MWC 2019: Sony Xperia 1 sports worlds first 4K display with 21:9 'CinemaWide' aspect ratio

Image Source: Sony

After much rumours and speculations, Sony has launched the Xperia 1 at the Mobile World Conference (MWC) 2019. The device succeeds Sony XZ3 and comes with novelty features such 21:9 'CinemaWide' screen, world's first 4K display on a phone, triple rear-camera among others.

Sony Xperia 1 Price and availability

Although Sony hasn't officially revealed price, several online reports state the device will be priced at £799. The device is expected to go on sale in the US and in the UK from second quarter of 2019.

Sony Xperia 1 display

Arguably the most talked-about feature of the Sony Xperia 1 is the display. As mentioned, the device has a ‘CinemaWide’ display with an aspect ratio of 21:9. This aspect ratio is higher than what most competitors provide at 16:9, 18:9 and even 19:9. Xperia’s 21:9 aspect ratio would allow users to watch videos or any other form of content without any black bars on the sides, top or bottom. The 6.5-inch OLED display supports 4K HDR and flaunts resolution of 3840*1644 pixel.

Xperia 1 Camera

The Xperia 1 has a triple-camera setup at the rear. It has a 12MP 78 degrees wide primary sensor with aperture of f/1.6, Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and hybrid Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) for videos. The secondary lens is a 12MP 135 degrees wide-angle lens with aperture of f/2.4. The third sensor is a 12MP telephoto lens with aperture of f/2.4 sensor that provides 2x optical zoom. The secondary and the third sensor too support OIS and hybrid EIS for video support.

It has many features like Cinema Pro that lets you record videos at 21:9, LOOK colour settings, 4K HDR video recording, RAW noise reduction, Bokeh Effect, HDR, and 3D creator, SteadyShot, Portrait Mode, etc. For selfies and video chats, Xperia 1 comes with an 8MP 84-degrees wide lens with aperture of f/2.0.

Processor, Battery and other features

The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor that is coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage on board. The new chipset is said to have 25 per cent faster CPU performance and 40 per cent more GPU performance than the previous generation. The phone also has Snapdragon Elite Gaming for handling processor-intensive games.

The storage can be increased to up to 512 GB via microSD.

Xperia 1 comes with a 3, 300mAh battery that supports Xperia Adaptive Charging. The phone also comes with battery management modes like Stamina mode and smart stamina.

For connectivity, the smartphone offers 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC. For charging and data transfer, the Xperia 1 has a Type-C port. The Xperia 1 runs on Android 9 out-of-the-box.