The Future of Smartphone Cameras? Sony Xperia 1 IV!

Sony might be onto something here with the Xperia 1 IV...

Phone provided by Sony for review.

~

[fella]

I love how Sony keeps their classy elegant design. No notch, simple camera arrangement

[ENDESGA]

I love how Sony has just been quietly making phones that are actually really quite amazing. Couldn't care less about the top/bottom bezels too

[rafff]

Sony is insane as usual. They keep fighting all trends and going their own way, I wish we will see more cool stuff from Sony in few years. Even though their tech are not for mass-users

[benpietersen]

I've had the Xperia 1 IV basically since it released. I'm a software developer and tech enthusiast and use it as more as a poweruser tool than for content consumption or entertainment, it should also be noted than I've never owned or used a Sony phone before this one so here is my honest opinion about it from the point of view of actually living with it daily:
What I don't like:
- The rear LED is weak when using it as a flashlight. Just using max brightness on the screen let's me see more at night.
- Photos taken using the Basic mode are usually average or worse, although it's more than adequate for 90% of use cases
- Even though it can take videos at 4k 120fps, the built in camera app doesn't have slow motion or timelapse options. This sucks.
- You cannot use the phone as a wireless hotspot while connected to WiFi (for chaining or extending range) like some Xiaomi phones can. It's one or the other.
- Lack of any real fast charging can be a nuisance. Although having the wireless charging option is nice for keeping it topped up.
- Basic mode telephoto photos seem a bit washed out and fuzzy, but on closer inspection is still sharp. Just a weird effect.
- The "Ice White" colour is actually pale blue. Not really a con but I wish it was the colour I expected.
- I would really have liked a programmable button or to be able to re-map the shutter button when not using the camera app.

Now here's what I like:
- rgb notification LED, you don't realize how nice it is until you have it. Small quality of life improvement.
- Headphone jack, use it often and for high quality audio (the audio DAC is also really good and has an accurate response curve)
- The screen is amazing in terms of colour accuracy and especially resolution.
- Since the shape is so tall and narrow, the front facing speakers are further apart and give a noticeably clearer stereo effect when used horizontally
- Despite how bad auto mode is, photos taken with the manual mode can be absolutely insane. Approaching the quality of a dedicated mirrorless or DSLR and better than something you could get on a pixel/Samsung or iPhone for particular shots *if you put in the effort*
- Dual waterproof rating, IP ratings aren't cumulative so having the extra peace of mind is great. I've taken underwater videos several times now.
- Having a clean, no B.S, no bloatware Android version is very underrated. The added features are meh although I use the split screen quite often. Nothing beats the android experience on a pixel, but I would give this solid second place.
- The eye tracking autofocus is bonkers, both for video and burst mode photos. It can track anything with an eye even if it moves like a cat on crack.
- Clean design. Having no stupid looking notch or hole punch is a really big plus for me. The bezels are anyways very small and non-intrusive, it's something you forget until you use another phone and wonder why your brain is itching.
- Expandable storage is also a winner, I use it as an external SSD for my laptop and its nice to know that space will never be a limitation
- NFC and wireless charging are basically the only reasons I got the Xperia 1 IV instead of the Xperia 5. Not having to bring my wallet around with me is really convenient and keeping your phone almost fully charged and ready through the day is really neat.

I don't really play games or create content so I can't comment on that, but for daily use and even with processor intensive apps running split screen at 120hz it stays responsive and snappy and I've only ever had a heating issue once when filming video. Interestingly it didn't throttle or drop frames at all which is standard practice on most devices.

If I can summarize my opinion about the phone it would be that its extremely thoughtfully designed and very focused on "quality of life" aspects. More so than most other devices I've experienced. I really appreciate that Sony still sticks to a Kaizen philosophy and continue to make phones which are better and better. So much so that they are appreciated more and more by less and less people.

[erichawkins]

Something about the matte black and the camera module, I think this phone looks really clean!

[riyuke]

I still love the Xperia phones on what they offer:
- Stereo Front facing speakers
- The famous jack
- microSD slot
- Finger print in power button (the best location)
If only they still made the high end compact ones :'(

[Kana]

Sony will be my next phone after my note10. Has a JACK, no notch, led notification better camera, expandable memory without needing a tool to open it, 4k screen, better speaker and camera shutter. Also doesn't look ghastly like most new phone.

[MisterSixty]

As the owner of an Xperia 1 iii, I'm pleased to see the progress of the Sony phones. Hopefully, when the time comes for me to upgrade, my next phone will be another Sony. I hope they will continue to offer the headphone jack and sdcard slot as those are and will continue to be essential for me.

Thank you MKBHD for your review!

[AuthenTech]

Currently not a lot of zoom, but the technology potential for the future looks incredible

[bpygkor]

What I want from this phone in other phones:
*- Headphone Jack*
*- Expandable Storage*
*- No Notch Design*

[aakashdubey]

I really appreciate that your primary focus is technology and how it’s improving rather than phone specs. Phones should be about how well they can serve you rather than just specs.

[sylvielam]

I guess why SONY can do this is because they're one of the biggest CMOS producers rn... they make good cameras and even my Nikon mirrorless camera has a SONY sensory if I remember correctly; which means they can hopefully do something with the sensor to make it more efficient. Basically, if you want a wide focal length range, the sensor has to be small. (for example, an 80mm lens for a smaller aps-c crop-frame camera can be made smaller than the one for a full-frame camera)... aka if the same pixel specs, fitting more pixels into a smaller sensor space; which usually leads to poorer image quality because of...umm physics.

[SPISheste]

Let's just appreciate, *Sony* being one of the few companies still making *radical* design / hardware changes -- I'm not disproving other companies, but they stick to incremental improvements (which makes sense)

[Neoxon]

Sony really needs to step up their branding when it comes to their phones, because they have some real sleeper hits on their hands.

[sami-svnh]

Would love to have a Sony phone again, but unfortunately it's no longer available in my country ☹️

[mezion]

The fact that they're able to accomplish variable focal lengths that smoothly in something that small is incredible by itself.

[Just_RJ]

Glad to see Sony getting their shine, hopefully we see them in the Smartphone Awards this year

[kensheebattousai]

Watching this on my Xperia 1 II and it was the first time I spent 1200€ on a smartphone ( highest I had paid was 450€) but I don't regret it and don't think I'd change for the next 3 years. Its still smooth af and camera still impresses me.
Quality over quantity seems to be Sony's moto and they are classy, elegant but efficient with their designs. Not perfect (brightness in the mark 2 is bad, and side fingerprint sensor aren't great) but they improve with every edition.

No notch, stereo speakers, headphone jack, great camera, screen, audio and video quality enhanced with their codec packs.

The day I change phones, you better believe it'll be a Sony.

[majestikmoose]

This phone looks amazing, and kudos to Sony for doing their own thing and doing it well— but $1600? Just... How?

[doryansbest]

I remember I wanted an experia so bad when I was like 12 years old. I didn't know Sony still making phones! This is just amazing