Sony Xperia 1 VI review

Expanded zoom reach and new camera app

The Sony Xperia 1 VI has a triple camera setup on the back that is similar to the one on the Xperia 1 V - a wide-angle primary, an ultrawide-angle secondary, and an advanced telephoto camera with continuous optical zoom. The selfie camera is the same, too. That's not to say there are no improvements, just on the contrary.

The highlight this year is the longer zoom reach of the telephoto camera - its stepless optical zoom now goes from 3.5x (85mm) to 7.1x (170mm) compared to 3.5x-5.2x (110mm) in last year's Xperia 1 V.

This camera now also has a Telephoto macro mode, which is fixed at 120mm where it provides 2x macro magnification and can focus from as close as 4cm (it's manual focus with focus peaking aid).

Like before, the ultrawide camera has autofocus, but this time it also supports an auto macro mode of its own too - so as soon as you get super close to a subject (up to 20cm), it will switch the on the mode which will crop the center the image so you get a closer view with no distortion.

All four Xperia 1 VI cameras seem to be using the same image sensors as last year's Xperia 1 V, including the excellent stacked CMOS sensor with 2-layer transistor pixel technology for the main camera.

Now, Sony usually does not comment on the camera sensor models used in their smartphones, but below, you will find you will find everything that we've managed to extract from the phone itself.

• Wide (main): 52MP (48MP effective) Sony IMX 888 (1/1.35", 1.12µm), f/1.9, 24mm, OIS; 4K@120fps
• Ultrawide: 12MP Sony IMX 563 (1/2.55", 1.4µm), f/2.2, 16mm, dual pixel PDAF; 4K@120fps
• Telephoto: 12MP Sony IMX 650 (1/3.5", 1.0µm), f/2.0, 3.5x-7.1x, 85-170mm (F/2.3-3.5), PDAF, OIS; 4K@120fps
• Front camera: 12MP Sony IMX 663 (1/2.9", 1.0µm), f/2.0, 20mm, fixed focus; 4K@60fps

There is no ToF camera or Laser AF on the Xperia 1 VI - Sony has been relying on AI-created scene depth information instead since the Xperia 1 V.

Sony has shared it is also using AI for white balance and exposure tuning and, interestingly, for a new tech called Human pose estimation, which should help with tracking autofocus when you are trying to take people photos and the camera does not see or recognize the subject's face.

Furthermore, due to improvements in software processing, the Xperia 1 VI should now offer improved HDR for both photos and videos, and this also includes the way the HDR effect comes through in the viewfinder before you've pressed the shutter key.

Speaking of which, the physical shutter key is just as as good as last year's.

An overhauled Camera app

The camera app is another major change introduced by Sony on this year's Xperia 1 VI. You will notice we say app in singular; that's because the company has backtracked on its strategy of keeping different apps for different use cases.

The new camera app has been entirely overhauled, and it's more in line with what you see on other phones now. Shooting with it feels much more intuitive, and we are sure casual users will have a great time with the camera experience here.

New, revamped camera app

Another new featured, introduced now, is the option to shoot in 48MP mode. The ultrawide camera has also gotten an automatic Closeup mode.

The Night View mode, introduced last year, works just as before. You can set it to either Auto or OFF. The only indication you will get if the Night View is about to trigger is the color change of its shortcut (from white to orange). A positive change we noticed is that taking a photo with Night view with the primary camera is much faster now compared to Xperia 1 V.

Like before, you get a built-in YouTube Live Streaming feature and you can still make use of the Product Showcase feature, which allows the autofocus to be less face-bound and re-focus on anything (a product, for instance) you bring up towards the camera.

Overall, the new camera app feels a lot snappier than before.

And just as promised, the preview in the viewfinder already has an HDR effect applied, so you get a much better rendition of what the resulting photo would look like compared to the Xperia 1 V.

The Photo Pro, Video Pro and Cinema Pro apps may be gone now, but the new camera app does have a Pro mode, even if it's only for photos. Sony expects to seed a Video Pro mode as an update sometime in the Fall, possibly along with the update to Android 15.

Pro mode hides most advanced features of the ex-Photo Pro app

The current Pro mode is where you will find the advanced modes of the ex-Photography Pro app, like Program/Shutter priority/ Manual modes.

The feature-rich Settings menu here takes after Sony Alpha cameras, but it's a quite subdued aesthetic - nothing extreme.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The binned 12MP daylight photos taken by the 48MP main camera are exemplary. They offer abundant detail, and there is no visible noise. The white balance is spot-on across all scenes, and the colors are accurate. Sony's mature image processing deserves praise here - everything is rendered in a very natural way, especially the fine, intricate details.

