Sony has announced a new flagship smartphone called the Xperia 1 II and it packs the biggest camera sensor we’ve seen on a mobile device.
The Sony Xperia 1 II’s biggest headlining feature is it now features a 1/1.7-inch main image sensor, which also happens to sit behind a 24mm Zeiss lens that’s also been optically stabilized and specifically calibrated for this phone. It might only be a 12MP resolution sensor, but that big imaging chip is 50% larger than the 1/1.26-inch sensor you’ll find in most smartphone cameras today.
As always, a larger sensor absorbs more light to produces better low-light images with less noise—but it has also allowed Sony to integrate a faster focusing system as well.
With the larger imaging chip, Sony was also able to implement a larger dual-photo diode sensor. This technology already allowed the original Sony Xperia 1 to split each pixel on the sensor two photodiodes, which would receive light from separate angles and essentially act as a phase-detect autofocus system. The Sony Xperia 1 II features the same dual photodiode sensor focusing system, but now it covers 70% of the camera sensor.
What’s more, Sony has added a new 3D iToF sensor that calculates the time of flight from your phone to your subject (i.e. a person or building). With the expanded dual-photo diode and 3D iToF sensor combined, the new Xperia 1 II can give you constant autofocus and auto-exposure while you’re shooting. Additionally, Sony has ported the Real-time Eye AF feature from its mainstream cameras, so it can automatically lock focus onto both human or animal eyes while you’re taking portraits or cat photos.
Sony has also expanded the burst shooting capabilities of the Sony Xperia 1 II, which can now shoot at up to 20fps with constant AF and AE enabled as well.
On top of the upgraded main camera, the Sony Xperia 1 II features another pair of 12MP sensors behind a 16mm ultrawide and 70mm telephoto lens. The ultrawide camera features its own dual-photo diode sensor, meanwhile, the telephoto can only use phase-detect autofocus but you do get OIS as with the main camera.
Like the iPhone 11 Pro, users will be able to smoothly zoom between the Xperia 1 II’s three focal lengths, which will come in handy when you’re shooting 4K 60p videos with this handset.
Cameras aside the Xperia 1 II features a familiar extra tall 6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED display following Sony’s 21:9 CinemaWide screen format. The chipset has also been upgraded to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The battery onboard Sony’s latest flagship is pretty average at a 4,000mAh capacity.
The Sony Xperia 1 II also sees the reintroduction of the 3.5mm audio jack with the addition of dual front-firing stereo speakers. Lastly, Sony has added a few gaming-focused features on the Xperia 1 II including motion blur reduction and enhanced touch sensitivity. Sony has also told us that it will announce a special collaboration with Call of Duty: Mobile at a later date.
Sony has yet to disclose pricing or availability information for the Sony Xperia 1 II, but we expect to hear an update any day now.
Riding the 5G wave
If you were wondering why we didn’t mention the Xperia 1 II was a 5G phone, well that’s because it’s sticking to 4G. Sony is saving its 5G experience for a higher-end Xperia Pro.
The Xperia Pro comes 5G ready with sub6 and mmWave radios, but it otherwise features the same specs as the Xperia 1 II from its cameras to an identical chipset. On other difference you might notice about Sony’s highest-end phone is it’s a bit larger and that’s to make way for a more robust frame with a dedicated HDMI port.
Users will be able to connect this phone directly to a Sony camera—from the brand’s mirrorless cameras to its professional camcorders. While connected the Xperia Pro can be used as an external recorder and even stream video directly over the Internet.
As with the Xperia 1 II, Sony has yet to announce pricing or a release date for the Xperia Pro but we’re hoping to hear more soon.
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Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Source: IGN.com The Sony Xperia 1 II Looks Like the Best Smartphone Camera Yet