The Sony Xperia 1: A Long 21:9 HDR 4K OLED Smartphone
by Anton Shilov on February 27, 2019 10:00 AM ESTBeing a high-tech company with multiple divisions, Sony can fetch technologies from various units to build products with unique qualities. At Mobile World Congress 2019 the company introduced its new flagship smartphone offering, the Xperia X1, that uses technologies developed by at least three divisions of Sony. The new Xperia 1 is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 and features an exclusive OLED display with a 21:9 aspect ratio, a 4K resolution, and a wide color gamut.
The screen is one of the key components that defines the Xperia 1 smartphone. The 6.5-inch 21:9 8+2-bit OLED display that the handset uses is naturally pretty long and narrow, which makes the shape of the phone different from other devices on the market. The screen features a 3840x1644 resolution, it supports the BT.2020 and the DCI-P3 color spaces with the D65 white point. To take advantage of the display and reproduce HDR properly, Sony uses algorithms originally designed for its Bravia TVs, though it does not disclose whether the phone has a special display co-processor, or just does some software tuning for Snapdragon 855’s display engine. Sony says that the Xperia X1 reproduces colors so accurately that that one of its movie studios uses the smartphone to review its work on set, which simplifies production.
An advanced 12 MP triple lens camera comprising of a 26-mm regular RGB, 16-mm wide-angle, and a 52-mm telephoto sensor is another key feature of the Xperia 1. The camera uses algorithms firstly developed for Sony’s α (Alpha) digital still cameras as well as Sony’s CineAlta cameras used to shoot motion pictures. In particular, the camera supports Eye AF technology to focus exactly to the level of eyes, supports burst shooting with up to 10 fps AF/AE tracking, and can shoot in 4K HDR at 24 fps with different color presets.
Meanwhile, there is an 8 MP camera for selfies on the front.
The smartphone also supports Dolby Atmos via its USB-C headphone output, whereas its speakers were tuned by specialists from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
When it comes to overall performance and platform capabilities, the Xperia 1 is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC paired with 6 GB of LPDDR4X as well as 64 or 128 GB of NAND flash memory. The smartphone does not support 5G, but it still supports Gigabit 4G/LTE, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, and other advanced functionality of the platform. For full specifications please see the table below.
As mentioned above, the 21:9 aspect ratio of the display makes Sony Xperia X1 smartphone look different when compared to other handsets with an 18:9 or 16:9 aspect ratio. The handset is very long, but its width is similar to Apple’s iPhone 7 (see the picture below). That said, it is very comfortable to hold, but it is uneasy to keep in a pocket of a shirt. Meanwhile, as expected, the build quality of the Xperia 1 is very solid, besides, it is IP65/IP68 dust/water proof (up to 1.5m for 30 mins), whereas its screen is protected using Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6.
The relatively big dimensions of the Xperia 1 smartphone enabled Sony to install a 3330 mAh batter into the Xperia 1. The battery can be charged using a USB 3.1 Type-C interface, or using a Qi wireless charger.
The Sony Xperia X1 | ||||
Specifications | ||||
Display | OLED 6.5" 3840x1644 21:9 aspect ratio BT.2020, DCI-P3 color spaces with the D65 white point HDR 643 PPI Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
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SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 1x Kryo 485 cores at 2.84 GHz 3x Kryo 485 cores at 2.42 GHz 4x Kryo 485 cores at 1.80 GHz Adreno 640 GPU |
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RAM | 6 GB LPDDR4X | |||
Storage | 64 or 128 of NAND flash | |||
Local Connectivity | Wi-Fi | 802.11ac Wi-Fi | ||
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | |||
Data/Charging | USB 3.1 Type-C | |||
Audio | No 3.5 mm jack | |||
NFC | Yes | |||
LTE | 4G/LTE | |||
Navigation | A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO | |||
Rear Camera | Wide: 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm, 1/2.6", 1.4µm, OIS Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.4, 16mm, 1/3.4", 1.0µm Telephoto: 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.4", 1.0µm, predictive OIS 1 × LED flash |
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Front Camera | 8 MP, 1.0µm | |||
Battery | Capacity | 3330 mAh | ||
Expected Life | ? | |||
SIM Size | Nano SIM | |||
Sensors | accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass | |||
Biometric Security | Fingerprint | on the side | ||
Facial Recognition | - | |||
Dimensions | Height | 167 mm | 6.57 inches | ||
Width | 72 mm | 2.83 inches | |||
Thickness | 8.2 mm | 0.32 inches | |||
Weight | 172 grams | 6.35 ounces | |||
Colors | black, grey, purple, white | |||
Protection | Drop | Protected | ||
Water, Dust | IP67, IP65 | |||
OS | Google Android 9.0 | |||
Launch Countries | ? | |||
Price | ? |
The Sony Xperia 1 will be available from late Spring in black, grey, purple, and white colors. Its MSRP is unknown at this point, but since this is a unique high-end product, expect it to be priced accordingly.
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FreidoNumeroUno - Sunday, March 3, 2019 - link
+1-Leviathan- - Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - link
From the videos I've seen I really like it tbh, Something a little bit different than what the other companies are doing to make it stand out, tbh most phones look so similar nowadays, most just come down to how big the notch is in most but a few like Samsung & LG - so that's a plus for me. Also, that screen especially sounds amazing. The ZX3 was a big step in the right direction from Sony but this on the surface looks imo to have put it right back up there. That camera set up sounds interesting as well, hopefully, they really nail it. Gonna be interesting to get one in the hand and see how it feels. Interesting just a little less than a cm longer than the S10+ to get that ratio and bigger screen. look forward to it.ToTTenTranz - Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - link
Because somehow among that enormous volume they couldn't fit a 3.5mm analog connector.igavus - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link
That'd not help them sell their xm3's presumably. But yeah, no jack - no saleads295 - Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - link
I think this sort of resolution is high enough that even the 20/20 vision people can agree to be unnecessary. QHD+ would have been good enoughtheuglyman0war - Monday, March 4, 2019 - link
can't say my eyes agree to any screen fidelity nay-saying when I have an HMD strapped to my head and the current state of display tech takes me out of the immersion. Sony pushing such fidelity into such an important $$ mainstream market leave me feeling confident that as much will spill over to advance VR/AR development and investment. Waiting for 8k mobile devices to become ubiquitous and therefore cheaper ( and advanced if universally adopted ).The naysaying will probably ensure tunnelvision. In general a fan of stereoscopic immersive experiences would love to throttle all the naysayers in crossover markets that affect his interest's potential future.
hyno111 - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link
The battery can be charged using a USB 3.1 Type-C interface, or using a Qi wireless charger.According to most other reports, Xperia 1 does not support wireless charging. The official website does not mention wireless charging also. The XZ3 spec clearly states wireless charging under Battery section.
https://www.sonymobile.com/us/products/phones/xper...
Xajel - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link
Are you sure about the Qi wireless charging? There's no mention at it at all in Sony mobile's website.gmskking - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link
I'm waiting for the 40:9 version.SeleniumGlow - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link
>> The relatively big dimensions of the Xperia 1 smartphone enabled Sony to install a 3330 mAh **batter** into the Xperia 1.This line in the article made me laugh more than it should've. But it makes me think if it is possible to make clay batteries - like, it's a battery, but you can mould it into any shape you want.