Sony Xperia 1 II, a photographer’s dream

The Japanese company has released its latest flagship phone, the Sony Xperia 1 II (mark 2). It retail’s at $1200 making this phone one of the most expensive on the market but comes packed with some very interesting features.

Design:

The design for Sony’s premium smartphones has not changed recently however this is a particular device. With its 21:9 aspect ratio, it is taller than most other flagships making it slightly harder to use for some people. Its dimensions are

165.1 x 71.1 x 7.6mm and it is quite light relative to some other high-end smartphones at 181.4g.

The Xperia 1 II comes with Sony’s classic square edges and the rear is made of Gorilla Glass 6. The sim card is located on the left edge whilst on the right edge of the phone, there is the volume rocker, power button and camera button also acting as a fingerprint sensor. The phone is IP65/IP68 dust and water-resistant and can be purchased in two colours, black and purple.

In my opinion, one of the most interesting features of this smartphone is the return of the 3,5mm jack, which will make this phone stand out for those who are fans of wired headphones (like myself) because most flagships have forgotten about this prehistoric tech and moved on to Bluetooth.

Camera :

Sony has packed this phone with a lot of camera tech, some taken from their high-end DSLR cameras. Sony gives a lot of control over your camera settings or you can take photos in automatic mode which has been improved.

The Xperia 1 II comes with a quad-camera array, with 12MP f/1.7 wide, 12MP f/2.4 telephoto and 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide shooters, plus a 0.3MP time of flight sensor. The autofocus has also improved thank to the AF which is an autofocus tool borrowed from the $3,500 Sony A9 camera. So if you are familiar with Sony’s high-end cameras you will feel quite at home.

For video, the Resolution and frame rates top out at 4K 60fps or HD at 120fps and the stabilization technology here is particularly impressive, enabling you to shoot hand-held without having to worry about footage looking shaky.

Another important feature is that Sony has included some professional apps for both stills and video shooting which will give you more control over your shots as I said before.

On the front of the phone is an 8MP selfie camera which is fine but cannot compare to the rear camera.

Display :

Sony is still the only company that includes 4k displays on their phone, a standout feature for people who want to watch content in the highest possible quality.

The phone is 6,5 inches so quite large but what makes it stand out is the 21:9 aspect ratio, a feature that is quite exclusive to Sony phones. The Xperia 1 II will be taller than most phones but the benefit is that it will give you a more premium experience when watching films or TV.

For example, many Netflix shows default to 21:9 so you will be closer to what the creator intended and with the 4k screen and higher brightness, the experience will be very different.

Battery :

The Xperia 1 II comes with a 4,000mAh cell and despite the 4k screen, you still get a full day of medium to intense usage. It also offers wireless charging which hasn’t been seen on Sony phones for a while or you can charge it with a USB c cable.

Performance:

The Sony Xperia 1 II is powered by the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 paired with 8GB of RAM which should allow it to be as responsive as you need it to be.

You get 256 GB of storage as standard along with the possibility to use a micro sd card for additional space.

One of the most important specs for this phone is the support for 5G. More specifically sub-6 5G technology, the most widespread standard for the new connectivity.

Conclusion :

Sony has packed the Xperia 1 II with a lot of interesting features so if you are on the lookout for an amazing camera and a 4k screen for all your streaming, this phone is a great choice.

However, this phone is quite expensive and its particular design might not be for everyone so if those two things are important then maybe look at some slightly cheaper flagship smartphones.

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