Review of Sony Xperia 1 - a flagship with a top processor and a 4K screen

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

An atypical device with a 21: 9 aspect ratio and cinema software.

Table of contents

• Specifications
• Equipment
• Appearance and ergonomics
• Screen
• Sound
• Camera
• Performance
• Software
• Unlocking
• Autonomy
• Outcomes

Specifications

Colors	Black, purple, gray, white
Display	6.5 inches, 1,644 x 3,840 pixels, OLED
CPU	Seminanometer Snapdragon 855 (1 × 2, 84 GHz Kryo 485 + 3 × 2, 42 GHz Kryo 485 + 4 × 1, 78 GHz Kryo 485)
GPU	Adreno 640
RAM	6 GB
Built-in memory	64/128 GB + microSD support up to 512 GB
Cameras	Rear - 12 MP (main) + 12 MP (telephoto) + 12 MP (ultra wide angle). Front - 8 MP
SIM card	Two slots for nanoSIM (one hybrid with microSD)
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX, GPS, NFC
Connectors	USB Type ‑ C
Unlocking	By fingerprint, PIN-code
Operating system	Android 9.0
Battery	3 330 mAh, fast charging supported (18 W, USB Power Delivery 2.0)
Dimensions (edit)	167 × 72 × 8.2 mm
The weight	178 g

Equipment

The box contains only the necessary minimum: a smartphone, an adapter with a USB Type ‑ C cable and an adapter from USB Type ‑ C to minijack.

Appearance and ergonomics

Sony Xperia 1 is sold in four colors: black, purple, gray and white. We got a gray smartphone. The color is dull and subtle, not silver or metallic.

The back panel is glass, the frames are metal. In terms of tactile sensations, the smartphone is excellent: moderately weighty, it is pleasant to hold it in your hand.

The first thing that immediately catches your eye is the elongated shape. It looks great, but long, like a TV remote control, the smartphone does not fit comfortably in every pocket.

The next feature is the right edge filled with different things. From top to bottom there are: the volume key, the fingerprint sensor, the power and camera buttons. The left side of the smartphone is empty. Bottom - speaker hole and USB Type ‑ C input.

Above is a slot for nanoSIM. Removable without a paper clip.

The declared protection class is IP65 / 68. This means that the smartphone can be taken out in the rain and water can be spilled on it.

Sony is showing character again: The Xperia 1 is unlike any other model on the market or previous devices from the company. And this is the kind of smartphone that you can take a quick look at and say: "Sony made it for sure." Design trends from the outside do not seem to get here: the company comes up with devices itself, and it does the right thing. It seems that the cutouts in the screen and vertical modules in the corner of the rear panel simply would not suit them.

Screen

The display is contrasty, detailed and perfectly calibrated. In some scenarios, it lacks brightness, but this is not critical.

The Xperia 1 has frames, and they suit him. Sony showed that you can make a stylish smartphone without filling the entire bezel with a screen.

The company has made serious bets on performance. It is not only 4K ‑ resolution and HDR, but also less understandable specifications: 10 ‑ bit color depth, support for image remastering technology, wide ITU ‑ R BT.2020 color space and DCI ‑ P3 with D65 illuminator. All this sounds great, but does not affect the experience of using the smartphone in any way. The screen here is perceived as a flagship, but it is not clear how to use its technical bells and whistles and whether it is necessary. Perhaps it will be useful for mobile photographers and videographers (we will touch on the features of video shooting).

With a screen aspect ratio of 21: 9, it is convenient to watch suitable content, but there is one caveat. Almost all of the content on the internet is inappropriate. Most videos will be displayed with either no top and bottom or empty margins on the sides. But here the split-screen feature can really come in handy. Her fans note that it is convenient to use it even with a messenger with a keyboard.

Sound

The sound of the Xperia 1 is one of the best that smartphones give out in 2019. If only because it's in stereo. It is as convincing as a smartphone sound can be.

There is a counter for an amateur - the "Dynamic vibration" mode. With it, the smartphone vibrates with different strengths depending on the sound volume.

Camera

Three lenses are responsible for shooting: the main lens, the ultra-wide-angle lens and the telephoto lens. The latter works only in good light - in the dark, the main camera with a crop turns on. The ultra-wide-angle lens here has a pronounced fisheye effect, which is noticeable when shooting up close. Here are the photos taken in the sun: first there is a frame taken with an ultra wide-angle lens, then with the main camera, then with a telephoto lens.

