Sony Xperia 1 V

Classic design, lightweight, top-notch ingress protection.

No charger and no cable in the box.

Everything boils down to whether the Xperia 1 V checks the most boxes on your list - if it does, we are sure you will not regret getting it.

Gorgeous 4K display. Incredibly grippy. Good battery life. Headphone port and microSD card slot. Physical camera button and manual mode.

Too expensive. Nothing else comes in the box. Camera app is confusing. Lackluster software update policy.

Stylish, classy, and light — great design ; Plethora of manual camera modes for fine-tuning video and photos ; Eye tracking autofocus is super-fast and responsive ; MicroSD slot and headphone jack ; Stereo speakers sound pretty good (though a bit boxy)

Price is well above any other premium phone (sans foldables) ; For all its focus on camera, its image quality is not ahead of the competition ; Two years of Android updates?

The high starting price of the Xperia 1 V does make it a tough sell. Plus the trouble the phone has with efficiently running its display at 120Hz is not something you'll find with rival phones. So while it's expensive and a little impractical, there...

+ Strong performance ; + Well-designed, complete with IP68 and enhanced grip ; + Excellent cinematic 4K display that's also practical ; + Class-leading stereo speakers, making it a multimedia beast ; + Practical, powerful camera setup made even better...

- Barebones package, not even a USB cable included ; - Lack of an adaptive / dynamic refresh rate option ; - Thermal throttling, especially with certain games ; - Charging speed needs improvement ; - Very expensive

The Xperia 1 V can be considered the ideal smartphone for enthusiasts. While it can serve anyone pretty well, it however is definitely not the smartphone for everyone.

Excellent battery life

High performance ; Good cameras ; Long battery life

More expensive than the S23 Ultra ; Casing feels cheap ; Apps can be complicated

Sony’s best phone in 2023, is an excellent performer, but costs more than a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and that’s a problem for it. The phone is beautifully made and a refined companion to keep in your pocket, its combination of computing performance...

Speedy performance with top-notch internals ; Brilliant sound with a dedicated headphone jack ; Superb stamina with multi-day battery life

It’s as expensive as non-folding phones get ; Bloatware is insulting in a phone this expensive ; Textured glass back feels a lot like plastic

The Sony Xperia 1 V is a superb phone that barely puts a foot wrong. It’s lightning-fast with a great screen, enviable battery life and a superb camera array. You might quibble with the design, which remains an acquired taste, but it does everything...

Premium styling ; Great performance ; Advanced camera features ; 3.5mm headphone jack

Very expensive ; Complicated camera system ; Battery is good – not great ; No Android update commitment

The Xperia 1 V is Sony's first do-it-all flagship in a while with no red flags – except for that price tag. Costing more than either the S Pen-toting Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or Apple iPhone 14 Pro, the Xperia 1 V needs to be superb to beat them. In...

Cinematic picture for a smartphone ; New design looks and feels great ; Wired and wireless audio compatibility

Tall screen can be awkward at times ; Expensive

Sony’s cinematic flagship smartphone impresses us once again, with upgrades in all the key areas