Sony smartphones have such a distinct segment deal with picture and video options that they lose lots of mainstream attraction. They price an excellent deal greater than even the top-end iPhone, too. The new Xperia 1 V would not change any of this—it is $1,399, which is $200 lower than its absurdly expensive predecessor, however nonetheless expensive. (In the UK and Europe, there isn’t any worth drop and you will pay £1,299 and €1,399, respectively.)

There’s rather a lot to love in regards to the Xperia 1 V, and it has just a few options which can be uncommon on high-end telephones today, however it’s not for everybody.

Hanging On

The Xperia 1 V is immediately recognizable as a Sony telephone with its signature tall and slim profile. The very first thing that struck me once I picked it up was how grippy it felt and the way gentle it was. There’s Gorilla Glass Victus on the again, although it would not really feel or seem like glass. Mix within the ridged sample across the aluminum body, and you’ve got a sturdy, stylish look that by no means threatens to slide out of your grasp. The end is refreshingly proof against smudges too.

Up high, there is a 3.5-mm headphone jack, a rarity in as we speak’s flagships. All the buttons are on the proper edge, together with an influence button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor and a crosshatched digicam shutter button. At the underside, you’ll be able to open a flap to entry the SIM tray and—one other rarity in as we speak’s top-end telephones—a microSD card slot. That enables you to broaden on the 256 GB of inside storage everytime you need. The Xperia 1 V additionally scores an IP65/IP68 rating, which implies it’s going to handle simply high-quality in water submersions and rain.

A standard drawback with having a side-mounted fingerprint sensor is that it is too straightforward to set off it when slipping the telephone out and in of a pocket, which is the case right here. It’s a pure place on your thumb to relaxation if you maintain it one-handed, however it didn’t all the time acknowledge my print and unlock on the primary attempt. The Xperia 1 V can also be tall sufficient to make flattening the notification shade with one hand a tough process. Sony’s reply is Side Sense, a customizable overlay menu that permits you to get to every part along with your thumb.

Star of the present is the 6.5-inch OLED display screen, with a 4K decision, assist for HDR10, and a 120-Hz refresh rate. Sony is stubbornly sticking to the 21:9 side ratio, and there are slim bezels on the high and backside that accommodate front-facing stereo audio system and the selfie digicam. Put all of this along with Sony’s Creator Mode image setting, which gives correct colours “as the directors intended,” and you’ve got maybe one of the best smartphone for watching films.

From Extraction 2 on Netflix, to a wide range of 4K HDR wildlife movies on YouTube, to sci-fi flick 65 on Bravia Core, every part I watched seemed nice on this display screen. The latter is Sony’s little-known streaming service, and also you get a 12 months free along with your Xperia 1 V. The front-facing audio system are impressively balanced and loud with Dolby Atmos assist, however you even have the headphone jack and assist for 360 Reality Audio for immersive sound.

As nice because the show is for films, there’s lots of content material with black bars on the perimeters. When I streamed one of many free HD films (S.W.A.T.) in Sony’s Bravia Core app, it had a giant black field throughout it. Most video games even have black bars flanking the perimeters. You additionally may wish to flip Creator Mode off if you’re not watching a film and go together with the brighter, extra saturated normal mode, or issues can really feel just a little washed out. It’s not the brightest show, however it remained legible in direct daylight.