Sony Xperia 1 VI | Rise and fall of the Photographer's Smartphone | Xiaomi 14 Ultra Shootout

You guys were very vocal ! you wanted me to try out the Xperia 1 VI despite my reservations in my video last month... your wish is granted !
I put the Sony Xperia 1 VI against the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, 2 of the biggest camera smartphone flagships in 2024 so far !
Is the new telephoto module better than last year's ? have they improved the photo app ? is the new macro mode life changing ? answers in the video !
As always let me know what you guys think in the comments section and if you own the xperia 1 VI what are your thoughts? yay or nay ?

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00:00 - Intro
00:59 - Bokeh / Portrait mode
04:11 - Basic / Automatic Mode
09:35 - Lowlight Basic / Automatic Mode
11:35 - Macro Mode
14:27 - RAW manual mode
18:47 - Final Thoughts

[theSFCchannel]

The most frustrating is and I have seen this done for many years (like you said) Sony sell the largest and BEST sensors (like on the XIAOMI 14 ultra) for the competition (which contains one inch type sensors)-but on sony's own products we get 2nd or third best sensor and never the first. It is as though Xperia intentionally CRIPPLE their own flagship phones in order to sell their best sensors to the competition. SHAME sony FOR SHAME!"

[yazzman]

Not that into photography but looking at getting this phone for jack and SD. Just wanted to say superb review.

[alincarp]

Sony phones in the photography department will never have the same result as the other smartphones because Sony does not use AI on the image processing side and again this is wrong because the AI ​​post processing photos come out overexposed vibrant colors and oversaturated night is not night anymore but more days and the proses are mostly unnatural fakes that reflect in the eyes. The devices from Sony do not do this and the resulting photos are closer to a mirrorless camera, when exposed to colors, contrast, image noise, etc. it's much closer to a Sony Alpha, Canon or Nikon than an iPhone, Xiaomi or Samsung.... You can test this.

[vikaluksena]

You know what I want? I just want a sony xperia 5 v with the camera specs of the sony rx100 vii, that's it

[bloodytoad]

For bokeh mode Sony did not turn ON HDR. The motorbike photo for the 24mm lens the Xperia 1VI did better. Macro wise same. Xperia 1VI did better.

[AOTanoos]

Back when the 1 inch IMX989 Sony sensor was released i was almost sure the Xperie 1 IV was going to get it since Sony claimed it was made for flagship smartphones and the Ultra 12s got it, but then was disappointed that it didn’t. Then a year later i was sure they were finally going to put that 1 inch sensor into the 1 V, yet again they didn’t and instead came up with that new stacked transistor technology so i gave them a pass. Then Sony presented the LYT-900 and yet again claimed it was made for flag ship smartphones, so i thought this time for sure it was going to come to the Xperia 1 VI, maybe even paired with that stacked transistor tech that would make it by far the best smartphone sensor, most light sensitive and best dynamic range. That would be a true flagship and what we deserved for that price…just to find Sony not upgrading any of their 3 sensors for the 1 VI at all!!!

Its honestly been exhausting watching Sony not give their “flagship” phone actual flagship hardware but charge flagship $.

Only thing holding me from buying a Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the security concerns and other stuff behind the company. If that Xiaomi 14 Ultra came as it is, just from Sony with their badge on it, i’d buy it asap !

[simmysharma]

been liking Sony products for a long time, this time many have been dissappointed by sony.

[artemiybzhedugov]

Why are people blindly saying that Xperia is "the best"? This is quite possibly the most honest and constructive comparison I've come across. I swear everyone is just blindly shilling for multi-billion corporations.
Do you have any recommendations for other camera phones? I'm a hobby photographer, but would like to film a lot of video guitar related content, and would love a great all rounder. I have a Samsung note 10+, but it kills me with how grainy it is. I was looking at Xperia 1 V as it's around 700$ new rn, but after seeing how the sensors stack up against the current gen and how grainy the video footage is, I am not so sure anymore.
Thanks for all your work mate

[alaneddy]

I think the macro mode is amazing. I hear what you say about the limitations, but it is the best macro on any smartphone and is why I went for the mark 6. I am impressed by the Xiaomi's overall standard lens and sensor performance. China is handing western phone makers their asses at the mo. Yes Sony definitely needs to upgrade their wide sensors and fix the software. They have launched this camera more in beta mode. Wait for the updates in August and see.

[alaneddy]

I am a video user. The photography is secondary. I do need the sd card, the headphone jack and I love the lack of a notch or cutout and HATE that in all other phones. I would like to see a video comparison between this phone and other top flagships. You made some very important points here and I will be addressing this on my channel...when it finally launches. Thanks mate...perhaps if Sony does a mark 2 of the Pro i we could see these issues resolved...at a price.

[fotosvond_]

Well, coming from an iPhone my approach to this phone has been a bit different (I have never had a Sony before). 

