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
GPU Performance
3D performance of the Xperia 1 is dictated by both the SoC’s GPU and power efficiency, as well as the device’s thermal dissipation design. I found Sony’s design quite weird in this regard as there’s some discrepancy in terms of the resulting thermal performance. For one the SoC is seemingly located on the right next to the cameras which is by far the phone’s hottest hot-spot during heavy operation. I found that however this heat isn’t nearly as well dissipated to the whole body of the phone as other designs, and there’s a big delta between the skin temperature near the SoC and the bottom half of the phone.
In the 3DMark physics test, the CPU throttling situation was actually quite dire as the phone lost more than half of its peak performance during prolonged thermal loads, which is the worst showing of a Snapdragon 855 phone yet, at least in terms of the CPU behaviour.
However when looking at the GPU behaviour, we’re seeing the Xperia 1 not faring nearly as badly, with the phone only trailing the OnePlus 7 Pro which had exemplary throttling behaviour.
The figures continue in a similar pattern for all our other GPU-bound 3D tests, showcasing that the Xperia 1 is surprisingly able to maintain quite high GPU performance even though its thermal dissipation design isn’t the best. It’s an interesting juxtaposition between how the CPU throttles and how the GPU throttles, and it’s obvious the GPU is being given more leeway in terms of the peak temperatures it’s allowed to reach.
Overall, unless your game is quite CPU intensive, the Xperia 1 should offer still quite excellent gaming experience. It’s to be also noted that even though the device does have a 4K screen, games will be rendered at 1440p which is less demanding. Sony doesn’t offer any gaming tools which could further optimise performance or the experience – for example I think the phone would have greatly benefited from a 1080p gaming mode, however the Xperia 1 has to rely on actual games resolution scaling to further improve performance if necessary.
Another gaming aspect of the Xperia 1 that is unique to Sony’s phones is the fact that the phone out of the box supports PS4 remote play, in which your PlayStation 4 is able to stream the game to your phone. You’re also able to pair up with the DualShock 4 game controller - the combination definitely is an interesting. (Note: Yes it’s also possible to do this on non-Sony devices with a modified APK)
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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.