Sony Xperia Pro-I hands-on review

26 October 2021


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Shui8, 26 Oct 2021To achieve 24mm equiv. Of course to save space for other le... moreA wider angle lens helps reduce the Z-length (so keeps the lens assembly thin), but it doesn't affect the amount of internal space available for other camera modules at all.

Also, the amount of DoF this camera provides you in 24mm crop mode is actually comparable to other phones with a 1/1.3 inch sensor. They have a comparable *effective* sensor area, after all.. and it doesn't really seem that Sony provides users an option to shoot stills in 20MP, either.

I remember the usual anonymous guy said this to me in one of the comment sections:
"Ask them to cut portion of photos like chinese brands do so this way can pretend cheap plastic lens is better than pro glass gear."
(https://www.gsmarena.com/newscomm-51530p3.php#2414341)
Now this is getting really embarrassing for him.

    Pricey proper camera centric phone by s good company and even with all that going for it,it's still a crappy bodge,bigger sensor strangled by lack of light gathering ability,don't believe me look at shots taken with an rx100/7 and those taken with the phone,look different don't they,perhaps it's something to do with the much bigger lens in the camera versus the tiny little thing on the phone.

      I don't think this phone is worth the money. After looking at the samples, despite the hardware, you get a similar image to the competition, but the competition costs much less. The OnePlus 9 Pro has a similar problem where the hardware is great, but the jpegs look terrible because they're processed terribly.

      Plus, the "ancient" selfie sensor is just insulting on a product this expensive.

        • S
        • Shui8
        • IV8
        • 26 Oct 2021

        Nick Tegrataker, 26 Oct 2021Edit: Apparently this phone applies an extremely heavy crop... moreTo achieve 24mm equiv. Of course to save space for other lenses as well 🤷🏻

        You still got the natural DoF & 2.4 pixel size came out from the 1" sensor though.

          Nick Tegrataker, 26 Oct 2021To me, it is definitely a missed opportunity that the senso... moreEdit: Apparently this phone applies an extremely heavy crop to its 20MP main shooter and effectively uses it as a 12MP one, which makes its sensor area while shooting stills roughly 1/1.3 inch equivalent.

          What the actual ****??????? Why???????

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            • Ash
            • 6p}
            • 26 Oct 2021

            Spectacular. Just amazing. So much surprised with that totally unique approach of sony. Boss is back with bang

              To me, it is definitely a missed opportunity that the sensor resolution is 20MP but rather capped at 12MP. In the majority of daylight scenes, it loses out to iPhone in terms of texture rendition (which isn't particularly great at rendering details naturally, though to be fair iPhone does have a slight resolution advantage due to 26mm lens).

              While the low light performance is solid, it also seems that the new Xperia is again using forcibly-enabled long exposure night mode to achieve such result, which shouldn't be even necessary given the sensor's high sensitivity. Noise is also quite noticeable which is odd because other high-end Xperia high-ends handle them very nicely. It may be due to the pre-release software, but as for now this phone is not excelling in the area where it particularly should.

              On the other hand, I really like the colour reproduction. It's probably looking even nicer because the one that this phone is compared against is iPhone, but I like the fact that it doesn't try to tweak colours in a weird way like some other companies do.

              I also appreciate the variable aperture - due to an increase in sensor size in recent phones, it is getting increasingly more difficult to take close-up shots WITHOUT blurring the background. Stopping the lens down to F4 basically solves the issue where you want to take a picture of the food but can't fit every dish into the plane of focus. I really wish other manufacturers will adopt the same technology, honestly.

              Finally, 12-bit RAW - Even though the recent phones from Google, Apple, and Vivo all offer 14-bit HDR RAW capture mode which provides a wider dynamic range, I believe the output for a regular single-frame RAW is still restricted to 10-bit on all of them, not to mention they all have a smaller sensor than Xperia Pro-I. It would be nice if GSMArena carried out the RAW image quality comparison between all recent flagship phones, along with some reference images from a dedicated camera.

              Now the price, it's.. 2000 USD. Yeah, I'll wait and see what other manufacturers will come up with next year. But seeing all of these impressive technologies on a relatively thin body, to me the future looks promising for the smartphone industry, that's for sure.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Lj$
                • 26 Oct 2021

                Shui8, 26 Oct 2021A huge breakthrough for Xperia, kudos Sony! 👏👏 That came... moreObviously there is no space for periscope.
                Unless phone was much larger like a Mate 20X.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • Lj$
                  • 26 Oct 2021

                  Jimmy Potter, 26 Oct 2021At a price of 1800 euros, this phone doesn't have larg... more1" is 4x the size of 1/2".

                    • N
                    • Nicer
                    • GX4
                    • 26 Oct 2021

                    1799 euros is enough to buy a really pro dslr for those who want a career in photography and even with less money than this.

                    All flagships and camera phones like this are scams for their prices

                      • S
                      • Shui8
                      • KZK
                      • 26 Oct 2021

                      A huge breakthrough for Xperia, kudos Sony! 👏👏

                      That camera samples alone looks like its the best yet came out from main sensor smartphone world.

                      But that price, ouch 😂 (dual telephoto as 5iii could have been better)

                      Still happy using my vanilla P40, 1/1.28" main sensor for just $500 bought brand new last year 😂😂😂

                        [deleted post]I wonder if trolling is lifestyle for You or more like hobby? You know as well as anyone that mentioned Ultra is like 200 euros worth mid-range toy compared to this.

                          this smartphone just came out of the blue but, pleasant surprise.

                            I have a Sony RX100 III. No phone camera comes close, even a Pixel.

                              At a price of 1800 euros, this phone doesn't have large camera sensors. 1/2” is common in even low ranges phones today.
                              You can only do so much with either good optics or only large sensor. At this price you should provide both.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • X}e
                                • 26 Oct 2021

                                [deleted post]Maybe it's not complete garbage after all but for over $1500 - no, thanks! I can buy used, in great condition Galaxy S21 Ultra twice cheaper than that.

                                  • H
                                  • Husss
                                  • IBN
                                  • 26 Oct 2021

                                  I heard this will be at 1800 USD.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Lj$
                                    • 26 Oct 2021

                                    Would be nice if gsmarena stops saying it is sensor from rx100.
                                    It is not. That is 3:2 with DRAM.
                                    This is not.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • Lj$
                                      • 26 Oct 2021

                                      joe nodden, 26 Oct 2021Knew they should've upgraded from a disappointing 12MP... moreSensor has 20.
                                      But to keep module slim, it is cropped from 19mm.
                                      Sharp R6 uses 19mm as well.
                                      At 24mm, bump would be thicker.

                                      Phone makers will never make some design sacrifices to fit well some stuff.

                                        Beautiful design. As Sony phones usually have. Can't wait for the full review.