Sony Xperia 1 IV review
It’s hard to know whether to class this Sony Xperia 1 IV review as an analysis of the consumer-grade smartphone or a professional-level creativity tool designed for even working artists As the former, it’s almost impossible to recommend, but if you treat it because the latter, it’s difficult to place down.
This is an obscenely expensive phone that just can’t compete with rivals just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or iPhone 13 Pro Max for ‘average’ phone fans – they have a clunky design and unassuming software, also it doesn’t depend on AI to consider vibrant and captivating photos.
But Sony knows that, and it isn’t aiming at the kind of consumers who buy the first handset they see on a store shelf. No, the Xperia 1 series is targeted at professional ‘content creators’ (for insufficient a much better, not-cringe-inducing term) with a range of bespoke photography, videography and, new to the Mark 4, audio recording features.
This is the fourth-gen version of Sony’s top-end line of Android smartphones (what gave it away?), following on from your Sony Xperia 1 III, and accompanied by a mid-range Xperia 10 IV. These premium devices rarely have huge changes over their predecessors. Sony instead opts to tweak specs and bring useful new features for creatives.
The big new feature here is the continuous optical zoom, with the telephoto lens moving between 3.5x and 5.2x without having to use digital zoom (which is basically just cropping). It’s a really useful mode for photographers who like long-range shots.
Other big upgrades include the rollout of 4K and 120fps video recording within the three rear and one front-facing camera, an audio recording app that enables you to layer, clean and mix sound, functions for mobile games streaming along with a bigger battery than before.
Sony’s phones are already considered some of the best devices for creatives, and the new additions towards the Xperia range ensure that Sony is keeping head-to-head with Samsung and Apple for that crown – though admittedly the Xperia’s camera is made for more technically-minded users compared to the Galaxy or iPhone point-and-shoots.
There are also some rough edges that even creative users can’t overlook, which means we can’t give this phone a wholly glowing review – you’ve already seen that 4/5, haven’t you?
The big problem we found was that the side-mounted fingerprint sensor was incredibly inaccurate, also it failed to unlock the phone more times than it succeeded. This has been a consistent problem with Sony’s flagships and it boggles the mind that the business hasn’t fixed it yet.
There were also a few software issues, like video playback not working on some of the key movie-recording apps, apps crashing and the inclusion of bloatware that people wouldn’t expect on the pricey device.
Yep, this is an expensive phone – it’ll even cost you more than some Ultra-suffix devices or foldable phones. Even our ‘price and availability’ section below isn’t for your faint of heart. Sure, you obtain lots of unique and useful creative features for that price, but given the cost of living crisis all over the world, it seems a bit much. The number of ‘starving artists’ have $1,600 to invest?
We enjoyed our time testing the Sony Xperia 1 IV, but likely wouldn’t recommend it to the vast majority of our friends, at least the ones who aren’t creatively inclined. But for the minority who’d enjoy the Cinema Pro apps, the continuous camera zoom or the 120fps recording, and may also afford that price tag, we’d wholeheartedly recommend this device.
