Sony Xperia 1 II has 5G and triple rear camera

Monday, Feb. 24, was supposed to be the first day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where Sony was scheduled to launch new Xperia smartphones. Due to coronavirus fears, the MWC was canceled, but Sony still had its press event, albeit only in the form of an online stream. 

At the event, Sony launched its new flagship phone, the Sony Xperia 1 II. It’s the company’s first 5G device, and – typically for Sony – it packs some powerful camera tech. 

In terms of design, though, Sony hasn’t strayed from its way, meaning the Sony Xperia 1 II looks utilitarian. The 6.5-inch OLED display has thick bezels both on top and bottom, and on the back there’s a vertically oriented triple camera sensor. The phone will be available in black and purple, with Sony primarily pushing the black color in its press materials. It’s not a bad look overall, but in a world where bezels are universally shunned, the Xperia 1 II is a bit old-fashioned. 

The specs are pretty good, though. The Xperia 1 II has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor with 5G, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging and IP65/68 water resistance. The 6.5-inch display has a 21:9 aspect ratio with a 3,840×1,644 resolution and motion blur reduction, which should provide for a smooth image (Sony says it’s the equivalent of a 90Hz display). Stereo speakers are on board, as is Dolby Atmos support. A pleasant surprise: the Xperia 1 II also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the software side, the phone will ship with Android 10. 

The cameras on the back (wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto) all have a 12-megapixel resolution, which doesn’t sound like much these days (remember, Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 108-megapixel sensor). But Sony claims the cameras can do things other smartphone cameras can’t, like do 20fps burst shots which are great for taking photos of sporting events. Sony also claims the camera has a very fast and accurate autofocus in low light conditions, and intelligent eye tracking (for both humans and animals) is on board as well. Finally, the phone can take 2K, 10-bit HDR video at 120fps or 4K video at 60fps (though recording time is limited). 

There’s no word on the price, but the Xperia 1 II will be available in Europe in “late spring.”