A revised design with the “brightest Xperia display ever” at its center
Then again, Xperia phones have always excelled in the display performance department, and this next-gen flagship will probably be no exception, promising a “visually stunning” user experience with state-of-the-art technology “inherited from the esteemed Bravia 9” TV and a new Sunlight Vision mode for better visibility in tricky outdoor lighting conditions.
Interestingly, it appears that the Xperia 1 VI will downgrade its predecessor’s industry-leading 4K resolution to Full HD+, which sounds bad but should also greatly help battery life without impacting the real-life video playing experience much. While the exact pixel count is currently unknown, FHD+ phones tend to do a perfectly adequate job of streaming high-res movies and games at very similar quality to 4K flagships.
All that you need in a high-end phone and more
That’s right, all three rear-facing snappers are equipped with 48-megapixel sensors, with the secondary lens taking care of ultra-wide-angle photography and the tertiary camera supporting telephoto zoom technology ranging from 85 to 170mm. In short, the Xperia 1 VI seems prepared to capture the sharpest and clearest images and videos in pretty much all scenarios and conditions.
Of course, it remains to be seen how the three Zeiss-powered cameras will actually perform out in the real world, and we’ll also need to rigorously review the new phone to verify Sony’s bold promises of delivering “unparalleled audio” performance. A new speaker module will take care of the latter aspect, and worry not, as the 3.5mm headphone jack is remarkably still here to stay.
Tipping the scales at 192 grams and measuring 8.2mm in thickness, the Xperia 1 VI is actually not that different from its predecessor while easily beating the Galaxy S24 Ultra in both those departments. Its “elegant” color options will include black, platinum silver, khaki green, and red, although we highly doubt all four of those are headed for all global markets. There are no words on charging speeds yet, but we do know wireless charging will be (unsurprisingly) supported, and the same goes for “battery share” functionality.
A “vapor chamber cooler”, FPS optimizer, audio equalizer, game enhancer, and 240Hz “touch scanning rate” are just a few of the technologies set to squeeze the best gaming capabilities out of the Xperia 1 VI’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, although once again, we’d urge you to wait for our review before expecting too much from these fancy-sounding but potentially gimmicky features. Either way, Sony could definitely have a real winner on its hands here… if it finally gets the price point right, which we should find out tomorrow.