Photos have a characteristic sharpness. It is believed that this is due to the technology implemented in the Xperia 1 to reduce RAW noise from Sony Alpha cameras.

This is how the Xperia 1's camera shoots at night. In automatic mode, sometimes there is not enough light, but you can resort to manual and, for example, increase the shutter speed. The maximum is 30 seconds.

Shot with an ultra wide angle lens

Shot with main lens

Shot with an ultra wide angle lens

Shot with main lens

Shot with the main lens in manual mode. Shutter speed increased

Sony has focused on fast and accurate autofocus when shooting people, it happens in the eyes. And the attitude to this update is about the same as to the technical bells and whistles of the screen: great, but neither on impressions nor on the work with a smartphone is particularly affected.

Also, the camera is able to automatically detect shooting scenarios and adjust the exposure for them. Bokeh portrait mode is available.

The front camera takes good pictures during the day. At night - much worse.

The camera button highlighted on the right edge comes in handy. It is conveniently located and you will really use it.

Sony paid special attention to video shooting. The Xperia 1 comes preinstalled with the Cinema Pro app, which emulates a professional movie camera. You can shoot in 4K or 2K with stabilization. Also here you can adjust the frame rate and select a camera profile.

I tried to shoot video on a Sony CineAlta Venice full frame movie camera emulator. ISO, shutter speed and white balance were set manually. In some shots - manual focus, different lenses were also used.

Here's the result. The video, of course, is meaningless, but the picture is pretty.

I really liked both shooting videos with manual settings and watching. You might not be making movies with the Xperia 1 and Cinema Pro, but you definitely want to give it a try.

Performance

Here, the Xperia 1 is among the first. This is confirmed by synthetic tests. Here's Geekbench:

And here is AnTuTu:

And this is the result of the Sling Shot Extreme benchmark from 3D Mark:

Synthetic tests give results at the level of the leading flagships of the market. Performance is proven by experience: the Xperia 1 is nimble in any scenario, renders video quickly and flies in heavy toys like Asphalt 9.

Software

The smartphone runs Android 9.0 with a few Sony add-ons. The classic layout of the icons and the Google recommendations bar on the left screen have been preserved.

Also, by swiping from above, the quick access bar is called. Another panel, with applications, opens with a gesture that we have already tried to master when testing previous Sony models. To activate the panel, you need to double-click on the side edges. It doesn't always work on the first try.

From Sony, the smartphone received a small set of pre-installed services and a game mode that optimizes the system for maximum performance or autonomy when loading heavy applications. It also supports not very convenient Sony gestures when taking selfies (reaction to a smile or palm movement). A non-obvious discovery was non-tear-off typing enabled by default.

This is a completely convenient and understandable system with a few bells and whistles, which, even if not useful, at least do not interfere. However, during testing, the smartphone began to crash: the camera application froze when trying to take a picture. The reboot helped. Perhaps such bugs will be eliminated with new firmware.

Unlocking

We've already seen the sensor on the right side in the Xperia 10 Plus. At that time, its work did not cause any complaints, but a similar sensor in the Xperia 1 simply does not work. Out of 10 unlock attempts, one may be successful. Maybe not a single one.

Sony told us they are aware of the issue and will be addressed in future updates.

Unlocking by face is not provided.

Autonomy

The battery capacity is average - 3 330 mAh. This can be enough for a day with moderate smartphone use. If you do not turn on the Stamina proprietary economy mode and use the gadget as actively as possible, launching games and shooting movies, then the battery may not last a full day.

Fast charging supported. The battery is replenished up to 50% in half an hour, up to 100% - in an hour and a half.

Outcomes

Sony Xperia 1 can be criticized for many things, for example, for the sharpness of frames, strange software features, an uncomfortable position in the pocket and a still defective fingerprint sensor. And also for the price: Sony firmly believes in its creation, selling it for 79,990 rubles. In other stores, a smartphone can be found for about 60 thousand.

Trying to bypass competitors in characteristics, the company is clearly choosing the wrong thing in which to compete. What difference does it make to the display's support for DCI ‑ P3 technology with D65 illuminator if almost no one understands what that means? Such nuances are not visible from afar - it is difficult to say that the display here is better than that of the flagships of Samsung, Apple or Xiaomi.

Sony Xperia 1 is a smartphone with its own character and for an amateur. He looks and works differently from others, and there is no one to compare him with. The gadget can give a new impression: in my case, it was, for example, the experience of shooting video in Cinema Pro. However, the verdict remains in force: while the lot of Sony is cameras and game consoles. They are clearly given to the company better than smartphones.