The Sony Xperia 1 Review: A 21:9 Take of the World
by Andrei Frumusanu on July 26, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Sony
- Smartphones
- Xperia 1
Video Recording & Speaker Evaluation
Video recording on the Xperia 1 is a prime feature. Sony promises HDR recording in HLG and BT.2020 colour space. The phone can record in various modes and Sony make available H.264 and H.265 codecs.
| Xperia 1 Camera Modes & Features HDR Recording |
|||
| Capture Mode | Main+Zoom | Wide Angle | |
| 1080p | ✓ | ✗ | |
| 1080p60 | ✗ | ✗ | |
| 4K | ✓ | ✗ | |
There are some limitations as to the HDR feature however; the phone can’t use it in 1080p60, and for whatever reason also not in 720p. Furthermore it’s also not available on the wide-angle lens module. Sony has other features such as video object racking and their well-known video stabilisation that can be turned on or off.
HDR recording on the Xperia 1 is excellent and rivals that of some of the best phones in terms of picture quality. There’s still the big question of format and display compatibility; video playback on the phone itself looks excellent while the YouTube upload here likely doesn’t quite do it justice.
EIS on the other hand was a complete and utter disaster on the main camera: The picture had massive amounts of left/right jitters and jump which are so annoying in that if Sony doesn’t fix the issue, I’d rather recommend just leaving EIS turned off.
Wide-angle video recording is alright, but without HDR, it’s not too great in scenarios where there’s lot of light and shadows.
It’s to be noted that the wide-angle lens cannot be used in combination with the other two modules, and the video recording between the two sets has to be separate. It’s very likely that Sony is multiplexing the MIPI-CSI interfaces between the cameras and the SoC and thus can’t easily switch between modules. For what it’s worth, transitions between the main sensor and the telephoto is quite fast, but the wide angle is separate. This is also valid for photo captures where switching to and from the wide angle has a notable delay that’s much longer than any other phone.
Sony was the first vendor to introduce 960fps video recording on their phones thanks to its integration of DRAM onto the image sensor. The Xperia 1 continues this feature and it’s still as good as ever.
Alongside the standard camera app, Sony ships the phone with the “Cinema Pro” app which essentially is a full manual video recording app.
The thing is that this might be very useful for professional users – but the limiting factor that when in this recording mode you do not have any kind of auto-exposure and that you’re meant to control ISO and exposure yourself manually means that this is a very niche use-case for most users including myself, and I don’t see a lot of people bother with as it’s a lot of work to get any kind of reasonable video out of the app.
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FunBunny2 - Saturday, July 27, 2019 - link
"I use it whenever I can, especially when I'm at work where i need to keep the phone charge."As I understand it, these sorts of batteries are limited by the number of charge cycles, irregardless of how much charge is made each time. IOW, repeated teeny charges chew up that limit long before the battery is really dead.
cfenton - Saturday, July 27, 2019 - link
That's not correct. A charge cycle is made up of 100% of the capacity of the battery. It doesn't matter if it's one 100% charge, two 50% charges, or ten 10% charges. Each of those count as one charge cycle. That's a bit of an oversimplification, but what's important is that a series of small charges are not each an entire charge cycle.s.yu - Sunday, July 28, 2019 - link
Wow, I didn't realize some people still use "irregardless".s.yu - Sunday, July 28, 2019 - link
You're doing it all wrong. Well the tech tree's grown in the wrong direction thanks to Apple's greed too. There's supposed to be two C ports, keep a magnetic adapter plugged in one and use headphones in the other, or if you actually just use BT then keep the C port plugged with a magnetic adapter and use magnetic cords, they work like Magsafe only they also transfer data. Hold the adapter close to the cord and it attaches automatically, you could charge your phone, use it in your hand, and hold that toddler with the other.That I can't give up the magnetic charging is a major reason why I won't consider any device without a headphone jack, the C port is always occupied and pulling the magnetic adapter out then inserting a C-3.5 adapter is ridiculous and unacceptable.
flyingpants265 - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
That sounds OK, but wireless charging PLUS two ports sounds even better.s.yu - Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - link
Yup, and I'd like a kitchen sink too.khanikun - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
If it has wireless charging, guess what else it has? Plugged in charging too. It's not a one or the other, it's both. You get the option of both. Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean it's a useless feature. Just useless to some ppl.I don't care much about the camera in the phone, as I have a better point and shoot. So quality of it doesn't matter to me, but doesn't negate that other people want a good camera in the phone. So of course, some ppl will grumble about it.
flyingpants265 - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
No, it's so you can charge the phone with one hand, it takes only 1 second, as opposed to 3-5 seconds plugging and replugging my cable each time. Phone is basically at 100% all the time. and not need to plug the cable in, wiggle it around, and eventually bust the USB-C port. Those ports and their internal assemblies are quite fragile. It also doesn't need to add any thickness, as the wireless charging pad can be inside an external case, wired to the phone through a contact pad like on an older Xperia.No babbling about how you've personally never broken one, please. USB port is one of the most common fixes, apart from screen. Anandtech users are supposed to be power-users, yet you keep spending $900 on phones lacking basic features.
yacoub35 - Friday, July 26, 2019 - link
lol @ no headphone jack. what a failure for a device with a resolution so clearly intended for movie watching.UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link
This makes choosing the next phone so much easier. Galaxy S10 for the high end, or Pixel 3A for less money.