Introducing the Sony Xperia 1 mark 5. Now as a tech YouTuber I’m constantly testing new devices and quite often I find myself between the iPhone, the Pixel and the Galaxy S23 ultra ... .but over the past two years my sim spends more time in the iPhone than anything else.

And I’ll explain why that is & I’ll also explain why I’ve made the decision to return to the roots of this channel by switching to the Sony Xperia 1V. And all the pros and cons of doing so.

Design

Let’s start with design. As you know Apple's iPhone design has kind of been set in concrete. Flat display (which is samsung btw) and one of the brightest on any phone to date rounded corners. Flat sides and the best a man can get in camera layout.

Dynamic island in the display. Which yes is distracting when watching movies full screen. But the upside is the interactive controls & 3D face unlock is so convenient and secure. I’m going to miss that. Annoying lightning cable…yeh I won’t miss that.

xperia 1V vs iPhone 14 pro lightning.jpg

Now the Sony unit uninterrupted 4K HDR 120hz flat screen 21:9 ratio forward facing stereo speakers, the loudest Sony have used in an Xperia to date. So it’s fair to say the viewing experience for wide screen movies or games that support widescreen will be better.

Then there’s the headphone jack, the hybrid sim tray with SD expansion, a feature that will likely never exist on iPhone. As well as the dedicated shutter button and rear facing microphone in the camera.

So that’s a lot of pros for Sony's design. The tall narrow frame is something I’m going to have to get used to again & the side-mounted fingerprint reader is nice but not as effortless as Apple's Face ID.

Customisation

Now this is the age-old debate. Customisation is just better on Android but saying that Apple has made some serious steps towards bridging the gap. With the customisable Lock Screen and widgets and widget stacks.

But of course with the Xperia 1V you get all of that and then some.

one of the cleanest stock Android experiences out there. And an ungodly amount of options when it comes to third party launchers & icon packs...And even stock customisation options are superior.

Do I do a lot of that kind of stuff on Android? No…but I could and that is exactly the point. Like Mel Gibson once said in a weird Australian, Irish, Scottish accent Freedom.

Camera

Ok now this is a big deal, it's cameras. I think the benchmark for a good camera experience is the iPhone. It does use Sony sensors but it also uses a lot of Ai and post image processing to make anyone feel like a brilliant photographer or Videographer.

The Xperia 1V does not do that automatically, despite arguably having the better camera hardware and the most powerful chipset for Android right now.

Sony wants you to use Xperia 1 V like one of their mirrorless cameras. They want you to learn about the exposure triangle and learn how to set the white balance and use burst shooting a lot.

So you can be like a proper paparazzi.

Lucky for me I do shoot on Sony Alpha cameras so the learning curve won’t be so steep. But will I miss the simplicity of the iPhones auto cameras? The quick draw from the hip, point and shoot, and know that I can rely on it to do a decent job with minimal input.

I’ll let you know I get on with this & I’ll keep you posted. Make sure you’re subscribed with notifications on for a long term review…that is assuming Sony let me hold onto the device a bit longer.

Video

Now shooting video is an interesting topic because the iPhone in many people’s eyes, including a lot of the top tech YouTubers, has the best video performance of any phone.

And you can now shoot in ProRes which is a huge amount of data to play with in editing software. More image data means you really push and pull the details without the footage falling apart and look grainy and horrible. So that’s a real stand out advantage

But, the Xperia 1V has a bunch of features and settings and options that are extremely advanced. You can shoot using the BT2020 colour space in H.264 or H.265. And you can shoot 4K HDR 120 frames per second…which is insane.

And the tools Sony provides to help you utilise them are so advanced that they had to split the functionality into two separate video apps. Cinema pro and video pro.

Without doing a deep dive into those apps. Here’s the top level look at some of the advantages. 4K 120fps on all three cameras. 4K 60 optical image stabilisation on the primary. An actual shifting lens inside the telephoto for a true optical variable zoom.

The rear facing mic for far superior directional voice pick up.

And then there’s this rhe VPTPG2BT….it’s the Sony BT Camera grip & Vlog monitor.

Versatility

Ok this is one of the big reasons I want to try out this switch is the Xperias 1V versatility. It’s kind of like a content creator's Swiss Army knife.

I’m going to be giving up some tools that I use all the time on my iPhone like Airdrop and the connectivity to my watch 24/7 and being able to pay with the Apple Watch, being able to copy on the iPhone and paste to my Mac or iPad and vice versa. And Air tag tracking…which is a big one…also keeping track of my air tags.

But here is what I get in exchange. And some of this could be a huge advantage for my workflow as a YouTube creator.

I film tons of video and I do shoot on Sony Alpha cameras. And I happen to have an A7 mark 4. And with the Xperia I can plug it into my camera and use the phone as a field monitor and even as a HD recorder.

And because the screen has been calibrated with Sony CineAlta the colours are incredibly accurate and can display 10 bit 4K HDR at 120hz making it’s the perfect partner for an Alpha camera.

And it does have focus peaking and fake colour now. So it’s got a lot the features that use all the time on my Atomos Ninja.

And if I really wanted to, I could use it to livestream from anywhere using A7 full frame camera using my mobile data on the Xperia 1V. I don’t know if I’ll get an opportunity to do that…but the point is I can do it with Xperia and I can’t with the iPhone.

The Downsides

Now the downsides. I have to try and not get too attached to this because I’m sure Sony will need this back soon. The iPhones battery is so good, I’m not sure how this will compare…especially if I do use it as a field monitor when I’m on the move.

Also I’m not sure I’m going to get on with the fingerprint reader. I've had trouble with them in the past. I was at one point in my life a very sweaty gamer and sweat or moisture on your fingertips can cause the sensor to miss at times and me being the incredibly lucky person that I can, It usually happens at exactly the wrong moment.

What I am looking forward to

Having a thinner phone that’s just easier to weild. There’s a lot to be said about the one handed typing experience you get on a phone that has a 21:9 aspect ratio. It really is so much easier than the wide keyboard on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

And a couple of features that I miss every time I switch to iPhone are simple ones but are game changing. It’s the split screen and floating app windows. And more specific to the Sony the side sense bar.

App Pairs just elevate the personalisation experience of the device. So yeah I am a big fan of split screen. So I’ll be setting up my favourite app combos straight away.

And I do like using AirPods Pro and I love how they dynamically switch between my laptop, desktop and iPad. But what I gain in LDAC an ancient Klingon swear and also a true Hi-Res audio connection between my XM3 headphones and the Mark 4.

What I’m excited and curious to see is what I can do with the Photo Pro and video pro apps….and also I get use the BTGPVP…again

I am going to try and use the full manual settings as much as possible. And I am working on camera comparison for you guys I know a lot you guys have been asking for that shout out channel member Adithya.

That’s in the works. Make sure you’re subbed with notifications on and all that good stuff and I’ll see you in the next one.

Xperia 1V Vs Xperia 1IV

The Sony Xperia 1V (Mark 5) is finally here and in this video I am unboxing it and comparing it to the design of the Xperia 1IV (Mark 4). I have avoided watching other content on this device so that I can give you my authentic first impressions. Check it out & let me know what videos you'd like me to make with the #Sony #Xperia1V

Basic Camera App Upgrades

If you're wondering if Sony have improved the Sony Xperia 1V camera app you need to watch this. In this video, I compare the Xperia 1V vs Xperia 1IV camera app. The Xperia 1V has some of the greatest smartphone camera tech ever but is the basic camera good enough? #Sony #Xperia1V #Xperia1IV