Sony Xperia 1 V 256GB 5G Factory Unlocked Smartphone [U.S. Official w/Warranty],Black

I just upgraded from the two-year-old Xperia Pro-I (same generation as the 1 iii) to this, and I'm very happy I did!First, they plugged some of the glaring holes that Sony had vs. the competition.* The 1iii/Pro-I had "5G", but was limited to low-band (n5) on Verizon, and none at all on AT&T. (On T-Mobile you'd get low-band n71 as well as mid-band n41). It was "fast enough" - I got around 300 Mbps down / 75 Mbps up on Verizon. With the 1V, I also have n77 on both Verizon and AT&T (I measured ~900 Mbps the other day), as well as UW. In theory it should also support NR SA (standalone 5G), but no US carrier has deployed this yet.* Display brightness has improved from "ho-humm" to "excellent", and is now clearly visible in direct sunlight.* The camera was primarily intended for professional users who tend to post-process a bit; for casual use vibrancy was a bit lackluster. With the new "creative effects" Sony has finally added a bit of AI processing for more "instantly sharable" photos and video. Also the main camera sensor is larger than the 1iii or 1iv (1/1.3), which helps with detail, natural bokeh, etc.* Front camera went from ho-humm to best in class.* Sony had a bad rep for overheating after prolonged video recording. