Sony Xperia 1 V review

11 May 2023


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vrvly, 15 May 2023Probably any flagship can shoot raw right now. 1V is probab... moreXiaomi 13 Ultra and S23U both absolutely best any Sony in pure image detail and resolution. However, as you said there's something just very weird about how the images are processed. They don't look appealing to the eye. In my opinion it's not just the colour, it's the post-processing and their pixel binning process. The photos just look unnatural. No matter what you do the images just look "off". That's the only way I can describe it. It's like they feel a bit flat and they somehow can't capture any "wow" factor.

Only Sony and one other company "Vivo" know how to do real smartphone camera processing in my opinion. Photos from the Vivo X90P+ and Sony Xperia Pro-i are just a joy to look at. They are vibrant but not over saturated. Shadows are deep but not over contrasted. There's plenty of detail but not so much that you are distracted by it. Lighting is realistic and the photo looks professional right out of the box. Vivo has their amazing custom image chip and Sony is doing a lot of things under the hood and a lot of it is very different. Where other brands are "make it bigger, make it more megapixels, make the zoom further". Sony is going for photos you want to print out and hang on your wall. That's why I like Sony, that's why they usually get my money even though they're super expensive.

This is also even before you count that Sony has features that even Samdung and Apple can't provide. Front facing speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSDXC, dedicated camera shutter button, custom vibration engine etc. Yes the phones are expensive but even the cheapest Xperia feels more premium than any Samsung or Xiaomi.

    Anonymous, 18 May 2023Once you resample those 48mp to 12mp photos you don't ... moreThe key part being "resample" - you don't downsample a higher-res image to match the magnification of a lower one, but rather you should stretch out the lower-res image to match the magnification of the larger one because that way neither of those images is losing any amount of details. Just go take a look at the 48MP photo of the balcony scene from iPhone and stretch the 12MP one from Xperia to match the magnification, and you will see a world of difference in terms of how the patterns are rendered.

    "onys issue is focusing thats why plants on top of the building as well as balconies are super soft cause they are out of focus"
    This is why you should never use the snail scene for a comparison purpose - the snail isn't on the same focal plane as the rest of the background objects are, so depending on where the reviewer stands to take a photo and how large the physical aperture of the lens is, the depth of field sometimes messes up the details in the distant buildings.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • Yck
      • 19 May 2023

      Anonymous, 18 May 2023Once you resample those 48mp to 12mp photos you don't ... moreTry watching a youtube video with quality set to 4k on a 1080p display, there is clear detail benefits over watching native 1080p quality on 1080p display.
      that is the easiest way to see the effects of oversampling.
      saving a 48mp image as 12mp using photoshop does not do the same thing.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • Yck
        • 19 May 2023

        HebrangOmarov, 18 May 2023Oh come on. This camera performance is a joke. I'm not... moreThis is the perfect phone for me, in the current market of available phones.
        headphone jack, expandable storage, form factor.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 70d
          • 18 May 2023

          Anonymous, 18 May 2023Once you resample those 48mp to 12mp photos you don't ... moreWhy would you downscale 48 MP photos to 12 MP photos? If you want 12 MP photos, why bother capturing 48 MP photos?

            Oh come on. This camera performance is a joke. I'm not sure why Sony even bother with phones anymore, their products are clearly inferior on most fronts.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • LH6
              • 18 May 2023

              Nick Tegrataker, 17 May 2023I really like the fact that you ignored literally everythin... moreOnce you resample those 48mp to 12mp photos you don't achieve any extra detail compared to Sonys native 12mp shot. I just did that in Photoshop and all images look on par or pretty much the same, Sonys native 12mp included. Sonys issue is focusing thats why plants on top of the building as well as balconies are super soft cause they are out of focus, I would assume Auto mode has switched to center focus instead of whole area focus or something.

