Sony Xperia 1 II review

It has been a long time since we reviewed a Sony phone and almost as long since we reviewed a phone that puts a real focus on audio and video quality. Thankfully, the Sony Xperia 1 II kills those two particular birds with one stone.

With a glorious 4K resolution screen, Sony’s sonic expertise and cutting-edge audio features, plus a great camera complete with plenty of pro features, this could be a brilliant smartphone for music and movie lovers. There’s a headphone jack, too. The Sony Xperia 1 II (pronounced Xperia One Mark Two) is not cheap, but if you want a top-of-the-range phone from a big-name brand, that’s just how it is right now.

Expensive though it is, the Xperia 1 II is in the same price band as the dearest offerings from Apple and Samsung. The Xperia 1 II launched at £1099 ($1199, AU$1840), putting it on a par with the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (£1149, $1099, AU$1899) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (£1179, $1299, AU$1849). This is a top tier phone in every sense.

Features

The Xperia 1 II's design does its best to make that chunky price tag feel like money well spent. It’s a sleek, shiny handset with a black metal design. There’s Gorilla Glass 6 front and back, plus neatly rounded corners to an otherwise angular design.

This Sony achieves the difficult task of standing out from the smartphone crowd by sporting a 21:9 aspect ratio with a 6.5in display, giving it a long, slim appearance. This actually makes it easier to grip one-handed than many of the largest phones on the market, though naturally no easier to reach the top of the screen. Despite those large dimensions (165.1 x 71.1 x 7.6mm), the phone is relatively light compared with other premium mobiles, at 181g.

There’s a standard volume button on the right side of the display, joined by a flat, touch-sensitive power button. This button also doubles as a fingerprint sensor – there’s no under-screen fingerprint scanner here, nor is there face ID. The good news is the fingerprint sensor works quickly and regularly.

The SIM card and microSD card tray is on the left side, while a USB-C charging port is at the bottom. And for those who still prefer wired headphones, the increasingly lesser-spotted 3.5mm headphone port is here too, on top of the device.

Don’t think that because this isn’t an iPhone or Galaxy phone that you won’t get top-tier specs and features. In fact, not only has Sony ticked plenty of expected boxes, there are some neat surprises that you won’t find on other phones – and we don’t just mean the headphone jack.

For the last few years, flagship phones have been locked in a battle of one-upmanship when it comes to camera performance, and while we can wax lyrical about the audio and video skills, Sony is every bit as focused on its camera. The phone has a quad-camera lens array, built into a polite bump that’s noticeably smaller than many others, so the phone rests fairly flat on a table.

There’s a 12MP f/1.7 wide lens, a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide option, plus a 0.3MP time of flight sensor. There is also a staggering amount of software trickery if you want to get your hands dirty when it comes to expert levels of photography, thanks to the Photo Pro app.

The good news is using the point-and-shoot auto mode, the Sony is simple to use, focuses quickly and delivers great images that are natural, sharp and detailed. If you’ve been frustrated by the move to a more processed look taken by most rivals, the Xperia 1 II provides something of an antidote, offering more realistic colours and contrast.

In terms of power, the top-of-the-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and 8GB of RAM ensures speedy operation comparable with any phone on the market. There’s also a 4000mAh battery that is capable of powering a full day’s typical usage, despite that pixel-packed screen. There’s fast-charging for 50 per cent power in 30 minutes and support for wireless charging, too.

Screen

We could write a whole review on the picture features for the Xperia 1 II, but we’ll start by just saying “Wow”. Watching 4K YouTube videos or Netflix streams, even lower-quality web videos and streaming apps, this Sony Xperia 1 II takes Android phone video performance to a new level. The picture matches the design of the phone: sleek, smooth, premium.

Sony’s 21:9 CinemaWide 4K HDR OLED screen is all about enjoying videos “as the creators intended”. There’s even a Creator mode, “powered by CineAlta”, that promises to use Hollywood studio techniques to bring unrivalled colour accuracy. And we wouldn’t argue.

Let the picture do the talking and you’ll enjoy pin sharp images, beautifully realistic and full of detail. Sony has no time for lurid colours and over-cooked contrast and instead simply peels back a previously invisible film, revealing an apparent extra layer of realism and insight compared with even the best Android smartphones. You may have thought your existing phone was showing a natural colour palette, the Xperia 1 II may well convince you it wasn’t. Motion is smooth, too.

That 21:9 screen automatically shows you the content as it was shot rather than trimming it to fit the screen, which could be happening on your existing phone without you realising. If you’d rather ‘zoom to fit’, a touch of the button delivers that wish.

All told, the 1644 x 3840 4K pixel resolution successfully sets this Sony phone apart from the crowd in more ways than simply size, providing video that is beautifully clear, precise and watchable.

Sound

Listening without headphones, the front-facing true stereo speakers deliver impressively clear, if unavoidably lightweight, sound. But the real action comes when connecting headphones. If you’ve spent some money on wired headphones, you’ll be pleased to know you can connect them here without needing a dongle. 

But any drop-off when going wireless should be kept to an absolute minimum, thanks to Sony’s LDAC technology, which allows for hi-res audio transmission and aims to maximise performance over Bluetooth.

We use a pair of Sony’s WH-1000XM3 headphones and the results are seriously impressive. Listening to Tidal Masters tracks, the phone will tell you an LDAC device is connected and allow you to choose to play at the highest quality with “Sound quality preferred” or opt for “Best effort”, which will adapt based on your network connectivity.

You’re treated to more space around sounds, solid but tuneful bass notes, well-rounded voices and enviable insight. Mac Miller’s Blue World shows how well this Xperia phone times, with the itchy hook bumping around your headphones and sounds moving from ear to ear, but it remains controlled and perfectly formed at all times.

The Xperia 1 II successfully delivers the Sony sound: agile, clear, rhythmical. Voices sound close and intimate, but there’s air around notes and dynamics when required. Whether loud or quiet, there’s detail and accuracy. And, in the spirit of the company’s hi-res music players, the better quality your audio, the more you’ll get out of the phone.

A great pair of speakers will have you reaching for your favourite tracks to hear how good they sound, and we get a similar feeling with the Xperia 1 II. It brings new life to smartphone audio – and that’s saying something. Did we mention you can also enjoy Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos? This is a phone for the true AV enthusiast.

Verdict

Our focus has always been on audio and video performance, so we’re thrilled to find a smartphone that does the same. The Sony Xperia 1 II delivers a new level of performance for smartphone video and audio, and the rest of the phone completes the task, delivering an excellent camera, fast performance and decent battery life. If you’re serious about enjoying your mobile entertainment, this is the phone for you.

SCORES

• Screen 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

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