SONY XPERIA 1R : Sony has been missing from the Smartphone Space for quite a long time. Their phones have come out in the past but none of them was able to make any significant contribution to the smartphone market. The last notable Sony device came out in September 2015 and was called as the Xperia Z5 Premium. However, there was only one thing premium about that device at that time; the 4k display.
In 2015, 4k technology was still being developed but somehow Sony was able to get their hand on it early. Most TVs and mobile screen displays were 720p or 1080p at that time. Giving a 4k display and that too on a mobile phone was pretty extraordinary.
In February 2019, Sony unveiled its Xperia 1r device which featured a 4k HDR OLED panel. Sony Xperia 1 is the first phone ever to sport a 4k HDR OLED panel. It is anticipated that the future version of the phone will have a 5K display. This could be truly groundbreaking as only a few mobile phone screen and handful TVs and laptops have 4K displays.
OUTSTANDING PIXEL DENSITY
Unlike the other manufacturers that are just going all-in on this idea of the screen to body ratio, Sony comes in with an approach to change the aspect ratio of the phone. Their main goal is to put as many pixels as possible in a 6.5-inch screen and this something which has never been done before. They have refreshed the aspect ratio to 21:9. A large majority of content on Netflix is in the same aspect ratio, so you can say that this is a great phone for streaming videos on Netflix.
J8220 is the model number of the phone and it is rumoured that the device will have a pixel density of 899ppi. The Xperia 1r device launched earlier this year had a pixel density of 643ppi. The number of pixels that the Xperia 1r will pack in the screen is truly amazing. The display will be a 5k panel (5040 x 2160p resolution).
There is no doubt that the device packs more pixels than required but this is the direction where all phone manufacturers are moving. This will benefit Sony in achieving a compelling spec sheet for their comeback device. Also, it is speculated that Sony is planning to up their VR game which is why they are now moving to 5k displays in their premium category phones.
OVERALL SPECS
Xperia 1r is going to be one of those phones to come at a $1000 price point. This is not cheap and to justify the price point, Sony has loaded the device with top-tier specs. Xperia 1r will have Snapdragon 855 paired with 8 GB RAM and 256 internal storage or 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. So, speed won’t be an issue with this device.
The fingerprint sensor is mounted to the side of the device and the speed of it is in line with phones in this price range. Also, it has a triple camera setup on the back. The battery capacity is a bit low at 3300mAH. To drive so many pixels and high-end hardware, Sony must have packed a 4000mAH battery.
THE BIG RELEASE
Every year manufacturers like Apple and Samsung release their flagship devices in September. Sony is also planning to hold the launch event of their device somewhere at the beginning of October. The release event will most likely be held in Berlin. Pre-orders start a month before the actual release of the phone.
Sony’s attempt is to steal some of the market share from Apple and Samsung. However, this is very unlikely because Sony hasn’t made any substantial device in the last 4 years or so. Nevertheless, it will be nice to see Sony trying something new and who knows, maybe people end up liking the phone.
