Sony Xperia 1 V is now official and is the company’s premium flagship phone for 2023. This is the successor to the Sony Xperia 1 IV, launched at $1,599 / £1,299 / €1,399 and featured an 85-125mm true optical zoom camera. The Xperia 1 V retains the design language of the Xperia 1 IV and gets upgraded internals. Moreover, the phone is priced the same in the UK and Europe, that is, £1,299 and €1,399, respectively.
The Xperia 1 V comes in two colors – Black & Green. Compared to the Xperia 1 IV, the only design change is in the camera module. The LED flash is placed inside the camera module this year, and the phone also lacks a Time of Flight sensor. A Gorilla Glass Victus back has a textured finish for a better grip. The phone’s sides are textured, and so is the shutter button.
The phone has a stereo speaker setup and does not lack the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is gone from every flagship from other brands. The phone also has three microphones, and Sony says this third microphone is used to record the speech clearly.
The main USP of the Sony Xperia series is the camera. The Sony Xperia 1 V has a triple camera setup on the rear. The primary camera has a new sensor, 70% larger than the one on Xperia 1 IV. It is a 1/1.35″ 52MP Exmor T for mobile sensor with a 1.12μm pixel size paired with an f/1.9 lens. Sony claims this new sensor offers twice as low-light scenario performance as the Xperia 1 IV. This sensor is unique because it has a two-layer transistor pixel – one for the photodiode and one for the phototransistor. This helps in gathering more light and reducing noise.
The second camera is for ultrawide photos and has a 12MP sensor, whereas the third camera is for zoom shots and has a 12MP sensor with an 85-125mm lens. All three cameras can shoot 4K HDR videos at up to 120 fps. For selfies, there is a 12MP camera.
Under the hood, Sony Xperia 1 V has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SOC, paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The phone has a microSD card slot for memory expansion. The battery size is 5,000mAh, and there is 30W fast wired charging. The phone also supports wireless charging.
On the front, Sony Xperia 1 V has a 6.5-inch 21:9 4K HDR OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. The phone is IP68 certified.
The phone is priced at $1,399 / £1,299 / €1,399.