The Sony Xperia has an advanced chipset, camera array, and software loadout in comparison to the previous counterparts. It is a premium alternative to its predecessors and aimed at a slightly narrower audience- mostly the movie-makers as there are an excellent move creation app and a multitude of settings for optimizing viewing. Viewing content gains an added advantage on the Xperia 1 over other Sony handsets! One of the most exciting features is the Cinema Pro app, which lets the user film 21:9 4K footage similar to using a DSLR camera experience!
Review of Sony Xperia 1
Price and Availability
The Sony Xperia 1 is available at $949 / £849 (roughly AU$1,365) for its single 128GB storage model, places itself on the upper tier of the smartphone pricing. It is pricier than the Samsung Galaxy S10, which was priced $899 / £799 / AU$1,349 in its 128GB model release. The Sony Xperia is available in many regions like the UK, though people in the US will have to wait until July 12.
Watching Movies
Sony always aims at creating phones with 21:9 screens to give the best viewing experience to its users, and specifically for viewing movies. Unlike the TV shows, YouTube videos and OTT shows, the film come at 21:9 screens and the Xperia 1 ensures that there are no black bars on the top or bottom side while watching movies. There are also specific improvements on Xperia 1, which is aimed at enhancing the movie-watching experience. These include improved Dynamic Vibration, which causes the handset to vibrate when viewing media in to replicate the booming effect of a cinema hall; as well as the Creator mode for display which lightly alters the RGB makeup of the screen to resemble the colors of a theatre screen.
Making Movies
In addition to the viewing movies, Sony also aimed at giving people the chance to create movies! The Xperia 1 is equipped with high-end video recording features in the new Cinema Pro app. With this, users can record 21:9 content and alter the critical setting and features like resolution, frames per second, white balance, shutter speed, lens size and colour filter. However, the only disadvantage for the phone is the limited brightness level, which means though the film-making would look great on the phone, it may seem far too bright when it is transferred and viewed on another device.
Design of Sony Xperia 1
The Sony Xperia 1 is a long, thin and lanky model with 167 x 72 x 8.2mm dimensions and a weight of 180g. Also, in comparison to other phones, it is a little heavy. The phone is equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass on the front as well as backside and metal frame between glass. The phone is available in white, purple, black and grey colours. There is a USB-C port on the bottom, and the volume rocker, fingerprint sensor, power button and single-camera button towards the right side from top to bottom.
Display of Sony Xperia 1
The only fallout to the Sony Xperia 1 display is the low max brightness of the screen. This demerit makes it difficult and challenging to take pictures, record video, or use everyday phone functions. The display has a 6.5-inch OLED, with a 1644 x 3840 resolution and a pixel density of 643 pixels per inch. The content viewed on the phone looks great on the Creator mode, an option in the settings which is similar to the RGB setup and image processing feature of the cinema screens. This feature is designed specifically to display content in the way that creators intended it to be viewed. Users can also change the white balance of the screen accordingly, either by selecting one of several presents or by altering the RGB makeup themselves. Though there is no punch-hole camera breaking up the display of the phone, there is an old-fashioned bezel located above the screen, which houses the notification light, front-facing camera as well as the speaker.
Sony Xperia 1 is an excellent phone for lovers of movie and cinema, who love both watching movies and creating films!