Unlike many other smartphone makers that launch dozens of smartphone models each year, Sony is one of the few in the market which you can actually count it’s launches with one hand as the company aims to release few, but quality smartphones that differentiate themselves from the pack.
The Xperia 1 IV that was launched by the company is the second most premium smartphone in this year’s lineup, sitting just behind the flagship Xperia Pro-I. Packed with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and a highly capable rear camera system, the Xperia 1 IV is no doubt one of the most exciting prospect in the smartphone world.
So if your smartphone happens to be due for an upgrade, here are five reasons why the Sony Xperia 1 IV may be a perfect option for all your work and entertainment needs!
1) A Stylish & Ergonomic Design
Like any other Sony Xperia smartphones, the Xperia 1 IV continues to adopt a tall and compact design which makes the phone a joy to hold especially when using the phone single-handedly. That’s something we wont usually experience in recent smartphones which are getting larger by the day.
As usual, the phone looks incredibly stylish on the outside, donning the company’s signature flat edge design that makes the phone easily distinguishable from the sea of similar-looking smartphones – but not so much from it’s predecessor. However, that isn’t necessary a bad thing considering it’s a tried and tested design which had been proven to be popular among Sony fans.
Compared to most other high-end, the Xperia 1 IV also feels much lighter on hand with a featherlight weight of just 185 grams. If that doesn’t sounds light enough, bear in mind that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Review) and iPhone 14 Pro Max sit comfortably the 200 grams mark.
2) High Grade Durability
For better durability of the phone, both the front and rear sides of the phone is fitted with an additional layer of Gorilla Glass Victus to protect it’s surface against accidental drops or scratches. Needless to say, having a glass back also adds an extra premium touch to the overall handling experience
Finally, let’s not forget there’s also IP65/ 68 rating aboard for dust and water resistance. This basically means the phone is able to able survive submersion of up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes.
3) Crisp & Vibrant Display
The Sony Xperia 1 IV comes with a vibrant-looking 6.5” OLED display which offers one of the best viewing experience among smartphones. The reason being is simple; the screen itself not only supports a mind-blowing 4K resolution which put many other high-end phones to shame, but also features a fast 120Hz refresh rate which makes scrolling and animation felt much smoother.
To sweeten up the deal, the 10-bit HDR display also supports 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage to ensure accurate color reproduction when watching your favorite movies and playing your favorite game. Likewise, the screen also has no issue getting sufficiently bright when using the phone in bright daylight such as when doing outdoor photography.
4) Outstanding Performance & Battery Life
Powering the new Xperia 1 IV is none other than Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset which certainly provides more than sufficient horsepower for everyday use. The areas where the chipset really shines lie in more resource demanding workloads such as multi-tasking, video editing as well as mobile gaming.
Of course, having an outstanding performance wouldn’t be enough for a premium smartphone experience without a fantastic battery life. Sony knows that well and it’s precisely why the phone is backed by a large 5,000mAh battery which can easily put up more than 11 hours of screen time on a single charge, allowing me to end the day off with at least 30% battery remaining under normal usage.
5) Superb Cameras
Sony Xperia smartphones are known for their amazing photography capabilities and the new Xperia 1 IV is certainly no exception. The phone is equipped with a versatile triple-lens setup comprising of a trio of 12MP cameras that are able to handle all sorts of photography.
Regardless of lighting conditions, the main camera is able to capture flattering photos with excellent details and dynamic range in the automatic shooting mode. Likewise, color reproductions are also on point – allowing photos to look realistic rather than some overly processed bunch.
To help with low light photography, the Xperia 1 IV comes with a nifty night mode feature which does a good job in improving exposure and color saturation of the photos. Just like any other smartphones, you do have to hold the phone steadily to ensure the photo looks sharp. Thankfully, the main camera does have OIS stabilization to compensate a bit of shakiness when shooting night photography without a tripod stand.
Moving on, professional photographers would gladly appreciate the range of manual settings within the menu layout which provide users with full control over more advanced stuffs like white balance, exposure compensation and metering mode. Simply put, the Xperia 1 IV offers the closest experience to a DSLR camera among all the smartphones.
Finally, the Xperia 1 IV is also one of the few smartphones in the market that offers true optical zoom courtesy of an 85mm – 125mm equivalent telephoto zoom lens that enables continuous zooming by focal length mechanically. This allows photos to retain the same quality even when switching between different zoom factors. This isn’t the case on smartphones that rely on digital zooming where photos tend to look smudgy as you increase the level of magnification.
Besides zooming faraway subjects, the telephoto zoom lens is also great for taking close-up photos plants and insects due to it’s OIS-stabilized lens as well as a capable autofocusing system which makes it incredibly easy to capture a well-focused photo with excellent details even for an amateur photographer.
Pricing & Availability
The Sony Xperia 1 IV is priced at $1,969 in the local market for the 12GB+256GB model. Those who’re interested can pick the phone from two different colorways such as Black and Violet.
