Sony Xperia 1 MkIV

Fry750 · 3 May 2022 at 06:32

Expected announcement on 11th May with alleged 48mp sensor.

Also expected are SD 8 gen 1 (not plus), 4k OLED screen, headphone jack, SD card slot and an unflattering price £1400 or so.

I've been a fan of Xperia 1 series and hope this improves on several key issues, namely launch date and announcement being months apart.

Considerable Xperia 1 IV camera upgrades hinted at in latest teaser from Sony

Sony has posted another teaser video for its upcoming launch event, which is expected to feature the Xperia 1 IV. The clip calls the “next one” a smartphone for content creators, with popular YouTuber Pierre T. Lambert describing the impressive camera capabilities of the unnamed device. The Sony...

www.notebookcheck.net

Would very much welcome a boost to camera MP, battery life and accuracy to fingerprint reader.

Any one else keen? Rumoured price is a definite worry!

kona786 · 6 May 2022 at 09:18

4k oled such an overkill. And the cameras always seem to underwhelm. No not really looking forward to it.

Orcvader · 6 May 2022 at 12:45

The 5 phones usually make more sense but they tend to come out later than the 1 series, usually when better phones are close to becoming available.

I don't mind them especially from UI/UX point of view as it's one of the closer ones to stock, but definitely on the more expensive side.

neoboy · 6 May 2022 at 16:21

From experience with their previous phones, they really need to improve their software support to get away with charging what they do.

That also goes for their camera software, it's just consistently behind the competition. Yeah they have cool looking Alpha camera app but majority of their rivals have equivalent manual modes and also produce better results on simple point and click auto mode.

All a shame as perfect phones for me on paper but found myself disappointed both times across 2 generations. Screens were also on a dim side especially when using outdoors, not sure what III phones were like.

Fry750 · 8 May 2022 at 16:05

The Xperia 1 cameras have been decent. Unfortunately when 12mp is pitted against 48mp, it's always going to appear lesser but the photo pro app etc is very good.

The Apples, Samsungs and Chinese competitors rely on computational photography which appeals to Mr point & shoot but as I understand, Sony is trying to appeal to Mr enthusiast/pro/traditionalist.

As Sony make the sensors on the higher end phones, you'd expect them to earmark those for their own or at least get some advantage - apparently not!

I didn't bother with the MkIII but the MkII has been solid.

Smeghead · 9 May 2022 at 09:51

I always commend Sony on maintaining the whole headphone jack, microSD slot, no notch/holepunch, front facing speakers and physical camera shutter package, but their pricing is arrogant and illogical. They have a pathetic market share as it is, and increasing the price of an already very expensive phone just isn't it. They'll be going the way of LG at this rate. Increasing megapixel count is always a red flag too for image quality, but we'll see if they took any feedback from the 1 III.

[HB]Rugrat · 10 May 2022 at 18:33

My first android phone was a Sony (the Xperia z) and I've always had a soft spot for them... That pricing though - they really need to wake up to the fact that it's not the 80s any more and they can't really command that sort of premium over the competition.

Martini1991 · 11 May 2022 at 08:54

Wow, we can actually pre order it the day it's announced

Although I can't seem to find a release date lol?

kona786 · 11 May 2022 at 09:07

Have Sony even guaranteed updates. Needs to be Samsung level at this money

[HB]Rugrat · 11 May 2022 at 09:14

Martini1991 said:
Wow, we can actually pre order it the day it's announced

Although I can't seem to find a release date lol?

September according to Mr Mobile.

Martini1991 · 11 May 2022 at 09:16

[HB]Rugrat said:
September according to Mr Mobile.

What's the point
People have reviewed it today lol

Ade74 · 11 May 2022 at 09:19

According to Amazon it's released June 16th

Smeghead · 11 May 2022 at 09:24

Official price of £1299. It seems very incremental...certainly doesn't seem worth the price, and the camera samples look shockingly bad.

I'll be honest, I don't quite understand the whole "it's pre-release" excuse for cameras. It's the 4th generation of this product already, and Sony are one of the leaders in photography and imaging. How can you say the results are acceptable even for pre-release when you have horrifically over-exposed images like at 6:55? How are the results not at the very least comparable to the previous generation? Every increment of a product should build upon and improve, not stagnate and be the same, let alone be worse.

Orcvader · 11 May 2022 at 12:02

kona786 said:
Have Sony even guaranteed updates. Needs to be Samsung level at this money

Based on when I had the XZp, it's at least two years of OS and security updates. I don't think they've announced anything longer.

Yeah that's just too expensive. No 5 IV either, but I'm guessing it's highly due to the 5 III only hitting US shelves in January earlier this year. Sony needs to stop with the early paper launches, only for the actual release to be many months later. They really needs to change the way they release phones.

kona786 · 11 May 2022 at 12:59

And given the absolute premium nature of this handset you don't even get a cable let alone a fast charger.

Like Mr Mobile says, they need to nail the point and shoot aspect of the camera, not just fanny around with manual mode.

Fry750 · 11 May 2022 at 13:11

I'm disappointed - really, REALLY marginal improvements. I use the MkII and it still doesn't seem worth the upgrade.

The charger aspect doesn't bother me as I have 50x type C chargers floating around but I was hoping for a boost to something.

16th June is the launch date which is a marked improvement (speed-wise) but again, I'm left with a sense of 'meh'.

Also, the £1300 price is pretty nuts - IF it had the HDMI input that'd be something...

[HB]Rugrat · 11 May 2022 at 15:11

Martini1991 said:
What's the point
People have reviewed it today lol

He says it's an early engineering sample that's been sent out.

edit: removed youtube link as Smeghead's already posted it.

neoboy · 11 May 2022 at 16:06

So looks like point and shoot still really bad, definitely poor for any flagship to fail to nail basic dynamics range shots.

SDK^ · 12 May 2022 at 08:22

Fry750 said:
The Apples, Samsungs and Chinese competitors rely on computational photography which appeals to Mr point & shoot but as I understand, Sony is trying to appeal to Mr enthusiast/pro/traditionalist.

Exactly - and the majority of enthusiasts & pros either have a pocket 1inch sensor camera they carry around (Sony RX / Canon G7x), or are happy with the P&S photo results from an iPhone or Samsung phone.
Not many people want to shoot on a mobile phone and then need to process the images to get the best look.

Also, an 85-125mm zoom range is pretty useless. Just go with a fixed 85 lens.

hux · 12 May 2022 at 21:12

I'm very curious about this phone, are I'm feeling the itch to upgrade.
But like everyone else, I'll need to see reviews first as it's a lot of outlay for just a phone.