We expect to see the Sony Xperia 1V at some point this year, and the unofficial renders that have been posted online give us a good idea of what to expect in terms of design aesthetics and color options for this flagship smartphone.
Photos and videos shared by green smartphones (opens in a new tab) and experienced punter on Leaks (opens in a new tab) (By Check the notebook (opens in a new tab)) show your phone from almost any angle, front and back. The handset is shown in both black and purple hues.
We also have a few specs here, although some are listed as “unconfirmed”: a 6.5-inch flat panel display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, 16GB of RAM (up from 12GB last time) and a 5,000mAh battery capacity ( just like its predecessor).
Camera improvements
As for the front and rear cameras, this source says we can expect a 12MP selfie camera on the front and a 48MP + 12MP + 12MP triple-lens camera on the back – so at least the main sensor gets a bigger update with the Sony Xperia 1 IV .
The actual design of this year’s phone looks similar to what we saw in 2022, although the camera flash has been moved to the camera bump for a slightly cleaner look. There is still a headphone jack and a recessed power button with a built-in fingerprint reader.
In fact, we’ve had one previous Sony Xperia 1V design leak, and these new renders match it, giving us more confidence that they’re accurate. If Sony follows last year’s schedule, we could see the phone in June.
Analysis: same Xperia story
The narrative around Sony’s Xperia flagship phones has been essentially the same for several years now, and based on these newly revealed renders, it’s not going to change that much in 2023 – for better or for worse.
Although they have never been a huge sales success, Xperia phones have always impressed with their displays and camera capabilities. This is in line with expectations considering all the other electronics Sony is developing.
So what limits the appeal? This particular Sony Xperia range has always been relatively expensive and there are often minor flaws to worry about. In the case of the Sony Xperia 1 IV, we were not impressed with the integrated fingerprint reader.
From what we’ve heard about the Sony Xperia 1V so far, we’re once again getting a sleek phone with a great display and camera setup – so let’s hope Sony can bring the price down a bit as well.