Sony Xperia 1 II review

29 May 2020


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Shanti Dope, 29 May 2020I hope the dynamic range s*ck*rs are happy now to know that... moreDid they even mention DSEE Ultimate and 3D Reality audio?
I dont know, might have missed it in the "review"...

Anything on autofocus camera functions? 20 AE/AF, eye AF...?! The fastest AF enabled camera shoots only dead buildings, trees and snail monuments for Arena?


Oh they dont do audio jack anymore so, no mention of these advanced audio features...
They care only for the HDR, but are "personally not quite fond of how Sony does it". But most definitely dont care about best part of the camera, AF speed for subject and action shooting...

They most certainly gave overall less points than to SG bunch again.

Ah well, the usual Arena...
Dont know why I even bother reading these flakey reviews here.

J Bagnell, here I await the real deep dive tech review, sound, cam, and all around...

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • gBV
    • 29 May 2020

    "it's not the first offender of this sort, with OnePlus and Xiaomi coming to mind, and then there's Samsung with their 64MP 28-ish mm 'telephoto' camera on the S20s."
    Sony's behaviour isn't comparable with the behaviour of Oneplus, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung ,etc.. Sony really lies whereas other manufacturers used marketing tricks. For example Samsung and Huawei revealed the real field of view of the second camera. For example Huawei's P30 Pro crops the 125mm 8 megapixel camera in order to achieve 5x27 = 135mm with 7 effective megapixels. But Huawei didn't lie, you could still get 8 megapixel raw photos at 125mm.
    But Sony simply lies.

      Smithravi, 29 May 2020Why does this review looks like made by a biased guy. -... more'- "for anyone else with a money-is-no-object attitude for one of the best camera systems in a smartphone" I have never seen that statement for 1400$ P40 pro and S20 ultra'

      In Estonia, which is pretty expensive country if it comes to imported electronics, P40Pro costs 1050 euros. Maybe you are talking about P40Pro+ that i haven't seen here yet?

        • P
        • Pinturicchio
        • Tmv
        • 29 May 2020

        Regardless of what GSMarena are saying. They could have used a 2K screen, which would have given us better brightness levels, the now trendy 120hz and a better battery life. The apps supporting 4K are limited and on a 6.5 inch screen not sure we will notice any difference. They just want to stick out with to differ from competitors. The photo pro app is enough to differentiate themselves in my opinion....

          Still waiting for samples in photo tool...

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • gBV
            • 29 May 2020

            "Going for DRO doesn't offer the convenience or ease of use of the default Camera app and it doesn't bring meaningful benefits in terms of dynamic range"
            I guess Sony doesn't let you adjust the DRO intensity like in their large cameras? DRO is basically a setting that makes shadows brighter. So you need to expose for the highlights manually and DRO should make sure that the shadows don't become too dark. DRO is basically something like the shadows slider of the Pixel 4.

              I hope the dynamic range s*ck*rs are happy now to know that they could finally get HDR on all three cameras in Photo Pro app. Take note, it can even be set to Program Mode and act like a normal camera app but with the benefit of Sony's HDR, which is by far better than other implementations.
              Why? Just look at the color rendition, they're barely affected, if at all. Others would simply alter the white balance when applying HDR enhancements and all.

              Don't forget as well, that Sony's still going to release Night Mode for this phone. Go use that thing all the time to get HDR at all times with the standard camera app.

              Also, no mention of 4K 60fps on this thing?
              It is a damn 90Mbps worth of footage! Not mighty impressive 160Mbps as on the OP8 Pro, but it compensates that for being an HDR one (a true 10-bit HDR, not the software HDR like on the iPhone).
              Oh wait, I forgot. You reviewed the phone as a consumer aiming for full auto everything, when this phone is being heavily marketed by Sony themselves as a professional tool for professionals. A great job indeed!

              Not gonna consider your reviews worthy again until you bring back the headphone jack test. Or at least you should've done it with this phone, as well as the others that also still have the jack.

                Smithravi, 29 May 2020Why does this review looks like made by a biased guy. -... moreCan't help but agree with everything you mentioned. GSMArena's reviews aren't bad per se, but the bias which persists through most reviews when comparing with the main brands is blatant, and shows a lack of professionalism you'd expect from normal people with lots of money who don't understand phones.

                Not to mention the prices they talk about, when it comes to Euros. Almost never are they as low as they claim to be. I don't know if it has something to do with where the reviewers live, but they are off most of the times.

                  Smithravi, 29 May 2020Why does this review looks like made by a biased guy. -... more+ - No mention about SD865 not able to run 4K above 60hz

                    Nick.B, 29 May 2020Not good for them. All others are straight. Fast. This is h... moreI have mentioned the reasoning why the Q1 flagship of Sony always comes 3 months+ in either any of Mark II related-article.

                    It has to do high restrictions and forbidden on leaks during the development of the devices and the actual production of the device ONLY started after the announcement in Sony guidelines, unlike the most approaches of another OEM did (bad or good, it's up to each reader perspective). We only get the leaks of Q1 flagship mostly a few days to few hours before the announcement.