              Overall In my oppinion when it comes to Samsung you get better 12mp image if you downscale 48mp image compared to what Samsung offers you at native 12mp because there is no additional frame stacking, tone mapping additional sharpening etc.

                • J
                • Jonnyboy
                • mY8
                • 18 May 2023

                I'm very tempted to buy this phone. One extra thing I like is,in cinema Pro that allows you to use two focus points and manage them. One question if anyone knows; Does the eyefocus apply on animals as well? For example,if a pigeon sits on your balcony will it focus on its eyes?

                  • m
                  • mbtathcx
                  • Afb
                  • 18 May 2023

                  The main camera is truly a beast, although as said some photos are bit too much dark, but that can be patched. They finally added focus peaking which is nice feature to have, but how well it works is a question. It is also nice they resolved the overheating issue finally. If I didn't have mark IV I would definitely buy it, but I take mostly photos so i don't really have a problem with the overheating and zoom lens and sensor is the same which is kind of meh. So maybe next year or another one :). The main camera and sensor upgrade alone, although significant, wont do it for me this year.

                  I am just wondering why the photos from tele camera looks bit worse then from mark IV and the video looks really bad, 3,5x zoom seems like it has only focus on the left bottom corner and 5,2x I have no idea, maybe bottom mid? Even on mark IV the autofocus on this camera is problematic but not like this and I can see they didn't fix that.

                  Did you try to use focus peaking or set the focus manually? I would love to see if there would be any difference.

                  On my mark IV I don't use that tele camera for long range photos unless necessary and video even less, the output can be pretty poor unless there are perfect light conditions, (so you can go at least 1/400, lowest ISO and HDR) and even then its a hit or miss, mostly a miss nevertheless. Imo this camera is better suited for tele macro and portraits although I wouldn't go too far over 4x zoom.

                  In overall, Xperia 1 is a very unique and the only phone on the market I would buy for many reasons. There is many things what Sony could do better of course, but hey, nobody is perfect.
                  And for me, any other alternative is not acceptable as they all have just more cons than pros.

                    Anonymous, 18 May 2023Read again review of 14 pro when writer says 48MP mode used... more"writer says 48MP mode used to shoot 48mm equivalent has less detail than default 12MP mode"
                    Well, let's see..

                    From GSMArena's iPhone 14 Pro review:
                    "The new 48MP sensor allows Apple to offer 2x lossless zoom by cropping from the center of the 48MP image. And the 2x zoomed photos are outstanding - the detail is plenty, the sharpening is just right, and the photos are as contrasty and colorful as the standard output."

                    From their iPhone 14 Pro Max review:
                    "This exceptional performance is undeniably the reason why the iPhone 14 Pro Max is capable of producing great shots at the 2x zoom level - they are sourced from this main 48MP camera, after all. Detail is excellent, better than some dedicated 2x cameras, we'd say, while global parameters remain the same as in images saved at the native field of view."

                    Stacking lies on top of another lie won't help your case at all.

                      Anonymous, 18 May 2023No. Sharpening. Sony jpeg has least amount of all brands,... more"Sony jpeg has least amount of all brands"
                      BS. While Sony's JPEG processing doesn't apply Apple or Samsung level of sharpening, it still does just as much as Find X6 Pro, which means it's considerably more than the amount applied by Xiaomi 13 Ultra or Vivo X90 Pro. You can tell this by looking at the studio comparison chart and checking how much ringing there is around high-contrast edges (e.g. The white borders surrounding the black GSMArena logo on the centre or "+" signs on the chart). In fact, it's only recently that Sony finally started to go easy on image processing - for instance, Xperia Pro-I suffered from fairly excessive JPEG sharpening which was noticeable even on a small screen.

