Sony has launched its new Xperia 1 VI smartphone, but despite all the useful upgrades and high-level specifications, the screen has lost its most impressive feature.
Last year’s Xperia 1 V and its four predecessors had a screen with 4K resolution. This left Sony as the only major company to offer phones with such a high-quality panel.
Although a niche feature, it had a huge advantage over the 1440p or 1080p panels you see on most smartphones: watching TV shows and movies.
If you had access to 4K HDR content, whether through a streaming service like Netflix or your own digital download, the Xperia 1 V was the best phone for watching it.
Content looked simply stunning on the 6.5-inch OLED panel, especially with a tall 21:9 aspect ratio ensuring no letterboxing (black bars above and below content) for widescreen video.
However, both are gone on the new Xperia 1 VI. It’s now a run-of-the-mill 1080p OLED panel with a more typical 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The power of the 1080p screen on last year’s Xperia 10 V suggests it will be a good display, but with nothing to stand out from Android rivals such as the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro.
On the positive side
But it’s not all bad news. The Xperia 1 VI’s display now supports LTPO technology, meaning it can automatically adjust the refresh rate between 1 and 120 Hz, saving battery power when not needed.
Besides the lower resolution and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset (known to be more power efficient than the 8 Gen 2 in the Xperia 1 V), Sony claims the 5,000 mAh cell provides the longest battery life of all Xperia 1 phones – up to two full days. .
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Sony is hoping this is one of the phones with the best battery life in order to stand out in a tough market.
More space to zoom
The Xperia VI uses the same Exmor T sensor as its predecessor, which crops a 52MP sensor to create a 48MP one. It’s still joined by 12MP ultra-wide lenses and a 12MP selfie lens, but the 12MP telephoto lens has been improved.
Its variable focal lengths have been extended to 85-170mm, which means an optical zoom range of 3.5 to 7.1x. That’s one of the highest on any phone, and means you won’t need to rely on digital zoom for most zoom shots.
This provides great flexibility for portrait-style photos, but Sony also recommends it specifically for close-up macro photos, which can remain in focus up to 4cm from the subject.
But who is it for?
It’s hard to understand who would buy the Xperia 1 VI other than loyal fans. Its predecessor suggests that photography will lag behind the best camera phones, while the screen will no longer stand out from its competitors.
Commitment to three Android OS updates (ships running Android 14) and four years of security updates is better than before, but still far behind Google and Samsung, which offer seven on their latest flagship products.
And the Xperia VI doesn’t come cheap: it costs £1,299/$1,399, making it one of the most expensive Android phones you can buy.
With this in mind, the new Xperia 10 VI might be a better choice. With a starting price of £349/$399, this is very much a mid-range phone and retains the 21:9 screen, but still with 1080p resolution and upgrades to the chipset and cameras.
Pre-orders for both phones are now live. The Xperia 1 VI will go on sale “at the beginning of June”, before the release of the Xperia 10 VI “in mid-June”.
