Sony Xperia 1 VI

• T
• T the Tinkerer
• Ib5
• 24 Jun 2024

Seeing as how I now own this phone and have used it for a bit, let me share my experiences:

1. The camera

a. The 2x lossless center crop is 99.9% of the time better than the normal wide angle camera. I'm not sure, but they may not be using pixel binning with the 2x center crop. Anyways, it looks way better. Color, detail, dynamic range, everything. The only time the normal wide angle is better is if you want to take a non-night mode picture at night like a goofball.

b. The GSMArena review describes the telephoto as getting worse as the magnification goes up. This has been the opposite of my findings. The 7.1x is flat out superior to 3.5x photos. The 10x is actually just as good if not better than 3.5x photos. My opinion: use 2x if you want a little zoom (or for most photo situations for that matter); of you need more zoom, skip 3.5x and go straight to 7.1x

c. Selfies are very good, true to life, just like the main camera. Your photos will look exactly the way you remember it looking when you gaze at them years later.

d. For videos, use the HDR format instead of SDR. There are so many ways to make video and photos look way better, and learning this thing actually makes me want to use my phone's camera unlike other smartphones I've had. 24fps for videos has a very unique and pleasing look. I like it better than 30fps, and in most cases better than 60fps.

2. Mobile performance (4G, 5G)

If you're in the US and want this phone, don't hesitate to get it unless you stay WAAAAY out in the boondocks. Up-to-date carrier aggregation and radios make this thing DL/UL much faster than my S20 FE with bands 71, n2, and n71. I get better signals deep inside of the jail I work at with this Xperia than the galaxy. You'll have to look on Reddit for a quick guide, but if you use the dialer menu 4636 you can activate the 5G. It works.

3. Audio

The audio is great. I can hear details in music that I cannot with other phones. The audio upscaling is the real deal. Very well balanced sound that can be catered to your preferences without crazy distortion.

4. The display, build quality

a. It's very good looking, and is perfectly sharp, sharper than your 4K monitors at normal smartphone viewing distances. You'll have no issues viewing things outside. Do not feel deprived because you don't have advertised 2000nits brightness. I've never had the 1 V, but I can't miss what I never had.

b. The build is clean just like all of Sony's recent high end devices. Handsome, but not flashy. Classy and understated. Their whole device, from the software, image processing, and design, carries this ethos that says "elegantly restrained."

c. I am not a fan of the slightly hollow feeling that you get when you touch or tap the back of the phone. Like they should have stuffed a bigger Li-ion cell in it to fill up more space and give it more gravitas. The get so much right that I can live with this. The frame is awesome. I think I would've liked a matte or frosted glass texture better, but I have a Spigen case which feels awesome. The glass should've felt like this.

5. Battery life

Believe the hype. It is as good as everyone is saying. It shames other phones. And here's the kicker: if you don't mind 60fps refresh rate, turn on stamina mode and prepare to have your socks blown off. You'll see 3 days easy if you aren't glued to your screen.

6. Price

It's not as bad as it seems if you're in the US. Seeing as how it just came out, it's still selling for close to MSRP. Amazon has it for $1155, less than the 1 V in Sony's site. Wait another few months and it'll be even less. The only reason I didn't wait was because I've been working hard lately and I wanted to treat myself. I didn't want to consider how much it costed, but only whether I wanted it.

• Reply

• P
• Petya
• q{b
• 23 Jun 2024

mawlki, 17 Jun 2024I didnt read this.Me too!
Men, feels good!
By the way, I'm 1 V owner and what I can say is the phone is fantastic and flawless!
My first was 688 Erickson and just fallowing their Tech revolution.

• Reply

• P
• Petya
• q{b
• 22 Jun 2024

Shamrock Sean, 22 Jun 2024It's not a 6 inch screen That's what she said, right!
Just saying because looks like only that "6 inch." got to you, nothing else, really!?

• Reply

• S
• Shamrock Sean
• BiP
• 22 Jun 2024

oe36, 17 Jun 2024TL;DR American Sony fanboy who upgraded from Xperia 1 III ... moreIt's not a 6 inch screen

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• m51
• 22 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 21 Jun 2024So I finally got my preordered 1 VI yesterday. First impre... moreThe display is beautiful. Fantastic white balanced and colour accuracy.