                      "Gsmarena is tired of saying full mode is upscaled version"
                      And guess what, I'm absolutely tired of saying for FIVE straight years that there's a TANGIBLE👏 RESOLUTION👏 ADVANTAGE👏 for shooting in a full-res mode, which you would've surely noticed if you had ever, EVER taken a look at even a single of the photo examples I presented you in the past. In case you missed every one of them, here are a few that you can look into: https://imgur.com/a/HV8gFZL
                      Start using your eyes instead of literally taking everything GSMArena throws at you at face value.

                      "AF system would never be at 48MP as efficient as 12MP because of readout modes"
                      You keep conveniently ignoring that having the option to shoot in 48MP mode in the camera app will NOT prevent you from shooting in a faster 12MP mode.

                      "Instead you should complain to samsung and oppo why both do worse despite larger sensors"
                      I will rather complain about why Xperia 1 V captures such a noisy image in low light despite using a 2x longer shutter speed than Find X6 Pro.

                      You don't have to go full-bent on defending every single decision Sony has made simply because you support the brand. Sony won't love you back or reward you for telling blatant lies such as "48MP QB has no advantage in terms of details over 12MP Bayer".

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • LH6
                        • 18 May 2023

                        Anonymous, 18 May 2023Sony is doing the absolute minimum. The lowest low possible... moreThey also give you the thickest glass coating on both front and back compared to other manufacturers. You get some you loose some.

                          • s
                          • sol42
                          • p8K
                          • 18 May 2023

                          Love the finger reader, 3.5 mm and SD, but format is both too long and too narrow for me. How are you supposed to carry this dildo shaped thing in a normal pocket? What if you want to look at a 4:3 photo, a map, desktop mode on a web page or use it with one hand when buttons and menues are at the top?

                          A second problem for me is that updates are way too limited for the price. It's not 2018 anymore. You have to have at least 4 years of Android updates at this price, wake up Sony.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • pWD
                            • 18 May 2023

                            Mangoon, 17 May 2023Likely 2, 3 years security. Pretty abysmal.Sony is doing the absolute minimum. The lowest low possible so that still some people are willing to give them money.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 70d
                              • 18 May 2023

                              Xperiafan5, 18 May 2023Can you tell me which flagship phones support Dolby Vision ... moreYou could have checked it yourself. Anyway, Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Oppo Find X6 Pro, vivo X90 Pro+, and OnePlus 11 support Dolby Vision.

                                I hope the Xperia 5 V has the same camera setup or maybe if those rumours are true, then a telephoto with the new sensor tech.

                                I got the Pixel 7a and I like the smaller size compared to my older Xperia 1, so I will most likely get the 5 series from now on since the ToF is gone from the 1 series.

                                Returning the Pixel since it was running really hot for some reason, that Samsung chip turned out to be really bad.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • vaS
                                  • 18 May 2023

                                  this has to be the best flagship so far (considering sd card slot and audiojack)

                                    Anonymous, 13 May 2023No Dolby Vision on flagship in 2023? Please have some digni... moreCan you tell me which flagship phones support Dolby Vision apart from the iPhone, because that's the only one I know of. Dolby Vision is not that important to me on a phone anyway. You have put so much focus on Dolby Vision, but forgotten the fact that the Xperia is the only device that supports 4K, HDR10+, as well as 10bit output altogether. Your complaint here just doesn't make any sense to me.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 0p}
                                      • 18 May 2023

                                      Nick Tegrataker, 17 May 2023I really like the fact that you ignored literally everythin... moreRead again review of 14 pro when writer says 48MP mode used to shoot 48mm equivalent has less detail than default 12MP mode.

                                      QB was never meant to be used at full res. But 50% pixels at different E.V compared to other 50%, something nobody uses.
                                      There are 3 📷 with this tech, none of them offer full res mode.
                                      Panny GH6 100MP is pixel shift only, not QB to Bayer.

                                        • i
                                        • ivan
                                        • nyc
                                        • 18 May 2023

                                        No autofocus on a selfie cam :)
                                        I have a 2021 S21 Ultra that has 40 MP Dual Selfie cam with autofocus. Also

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