Sony recently announced its new flagship phone, the Sony Xperia 1 V, which features a larger sensor design and a new Night View mode. This prosumer camera phone is priced at €1,400/£1,300 and will be available in the market by the end of July. While other brands have already launched Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones, Sony is just announcing its first one.
Sony has moved away from a standard 12MP main camera and has opted for the IMX888 instead. This sensor has a 48MP effective resolution and its stacked design allows for better light gathering than similarly sized imagers. The Night View mode uses a modern computational approach to night photography. The larger sensor improves the image quality and puts it in direct competition with other flagships.
The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 runs more efficiently than its Gen 1 predecessor and Sony claims to have improved the cooling. However, it could have done better in this regard. But, the performance and battery life have gone up. Sony’s user-friendly design remains a rare example of having a 3.5mm jack for wired headphones and a microSD slot on board. However, the notification LED has been removed.
The Sony Xperia 10 V is the annual refresh of Sony’s mid-ranger that also brings a 48MP sensor. The 8MP 54mm zoom camera offers lossless digital zoom from 1x to 2x. The new 10 model features a stereo speaker, bringing it in line with the rest of the Xperia family. However, the display is only a 60Hz panel, and the company is still using the Snapdragon 695 chipset, which makes it a tough sell at €450.
In terms of market competition, in 2023, we have already seen several camera-obsessed flagships on the market, including Samsung’s new Ultra model with its 200MP sensor, Xiaomi and Vivo top dogs with their 1” sensors, and the Huawei flagship with a trademark RYYB sensor.
Sony’s Xperia 1 V flagship offers an improved camera sensor and Night View mode that puts it in direct competition with other flagships. However, the cooling system could have been better. The Xperia 10 V features a stereo speaker and mid-range specs. However, it could have done better by using a Snapdragon chipset with a higher-grade specification.
