Sony Xperia 1 V Hands On Experience
We recently got to play around with the Sony Xperia 1 V at a local Sony Malaysia event. It was focused specifically on its camera performance, especially low light. We’re gonna talk about our brief experience with the flagship smartphone right here.
Sony Xperia 1 V Hands On Experience
Before we get into the camera part, I’d like to talk about the design for a bit. For starters, the overall look is pretty much the same as it has been for the past few years since the Xperia 1 II, from the camera bump all the way to the taller cinematic display. In fact, the top and bottom bezels are still thick, making it look quite dated but giving the benefit of having no notches on the screen. What is different is that the rear glass has textured feel to it, making it much easier to grip if you’re planning to use it naked. It’s a subtle change so if you’re expecting an all-new look, we have to wait at least another year for that.
Moving on the camera itself, the Xperia 1 V comes with a triple-camera setup consisting of a 48MP f/1.9 main camera with a 1.35″ sensor, a 12MP f/2.3 telephoto camera with 3.5x to 5.2x optical zoom, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera. From a hardware perspective, it’s an excellent combination in this day and age, especially when it has its own dedicated shutter button to make it feel like a compact camera. While it certainly is capable of taking excellent shots, it’s not as easy simply snapping blindly as you would need some basic camera knowledge to make full use of it, mainly shutter speed, ISO, and exposure.
During the event, we were given the Sony Xperia 1 V in a rather dimly lit room to test out its low light capabilities. The above two shots demonstrates why it’s not a good idea to always rely on Auto mode. Shooting on Auto mode resulted in a noticeably darker and noisier picture as seen on the left. The right one is with manual settings, which can definitely be optimized further but it’s a big enough difference to see that it’s far less grainy, the colours have a bigger pop, and you can see the lady’s face much easier.
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I’ve included more photo samples above here but the gist of it is that the main camera is a very capable low light shooter. Just keep in mind that since it’s a 1.35″ sensor size, it still suffers the same problem most other smartphones do, which is that shutter speed will need to be noticeably slow to get a good photo. In simpler terms, it’s much easier to take low light photos with little to no movements, which is why the Xperia 1 V still can’t match up to a standalone camera like a mirrorless or a DSLR. When there is an abundance of light, Auto mode works great, just that the exposure can vary quite a bit depending on the subject.
At the end of the day, the Xperia 1 V does bring notable improvements over its predecessor. Pictures typically come off more vibrant and the Auto mode does a better job to optimize results, though its consistency could be improved. Based on our limited experience with it, this isn’t meant for those who want to capture visuals that are ready for social media in an instant but if you’re the type of person who loves to take the helm and fine tune every single option available, this looks to be a few steps ahead of the competition.
We might be reviewing the Xperia 1 V in the coming weeks so until then, we can’t give you a more detailed opinion. For now, this should at least give you a pretty solid idea of what it’s capable of.
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