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• 0CV
• 21 Jun 2024

So I finally got my preordered 1 VI yesterday.
First impression: that the screen feels much bigger than my 1 III had.
And brighter.
While there was a lot of talk and feelings about the amount of pixels and loss of 4K resolution and whatnot, after using the 1 III for 3 years it does feel like an upgrade now when it is actually in my hand. Which is basically what we should feel when getting a new phone :)

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• 0p}
• 20 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 17 Jun 2024I wanted this change but with a lower price, 200€ less woul... moreYou expected phone to cost €200 less when the new screen is not €200 less than previous and SoC and periscope cost more than previous.

Wow .... 🤣

• Reply

• g
• gnss dude
• x{k
• 19 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 18 Jun 2024I checked with GPSTest but the results are quite meaningles... moreThanks for checking. I'm making an assumption that it doesn't support them. I just tried with some samsung phone and sure they are minority but there are L5 signals, too. It's unfortunate that Sony doesn't list this on their spec page.

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• 3SL
• 18 Jun 2024

gnss dude, 18 Jun 2024Can anyone confirm that this product really has L1 and L5 f... moreI checked with GPSTest but the results are quite meaningless. It shows me only L1 signals. But that was to be expected since the L5 signal is not fully operational for civilian purposes just now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_signals#L5

I could not determined if the hardware is capable of.
Snapdragon clearly states that this chipset does support L1+L5. So if it is not working, it must be prevented on purpose bu Sony. Probably unlocked later via software update when widely used. Don't expect any improvements in accuracy until 2027 when more satellites uses L5.

• Reply

• g
• gnss dude
• x{k
• 18 Jun 2024

Can anyone confirm that this product really has L1 and L5 for GPS?

The gsmarena's specs says:
Positioning GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS
but the same line was also for Xperia 5 III which didn't actually have dual band GNSS.

• Reply

• C
• CK DEEP MVMT
• dSV
• 18 Jun 2024

I think I will get this
I need a phone with 3.5 mm jack
Been with Samsung since 2012 starting S3 and my last upgrade was in 2020 with an S10 5G (the last one from them with jack)
I thought S 24 Ultra at first (even though is better phone) but I'll defo go for this one
Not to mention also the SD card slot, very handy
Is the price a bit of a problem but is worth it in the end

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• gxS
• 17 Jun 2024

Anakin , 16 Jun 2024Thank God someone understand something here. Playing 4K ... moreI wanted this change but with a lower price, 200€ less would have been the sweet spot

• Reply

• m
• mawlki
• nid
• 17 Jun 2024

OHMLON, 17 May 2024Avid Sony user here. I own the Z1, Z5P, XZ, XZP, XZ2P and 1... moreI didnt read this.

• Reply

• o
• oe36
• 44u
• 17 Jun 2024

TL;DR
American Sony fanboy who upgraded from Xperia 1 III to Xperia 1 VI by ordering off of Amazon Germany and getting the free XM5 headphones with the pre-order blown away and totally happy with this new phone, that may be “the perfect phone”.

LONG, NAUSEATING DETAIL
My Xperia 1 III had been my favorite phone so far (formerly used both Samsungs & Pixels). With Samsung, I got tired of the bloatware, no headphone jack and lack of expandability. Samsung used to make fun of Apple for doing certain things and then did the exact same thing. Their phones just became less fun. With Google, I loved the clean interface and experience, but no headphone jack, no expandability and terrible battery life after having the device for 1 year made me very disappointed. I just don’t understand why so many companies are including 4K 120FPS cameras and giving you no storage space to put what will be colossally sized video files.

My son found Sony. He defeated their “stealth marketing campaign” and discovered they actually make phones. Was surprised to find the features were exactly what we both wanted.

