Sony’s Newest Android Flagship Champ is Here

Sony’s recent announcement of its newest flagship Android phone shows that the company still hasn’t bowed down to the competition – on the contrary, the Xperia 1 V packs some heavy-hitting hardware, including some impressive camera specifications and processing power. Let’s check it out!

Hardware Highlights

Perhaps the biggest draw of the Xperia 1V is the phone’s camera array, which features a stacked CMOS image sensor with 2-layer Transistor Pixel, referred to be Sony as the “Exmor T for Mobile.” This 24MP sensor is backed by a 12MP telephoto lens, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 12MP front-facing camera for selfies and video calls. Sony adds that the handset’s camera also features Zeiss optics, which admittedly makes for some fancy-sounding marketing.

This camera setup is backed by additional Sony imaging features including S-Cinetone (which has been adapted for mobile), Creative Look from Sony’s camera range, and even vlog-centric features such as Product Showcase Setting and Videography Pro, which are catered for content creators and users looking to use the phone for YouTube and other streaming platforms. It’s great to see the company bring over more features from its camera range over to the Xperia brand, and we do hope that this trend continues.

Another big highlight of the Xperia 1 V is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip inside, which should provide users with all-around smooth and impressive performance in both daily tasks, and more intensive functions. This is backed by 12GB of RAM, and a choice of either 256 or 512GB of internal storage.

Display and Design

Not much has changed about the Xperia 1 V’s external build, since it retains a lot of the design elements found on its predecessor. An aluminium frame wraps around the front and back of the phone, which are both protected by Gorilla Glass panels – in particular, the rear part of the device features a nice matte finish, which adds a bit of grip. This also houses the phone’s power and volume buttons and USB-C port.

On the front of the device is a 6.5-inch 4K OLED display, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1644 x 3840 pixel resolution. Another notable design aspect of the handset is Sony’s continued use of slim bezels on the top and bottom of the display, which makes for a more cohesive and “complete” look since there’s no notch or hole-punch camera obstructing the screen.

This design also houses the phone’s power supply, which consists of a rather large 5,000 mAh battery, with support for 30W wired charging speeds. The battery also packs wireless and reverse-wireless charging, both of which are much-welcome features for sure. Another fan-favourite feature is the 3.5mm headphone jack on top of the phone, which Sony has thankfully kept in all of its smartphone designs, at least for the time being.

Pricing and Availability

Sony says that the Xperia 1 V will be available around late June for around €1399/£1299. The handset will come in several colour options including black, platinum silver and khaki green. Interested buyers can pre-order the Xperia 1 V starting 1st June 2023, and customers who pre-order the phone will be eligible to receive Sony’s WH-1000XM5 noise cancelling headphones as a bundle.