Sony Xperia 1 review

08 June 2019
Sony has completely revamped its Xperia series yet again, and this year the common denominator is the cinematic screen. Every new Xperia smartphone gets a 21:9 panel for the most immersive viewing experience, but the Xperia 1 is special. It is the Xperia Premium reborn, with a large 6.5" OLED 4K HDR display and today we'll get to know it better.

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  • 08 Jun 2019

AnonD-706668, 08 Jun 2019Huh ! My iPhone 5s phone also takes 10 frames per second...... moreI assume you are talking about the predictive capture where you get to pick the frame? Well none of the iPhones do burst in full resolution unfortunately. Sony Xperia were doing that for 3 years so far but only in 4 frames. That's the difference. Also iPhone can't autofocus while doing the burst while Xperias can which mean no motion blur.

For some reason nobody talks about these little things at all.

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    • 08 Jun 2019

    Anonymous, 08 Jun 2019XZ2 is still the best samples of photo tool. No matter the ... moreThat's because XZ2/XZ2 Compact have the best tripod mode implementation. Such a shame they couldn't make it work in handheld mode but apparently Xperia 1 now can but also apparently Xperia 1 looks like crap in Comparison Tool compared XZ2

      NipponFan, 08 Jun 2019Comparison of Sony 4h hdr Co designed with Sony film studio... more>Reads your comment
      >Looks at your user name
      >Silently scrolls down to read what other people say

        Anonymous, 08 Jun 2019Movies are shot at 24fps. Why would they give 60fps? M... moreMy point is that if they have a hardware that can encode 4K60 videos, they should at least give users options to shoot in that frame rate. The option is even lacking from the default camera app, and if Sony actually focuses on the videography on a smarphone, surely they should provide all the combination of resolutions and framerates to their customers just like other companies do.

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          • Anonymous
          • LQv
          • 08 Jun 2019

          Nick Tagataka, 08 Jun 2019So to sum up this review: -Excellent 4K OLED display, easi... moreMovies are shot at 24fps. Why would they give 60fps?

          More frames per second require more lighting. That is why the 960fps looks lower quality than 30fps .
          Also HLG generates more data than HDR10/10+, hardware is not able to deal with all that data. 4K HLG cant even be done on cellphone without stacked sensor.

            Shanti Dope, 08 Jun 2019You also won't find as much detail on those Pixels or Huawe... moreI think you're mistaking a higher perceived sharpness as a better detail. One of the reason why Xperia 1's samples look better in small screen size is the amount of sharpening applied to the image - in fact Huawei's processing has been far more natural in terms of texture rendition than Sony's for several years now, and it continues to be the case this time around. You can literally see tons of white halos around the edges and a blotchy sharpening noise in the blurred background of macro shots on Xperia 1, whereas P30 Pro, even though still applies hefty amount of processing when auto HDR is activated, manages to suppress any artifacts caused by the sharpening.
            And as for low light shots, while it certainly does better than S10, I still wouldn't say it's in the same league as P30 Pro, Pixel 3 or iPhone XS.

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              • Anonymous
              • LQv
              • 08 Jun 2019

              AnonD-706668, 08 Jun 2019Huh ! My iPhone 5s phone also takes 10 frames per second...... more1) many phones can do burst but without RAM memory inside the sensor they cannot use AF for each shot. XZ Premium does predective capture with 19MP + AF, while Pixel 3 does top ahot with 1MP without AF.

              2) the 48 MP 1/2" does not have memory RAM inside. It means phone would lose Burst AF, 960fps, HLG 4K , predective capture etc ...

              3) More resolution means more pixels to process and less speed is applied. For example cameras made for sports have between 20-28MP, while for regular photography ( Birthdays, weddings, magazine covers) are above 40MP.

                Comparison of Sony 4h hdr Co designed with Sony film studios with inferior copycats is pathetic.