As much as I loved my Xperia 1 III, here were its flaws
- Battery life was OK. Not great but OK. I always used “battery saver” to only charge to 80% to extend life and never had a problem making it thru the day except on days of extremely heavy use (typically hours of camera)
- The flashlight was almost a joke
- The screen was not bright enough in direct sunlight
- Only 2 years of Android updates (biggest drawback as in 2024 this is STILL a GREAT phone, but hasn't had updates in a year)

The Xperia 1 VI solves all of these.
- Battery life is incredible (still only charge to 80% to extend battery life and I haven't made it down to 20% by the end of the day yet even with VERY heavy use), flashlight is significantly better, screen in plenty bright outside
- This may be my perfect phone for what I enjoy and want out of a phone
- 3 years Android, 4 security patches (FINALLY!), this was the biggest nick against Sony in my mind. Thank you!

I understand some folks are bummed about no more 4K display, but seriously on a 6” screen you cannot see that much of a difference (sorry folks, this has been proven). And the screen that the 1 VI has does look absolutely fantastic. I would much rather have the brighter display that I can see outside and better battery life. I have played movies side by side on my 1 III and 1 VI (including 4K content) and really would not choose one over the other. They are both fantastic.

Why I prefer Sony in general
- No bung hole interrupting the gorgeous displays (who on earth thought bung holes were a good idea and why do people tolerate this?)
- Headphone jack and micro SD (YES!!! I want these. Thank you!)
- Whenever a software/system update was pushed it always felt like Russian Roulette with Samsung or Google. Would my battery still work? What app is going to crash now? When will the next patch resolve this. I have NEVER had a software update from Sony that caused any negative. It has been a great experience every single time.
- The photos look so much better to me. More natural, not over saturated or AI “enhanced”. Just plain beautiful.

I was DEVASTATED when I learned Sony was not going to release the 1 VI in the U.S. and was nervous about buying it from Amazon Germany (would it work on my carrier, was I going to have to learn German to set up the phone, etc). The experience was as easy as buying it from Amazon U.S. Showed up on my door earlier than I was told and got the free XM5 headphones (which HOLY COW are these nice, comfortable and sound incredible) all for less than I probably would have paid if they did release it in the U.S. It was less expensive than my 1 III was three years ago. It has worked on my carrier (AT&T) just fine and the set up experience was no problem. I also considered Amazon U.K. but they would not include the free headphones to the U.S. I get that Sony phones cost a fair share, but on the pre-order with the free headphones, I think they are a GREAT deal.

Bottom line, I loved (and still do love) my 1 III, but the 1 VI fixed the few things about it that I wished were better.

Bottom line(s), the 1 VI may very well be the PERFECT phone. At least for me. So happy I took the risk of ordering from Germany. Sony, please come back to the U.S.

Hope this opinion helps some of you who may be considering.

• Reply

• F
• ForumExpert
• pdw
• 17 Jun 2024

Anakin , 16 Jun 2024Thank God someone understand something here. Playing 4K ... moreYes it's fun if you don't forget to take your telescope as well to see those extra pixels.

• Reply

• F
• ForumExpert
• pdw
• 17 Jun 2024

Just my opinion, 14 Jun 2024zero day issues with google pixels really?Yea really. Have you been using at least one pixel in the past?

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• 0p}
• 16 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 16 Jun 2024Wouldn't then by the same logic 2560x1080 be QHD inste... morehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution

Scroll down til topic Resolutions ...

• Reply

• A
• Anakin
• KIY
• 16 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 16 Jun 2024And now users cannot watch 4K on it. That is the point. E... moreThank God someone understand something here.

Playing 4K UHD movies on a mobile is next level fun especially in places where no one can carry a TV or don't want to carry a TV all the time.

Xperia was perfect at 21:9 4K ,no one wanted this change except some YouTube reviewer. hopefully some other manufacturer will do a 4k display phone in future, like Someone will do eventually

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• gxS
• 16 Jun 2024

Anonymous, 16 Jun 2024Because of the 3840. 2160 is not the requirement. Even... moreWouldn't then by the same logic 2560x1080 be QHD instead of FHD+?
if anything the 3840x1644 should be QHD+ although still weird, and 5040x2160 should be 4K+ just like 1080x2340 is FHD+

• Reply

• ?
• Anonymous
• 0p}
• 16 Jun 2024

ForumExpert , 11 Jun 2024To your knowledge that 4k magical display worked 99% of the... moreAnd now users cannot watch 4K on it.
That is the point. Even if content is 4K.

To your knowledge, it was 1096 downscaled from 4K that looks sharper than native new resolution.

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