Sony Xperia 1 VI – Reviewed

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The last phone review I wrote was in January of this year and we are already fast heading to the end of the year. However, I have been reviewing Sony’s cameras lately and loving them so far. In fact, I managed to buy for myself Sony ZV-1 II (review here) together with the shooting grip in June of this year. This time round, I’m reviewing Sony Xperia 1 VI and I can’t wait to delve into it. I have a feeling I would fall in love with their phone too…

The Background

The Xperia 1 VI is the second itireration of the Xperia 1 V which was released last year. They have taken the feedback from last year’s phone and improved on certain things for this year’s release. Since I did not have the privilege of reviewing the Xperia 1 V last year, I’ll review the Xperia 1 VI with the unbiased view of someone who has never used a Sony phone before.

The Xperia 1 VI was released in June of this year and is currently retailing for SGD$1,849 on the Sony store (here). They are currently having a sale at the time of writing so if the sale is over, the price would be back to SGD$1,989. There are two colours for the phone, black and khaki green.

The memory available is only 256GB however, you are able to expand it with your own microSD card. This seems a little unusual especially since most phones nowadays come with a huge memory and does not need the use of microSD. Another unusual feature that the Xperia 1 VI has, is the earphone jack. While most phones have ditched it, Sony retains it and those who still prefer using wired earpiece would rejoice with this feature.

Let’s move on to the details and specifications.

The Deets

Sony touts the Xperia 1 VI as having new extended 85-170mm optical telephoto and tele-macro capable lens. With the fact that Sony also has other tech products (TV, cameras, sound system and games), they also use their expertise to improve the user’s entertainment expectations. The Xperia 1 VI battery life is also supposed to last two days.

Let’s move on to the specifications.

First Impressions

Whilst handling the Xperia 1 VI, I really like how sleek it feels. The initial set-up was also easy to do. Watch the unboxing video below! I shot this on Sony ZV-1 II and I am still learning on how to use it. I do love the ridges on the side of the phone. The fingerprint sensor is found at the side of the phone instead of the screen. The MicroSD slot is at the bottom of the phone, beside the charging port.

The Tests!

I started with the Wild Life Stress Test. I only compared the Xperia 1 VI to the last three phones that I have reviewed. Unfortunately, the Xperia 1 VI did not score as well as the previous three for the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test.

Following the 3DMark test, I went on the the PCMark tests. The first test was the Work Performance Test. Compared to the phones that I have reviewed, the Sony Xperia 1 VI did fare better than the other three. However, overall as compared to others outside, it’s not really that impressive to be perfectly frank. The star of the show however, was the last test that was done.

The last test; Battery Life! The best kind of test to do, at least to me. Xperia 1 VI scored the best among all the phones that I have ever reviewed! Topping at 20h 18min of battery life, this is probably the longest duration that I have ever encoutered. In fact, whilst the test was onging, I had a conversation with my husband about the length of time that the test had been running.

Husband: Eh, the phone is still running the test?? Didn’t you start the test yesterday before Kakak (my sister) went home? *note, my sister went home at about 2pm on Saturday afternoon. I started the test a few minutes after she left. Our conversation happened at about 8am on Sunday morning.

Me: Ya, quite long ah the phone running? Sony did say that the battery for this phone is supposed to be last about 2 days.

Husband: Maybe can last lah, it’s more than 12 hours already. I’m not surprised cause Sony’s things tend to be good. Even you say so.

The Camera Review!

After reviewing a few of Sony’s camera; namely the Alpha 9 III, the A6700 and lastly, the ZV-1 II, I was extremely excited to try out the Xperia 1 VI camera.

While reading and watching reviews, I noticed a few people mentioning that the camera works really well for foliage and greenery where the colours are true to life. With that in mind, I decided to check on my plants outside my house as a test shot. My plan was to use the corridor lighting and the green of the leaves and then, bring the phone out and use it in everyday setting.

Imagine my excitement when I found a caterpillar on my lemon plant. The perfect subject for the test shots! I stood at one spot and did not move. What I did instead was to use the camera features to zoom in and out while trying to ensure that the distance between the caterpillar and I remain the same.

The first photo I took was at 0.7 wide zoom. Next few pictures, I used the normal setting, 2x zoom, 3.5x zoom and lastly the 7.1x zoom.

What is impressive to me about the 7.1x zoom is the fact that the picture still comes out sharp and the colours are pretty much the same in real life. You can even see the bumps on the leaves and the patterns on the caterpillar itself. There is no discernible noise on the picture that I can see.

The Telephoto Lens and 48MP Camera

I honestly initially didn’t know how to use the telephoto lens. So at first, I tried using the telephoto lens on the caterpillar but it refused to focus. Next, I tried to use the telephoto lens to focus on something further from me. I think I gasped when I saw how clear the photo turned out.

The cloud was a little cloudy at the time of taking the photo and it did translate well when captured. The colours from the block is still vivid and the green from the leaves added a nice contrast to it.

Next, I tried the 48MP and, I am in love. Again, the caterpillar was the subject and the difference in the location provided a good change. I love how the colours of the plant are contrasting with each other, the shades of green vs the shades of brown. The caterpillar legs are also quite in focus and we can see that it’s actually sharp and pointed.

The Video!

We move on to the video recording of the caterpillar. The caterpillar was moving slowly on the leaf and I took the chance to test the auto-focus on the video setting whilst zooming in. At the very last zoom, I did have to adjust myself slightly to help the Xperia 1 VI focus better on the caterpillar. But, you can see the the auto-focus is quite fast and it picks up on the details well. In fact, we are able to see the caterpillar’s tiny legs moving and the movement it makes.

Visual Review

We went to Marina Barrage over the weekend and the sunny weather provided a great backdrop to testing out Sony’s screen. I have this issue where my phone would dim automatically in the bright sun, which leads to me having difficulty seeing what exactly is on my screen.

However, with the Sony’s Bravia technology, the display screen is fully functional in the bright sun. Here are some photos taken at Marina Barrage. I love the sharpness and the contrast of the skies and the sea and even the colour of the kite against the blue sky!

The Conclusion

I love, love, looooove the Sony Xperia 1 VI. The camera photos alone makes me feel like jumping ship and buying this phone. The battery life is also a huge pull-factor.

However, the particular thing that I’m not really keen on is the fact that I would need to buy a MicroSD card to ensure that I don’t run out of space. I know that MicroSD cards aren’t exactly that expensive but still, the thought of needing to buy is a meh-feel.

So, yes or no? Let’s see what happens in the next few months!

About Post Author

Siti Hajar, Writer (Lifestyle)

Occasional writer here. Full-time mother in real life.

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Siti Hajar, Writer (Lifestyle)

Occasional writer here. Full-time mother in real life.