It is another year and another Sony Xperia. The Sony Xperia V has been formally announced. As before, aesthetically, it looks pretty much like its predecessor, the Xperia 1 IV. It certainly looks like Sony’s design team is sticking with the whole mantra of if ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Good for them because, personally, I have no beef with the design. It is sleek as it was since Sony Xperia 1 II.
Speaking of which, the device has uniquely developed textured glass with fine slits on the side that not only break the monotony but also serve to provide a stable grip. As with most of today’s smartphones, the strongest suit of the new Sony Xperia 1 V smartphone is imaging which is rocking a newly developed image sensor, bolstered by Alpha series technology.
It is the world’s first flagship smartphone outfitted with a newly developed stacked CMOS image sensor with a 2-layer Transistor Pixel. This new Exmor T for mobile image sensor is about 1.7x larger than the previous image sensor and is paired with a 24 mm lens. It further touts an 85-125 mm (F2.3-F2.8) optical zoom lens that enables bright portraits with little distortion.
The device also features S-Cinetone which has been adapted for mobile. Other imaging features include high-performance real-time AF (autofocus), real-time Eye AF, Real-time tracking, and high-speed continuous shooting of up to 30 frames per second with AF/AE tracking. And yes, it is still a smartphone but possibly one geared toward serious content creators.
Speaking of which, the new Xperia 1 V further touts the Product Showcase Setting that shifts the focus from the camera to the product instead of the reviewer’s face. Plus, it has a new voice priority mic placed near the rear camera to enable clear recording of the creator’s voice. When doing a livestream on YouTube with the video recording function “Videography Pro”, the creator will be able to see chats of viewers in real-time.
It has a tri-camera setup comprising a 52 MP (full aspect)/48 MP (effective)/12 MP (still imaging) 1/1.35” Exmor T for mobile sensor main camera, a 12MP 1/3.5” Exmor RS for mobile sensor telephoto camera, and a 12MP 1/1.25” Exmor RS for mobile sensor super wide-angle camera. Meanwhile, the front is outfitted with a 12 MP 1/2.9” Exmor RS for mobile sensor.
Other highlights of the new Sony Xperia 1 V include a 120 Hz 6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED display (3,840 x 1,644 pixels) with 240 Hz Motion blur reduction and 240 Hz Touch scanning rate, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM, 256 GB UFS storage, microSDXC support (up to 1 TB), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, positioning (A-GPS, A-GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS), IPX5/IPX8 water resistant, IP6X dust proofing, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (front), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (back), support for Hi-Res Audio as well as Hi-Res Audio Wireless (LDAC), a 3.5 mm audio jack, 360 Reality Audio Certified, full-stage stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, dual SIM support (nano + eSIM), USB 3.2 (Type C interface), and fingerprint sensor.
The device provides about 20 hours of continuous video playback from its 5,000 mAh battery which supports wireless charging and 30 minutes of quick-charge up to 50%. While we are on the battery… Sony said that the charging optimization technology supports users with a battery that maintains 80% or more of its max capacity even after 3 years.
The Sony Xperia V I will be available in late June for around €1,399/£1,299/US$1,399.99. It comes in a choice of black, platinum silver, and khaki green in Europe and the U.K. and in black and khaki green stateside. Folks in the U.S. can already pre-order the device from the Sony Electronics US website.
Images: Sony Electronics.
