Anticipated launch date and what we all know to this point

It’s been nearly a 12 months because the Sony Xperia 1 V landed on retailer cabinets, and as such, we’re desirous about Sony’s subsequent flagship smartphone. Whereas the present flagship is an wonderful Android smartphone, it’s arguably slightly stale. So, what might we count on from the Xperia 1 VI? Right here’s every thing we all know to this point about Sony’s future flagship.

Sony has been pretty per its Xperia launch window and there’s no purpose to suppose it would cease on the Xperia 1 V. Based mostly on Sony’s launch historical past, we’re probably ready till late Spring or Summer time 2024 earlier than we see official particulars on the Xperia 1 VI’s launch date.

After all, the telephone is all very unofficial at this stage, and Sony might change its typical flagship roadmap. Sony has barely tweaked its line-up a lot lately, so issues might proceed on a really predictable path, or we might see a extra important shakeup to reinvigorate the sequence. We’ll have to attend and see.

• Sony Xperia 1 III — July 1, 2021
• Sony Xperia 1 IV — June 1, 2022
• Sony Xperia 1 V — Might 11, 2023

Sony has but to formally acknowledge the existence of an Xperia 1 VI, so it ought to come as no shock that we nonetheless don’t have an official launch date. What’s worse is there haven’t even been any leaks or rumors a couple of potential launch window. As such, we’ll simply need to guesstimate primarily based on the data we’ve got at our disposal.

Within the final three years, Sony has introduced an Xperia 1 in Might, June, and July. The pattern exhibits that Sony prefers to launch its flagship someday through the summer season. We count on the tech large will do the identical for the VI this 12 months, however we’ll have to attend till extra data is on the market to make sure.

Though particulars stay scarce, the rumor mill has picked up slightly steam as of late. We’re beginning to hear whispers about specs, options, and even the size. We’ll break down every thing we all know to this point proper right here.

Sony’s monolithic black slab makes the vary readily identifiable towards the competitors, however it’s fairly tough to inform any of its telephones from the previous 5 years aside. That’s not good if you’d like your newest telephone to look contemporary and thrilling. Nonetheless, Sony did tweak the formulation a bit with a brand new rugged again for the Xperia 1 V, however that hardly shakes issues up meaningfully. To date, there’s nothing to recommend that Sony will get any extra adventurous than that with the general look.

It’s doable there might be not less than one notable change to the design, which can find yourself being controversial for some. Leaker Zackbucks on Weibo claimed that the Xperia 1 VI’s dimensions shall be 162 x 74.4 x 8.45mm. This may make the VI shorter and wider than its predecessor, which measures 165 x 71 x 8.3mm. The tipster went additional so as to add that Sony will drop the 21:9 display screen ratio in favor of a 19.5:9 ratio, making the show 149.6mm x 69.4mm (~6.5 inches diagonal).

One other rumor, courtesy of tipster OnLeaks (through Android Headlines), helps the concept that the telephone shall be shorter and wider. Based on this rumor, the machine could have a 6.5-inch show and measure 161.9 x 74.5 x 8.4mm.

Fortuitously, this rumor from OnLeaks additionally got here with just a few renders, which you’ll be able to see above. If these renders are appropriate, it appears to be like like we’re in retailer for a similar previous monolithic black slab from prior generations. It additionally appears that the handset will sport its typical three-camera setup.

A 3rd-party Chinese language telephone case maker put up a list for a Sony Xperia 1 VI case on March 29, 2024. On the time of writing, the itemizing continues to be up and viewable. Whereas the pictures might give us one other take a look at the handset, it’s doable these pictures aren’t precise renders and are simply artist interpretations.

A leaker who goes by @INSIDERSONY on X (previously Twitter) shared a tip on what might be the smartphone’s digicam specs. Based on the tipster, all three rear cameras shall be Exmor T 48MP lenses.

The primary shooter is claimed to be 1/1.4 inches with a 1.12 μm pixel measurement and an aperture of f/1.4. This sensor reportedly additionally has full-pixel dual-PD autofocus and may ship 2x optical zoom. Whereas the ultrawide is available in at 1/2.7 inches with a 0.6μm pixel measurement. The leak says it options Sony’s 2×2 on-chip lens tech, which permits the digicam to focus rapidly and precisely. Lastly, the third digicam is claimed to be a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and 6x sensor crop zoom.

One other rumor, this time from a Japanese publication known as Smartphone Digest, suggests the Xperia 1 VI could have a characteristic that provides a digital signature to altered pictures. It’s unknown how this characteristic will work, however Sony did put out a press launch a couple of similar-sounding in-camera digital signature chip. This signature additionally permits folks to see the place the picture has been tampered with. It’s probably this might be one thing used for AI-edited photographs.

What would possibly the Sony Xperia 1 VI value be?

We don’t see Sony charging underneath $1,000, and it’s unlikely it could cost greater than $1,600. Rumors declare the 4K show goes away in favor of a 2K show, which means that Sony might be aiming to make the worth slightly extra aggressive this time round. Provided that final 12 months’s entry offered for $1,400, we might see the worth falling someplace underneath that.

There are many units price shopping for forward of the Xperia 1 VI’s debut. With the Xperia 1 V ($1398 at Amazon) nonetheless round and no actual concrete data on what to anticipate from the 1 VI, Sony followers can’t go improper choosing up the present mannequin. If finances is a priority, Sony’s extra inexpensive Xperia 5 V ($799.94 at Amazon) is on the market for European prospects, however we’re nonetheless ready on a US launch.