Sony Xperia 1 VI Wishlist: All The Features I Want To See

January 30, 2024
ad
(0)
Uncategorized

Repost of an article from Authority Media

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Are you also yearning for big changes with Sony’s next Xperia 1 flagship?

Robert Triggs is a Senior Features Editor at Authority Media, leading on technical features, benchmarking and testing, and smartphone camera analysis. He also brings readers the latest and greatest technology commentaries, reviews, buyer guides, explainers, and more. In the wild, you’ll find him mixing with analysts at Arm Tech Day and Snapdragon Tech Summit or stomping the show floors at IFA and MWC in search of exciting things to play with.

With over a decade in the business, Robert has gone from flinging ROMs at his Sony Xperia X10 to carving out a reputation for some of the industry’s most in-depth technical coverage. From deep dives on mobile chipsets and 5G networking, to Bluetooth audio codecs and photography innovations, he can talk for days about big-picture trends and the minutiae of nearly everything inside modern gadgets.

Before working for Authority Media, Robert studied BSc (Hons) Sound Engineering and still tries to find the time to tinker. Whether it’s perfecting the circuits that make his PRS Singlecut Trem scream the blues, keeping his Sony WH-1000XM3 alive with fresh batteries, or finally finishing one of his many DIY gadget adventures.

•

November 3, 2023

Harley Maranan / Android Authority

The Sony Xperia 1 V may have only recently landed on store shelves, but I’m already thinking about Sony’s next flagship smartphone. While the current flagship is an excellent Android smartphone, it’s arguably a little stale. So, what could we expect from the Xperia 1 VI? Below, I detail all the features and upgrades I want to see.

It’s time for a new look

Harley Maranan / Android Authority

Sony’s monolithic black slab makes the range readily identifiable against the competition, but it’s pretty tricky to tell any of its phones from the past five years apart. That’s not good if you want your latest phone to appear fresh and exciting. Sony tweaked the formula with a new rugged back with the Xperia 1 V, but that hardly shakes things up meaningfully. If the Xperia 1 VI looks the same again, it’ll fall flat.

I’ve had similar criticisms about Apple and Samsung in the past, and these brands at least occasionally spice things up with new colors and design tweaks. At the very least, new colorways would help catch consumer eyes. I loved the occasional purple model in the past and the latest Khaki Green is nice, but black and silver are the series go-to’s in most regions. Throw some red and blues in there to give customers a bit more choice, especially at this price.

But really, the Xperia 1 VI will need a bigger departure from the look of old. Perhaps embracing glass or metal is the key, a new-look camera housing, or maybe even leaving the 21:9 aspect ratio behind would give Sony more leeway to play with the form factor. Failing that, some much niftier feature shakeups will be required to stand out.

Software with a real identity

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Sony knows how to build good hardware, but the Xperia software suite is far less to write home about. It’s heavily reliant on Google, for one, which leaves the phone missing a core identity to call its own.

That’s not strictly a problem; there’s no point in reinventing the app wheel every time. But a multimedia phone that relies on Google Photos for its gallery, sans all the brilliant Google One features that cost extra, leaves me scratching my head. Surely Sony can bring its desktop image editing capabilities to mobile?

There are glimpses of this broader ecosystem potential evident in its Bravia Core, Cinema Pro, Photo Pro, and Video Pro apps, each of which leverages another part of the greater Sony juggernaut. But they’re still decentralized and disjointed in their appearance, leaving them feeling tacked on rather than central to the core OS.

That might sound incorporeal, but once you delve into rival ecosystems from Apple, Samsung, and Google, there’s a consistency that lends weight to the greater experience. On that note, Sony must improve its update pledge at this price point. Sony declined even to provide a commitment with the 1 V, but its previous two OS upgrades doesn’t stand up to the competition.

Double down into the Alpha camera experience

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Speaking of cameras, this is an area that Xperia prides itself on but has historically underperformed compared to the competition. The Xperia 1 V righted a few wrongs but still doesn’t stand out enough to command its price tag compared to the photography capabilities of the far cheaper Pixel 7 Pro.

Sony is still awkwardly caught between mirrorless and smartphone photography. It leans heavily into manual dials and options but doesn’t quite compete with the best when it comes to the Night, Portrait, Cinematic Blur, and other features you’ll find plastered across virtually every other flagship. They’re all improved of late but Sony could still use extra refinement.

But embracing the Alpha experience is probably the way to stand out, and Sony recently made some positive moves in that direction. For example, the six color profile options introduced in the Xperia 1 V give users that extra variety without added complication. Likewise, its SLR-like variable zoom tech is something you won’t find anywhere else, and the Alpha viewfinder idea is neat too. It’s these unique but simple to use extras that keep the Xperia’s cameras interesting to use, rather than the layers and layers of toggles. Build on those ideas, and Sony could be back in contention for the very best camera phone.

To read the rest of the article: Sony Xperia 1 VI wishlist: All the features I want to see

Current model out is the Sony Xpe ria 1 V