1) On iPhones, the image processing is most aggressive, you can only avoid this by shooting real RAW. But: You can't properly shoot RAW at all (not ProRAW!). The display will always show you a correct exposure, even histogram and zebras, but your result will be underexposed. It is like guessing and puzzling step by step to get a correctly exposed RAW. On the Sony, that is not a problem. It's like setting up your camera, it gives you what you see, even though the quality of the RAW surprisingly is better on the iPhone. On the Sony it looks a lot like vintage, a bit blurred, rather soft. Still you can get some decent images. If I want top quality, I will aim for my A7R III nevertheless. But if you want to be on a small setup without a bag or anything, it is beneficial to have a phone that will do what you want and not follow its own agenda like all these computational dummies.
2) Concerning JPG-shooting: I have a feeling like they increased sharpening over the 1 V which looked softer and more natural in terms of photos. I guess that has to do with their approach to get all the apps in one while giving social media shooters a more ready to upload image (which is what Apple and Samsung to, thus robbing the Xperia's strengths by increasing sharpness, saturation and contrast). Unfortunately, the 1 V is not an option for me because the 21:9 aspect ratio is rather useless for me and I need battery over display resolution.
3) Video is where it gets REALLY interesting. iPhone video footage is really ugly, it has a lot more contrast than necessary, it is VERY HDR-ish, it is always sharpened too much and colours are unrealistic, too. It just looks fake. What you get with S-Cinetone on the Sony is most impressive. It gives you superb colours and a rather soft, natural image. Has been a pleasure to record video with this for the first time since iPhone 8+. Stabilization is absolutely perfect even at 4k60 which makes it a very good companion on the go. A sweet spot that my a7R III is weak at: capturing 4K handheld while walking. ;))
4) general observation: Using these lenses feels a lot more like optics than it does with the iPhone. On a 24mm FF lens, if you get very close to your subject, you will have blurred background no matter if you are at f1.4 or f4, it is just the way optics work. With an iPhone, you will still have nearly everything in focus which doesn't make sense and looks idiotic.


Just a few thoughts because I was evaluating these files today, too.

[alaneddy]

Weird about the mushines. The mark 6 has the 8 Gen 3...faster! It should be better!

[Tubeflux]

The low light picture of the motorbike seems just out of focus… I am quite satisfied with my Xperia M6, the criticism about having 2 12 megapixel sensors and one 48, I find justified. It’ weaknesses when taking photos for example. But some concern just software, so an update in the future should solve this. However, something to highlight is its extraordinary long battery life, the macro mode, the optical zoom - I know, it s not perfect, but it’s there and great fun, and its great anti-slippery surface.

[jchinchilla.r]

I have the xperia 1 iii and was waiting for an update in hardware, specially on the telephoto sensors and when the mark vi was presented I was so disappointed. Did some research and finally decided to get the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, its sensors are Sony too, but better. I'll take a look for sony again further if they decide to build an actual flagship, they have really good sensors, I just don't know why they don't use them on their own phones.

[nateflorea]

I was mostly very disappointed by the display resolution and aspect ratio, and Xiaomi 14 Ultra also has the display that is acceptable: 3200x1440 20:9 compared to 1 VI 2340x1080 19.5:9.
Seeing that the camera is no better than 1 V (thanks for that) makes it easier for me to buy something else. Only if Xiaomi 14 Ultra looked better, it looks horrible. That's something that Xperia still has.

[ntkgdhk]

Sony Xperia 1 VI may not the "best", but it is the only camera phone I would buy. Because I will never again buy a camera phone which I can't hold with one hand or see in sunlight or shoot all day without a powerbank. That is absolutely non-negotiable. That rules out everything except Xperia 1 VI. I'm absolutely aware of the price and of the tele quality.

I am suspecting however Sony will issue a Pro-I with better lenses.

[amenbrothersSE]

Why does Olles pics looks so good compared to yours? He also used a mark vi?

[wzuzgbw]

What have they done to the ISP or image processor? They should have aimed to improve it, not make it worse.
By the way, I don't think they will ever use the Lytia on the Xperia, as they typically only use custom sensors. They may have something planned to change the game by the end of this year or in 2025, especially since they didn't sell Xperia in the US this time around. It seems they are sticking with older hardware on the 1 VI, possibly saving something special for their next flagship. (Just my conspiracy theory, haha)

[pyaephyo]

Good thing that you highlighted about tele camera sensor. They should use bigger sensor or better software processing to get better result. But i believe if sony can fit in bigger sensor to their tele camera they would have done it. I think they do not want to sacrifice the phone thickness or camera bump. It is Sony being Sony. And it will not fair to compare 1vI image quality with others phone 1" sensor. May be you try to compare image quality of this Xiaomi phone with 2021 Xperia Pro-I main camera in raw file(shot in manual mode) . See which is better 1" to 1".
My only complain to 1VI is price. If they want to gain more casual user they need to resuce the price. Other than that the phone is fantastic. And to fully utilize the 1VI camera setup, ones just need the skill.

[sunnylyt]

Here in China, the price of 1 mark v literally increased after the launch of 1 vi.