Sony unveils the Xperia Pro-1: an exceptional smartphone at an exceptional price

Sony has lifted the veil on a very special new flagship, the Xperia Pro-1. Second generation of the Pro smartphone really for the pros.

Sony might not be the most popular smartphone maker out there, but the brand still has ideas on how to stand out from the crowd. Beyond design, this means, for example, the desire to make a high-end and compact smartphone, or here to develop a specialized smartphone really designed for professionals. One year after the Xperia Pro, Sony returns to the charge with the Sony Xperia Pro-1, understand “mark 1”, like the brand’s cameras.

A real camera sensor, on a smartphone

The most important element of the Sony Xperia Pro-1 is undoubtedly its photo module. When Sony talks about targeting the “pros”, the brand is talking about content creators here: photographers, videographers, vlogers, etc. We must therefore offer the best.

The Exmor sensor and the Sony BIONZ X chip

On paper, we can say that Sony has made the efforts that are going well. We thus find a 1-inch Exmor RS sensor with phase detection autofocus and “2.4 µm pixels”. Sony announces the sensor present in the Sony RX100 VII compact camera, but “optimized for the smartphone”. This suggests that it is not exactly the same sensor, but rather a variant. This is not the only common point with the RX100 VII: Sony has also integrated its BIONZ imaging processor. X, again optimized for mobile.

All of this allows Sony to proudly announce that the Xperia Pro-1 is the world’s first smartphone capable of shoot in 4K at 120 frames per second.

The Xperia Pro-1 incorporates three lenses. The main one is entitled to a dual aperture f / 2.0 and f / 4.0 to adapt to the necessary depth of field. In addition, Sony offers a 16mm f / 2.2 lens and a 50mm f / 2.4 lens, as well as an iTOF 3D sensor to bring more information to software processing. All optics are manufactured by Zeiss and have the right to a Zeiss T anti-reflection treatment.

A high-end smartphone

A smartphone is not just a camera and the rest of the features follow what is more conventionally done on high-end devices. We find a 6.5-inch OLED screen in 21: 9 format with a definition slightly below 4K: 3840 x 1644 pixels. The screen refresh rate is 120 Hz and the screen announces HDR compatibility.

The Xperia Pro-1 incorporates a Snapdragon 888 chip allowing 5G compatibility and supported by 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of UFS storage. The smartphone allows the use of micro SDXC cards up to 1 TB. The device runs on Android 11 and is powered by a 4500 mAh battery or by the USB-C port compatible with Power Delivery. It should be noted that this USB-C port manages the USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10 Gbit / s, which should ensure a fairly fast data transfer of photos and videos. It also allows the phone to be connected to an external display via HDMI or DisplayPort, with a compatible adapter. Finally, the smartphone incorporates a 3.5 mm jack port, which will allow an external microphone to be connected, for example, to improve sound recording.

Pay attention to the invoice

Who says smartphone aimed at professionals, also says tariff adapted to professionals. Sony explodes the bill and announces that its Xperia Pro-I will be available in France at the start the month of December for 1799 euros. At this rate, Sony comes face the Galazy Z Fold 3 already renowned for its price, or facing high configurations of the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

It remains to be seen whether the targeted professionals will not rather invest in a real camera. like the Sony ZV-1 at 800 euros and a smartphone at 1000 euros in addition.