Sony's next flagship phone, the sequel to the Xperia 1, is now official, and it comes with a surprising new name, as well as 5G technology and new under-the-hood advancements. The Sony Xperia 1 II (pronounced Mark 2) is a new flagship phone from the company that we plan to release later in 2020, taking a lot of what made last year's phone great and looks to make it even better. further. We expected the phone to be called the Xperia 2, but it's actually called the Xperia 1 II. We haven't been able to manage the phone on TechRadar yet, but below is everything we've learned so far on the phone.
Sony Xperia 1 II launch date and price
Sony hasn't told us a release date or price for this bag yet, but we've been told it will be on sale sometime during "Spring 2020." This means we'll probably see it before the end of June, but an exact date hasn't been specified yet. Sony's Xperia 1 was announced on a similar date in 2019, but didn't go on sale until June, so we expect a similar release schedule for this device. We can also use the price of Xperia 1 to judge the cost of Xperia 1 II. This phone costs €949 / £849 (roughly AU$1,365), so expect a similarly high flagship price for this phone right out of the box.
Sony Xperia 1 II design and display
If you've seen the Xperia 1, you'll know a lot about the design details found here. It's not a different looking phone from last year's phone. This phone has a 21:9 aspect ratio display, which means the layout might be a bit longer than your current phone. It's designed to look better when playing big screen content on your phone, but it also makes your phone's screen look larger than other phones. It comes with a 6.5-inch screen with 4K resolution. It's an HDR OLED panel, and it looks on paper like a display very similar to the one included in the Sony Xperia 1. The company has included a new effect that will allow for a 90Hz effect on the screen, but it doesn't appear to include a true 90Hz panel. This is an odd choice given the evolution to high frame rate displays from competitors like the OnePlus 7T or Samsung Galaxy S20. The phone has dimensions of 166 x 72 x 7.9 mm, the more it weighs 181 grams. The design is glass on the front and back, both protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6 technology, and will be available in black or purple. There's a USB-C connector at the bottom of the device, while the top-right edge has a 3.5mm headphone jack. Although the Xperia 1 has ditched headphone technology, Sony has decided to reintroduce it here for those who like to use wired headphones, and many will welcome its reintroduction as the Galaxy S20 is Samsung's first flagship to abandon technology. . The phone is also resistant to water and dust, as these have also been Sony's flagship products, so it should be able to survive splashing water or traveling on a sandy beach.
Sony Xperia 1 II camera
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(Image credit: Sony) The camera is another area Sony has focused on, and speed is the name of the game. The camera has three 12-megapixel rear cameras, as well as a 3D time-of-flight sensor that the company says will offer revolutionary autofocus technology. It uses technology that Sony has developed for its Alpha line of cameras, and the goal here is to give you the best shot with more powerful autofocus. The technology can perform autofocus and autoexposure calculations at 60 frames per second, while the camera can take 20 burst-mode shots per second. We haven't seen it in practice yet, but Sony says it improves autofocus in low light as well as everyday shooting. On the front of the phone is an 8MP selfie camera, and Sony has yet to explain whether there were any significant improvements for front-facing shots.
Sony Xperia 1 II Specifications and Battery Life
Inside the Xperia 1 II is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, which is one of the best processors on the market. It is likely to offer good performance and can cope with all the tasks that most other high-end phones can handle. It comes with 8 GB of RAM to keep the phone running. In terms of storage, you've got 256GB of space to play with here, but it should also be noted that there's no option to upgrade this with a card. micro SD. 5G is one of the big talking points of the Xperia 1 II, and it will include the technology here - there is no 4G variant of this phone. We won't know if 5G works well on Sony until we try it, but that's something we'll test at the time of our full review. Sony has also made big improvements to the battery on this device by bumping it up to 4000 mAh on the Xperia 1 II. This can allow for longer battery life, and there's also fast charging here that will allow up to 50% in 30 minutes. However, to get these results, you will need to purchase a separate charger. It's the first Sony phone in a long time to also include wireless charging. We don't know much about how it will work, but we do know that it will be compatible with chargers up to 15 watts.