Sony Xperia 1 V Review: An Imaging Powerhouse with Camera Sensor Exmor T

Sony has dropped latest flagship phones, the Xperia 1 V, and man, does this thing look sweet. The Xperia phone lineup has rocked pretty much the same design for years now, While the design remains largely unchanged, there are small but significant improvements in details that make the Xperia 1 V an impressive upgrade.

First up, Sony’s added some grippy vertical stripes to the frame and a diamond-particle coating to the Gorilla Glass back. That gives the Xperia 1 V a little extra friction so it won’t slip through your fingers, and it cuts down on fingerprints, too. Sony moved the NFC module lower on the body and stuck the flash inside the camera module, which makes that part a tad thicker. But otherwise, this phone’s thin and light as a feather, just like past Xperias.

You can grab the color classic black, but Sony’s also offering green and silver versions if you want to shake things up.

Imaging’s still the main draw for the SONY Xperia 1 V. The main camera packs a 48MP sensor that’s 1.7x bigger than the last version. Sony says it’s the biggest dual-layer sensor ever put in a phone, named Exmor T. That means lower noise and higher dynamic range, almost like a real full-frame camera. Low light shots are twice as clear as the previous Xperia, thanks to that huge sensor and Sony’s multi-frame noise reduction tech. You also get an 16mm ultra-wide, an 85-125mm telephoto with optical zoom, and 4K HDR video recording on all three cameras, plus eye AF, real-time tracking, and Zeiss with T* coating.

EDITOR PICKED: Xiaomi 13 Ultra Review: A Smart Camera for Photography Enthusiasts

From what we’ve seen so far, the Xperia 1 V takes amazing pics, with vibrant colors and crisp details, though the dynamic range isn’t quite as wide as a 1-inch sensor. The processing is really restrained, so shots look natural. And Sony’s fixed the overheating issues that limited video recording time problem. The new heat management lets you shoot 4K video for way longer without the phone cooking itself.

The Xperia 1 V’s loaded in other areas, too. You get a 6.5-inch 4K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, a huge 5,000mAh battery with fast charging, and wireless charging support.

Sony’s really outdone themselves with this one. The Xperia 1 V should be your list if you want a no-compromise powerhouse phone that takes amazing photos and video. That is hard to beat in terms of imaging capabilities.

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