                    And as predicted, the Q3 flagship of Sony is based on their Q1 flagship, so the development of IFA-flagship much smoother, so the release date is way faster but the leak also follow-by easier.

                    I know it isn't favorable as we live in the world of instant, and I have to admit, 3 months waiting is long enough, though I only planned to replace my XZP with 1 II in 2022 (though during 2020 and the pandemic situation, 3 months feels rapidly than ever). There must be a strong argument inside there, to begin with. If not, Sony wouldn't have done this method since 2016.

                    But since then, it's up to the reader, the patience and the dedication about Xperia 1 II. For me, it's a complete-package in Sony smartphone since XZP.

                      Nick.B, 29 May 2020I am not sure it is worth it sale my find x2 pro and get th... moreFor the screen, that's 2 philosophies in my opinion. With the Xperia you get the high resolution one, useful for sharp images, when consuming content (Netflix, YouTube, etc.), while with the Oppo you get the High refresh rate, that you can see in some games or in the user interface.
                      If you watch a lot of videos, take a lot of pictures, the Xperia will be a better option, for the screen, but not only that.
                      But if you do a lot of scrolling or high refresh rate things, the Oppo will be better.

                      PS: The Xperia has the motion Blur reduction setting, maybe it can partially compensate for that.

                        Why does this review looks like made by a biased guy.

                        - Considering mobile as 1200$ even with free 250$ headphones deal. Also let me tell you, S20 Ultra in Germany right now is 1550 Euros for 16GB/512GB with exynos
                        - Mentioning about low sales during Q1.. what that has anything to do with this current mobile price???
                        - Why would they make HRR display like others?? while they have been doing 4K since 2014 and not just now??
                        - 65W charging?? Why not ask Apple and Samsung and mention it in your verdict??? and Say good bye to your battery in 3 years
                        - They mentioned pictures taken in the night are decent and complain about Nightmode in the verdict??
                        - "for anyone else with a money-is-no-object attitude for one of the best camera systems in a smartphone" I have never seen that statement for 1400$ P40 pro and S20 ultra
                        - "Display not as bright as key competitors" so you#re saying we don't care how accurate they are at brightness or about burn in they bring in long term
                        - Not mentioning HS power control as pro while no other smartphone including gaming mobiles can offer.

                        In the end all the verdict says is comparison of this smartphone with other flagships and mentioning those features as cons. On top of that no Audio output test. Disappointed as usual.

                          YouTube tops at 1080p?! Like 2018 mate20pro for 250 eur 2nd hand. It's a joke right? My find x2 pro has real 3k display. 0.9 delta in cinema color mode. Real colors. 1 billion of them. 120hz. 800+ nits. Ultravision screen and camera.ans YouTube is 1440p always available and all videos same or bigger res

                            TheGoldenMellifluous, 29 May 2020In my knowledge, since Xperia X Performance from 2016, Sony... moreNot good for them. All others are straight. Fast. This is how business works. Looks like Sony shows not finished product and than 2-4 months they finish it. That is disgusting if true.

                              I am sorry but as we see in the display page of the review, Xperia I mark 2 display is 2 planets away from my find x2 pro's. Let alone 60hz which is as we examine the smallest problem it turns out.

                              Yes I am happier now. Still with the best 2020 phone. My find x2pro. Worth every single dollar

                                Nick.B, 29 May 2020Next time please don't start selling the da*n thing 4 month... moreIn my knowledge, since Xperia X Performance from 2016, Sony always released its Q1 flagship (or known as MWC-era flagship) 3 months+ after their announcement, with exception of XZs and vanilla and compact XZ2. XZ2 Premium was announced in April 2018 and released in July 2018, so it acts as an intermediary between XZ2 and XZ3.

                                Different story for Q3 flagship or IFA-era flagship with exception of Z5 Premium (Z5 Premium released in November 2015, 2 months after the announcement), where it will be available to the public a month after their announcement. (I'm just stating where I know here, nothing else)

                                  I think it's the most "complete" flagship of this year right now.
                                  And to make things better, it has no real issues.

                                  The camera is really good, and the Sony background clearly shows in how it does thing: you choose what you want.
                                  Screen, design, audio, cameras, you get the full package.
                                  A worthy successor to the already great 1.

                                    Anonymous, 29 May 2020Oh yes... the eternal excuse!This is what I got when compared my find X2 pro camera photos with P40Pro. With was demo unit but not actual demo. Just real P40Pro attached to a table with lock cable. I got excuses from Huawei forum that I did not use real one. Which this was. Fanboys are blind. Why? I matched and exceeded daytime photos with my find x2 pro including zoom

                                      Anonymous, 29 May 2020Oh yes... the eternal excuse!Well, the battery life Endurance Rating itself hasn't been revealed due to the status of the phone in the review table. So, waiting for the final state of the phone is acceptable. The camera in another case, that's much unknown if it'll bring another difference or not...

                                        If the firmware is not final, why gsmarena is reviewing this phone? They can't do justice to this phone's camera, battery, performance. There was no need to hurry

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