Everything you need to know

May 11, 2023

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Sony has a much more structured strategy for its phones these days compared to a few years ago. The company moved from the Xperia Z, Xperia XZ, Xperia M naming monikers in 2019 to the Xperia 1, Xperia 5 and Xperia 10, simplifying things and making the offering much easier to understand.

The Xperia 1 is the flagship model within the portfolio, and the next iteration arrives in the form of the Xperia 1 V, succeeding the Xperia 1 IV that arrived in 2022. Here is everything you need to know. If you’re wondering what’s changed between the Xperia 1 iV and the Xperia 1 V, we have a comparison feature detailing the differences.

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Sony Xperia 1 V release date and price

Announced 11 May
Availability from end of June 2023
Around £1299 in the UK, US pricing TBC

The Sony Xperia 1 was announced alongside the Xperia 10 V during on event on 11 May 2023, with availability expected to start from the end of June, though no specific date has been revealed as yet. The Xperia 1 IV launched on 1 June 2022 after being announced on 11 May 2022 so the dates for the Xperia 1 V are perhaps unsurprising, though seemingly a little later than last year’s model.

As for price, the Xperia 1 devices have never been cheap. They are Sony’s super flagship model after all, competing with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and in fact, the Xperia 1 IV is more expensive than the S23 Ultra. It starts at £1299 in the UK and around $1500 in the US. For the Sony Xperia 1 V, exact pricing hasn’t been revealed as yet, though Sony has said it will cost around £1299 in the UK. For now, US pricing hasn’t been revealed.

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Sony Xperia 1 V design

165 x 71 x 8.3mm, 178g
IP65/IP68 rated
Black, Platinum Silver, Khaki Green

The Sony Xperia 1 V looks very similar to its predecessor. That was the case for the Xperia 1 IV compared to the Xperia 1 III too so it’s a design Sony has adopted since the first iteration of the Xperia 1 device and it is sticking with it. The Xperia 1 V is almost identical to the Xperia 1 iV in terms of measurements too, adding just 0.1mm thickness, but reducing the weight by around 8g.

The familiar tall and narrow design with flat edges remains, with a fingerprint sensor on the side again rather than under the display, and a subtle pill-shaped camera housing in the top left corner of the rear – another feature we’ve seen on Sony phones for a number of years now.

The display is top and tailed by small and slim bezels and USB-C is centralised at the bottom of the device, while the dedicated camera shutter button has also been retained for the Xperia 1 V – something Xperia fans have become accustomed to. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack again, as there was on the Xperia 1 iV and the Google Assistant button that was ditched for the Xperia 1 iV hasb’t made a return for the Xperia 1 V thankfully.

You’ll find IP65/68 water and dust resistance, as we have now come to expect from Sony devices and there are three colour options available with Black, Silver Platinum and Khaki Green.

Sony Xperia 1 V display

6.5-inch OLED
4K resolution
120Hz, HDR

The Sony Xperia 1 V comes with a 6.5-inch display, which is the same as what its predecessor offered. It’s a flat OLED display and it continues to offer the signature 21:9 aspect ratio we have come to expect from Sony Xperia handsets for several years now.

As we mentioned, there continue to be bezels at the top and bottom of the display, as there has been since the first Xperia 1, and there’s a 4K resolution with support for HDR too.

The 4K resolution has been the signature of the Xperia 1 handset since it was announced – and the Xperia XZ Premium that came before it – making it great for watching Ultra HD movies, so it’s not surprising it’s present for the fifth generation model too. There is also an 120Hz refresh rate.

In terms of specs, there aren’t any changes to the display compared to the Xperia 1 IV’s screen, but the 2022 model has a brilliant display so it’s not necessarily a bad thing that it has remained the same.

Sony Xperia 1 V hardware and specs

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
12GB RAM, 256GB storage
5000mAh battery

Sony has a long-standing relationship with Qualcomm so it will come as no surprise that the Xperia 1 V runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. There’s 12GB of RAM support, alongside 256GB of storage, though the Xperia 1 V has support for microSD up to 1TB too, which is very rare for flagship smartphones these days. You won’t find microSD support on the Samsung Galaxy S23 devices, Google’s Pixel 7 devices, or the Apple iPhone 14 devices.

In terms of battery capacity, the Xperia 1 V has a 5000mAh battery, which is the same as the Xperia 1 iV. There is 30W fast charging and wireless charging.

Elsewhere on the hardware front, the Xperia 1 V offers technologies like DSEE Ultimate, 360 Reality Audio and 360 Reality Audio Upmix, as well as a feature called Music Pro – designed for recording artists – and stereo speakers. All these were available on the Xperia 1 IV, though the Xperia 1 V does have full-stage stereo speakers with a new amplifier compared to its predecessor.

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Sony Xperia 1 V cameras

Rear triple camera system:
- Main: 52MP, 1/1.53in, f/1.9, OIS
- Ultrawide: 12MP, 1/2.5in, f/2.2
- Zoom: 12MP, 1/3.5in, f/2.3-2.8, 85-125mm, OIS
Front: 12MP, 1/2.9in

There’s a triple camera system on the rear of the Sony Xperia 1 V and some of it will sound familiar. As with previous Xperia phones, Sony likes to refer to the cameras in photography terms, with 16mm, 24mm and 85-125mm lenses.

The ultrawide (16mm) and zoom (85-125mm) remain as 12-megapixel sensors as they were before on the Xperia 1 IV. Importantly, that includes the optical zoom that offers 3.5x-5.2x magnification. But the real change in this model comes from the main camera and its new sensor.

The Xperia 1 V marks the debut of a new sensor design called Exmor T for mobile. It’s a stacked CMOS sensor, which Sony is calling a 2-Layer Transistor Pixel. What does that mean? It means the photodiode and the transistor layers are separated, which Sony says reduces noise, claiming 2x effectiveness in low light.

It’s technically a 52-megapixel sensor, but it has a 48-megapixel effective area, switching aspects between still and video capture, while increasing the area 1.7x from the previous generation of sensor. The result should be better low light capture.

You’ll find that the Xperia 1 V hangs onto the features of the previous models, so there’s plenty of manual control aping Sony’s Alpha cameras, while giving you things like high-speed burst shooting, real-time eye AF and a whole lot more.

Sony Xperia 1 V rumours: What happened?

Here is everything we heard about the Sony Xperia 1 V before it was official.

2 May 2023: Sony Xperia 1 V revealed on billboard before event

A photo of a billboard from Hong Kong appeared on Reddit, showing off the Sony Xperia 1 V ahead of its announcement. It has the tagline “One for All Lights”.

Reddit / LOL5552

27 April 2023: Sony confirms Xperia 1 V event

Sony took to Twitter to announce the date of its Xperia 1 V event. The event will take place on 10 May in Japan.

12 April 2023: Sony Xperia 1 V release date has leaked

Tipster Zacbuks (via Notebook Check) posted on Weibo that the Sony Xperia 1 V would follow a similar release cycle to the Xperia 1 iV. It was claimed the device would be announced in May and made available in June.