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Sony Launches Xperia 1 II and 10 II
March 02, 2020
Sony announced two brand new smartphones, launching the flagship Xperia 1 II (below) and mid-range Xperia 10 II in the shadow of the ghost of MWC.
Figure 1: Sony’s Xperia 1 II
Sony Launches Xperia 1 II and 10 II
March 02, 2020
Sony announced two brand new smartphones, launching the flagship Xperia 1 II (below) and mid-range Xperia 10 II in the shadow of the ghost of MWC.
Figure 1: Sony’s Xperia 1 II
Source: Company
It comes with all the Sony hallmarks, including a tall 4K display, a standard design, and plays catch up without racing ahead. It even has Sony’s trademark of a confusing name. Adding II or (Mark 2) to the original 2019 branding of the Xperia 1 and Xperia 10 phones doesn’t make much sense. Sony says it’s following its Sony Alpha DSLR camera naming conventions, which is something, and at least there’s no Plus or Pro variants to add to the affair.
Xperia 1 II
- The Sony flagship has a new camera system, 5G connectivity, and general specs upgrades, including the latest Snapdragon 865, and the headphone jack is back.
- Connectivity includes sub-6GHz 5G, and a 4,000mAh battery.
- A 6.5-inch HDR OLED display, 8GB RAM / 256GB storage, dual stereo front speakers, wireless charging, and available in purple and black.
The launch price: $1099, which is classic Sony pricing and always high. Sony isn’t including 5G in the US version of this device. It’ll have the same 865 chip and modem, but seemingly won’t include antennas and hardware needed for mmWave or sub-6 5G. There’s also an Xperia Pro made for professional photographers and business, with a rugged design. The Pro is “powered by CineAlta”, and “can record in multiple frame rates and offer more manual controls such as touch auto focus and custom white balance to enhance your cinematographic shooting experiences”. No price was provided for the Pro.
Figure 2: Sony’s Xperia 1 II (Rear)
Source: Company
Sony claims the camera performance and function has been greatly improved, working with its Alpha camera team.
- There’s three cameras on the rear, plus a time-of-flight sensor, with Zeiss lenses: an ultrawide 12MP sensor, 12MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture and a 24mm focal length and OIS, and a telephoto 70mm f/2.4, 12MP camera and OIS.
- It has super-fast autofocus, which Sony says, “it’s the world’s first smartphone with up to 20fps AF/AE tracking burst”, which is useful if the image processing is up to scratch, which has been a struggle for Sony over the years, despite making the hardware that most other flagships, including iPhones, make use of.
Sony's Xperia 10 II is designed to be a TV and game console in your pocket thanks to the 6-inch 21:9 OLED Triluminos display. The "super mid-range" can display "deeper blacks and more vibrant colors" than the average phone, and deliver a more immersive gaming experience, Sony said. At the same time, it's relatively lightweight at 151 grams and is IP65/IP68 water- and dust-resistant. The biggest difference between the Xperia 10 II and the original Xperia 10 (apart from the Bravia Triluminos OLED screen) is in the camera setup. The new model has triple cameras, with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and 8-megapixel wide angle and 2X optical telephoto cameras (with a 10X digital zoom). While the latter have surprisingly low resolution, low-light sensitivity should be good in theory. It supports 4K and 21:9 movie capture, though that format will be cropped on your Ultra HD 4K display. It also excels for sound, thanks to support for high-resolution audio and yes, a 3.5mm audio jack. Other specs are more pedestrian, including the Snapdragon 665 chip, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of internal memory (with microSDX support) and 3,600 mAh battery. The Xperia 10 II will arrive in Spring 2020, but the all-important pricing has yet to be revealed. Perhaps, Sony is using its film studio expertise to prepare for Quibi, the Jeffery Katzenberg/Meg Whitman led start-up that features 10 minute streaming episodes designed for smartphones.
Xperia 10 II
Sony’s unveiling came with a range of conflicting prices and information. It’s not clear whether the price is $1199 or $1099, and its phones haven’t quite been at the top of the pile for a long time. As for the Xperia 10 II, it looks more intriguing but again, the price decides if it’s worth buying:
- The 6-inch OLED device packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage.
- It has a triple-camera but with reduced megapixel counts and no time-of-flight sensor.
- 3,600mAh battery, and headphone jack remains, while it is IP68 rated for water resistance.
- Available in black and white.
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