The Sony Xperia 1 V is the upcoming flagship phone from the Japanese manufacturer. This device signals a shift away from smartphone conventions and is sure to excite fans of Sony since their revival in 2019 with the Xperia Mark 1.
In a landscape where manufacturers freely copy one another’s design features, Sony is willing to take risks and introduce the most daring innovations in their flagship smartphones, setting themselves apart from the rest.
Sony is focusing on creating “dynamic islands” as a whole line-up, while also looking into features such as continuous zoom with moving lens elements, 1-inch sensors, professional-grade software, and many others.
We get very excited when a new Xperia flagship is on its way, and even though it’s still in the early stages, we have collected all the known information about the upcoming Xperia 1 V phone in this article. Let’s dive in!
Release Date
Sony faced major issues with the announcement and release schedule for the Xperia line, notably with older models.
The Japanese were so eager to showcase their new models that sometimes, it was done months before the actual launch and this produced poor sales since people forgot about the phone and all the buzz had died down when the model finally arrived in stores.
Sony has now fixed this issue with their latest product. They have acknowledged the inconvenience and promised to reduce the gap between an announcement and its release, which was only a month long last time – indicating improvements are taking place.
Price
Sony fans have been feeling the sting of the hefty price tag on its latest flagship phone. Unfortunately, the company isn’t afraid to charge exorbitant prices that can be more costly than even premium foldable, making it much pricier than other competitors on the market.
Fortunately, the price quickly drops and you can get the phone with a huge discount after a few months.
Camera
The Xperia 1 IV has a groundbreaking camera zoom system. The Xperia 1 III is where the realizations have set in over the past few generations, boasting the first-ever periscope zoom system to feature two separate focal lengths of 70mm and 105mm by moving its lenses.
Building on that concept, the Xperia 1 IV was able to provide a continuous zoom from 85mm to 125mm.
Many may remember the 1-inch Xperia PRO-I, but that was a totally different model from Sony. This phone had a modified 1-inch sensor taken from the RX100 compact camera.
It is believed that Sony will refine the continuous zoom technology in the upcoming Xperia 1 V and probably offer a longer range, such as 70mm to 210mm.
Storage
Xperia phones have an intricate storage situation. The 64GB model was the initial one released as the later versions only had 256/512GB options.
Things get tricky with Xperia phones because they have a microSD card slot, and more recent models can fit cards with up to 1TB of storage. This makes investing in more extensive base memory configurations seemingly unnecessary.
Although some speculate that Sony might introduce a 1TB Xperia 1 V, we think it’s unlikely due to the MicroSD card slot.
Xperia 1 V storage capacity:
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1TB (rumored)
Design
Throughout the past few generations, Sony has maintained a consistent design strategy.
At the moment, there is no concrete news on the design of the new Xperia 1V phone. However, you can be sure that Sony’s identity will remain at its heart.
Aspect Ratio
The rectangular design is expected to stay the same due to the 21:9 screen aspect ratio, and it’s unlikely Sony will drill holes in the display, leaving the symmetrical bezels untouched.
Camera Bump
Even though it’s not super likely, there may be some changes to the camera bump. Sony has preserved its camera system in this spot and shape since the last three models, and they may not want to mess with that on the Xperia 1 V.
It’s been suggested to use a PRO-I-inspired camera bump, but this would make the situation worse for both the PRO-I and the Xperia 1 V, blending their designs together uncomfortably.
Colors
We’re expecting Sony to introduce new colors – the last time we talked with them, there was a hint that they were planning to change up the color scheme and come up with fun, fresh hues. Let’s hope that happens!
Display
Panel
The Xperia 1 IV, Sony’s flagship device, is no exception in terms of having impressive performance displaying benchmarks. Its 4K 120Hz panel is a great example of this, rendering excellent color accuracy and HDR compatibility thanks to the Bravia X1 technology. It truly is a delight to behold.
One area where Sony could make improvements is the refresh rate situation. Even though the Xperia 1 IV has a 120Hz panel, it doesn’t actually have LTPO technology, only having multiple modes to switch between. We would enjoy seeing a 1-120Hz display with increased brightness.
Additionally, it appears that the Sony Xperia lineup will most likely include all of the Bravia tech and 4K resolution. Sony is also planning to launch a streaming service to make it a multimedia powerhouse.
If a company wants people to appreciate 4K movies on an incredible 21:9 display, there’s no point in not having 4K resolution.
Battery
Over the years, Sony has consistently increased the battery capacity of its flagship phones, starting from 3,330mAh on the original Xperia 1 to 5,000mAh now. Although some competitors offer less than 5,000mAh of battery capacity, it is now customary for most flagships to provide this level of power.
We predict that Sony will stick to the 5,000mAh battery on the Xperia 1 V, although it’s likely there may be a minor increase of 50-100mAh which is yet unconfirmed. All Sony Xperia 1 models have included wireless charging and reverse wireless charging capabilities – the same is expected for the Xperia 1 V too.
Features and Software
The Xperia 1 V is likely to launch with the newest version of Android, 13. The phone also has minimal bloatware, with a few of Sony’s own great apps like the Pro-suite, game optimization software, and battery tweaks being useful additions to the core Android experience.
It’s intriguing to see if Sony will maintain the side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the Xperia 1 V, as many users raised objections regarding it through its various variations. We are doubtful that Sony would go for an under-display alternative, as it would require taking up an untested technology and compromising on the design philosophy.
We expect the dual-action shutter button to stay as an essential feature on the Xperia 1 V, and using it is a joy as it brings about a unique experience. We additionally hope to see the MusicPro app unlock its full potential as, when we tested it, it felt rather skeletal.
Hardware and Specs
Sony is well-known for being more conservative when it comes to hardware and processors. Other companies are not afraid to put in the most state-of-the-art chipsets in their phones, but Sony prefers more stability and less overheating issues by picking older chipset options.
Even so, we would still like to witness the Xperia 1 V being released with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. However, that idea might be lost as the production
Expectations are for a base model of 12GB RAM with a possibility for a 16/512GB model or even a 16GB/1TB premium version.