Sony debuts its first 5G flagship, the Xperia 1 II

Let's clarify the pronunciation of this handset before we proceed. The new Sony flagship is called the Sony Xperia One, Mark Two or Xperia 1 II as it's branded. This smartphone is the company's first 5G handset, which promises to take "your mobile experience to the next level." As with Sony smartphones in the past, entertainment and photography are prominent features for the Xperia 1 II.

Sony brings its expertise with image sensors to this new Android 10 flagship. It comes with three rear lenses that offer different focal lengths (16mm, 24mm, and 70mm) so you can take different pictures. It provides everything from super wide-angle to portraits. All three come with a 12-megapixel sensor. Sony pairs these lenses with an 8-megapixel sensor in front.

The company is bringing Zeiss optics for the first time in the Xperia 1 II. Some of the new features users can expect ultra-fast, low light autofocus, as well as support for 20fps autofocus and auto-tracking burst. The phone also gets real-time eye autofocus, which the company demoed with a video of a cat playing with a toy. That also means this feature works on pets, too.

Sony introduces a new Photo Pro interface, which offers a similar interface to Sony's mirrorless Alpha cameras. The Xperia 1 II also gets a new video editing interface with touch autofocus and custom white balance. Noise reduction has also been introduced to improve the capture of audio.

Aside from having what promises to be a good camera setup, the Xperia 1 II comes with a 6.5-inch 21:9 "CinemaWide" 4K HDR OLED display with a 3,840 x 1,644 resolution. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 4,000mAh battery that supports fast wireless charging.

Unlike most flagships, the Sony Xperia 1 II still has a 3.5mm audio jack. And with the help of what Sony calls DSEE Ultimate, the AI-based tech supposedly upscales sound signal to "near high-resolution audio."

For gamers, Sony partnered with Activision to optimize its handset for Call of Duty: Mobile. With the Xperia 1 II, you can play the game using the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 wireless controllers.

Sony plans to ship the Xperia 1 II from Spring onwards. However, we don't have a price yet or which markets will be getting the device.

Source: TechCrunch