Sony is announcing new Xperia phones today. The Xperia 1 VI is supposed to be the new showpiece from Sony.

Sony may not be a major player in the global smartphone industry, but the company continues to release new Xperia phones every year. Today Sony is introducing its 2024 lineup, which consists of the Xperia 1 VI and the Xperia 10 VI.

Understanding Sony’s naming and numbering system is a discipline in itself. The Xperia 1 is the manufacturer’s top series: The Xperia 1 VI should be able to keep up with the Samsung Galaxy 24 Ultra, the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Co. The Xperia 10 series consists of affordable devices. In between lies the Xperia 5, which is in the lower premium segment. The VI in the name refers to the sixth generation of the devices.

Atypical screen

With that out of the way, we can look at the devices in detail, starting with the Xperia 1 VI. Sony smartphones stand out almost immediately because of their atypical screen ratio: in this device it is 19.5:9. This time not a 4K screen, but FHD+. According to Sony, a 4K display uses too much energy. Therefore, it was decided to prioritize battery life over pixel count.

To compensate, Sony increases the brightness by fifty percent. The refresh rate can be dynamically scaled from 1 to 120 Hz. Nobody wants a picture without sound, so the speakers have also been improved. And yes, there is actually an audio jack for wired headphones. This has become so rare in today’s smartphones that it’s worth mentioning.

Full of photography

Sony is also a camera manufacturer, so it’s no surprise that photography is a major focus of the Xperia 1 VI. There are three cameras on the back: a 12MP wide-angle lens (16mm), a 52MP main lens (24/48mm) and a 12MP zoom lens (85-170mm lens). All photo and video features can now be accessed through one updated camera app, rather than three separate ones. It is unclear whether the new camera app will also be rolled out retroactively to older models.

Sony particularly highlights the telephoto lens. We’ve already seen smartphones with impressive zoom capabilities this year, just think of the S24 Ultra and the OnePlus 12. The Xperia 1 V1 is said to be able to keep up with 7x optical zoom. The telephoto lens can also be useful for taking macro photos with a close-up distance of 4 cm.

Of course, a touch of AI should not be missing from the cameras. The cameras are equipped with AI technology to better understand the human skeleton. This is said to result in much more accurate motion tracking, even when potential obstacles block the object’s visibility.

Long battery life, shorter support

Sony claims that the Xperia 1 VI can offer up to two days of battery life. The long term was also taken into account: According to the manufacturer, battery degradation after four years will be well below the industry standard. Wireless charging is supported, but exact charging options are not discussed. If we go by the claim that it takes half an hour on the cable to fill up to fifty percent, we can’t expect miracles.

Finally, Sony promises three years of software updates and four years of security updates. In the premium segment, this is rather poor considering that Samsung and Google offer seven years of support for their top models.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI will be available from early June in three colors: black, white and khaki green. The recommended retail price is an impressive 1399 euros, including VAT.