Sony’s Xperia 1 series has always been a topic for discussion, stepping out of its comfort zone, Sony has made some major upgrades to its Sony Xperia 1 VI which is its latest model comprising strong performance, eye-catching visuals, and enhanced camera qualities.
But Sony has degraded its 4k screen to FHD+ to compete with the modern trend, which I think is a big downgrade. Sony is trying to update designs and feature enhancements to attract a wider audience, increasing its buyer’s footfall. But is the Sony Xperia 1 VI: The best in the series yet? Let’s find out:
Specifications:
Screen: 6.5 inches, FHD+ resolution, LTPO OLED, 120Hz refresh rate.
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Storage: 256/512 GB 12GB RAM, memory card (uses shared SIM slot)
OS/Software: Android 14.
Camera: 48 MP Wide (main), dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 12 MP Telephoto, PDAF, 1x continuous optical zoom, OIS, 12 MP Ultra wide angle, dual pixel PDAF.
Front camera: 12 MP.
Video capture: rear camera 4K@30/60/120fps HDR, 1080p@30/60/120fps, front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps.
Battery: 5000mAh, 30W wired, Wireless charging.
Design & build
Sony is widely known for its innovative design. The phone has a rectangular shape with straight sides and a glass back, similar to its previous Xperia series but with minor changes. The Sony Xperia 1 VI has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 instead of 21:9 making the Sony Xperia 1 VI marginally shorter and wider than its previous model, the Sony Xperia 1 V. It has an IP68-certified water and dust resistance.
Display
The Sony Xperia 1 VI has a 6.5-inch LTPO OLED display with an FHD+ resolution. The peak brightness reaches 1300 nits in HDR video. The Xperia 1 VI’s display consists of an LTPO adaptive refresh rate, which helps save the battery. There is a thicker bezel on top and down of display frame which helps to give space for the front speaker but it looks retro compared to the latest generation phone.
The screen bezels are now outdated design and it increases the screen-to-body ratio. The phone has an HDR certification screen which works fine with YouTube. Sony has branded that the display is Bravia grade and we didn’t find any difference between the Bravia OLED TV display and this phone’s display. The phone display is top-notch and ultimate for media consumption. The display adapts the refresh rate according to the content and works fine.
OS and Software
The Sony Xperia 1 VI runs Android 14 with Xperia UI. Xperia UI is a minor refresh to stock Android and looks very similar. Sony has promised 3 years of Android and 4 security patch updates. The Xperia doesn’t give many different features from just one “Multi-Window manager”, this feature can be accessed from the task switcher or you may directly use it from the home screen. This feature helps you show the two lists of open apps, and then you choose the top half or the bottom half of the screen. The right pane in each half lets you open a new app and you may select from your choice.
Xperia has a gaming software package named “Sony’s Game Enhancer”. It is a game utility and app overlay that provides quick toggles while playing any game. The performance profile/game mode helps you set the refresh rate to 120Hz, irrespective of whether the game supports the higher frame rate. In case, the game doesn’t support it will get 60fps. The phone is very snappy and performs all the tasks without any hiccups. We did not find any specific AI features in the software.
Camera
Sony is a dominant company in the sensor market of many top-selling smartphones, yet it has chosen to maintain a more conservative approach to consumer electronics, it has changed this approach with the Sony Xperia 1 VI with its multiple camera-driven features. It includes a true optical zoom and autofocus with AI assistance and for clicking macro shots we have a telephoto camera.
It has 3 cameras on the rear side, with 48MP for the main camera with Sony Exmor T sensor, 12MP for the Ultrawide camera, and 12MP again for the telephoto camera with 3.5x to 7.1x magnification compared to the main camera.
For the AI-assisted autofocus, Sony is promoting its new technology called “Human pose estimation”, its main objective is to identify the subject’s body and head position to give the perfect focus. The camera endorses shooting videos at 120fps in 4K HDR. In its previous models, separate apps were used to capture video and photos. But now it has finally overcome this and all of these features team up with Sony’s integrated camera app making it easier for the users.
Battery
The Sony Xperia 1 VI hasn’t upgraded much with the battery hardware, with a 5,000 mAh battery, 30W charger, and 15W of wireless charging it also reverse supports wireless charging.
Sony’s Battery Care technology ensures minimal battery degradation over time, allowing your phone to maintain its original performance for up to four years its advanced charging algorithms, and a customizable charging limit. You can set the charging limit to 80% or 90% to protect your battery life.
Storage
The Sony Xperia 1 VI is available with a storage of 256GB/512 with 12GB RAM which can be expanded by microSD card and has UFS 4.0.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Battery-optimized LTPO FHD+ display. | Slow changing speed, 30W wired. |
| SD card support and the presence of a 3.5 mm jack, are great for audiophiles | Underperforming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, lower benchmarks. |
| Front-firing speaker with amazing sound output | Telephoto video quality is not up to the mark. |
| Bravia OLED TV-level phone display | Thick bezel, less screen-to-body ratio. |
| Telemacro camera quality is exceptional. |
Conclusion
The Xperia 1 VI is the latest edition by Sony and has proven to be the best Xperia phone till now. The downgraded 4k screen to FHD+ and aspect ratio helps Sony to provide extra battery life, which is a win-lose case. The LTPO OLED display is the best I have seen on any other smartphone and it is neck to neck with Bravia Television.
The phone has good sound output quality from the front-firing speaker but comes at the price of thick bezels. There were a few areas where the phone’s camera performance fell short like the video quality while zooming in the video. Charging speed is slow compared to advertised and the benchmark shows that the same chipset in other phones performs better, showing that the phone’s chip (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) is not optimized. Despite this, Sony fans will enjoy the media content and raw photography experience with casual gaming, and as Sony promised more advanced photo and camera options will be given by software update.
So, this year The Xperia 1 VI brings a fresh perspective to the series and deserves a chance.
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