Sony Mobile has taken to its official Xperia channel on Weibo to tease the next flagship phone and the video – as well as re-iterating the launch date that we already knew – talks up the focal length.
In the video, Pierre Lambert – a photographer and YouTuber – talks about how it feels like using a “large optical lens”, before stating “it just adds a range, not only in terms of focal length, but also in terms of creative possibilities.”
While suitably vague – to keep us from knowing the details too soon – there’s enough here to whet the appetite. With Sony Mobile specifically teasing the focal length, it would suggest we’re going to get a better zoom camera.
Exactly what that better zoom looks like, we’re yet to see. Its previous Xperia 1 III had two optical zoom lengths, with both 2.9x and 4.4x being available from the same telephoto camera. It could be that Sony takes a similar approach this time out, or adds even longer optical lengths. We’re not sure.
Sony’s next flagship phone will launch on 11 May – you can find details on how to watch it here – and it’s expected to, yet again, focus its launch on creatives, photographers and videographers.
The Xperia 1 IV is expected to launch with the same long, narrow aspect ratio as previous models, with flat edges, IP68 water and dust resistance plus a 4K resolution 21:9 OLED display.
Other specs will include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 alongside 12GB or 16GB RAM and a beefy 5000mAh battery. At least, those are the rumours so far. Thankfully, we only have a few days to wait until we find out all the details officially.