Sony Xperia 1 VI...

[Fry750]

The latest Xperia 1 has been leaked (allegedly) a few weeks before its expected announcement on 17th May.

SD Gen 3, slightly improved camera, better DAC, brighter display moving from 21:9 to 19.5:9, consolidated video and camera apps, SD card slot and headphone jack of course...

I really hope they add the notification LED back but other than that, seems like a perfect phone.

More details on the leak can be found here - https://mspoweruser.com/exclusive-s...proved-telephoto-snapdragon-8-gen-3-and-more/

Anyone else likely to pick this up? Knowing Sony there'll be an incentive to buy early, possibly XM5 headphones for free.

Colours are black, silver and green - no purple or white

Leaked renders below:

 

[Rroff]

Aspect ratio seems an odd one - personally I wish they'd go with a wider aspect ratio and use the extra space to garage a stylus, then it would be close to the perfect phone though I'd still rather have a removable battery.

 

[neoboy]

If they actually catch up with rest of Androids on software support I may consider it, but 2 years isn't enough to tempt me.

 

[Shuggles]

Sony really need to sort out their naming conventions its almost impossible to follow which phones sit in what range.

 

[Disco_P]

Sony really need to sort out their naming conventions its almost impossible to follow which phones sit in what range.

First number is tier, so 1 is high, 5 is mid, 10 is low (relative to their own range)

2nd number, normally in roman numerals is the generation.

It's incredibly simple.

 

[Fry750]

If they actually catch up with rest of Androids on software support I may consider it, but 2 years isn't enough to tempt me.

I vaguely remember a rumour it's being bumped to 3 years... don't quote me on it though.

 

[neoboy]

I vaguely remember a rumour it's being bumped to 3 years... don't quote me on it though.

Think security updates are at 3, but now that 5 years is a standard for most flagships with Samsung bumping it up to seven, 2 major updates is pretty poor.

Good to see they are finally consolidating camera up though, very overdue. Think might be first year they also have variable refresh rate screen? Should help with the battery life.

Always a phone I seem interested in but reviews always find some niggling drawbacks with Sony being stubborn on some aspects.

 

[Rroff]

with Sony being stubborn on some aspects.

Definitely phones where just a little more push would turn it from a good product to a great one and/or make the difference between something which isn't quite ideal and being OK, etc. end of the day they are still retaining the 3.5mm jack and SD card support, etc. so looks like they will be my go to for the foreseeable future.

 

[Orcvader]

I've been tempted from the leaks too but Sony always overpricing it and shorter software support holds me back. 19.5:9 aspect ratio is not weird at all, a lot of other phones uses it (OnePlus, Pixel, Samsung, etc.), so looks like they're just finally deciding to match everyone else.

 

[Reppyboyo]

Quietly hopeful on this, repeating above though I do hope they extend software support longer.

 

[.:MBK:.]

still have the first one, really should budget up replacing it at some point.

 

[Fry750]

Next week it'll be announced, hopefully there isn't months of waiting for a launch but knowing Sony, it'll release in July

 

[Smeghead]

Although I love the design and really love the shutter button, headphone jack and microSD, Sony consistently get slated on the performance of their camera (ironic given the photographic side of their business is so strong), and I'm not sure about their OS updates either. The pricing is often quite ludicrous too, especially for the last 2 releases which have been minuscule iterations on each other.

If not for those, I'd be a lot more excited about these. It makes you wonder how their phone business is still alive.

 

[Fry750]

The biggest issue I find with Sony is they make THE best sensors on the market but refuse to put them in their own phones. I'm sure everyone would agree Sony could drastically improve their position if they leveraged the unique strengths they have.

That said, I'll probably end up getting it - I really hope they release a Pro MKII with improved sensor.

 

[Martini1991]

Who exactly do Sony produce phones for anymore? They must have a tiny market share.

They're currently selling the 1 V with their wireless home theater stuff on O2 which looks compelling, but the phone is just so expensive...

The VI with that speaker as an incentive, might consider that like. Due an upgrade soon from my Pixel 7

 

[Fry750]

Like all brands, they have their diehard following but they seem to make the same mistakes...

If they wanted a significant share of the market, the changes they'd have to make are so obvious but alas, not forthcoming.

 

[Rroff]

The biggest issue I find with Sony is they make THE best sensors on the market but refuse to put them in their own phones. I'm sure everyone would agree Sony could drastically improve their position if they leveraged the unique strengths they have.

Yeah one of the downsides of the 10 V - OK it is a cheaper phone - but the camera is just very poor compared to what Sony is capable of.

I'm still leaning towards Sony though as things stand despite slight display bevels and no replaceable battery as they are one of the few who aren't going with silly curved or notched screens, aren't axing the 3.5mm and SD card slots, etc. etc. and as things stand they've taken a more sensible approach to the OS with a choice of what, if any, bloat that gets pre-installed when you first start the device up which is a big win for me, though dunno how long that will last.

 

[Fry750]

While they don't have replaceable batteries, Sony does have leading battery care tech so the longevity is (probably) the best you can get.

The feature I really wish the 1 IV had is the ability to scale resolutions through HDMI output - I had an old Lumia 950 XL that had a dock and would act as a small PC, was class. I think Samsung has something (Dex?) but I'd never touch a Samsung phone.

 

[neoboy]

I think camera "issue" is that they only cater to the niche who enjoy tinkering with photos, it's always heavily marketed towards creators whoever those may be but that's why they have a small niche in the market.

I really don't think it would kill their signature look and feel of the photos if they invested a bit more into auto settings, night mode, more consistent HDR, etc. Hopefully merging all the apps together is a sign of some change coming in that respect.

End of the day if I want to go play with my photos more, most of android manufacturers including Samsung now have excellent options for that themselves. Vast majority of mobile users just want that point and click experience and that's where your iPhones, Pixel, Samsung and the likes shine. It really won't take away from the "pro" camera and video features they tout so much.

Couple that with pricing, then it's not hard to see why market share is so low. I'm basically repeating myself from previous years but it feels like it's mostly after thought for Sony, just a way of remaining in the smartphone space and showcasing their tech.

As always, going to be looking at reviews and hoping to get pleasantly surprised. They do tend to have decent pre-order deals and second hand values always fall fast if looking at picking up one at a later date.

 

[Fry750]

The camera has always been targeted at the 'pro', i.e. shooting manual without much focus on computational photography - if that's you, Samsung, Apple and others have invested substantially more in that area allowing AI and other software to tart images up.

Sony's seemingly geared towards the traditionalist.

I can't understand why they don't just stick a 1" sensor in the thing and make it slightly fatter.