                If "HDR OLED screen is a must, but you can live without the 4K resolution (and frankly we can), then the OnePlus 7 Pro and Oppo Reno 10x zoom are nice (and cheaper!) alternatives." Lol

                  So to sum up this review:
                  -Excellent 4K OLED display, easily matches the one from Galaxy S10+ or OnePlus 6 in terms of overall quality. Very impressive indeed.
                  -Refined, fast UI(though I'm not entirely sure about its long-term performance)
                  -Average audio output from a dongle
                  -A great pair of speakers
                  -Substantially worse battery life than its main competitors
                  -Drastically improved from XZ3 but still aggressively oversharpened JPEG images
                  -"Targeted towards movie creators" but no 4K60 video recording option
                  -Same clunky camera UI with odd design choices
                  -Bad FPS performance despite being having a physical sensor instead of the in-display one, and limited unlocking methods
                  -Lacks wireless charging support for no reason
                  -Dynamic Vibration System is gimmicky as always

                  ...I'm sorry GSMArena, but I have no idea how this phone even managed to get a rating of 4.6. It's the best Sony has ever created but IMO it deserves 4.2 at most, considering the price tag it carries despite of all of the cons it comes with. Not trying to be a hater though, I honestly think Sony did a great job this time around. It's just it feels like this phone is being slightly overrated by GSMArena(and some Sony fans in the comment section), especially the camera, that's all I want to say.

                    Whackcar, 08 Jun 2019Zoom each image to 1:1 magnification. https://www.gsmare... moreYou also won't find as much detail on those Pixels or Huaweis as you can on Sony.
                    Well, maybe Huawei can, but only barely, and that did require a nearly 50% larger sensor to do so.
                    What's funny is that last year's XZ3 still captures much more detailed daylight images than this year's P30 Pro in daylight.
                    This Xperia 1 poses the same trait, except some pixels are lost in favor of superior low light images, at which it did wonderfully well (and a clear advantage against the S10+).

                      AnonD-706668, 08 Jun 2019Huh ! My iPhone 5s phone also takes 10 frames per second...... more10fps while changing focus continuously?
                      Unless your 5s can shoot a dog running towards the camera in burst without loosing focus on it, I'll be impressed.

                        Popop971, 08 Jun 2019I'm not most people and I'm not interested by Iphone. I was... moreYou're not being forced anyway. Have fun with your purchase :)

                          Anonymous, 08 Jun 2019"and it charges to 90% in half an hour while using the phon... moreMaybe it's from 40% to 90%, as he/she said that he/she ends his/her day with about 40% charge.
                          That's about 50% recharge in 30 minutes, which is on par with QC4.0 standard.

                            Anonymous, 08 Jun 2019XZ2 is still the best samples of photo tool. No matter the ... moreIn reality though, Xperia 1 would be more practical, as not everyone would use a tripod to capture a perfect shot.
                            Not to mention that in manual mode, the 1 can go up to 30s shutter time.

                              ashyjay92, 08 Jun 2019Has anyone actually used the phone? i've had it since thurs... moreReally?!
                              Wow, that's amazing! My phone with 4000mAh battery, and you guessed it, lower screen resolution, barely lasts a day for me with similar routine as yours.

                                Xperia 1 is a great phone but I will wait for the Xperia 2 which will have wireless charging.

                                  SeaIke, 08 Jun 2019Wow, the noise performance is one of the worst i've seen on... moreThey explained it enough in their statement.
                                  (Paraphrased) 'Images are filled with some noise, but the amount of detail is great.'
                                  The addition of noise also gives off lots of detail, which can be easily forgiven, as people that tend to post images on social media platforms don't utilize the full resolution, all while still looking good without zooming.
                                  Look at the Galaxy S10+ against the Xperia 1, it's really funny to believe the S10+ is actually a flagship phone.
                                  https://m.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=9543&idPhone2=9256&idPhone3=9535

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                                    • Hamed
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                                    • 08 Jun 2019

                                    I don't understand how a phone with 9 hours of web-browsing battery life gets 4.6 stars from GSMArena!
                                    It doesn't even get fully charged fast enough!
                                    These two are enough for me to not buy a phone

                                      alvinzm, 08 Jun 2019Perfectly capable and super exciting phone, ruined by the b... moreNumbers could only give you so much.
                                      4K HDR 21:9 OLED screen in 6.5" size being powered by a 3330mAh battery and could still last a full day running in full resolution? Dude, that's some serious optimization there!

                                        Cir90, 08 Jun 2019The battery is good enough, the finger scanner works better... moreZoom each image to 1:1 magnification.

                                        https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1-review-1941p5.php#image15

                                        https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1-review-1941p5.php#image24

                                        https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1-review-1941p5.php#image25

                                        Pay attention to skin & clothes. That right there is noise. You won't find that on Pixels or Huaweis...

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