On the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Sony presented the two new additions to its mid-range called Xperia 10, Xperia 10 Plus and Xperia L3 but above all removed the veils to the new top range called Xperia 1.
The device is different from other high-end devices especially for the aspect ratio of the display of 21:9 called Cinema Wide. For some years now, Sony’s change in direction had been glimpsed since the Xperia Xz2 and Xz3 and now with Xperia 1 this route is well defined.
Sony has in fact put aside the OmniBalance design finally opening the arms to the OLED displays while maintaining its character.
Sony Mobile Communications President Mitsuya Kishida said …
“We have established a new vision for the Xperia brand to offer our customers experiences that exceed their imagination. We continue to surpass ourselves in the continuous search for innovation and the new Xperia proposes authentic technologies with a multitude of professional features, enabling creative entertainment experiences possible only with Sony.”
Sony Xperia 1 Specifications
- Display: 6.5-inch 4K OLED (1644 x 3840 pixels) in 21:9 “CinemaWide”, with BRAVIA X1, HDR support and Gorilla Glass 6 protective glass;
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with 2.8 GHz octa core CPU and GPU Adreno 640;
- Memory: 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory expandable with microSD up to 512 GB;
- Triple rear camera: three 12MP sensors, with a standard 26 mm lens, 16 mm super wide-angle lens and a 52 mm (35 mm) telephoto lens, with OIS;
- Front camera: 8 MP;
- 4G LTE (Gigabit) connectivity, dual SIM support, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C port;
- Battery: 3300 mAh with quick charge support;
- Fingerprint reader integrated in the on / off button;
- OS: Android 9 Pie.
The chipset used by Sony is the Snapdragon 855 of Qalcomm with GPU Adreno 640 and Snapdragon Elite gaming that will allow us to manage app and games heavy.
Sony Xperia 1 is the first device in the world with a 21:9 ratio called Cinema Wide, in addition the diagonal of the display has increased by 30% compared to the previous model.
Xperia 1 relies a lot on multimedia, in fact we find the presence of the proprietary mobile engine BRAVIA X1, which offers HDR remastering technologies on which Sony has bet a lot and the ability to set the screen in Creator Mode (with ITU-R support BT.2020 and DCI-P3 with Illuminant D65 and 10-bit tonal gradation). The experience of using multimedia content is further enhanced by the multi-dimensional Dolby Atmos audio.
With triple rear camera with Eye AF (autofocus), able to identify and keep in focus on the human eye, also among the functions we mention the possibility of shooting with AF / AE tracking up to 10 fps (Auto Focus and Auto Exposure).
The autonomy is unchanged as regards the capacity of the battery compared to the previous model, which a 3300 mAh unit. This seems very small compared to the competition but we will have to see how Xperia 1 will behave with Sony optimization like Smart Stamina, Battery Care and Xperia Adaptive Charging.
As for the rest of the technical equipment, the 3300 mAh battery, identical to that of its predecessor, is apparently a bit undersized, but the verdict will always be up to the field test. In any case, the battery is flanked by Smart Stamina, Battery Care and Xperia Adaptive Charging systems.
Sony Xperia 1 Design
Sony maintains its linguistic design and does not follow Notch fads or holes in the display. The only note is a traditional sandwich design with a more marked edge at the top where they lodge audio capsule, front camera and various sensors. On the lower part we find instead a very thin frame.
The display in 21:9 of Xperia 1 lends itself very well to multitasking thanks to the two “quads” in which the display is divided. This can be launched through the smart Side sense system, with the multitasking launcher or through the voice command.
Xperia 1 is a classic and elegant metal and glass sandwich, with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 both on the front and on the back. The usual IP65 / IP68 certification against water and dust is not lacking. The ergonomics of the device is obviously linked to a double thread with a particularly long aspect ratio of 21:9.
Sony Xperia 1 Software
Also in this sector we do not find great distortions: on board the Sony Xperia 1 we find Android 9 Pie with slight customization, flanked by a series of advanced features but not too invasive.
Do not miss the support for recording of Super Slow-motion video in Full HD and the ability to save photos in RAW format, also Xperia 1 uses the Dual Pixel technology, which helps him to take quality photos in low light even to moving subjects. The 3D Creator app allows you to scan your face to create 3D avatars or objects that can be edited in 3D.
As it was reasonable to expect the software changes of Sony to Android are focused on the photographic sector we find the possibility to record videos in 4K HDR in 21: 9 and for the Cinema Pro app “Powered by CineAlta” that integrates professional video editing tools.
Prices and output of Sony Xperia 1
The price for Italy of Xperia 1 has not been announced, however we can expect a top-range price around $700 but at the moment it is too early to make speculations about it even if given the location of the smaller models Xperia 10 and 10 Plus.
The arrival on the market is however expected in late spring 2019.