Main camera, 12MP

The dynamic range is very good, and we are glad to see that the highlights are no longer pushed down like they are on the Xperia 1 V and are as bright as they should. It's clearly noticeable in the histograms of the photos by the two phones taken side by side.

This new approach to tonal rendition has led to some partial highlight clipping which you don't see on the Xperia 1 V but we still prefer the photos by the new model.

Another difference in the processing between the two phones is some extra sharpening applied this time around but it's still not overboard.

Main camera: Xperia 1 VI • Xperia 1 V

Full-res 48MP mode

We also captured a few samples in the new 48MP full-res mode. The files come out about three times as large as the binned 12MP photos but using the mode is well worth it.

You get amazingly natural detail rendition, especially noticeable in grass and foliage. Overall, the colors are well balanced and there is no visible oversharpening or noise.

Main camera, 48MP mode

2x zoom, main camera

The 48MP Quad-Bayer sensor in theory holds promise for some high-quality 2x digital zoom, but we didn't witness that with last year's Xperia 1 V which seemed to take the already binned 12MP output crop it and then upscale it to no one's favor.

To our surprise, however, the Xperia 1 VI takes much better 2x photos than last year's Xperia 1 V.

2x zoom, main camera: Xperia 1 VI • Xperia 1 V

Ultrawide camera

Sony's take on image processing has carried over to the ultrawide camera, too, as everything, from foliage to buildings and cars, looks natural and true-to-life.

The ultrawide photos offer plenty of detail, excellent sharpness, and proficient noise reduction. The white balance and the color rendition are consistently accurate.

Ultrawide camera, 12MP

The hardware of the ultrawide camera (12MP, large 1.4µm pixels) is the same as on last year's Xperia 1 V so it's no surprise that the two take identical looking photos. The only difference is fact that, just like on the main cam, highlights are no longer suppressed and are as bright as they should be. This new approach to tonal rendition has again led to some partial highlight clipping, which you don't see on the Xperia 1 V, but we still prefer the photos by the new model.

Ultrawide camera: Xperia 1 VI • Xperia 1 V

Telephoto camera with stepless optical zoom

You will find two fixed zoom shortcuts on the viewfinder - 3.5x and 7.1x, but you can use any zoom level in between. Optical zooming starts at 3.5x with an f/2.3 aperture and ends at 7.1x with an f/3.5 aperture. You can go north of 7.1x zoom, of course, and there is a 10x shortcut visible, but everything beyond 7.1x is digital zoom.

Let's talk about the 3.5x zoom first.

The telephoto camera produces excellent photos in good light - the dynamic range is great, the colors are accurate, and the noise is minimal. The contrast is very good, too.

Tele camera 3.5x zoom, 12MP

The highlights are again nicer and brighter than the Xperia 1 V's though the overall quality and rendition is the same.

3.5x zoom: Xperia 1 VI • Xperia 1 V

Each zoom level you go up from 3.5x will introduce a minor drop in detail and sharpness. Let's have a look at the 5.2x zoom level, which matches the max zoom level of the Xperia 1 V.

The colors, dynamic range, contrast and rendition are like the 3.5x zoomed images, though the resolved detail is a tiny bit less, and so is the sharpness.

Tele camera 5.2x zoom, 12MP

Here's a comparison between the Xperia 1 VI and Xperia 1 V at 5.2x zoom.

5.2x zoom: Xperia 1 VI • Xperia 1 V

Last year we wished for the zoom to reach further than 5.2x and this year we get 7.1x, which is great. Image quality is quite good too - at least in good light.

Tele camera 7.1x zoom, 12MP

Macro and closeup

The Xperia 1 VI has also has a new Telemacro mode. It utilizes the zoom camera at 120mm and can capture photos from as close as 4cm. A further digital zoom is possible all the way up to 360mm.

The camera relies on manual focus with the aid of focus peaking so ideally, you really need a tripod and a still subject to capture a standout macro shot.

Telemacro mode

The ultrawide camera too has a new automatic closeup mode, which switches on as soon as you get close enough to your subject.

Closeups with the ultrawide

Bokeh mode

The dedicated portrait mode on the Xperia 1 VI is called Bokeh mode. The rendering of bokeh in the background is very nice and so is the subject separation. The subject itself is usually well-exposed, detailed, and skin tones come through quite nice.

If you are shooting out in harsh light, you will probably get some clipped highlights as the HDR algorithm seems to be a bit laid back for this type of shots.

People shots: Bokeh Off • Bokeh On

Selfie camera

Finally, the 12MP photos from the front camera are top-notch - there is plenty of detail and great sharpness, the colors are accurate, and the dynamic range is wide. The rendition is quite natural, and the subject is well-exposed. Sometimes HDR kicks in, too, and restores parts of the blown background.

Selfies, 12MP