Sony Xperia 1V Smartphone Review – The Sony Xperia 1V is the flagship smartphone from Sony that was announced on May 2023, and will go on sale on July 2023. This is a proper flagship smartphone with all the high-end bells and whistles we see on other flagships smartphone. Sony went a step further and included a unique camera setup on this smartphone.
The Sony Xperia 1 V is one of the most advanced and complete Android smartphones available in the market, and it is especially suitable for users who value photography, videography, and entertainment. We decided to review this smartphone and as we begin, you will start to notice that the camera is not the only unique setup in this smartphone. You will find similar uniqueness all over the smartphone whether we talk about display, battery, or performance. It’s an exciting smartphone to review and you will soon find out why. Without any further ado, let’s get started with a detailed review of the Sony Xperia 1 V smartphone.
Table of Contents
Sony Xperia 1V Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Sony Xperia 1V features a 6.5 inches OLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate.
- Sony Xperia 1V is powered by the newest 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for flagship performance.
- The smartphone runs on the latest Android 13 OS with a stock Android user interface.
- The Sony Xperia 1V features a 48MP triple-camera system on the back and a 12MP selfie camera at the front.
- The smartphone features a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery with 30W fast wired charging along with wireless charging support.
Design and Display
Sony always had a great design and that hasn’t changed with the Xperia 1V. It features the premium glass and aluminum design found on most flagships. Both the side frame and the back glass feature a flat design, which gives incredible grip and a premium touch feeling. Apart from the usual volume and power buttons, it also has a camera button that can instantly launch the camera from anywhere.
It is available in three colors, Black, Khaki Green, and platinum Silver. Both the display and the rear glass is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus respectively. The smartphone is further protected by IP65/68 dust and water resistance.
When it comes to the front, you get a 6.5 inches OLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 1 Billion colors. Now, that’s a display that fully supports the HDR BT.2020 standard, giving you the ability to watch HDR content in full glory. Since the smartphone is taller than usual, it provides you with more vertical space, which can be very useful during web browsing. Aside from this, the device has an 8.3mm thick body and is lightweight with 187 grams.
Memory and Internal
The Sony Xperia 1V has been outfitted with the newest and the fastest 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. This processor is the fastest Android processor as of yet and can reach up to a 1×3.2GHz cloaking speed which has enough power for those who prefer to do it all on their smartphone. The smartphone comes with the latest Android 13 OS with a stock user interface, so users will get a clean Android experience.
The chipset also has support for 5G connectivity, so you can enjoy gigabit speeds. The Adreno 740 GPU in the chipset can easily run modern games like Genshin Impact, CODm, and PUBG with high framerate without consuming too much battery. When it comes to the memory and storage, the phone comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for the base variant and it goes up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It also has support for Micro SDXC cards, which can further expand the storage. With this, you won’t be facing any performance issues on this device.
Camera
The Sony Xperia 1V has a 48MP triple rear camera system that features a primary sensor, an ultrawide, and a telephoto sensor. The photos from the primary lens tend to have more details with splendid colors and a wide dynamic range. The 12MP ultra-wide sensor hasn’t seen much change from Xperia 1 IV and manages the same amazing shots that it used to with the previous model.
The same goes for the 12MP telephoto sensor and you can easily and seamlessly switch between its variable zoom levels, 3.5x and 5.2x. Both the ultra-wide and the telephoto sensor can capture some really great shots, but they are no match for the primary, which is far better and the highlight of the smartphone. The night photoshoots are also equally great.
The camera sensors are optimized to capture the maximum amount of light. The primary 48MP sensor once again dominates in night photography and is capable of beating out any other competition. When you look at the front of the display, you will find a selfie camera with a 12MP sensor, which is also impressive and can capture some great selfies with even skin tones.
Also, the lens of the camera system is provided by Zeiss Optics, so can easily why this smartphone excels in the camera department. When it comes to video recording, the Sony Xperia 1V can shoot up to 4K videos at 120fps from the main rear camera, but the selfie camera maxes out at 4K videos at 30fps. Also, the cameras have support for 5-axis gyro-EIS and OIS, allowing you to record video with extreme stability.
Battery and Others
The Sony Xperia 1V has a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery capacity that can last about 1 – 2 days on general and medium usage. However, if you are a heavy user or play a lot of games, the smartphone will lose battery quicker than that and when you do run out of battery, you will be glad to know that it has support for both wired and wireless charging.
The smartphone supports up to 30W of wired fast charging, which should charge the battery to 50% in 30 minutes. Also, you will receive wireless and reverse wireless charging support on this device. Apart from that, the smartphone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, triple-band Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC for contactless payments, stereo speakers, GPS, and a USB Type C port for charging. The price of the smartphone starts at $1189 (Rs 97,599 in India) approx. for the base variant.
Sony Xperia 1V Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Sony Xperia 1V smartphone.
| Specifications | Sony Xperia 1 V |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | May 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.50 x 2.80 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 187 g |
| Size | 6.5 inches |
| Display | OLED 1B colors 120Hz HDR BT.2020 21:9 ratio ~643 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 IP65/IP68 dust/water resistant |
| Resolution | 1644 x 3840 pixels |
| OS | Android 13 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 740 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB UFS |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide) Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP (telephoto) Dual Pixel PDAF, 3.5x-5.2x continuous optical zoom, OIS 12 MP (ultrawide) Dual Pixel PDAF Zeiss optics, LED flash, panorama, HDR, eye tracking Max – 4K@24/25/30/60/120fps HDR, 5-axis gyro-EIS, OIS |
| Selfie | 12 MP (wide) HDR Max – 4K@30fps, 5-axis gyro-EIS |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes 24-bit/192kHz audio Dynamic vibration system |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE Audio, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive |
| GPS | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.2, OTG, video output |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass, color spectrum Native Sony Alpha camera support |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh 30W wired, PD3.0, PPS Wireless Reverse wireless |
| Colors | Black, Khaki Green, Platinum Silver |
| Expected Price | $1189 (Rs 97,599 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia 1V provides everything a flagship smartphone should and then some more. The gorgeous display with its vibrant colors has unique to this smartphone. It features an industrial design that is protected by Aluminum housing and the toughest Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the screen. It also has a one-of-a-kind camera system with a unique sensor that is specifically optimized for this smartphone.
If you want the best of what smartphone technology has to offer, this is the smartphone to get. However, Sony smartphones are not available in every region and if you happen to live in some place where Sony doesn’t sell its smartphone, then you should look for a different smartphone. The device has flagship performance, while the only thing it lacks is the higher nits brightness support.
This device will not disappoint you but the only issue here is the pricing of the smartphone. The price feels quite high as per the alternatives available in the market. The Galaxy S23 Ultra would be the perfect alternative to the Xperia 1V. It has similar specs inside the smartphone and a unique camera setup. It is also available around the same price tag and more importantly, Samsungs sells this smartphone to almost part of the planet, however, the final decision is up to you.
