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Sony typically kicks off the official first day of Mobile World Congress with its press event. While the trade show has been canceled, Sony proceeded to unveil its new 2020 smartphone lineup with an online-only press event.
The star of the show is new Sony Xperia 1 II (pronounced Xperia 1 Mark II, just like its A7 cameras). Building on the foundation that Sony laid last year with the Xperia 1, the new Xperia 1 II is a multimedia powerhouse that pulls in the best features from the company’s photography, TV and audio businesses. While the phone was only unveiled today, Sony revealed that its phone was used to capture and broadcast video during this year’s Super Bowl over 5G.
The main reason to buy the Sony Xperia 1 II is for its cameras. The phone delivers a Quad-camera setup on the back with three 12MP sensors that deliver 16mm, 24mm and 70mm focal points for ultra-wide, standard and 3x optical zoom. The fourth sensors is a 3D ToF sensor that captured depth information which can be used for portrait shots and a variety of other AR features built into the camera app.
Sony is also bringing is Zeiss Optics collaboration from its camera business to its smartphone lineup. While it did not elaborate on how Zeiss Optics will improve the overall imaging experience on its smartphone, we’re assuming that the phone’s new 20 fps auto exposure and autofocus tracking burst has been enabled thanks to new Zeiss Optics lenses. The Sony Xperia 1 II also improves on its real-time Eye Autofocus has also been improved for tracing people as animals to ensure they’re always in focus.
Since Sony is positioning the phone as having a professional-grade camera experience, the company has also included Photo Pro and Cinema Pro applications that give users full control of the sensors while capturing photos or video.
When it comes to consuming media or simply using your phone to browse the web, the Xperia 1 II will delight you with its 21:9, 6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED display that also comes with motion blur reduction technology.
Sony is also stepping up its audio game by delivering true front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. And for all the audiophiles out there, the Sony Xperia 1 II also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, a feature that’s been stripped out of nearly every flagship smartphone these days.
The phone includes three months of free access to Tidal and is also 360 Reality Audio compatible with Tidal, Deezer and nugs.net for the best on-the-go music streaming experience possible.
The phone’s other specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 with 5G connectivity, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a microSD card slot with support for 1TB of storage expansion, dual nano-SIM support, a 4000mAh battery with Qi wireless charging, IP68 dust and water resistance and an 8-megapixel selfie camera featuring as an 84-degree wide-angle f/2.0 lens.
The Sony Xperia 1 II will be available in the Spring of 2020 in Black, White, Purple. The final price and release date will be shared at a future date.
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