that’s how Xperia 1 will do it as well”, he said.


                        A closer collaboration with Alpha is a definite, thanks to the management change that’s happened in Tokyo with Mobile now belonging to Imaging.
                        There have also previously been issues with interdepartmental rivalry stifling collaboration, Marsh admitted. “Even though we’re one company, there are still sometimes barriers that Alpha doesn’t want to give Mobile certain things, because all of a sudden you have the same as what a £3,000 camera’s got.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • LQu
                          • 01 Mar 2019

                          Crytek, 28 Feb 2019no need for wireless charging when you have Type-C...... ... moreSony blocked many stuff on Xperia 1 demo units

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                            • 01 Mar 2019

                            Anonymous, 01 Mar 2019The future looks bright for Sony cells! Nope. That won't happen until sony stop overpricing things.
                            And now most people still prefer the other brands (especially chinese brands and samsung).

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                              • Anonymous
                              • LQu
                              • 01 Mar 2019

                              Mike, 01 Mar 2019Actually it's 44 pixels above 4K :) 21:9 -2.4 resolution... moreYou are wrong ....

                              Sony makes many different 12.2 MP 1/2.55" sensors.

                              S7, S8, S9, s10, Pixel 2, iphone Xs, Pixel 3 use different sensors. Each of these devices has a different version.

                              You read check the wikipedia page of Exmor RS.

                              Xperia 1 uses 1/2.6", not 1/2.55" ... It is exclusive and it has DRAM.

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                                • Mike
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                                • 01 Mar 2019

                                Anonymous, 28 Feb 2019Nice 3K 21:9 display, but they shouldn't have flexed with t... moreActually it's 44 pixels above 4K :)

                                21:9 -2.4 resolutions
                                1920×800 Full HD
                                3840×1600 4K UHD
                                7680×3200 8K UHD

                                It's the width that makes the resolution moniker such as HD, 4K, etc not the total pixels cause they are bound to ratio. For example 4:3 ratio in 4K (HXGA) is 4096×3072 which totals to astonishing 12 million pixels compared to "true 4K UHD in 16:9" which "only" has 8 million. That's half as much.

                                As far as the camera goes they didn't go with their 48MP sensor cause it doesn't have memory stacking which means no 960fps video. That is the official explanation.

                                My take on the camera: This is the first time modern Sony Xperia is not using exclusive Exmor R for themselves. This 12mp shooter is the same one in either Pixel 3 or Galaxy S9 but with some modifications.

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                                  • Mike
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                                  • 01 Mar 2019

                                  Anonymous, 28 Feb 2019Because you can just download Open Camera if it matter so m... moreThird party apps have no access to proprietary camera firmware bits and pieces so it's not the same really. If you ever took a photo with Instagram camera or WhatsApp camera you probably have noticed right away that picture is inferior to default camera app.

                                    Anonymous, 01 Mar 2019The future looks bright for Sony cells! It depends on their marketing nothing else, just MARKETING.

                                      Eldamri, 28 Feb 2019Is it safe to say that sony had already abandoned the compa... more Good question. I think that they should release a smaller model with sd855 on board, and 9.1 os .

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • Ibx
                                        • 01 Mar 2019

                                        The future looks bright for Sony cells!