Here is everything we have heard so far about the Sony Xperia 1 V – the company’s next super flagship smartphone.
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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 is set to be the Xperia 1 V, succeeding the Xperia 1 IV that arrived in 2022. Here is everything we have heard so far.
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Sony Xperia 1 IV
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If you don’t want to wait for the Sony Xperia 1 V, last year’s model is available now and if you love photography and dislike AI processing, it could very well be the device for you.
Sony Xperia 1 V release date and price
- To be announced 10/11 May
- Availability from June 2023?
- At least £1000/$1000
The Sony Xperia 1 typically arrives around the same time as the mid-range Xperia 10 and this is usually in the first half of the year. The Xperia 5 is the sub-flagship model and you’ll usually see this appear in the latter half of the year.
It used to be that Sony used trade shows Mobile World Congress at the end of February and IFA at the beginning of September to announce its smartphones, but that’s not been the case for a number of years now. Sony has instead confirmed it will announce the Xperia 1 V on 10 May at 9PM Pacific Time (PT), which is 12AM Eastern Time (ET) and 5AM British Summer Time (BST) on 11 May 2023. The event will take place in Japan, though it will be live streamed on YouTube so you can watch along if you want to see it announced in real-time. While no specific dates have been mentioned for the Xperia 1 V on sale date as yet, it’s been suggested that the device will be available to buy from June. 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.
As for price, the Xperia 1 devices have never been cheap. They are Sony’s super flagship model afterall, 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 it’s around $1300 in the US. Whether we will see this price come down slightly for the Xperia 1 V remains to be seen for now, but expect over £1000/$1000.
Sony Xperia 1 V design
- Similar design?
- Smaller than 2022 model?
- Waterpoofing expected
Based on leaked renders, the Sony Xperia 1 V will look very similar to its predecessor. That was the case for the Xperia 1 IV compared to the Xperia 1 III too.
The familiar tall and narrow design with flat edges has been leaked in a purple finish, keeping in with the trend of the latest flagship smartphones. Both Apple and Samsung are offering purple colourways for their most recent models.
There appears to be a fingerprint sensor on the side again rather than under the display, and there’s a subtle pill-shaped camera housing in the top left corner of the rear – something we’ve seen on Sony phones for a number of years now.
The display is top and tailed by small bezels and USB-C is centralised at the bottom of the device. It also looks like the dedicated camera shutter button has been retained – something Xperia fans have become accustomed to – and there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack too.
We’d expect to see IP65/68 water and dust resistance, as well as a couple of other colour options, including black. It’s also been claimed the Xperia 1 V may be slightly smaller than its predecessor, even if the general design remains the same.
Sony Xperia 1 V display
- 6.5-inch OLED
- 4K resolution
- 120Hz, HDR
It’s been claimed the Sony Xperia 1 V will come with a 6.5-inch display, which is the same as what its predecessor offered. It’s expected to be a flat OLED display and it will likely offer the signature 21:9 aspect ratio we have come to expect from Sony Xperia handsets for several years now.
As we mentioned, it looks like there will continue to be bezels at the top and bottom of the display, as there has been since the first Xperia 1, and we’d fully expect to see a 4K resolution with support for HDR.
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 we can’t see that changing for the fifth generation model. We’d also expect to see a 120Hz refresh rate.
It’s not currently clear if any changes will be made to the Xperia 1 V’s 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 if it remains the same.
Sony Xperia 1 V hardware and specs
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- 16GB 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 is rumoured to be coming with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset under its hood.
The leak does say the platform, along with the 16GB of RAM suggested and 5000mAh battery is “unconfirmed”, though none of those suggestions are completely unreasonable.
The Xperia 1 IV has a 5000mAh battery, so we’d expect at least the same in the Xperia 1 V. The 2022 model also has 30W fast charging and wireless charging so it’s likely the same will apply for the Xperia 1 V, perhaps we will see faster charging for this year? The Xperia 1 IV also has 12GB of RAM but with Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra offering a 16GB of RAM option, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Sony do the same.
We’d expect storage to start from at least 256GB. It’s not currently clear if there will be microSD support as there has been in the past, but if there is, this sets Sony apart slightly from its competition as most no longer offer microSD expansion.
Elsewhere on the hardware front, it’s likely the Xperia 1 V will offer 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 so it would be odd for Sony not to include them on the next model.
Sony Xperia 1 V cameras
- Triple rear camera (48MP + 12MP + 12MP)
- 12MP front
The Sony Xperia 1 V is expected to come with a triple camera on the rear, which is said to be made up of a 48-megapixel wide-angle sensor and a duo of 12-megapixel sensors, one of which will be the main camera and the other a telephoto camera. Sony has confirmed the Xperia 1 V will come with a “next-gen sensor”, though it’s not offered any more detail on what.
For reference, the Xperia 1 IV offers three 12-megapixel sensors on the rear, along with a ToF sensor. One of the 12-megapixel sensors is an Optical Zoom sensor capable of 85mm to 125mm equivalent.
Currently, there aren’t any more rumours surrounding the cameras of the Xperia 1 V but we’d expect to see many of the same features on board as the 2022 model, including real-time Eye AF, real-time tracking and 20fps AF/AE burst with HDR. We’d also expect all the Xperia 1 V’s lenses to offer 4K 120fps slow motion and high frame rate.
On the front, the Xperia 1 V is said to be coming with a 12-megapixel snapper, which the Xperia 1 IV also offers.
Sony Xperia 1 V rumours: What’s happened so far?
Here is everything we have heard so far about the Sony Xperia 1 V.
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.
13 February 2023: Sony Xperia 1 V renders and specs leak prior to rumoured summer launch
GreenSmartphones and OnLeakers published a video render and some details of what is claimed to be the Xperia 1 V.