Sony Xperia 1 VI review

Introduction and specs

The new Xperia 1 VI is finally here, and Sony is changing things this time around. In a surprising shift in product strategy, the new Xperia 1 VI is shedding some of the lineup's staple features. To appeal to a broader audience, Sony is incorporating design and feature changes that have proven successful for its competitors. Despite these changes, the phone retains its core quirky identity, continuing to cater to creators and smartphone power users.

The Xperia 1 VI swaps out the extra-long 21:9 4K display for a more standard 19.5:9 FHD+ panel, which also happens to be LTPO, for extra power efficiency. We don't think the move is a huge loss, since their 4K display in all past models used to run in FHD resolution most of the time anyway (4K resolution was used rarely only in certain apps and only for certain content). We find the change positive especially since the company promises other upgrades of the panel, including higher brightness, better HDR video and better power efficiency.

The camera hardware remains the same, for the most part, but the telephoto unit gets a further reach now. It still features variable optical zoom, but instead of capping at 5.2x, it can now go up to 7.1x.

Additionally, Sony is streamlining the camera experience and puts everything you need (including the Photo and Video Pro modes) in the default camera app. It makes everything less complicated.

Sony Xperia 1 VI specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.0x74.0x8.2mm, 192g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus), aluminum frame; IP65/IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.50" LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR BT.2020, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 396ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 14.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.35", 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 12 MP, f/2.3, 85mm, f/3.5, 170mm, 1/3.5", PDAF, 3.5x-7.1x continuous optical zoom, OIS, 4cm macro @ 120mm; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 1/2.5", dual pixel PDAF.
• Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/2.9", 1.25µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/25/30/60/120fps HDR, 1080p@30/60/120fps; 5-axis gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 5-axis gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 30W wired, PD3.0, PPS, 50% in 30 min (advertised), Wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive; NFC; 3.5mm jack.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Native Sony Alpha camera support.

The audio department also gets some love - the 3.5mm audio jack gets new premium circuitry, and the speakers are supposedly louder and cleaner than before.

As far as performance goes, the handset expectedly employs Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with a touch of optimizations on Sony's behalf. The system offers FPS optimizer, which balances framerate, graphics quality and power consumption.

There's a lot to go through, but we won't be doing that in the introduction, so let's take a deeper dive and see if Sony can get back in the game with its new polished out high-end Xperia.

Unboxing the Sony Xperia 1 VI

The handset comes in a plain box made of recycled paper without anything else inside. There's not even a cable for charging or data transfer.

So if you want a compatible charger, you'd need to buy one of Sony's 30W PD-enabled chargers or a third-party one with the same specifications.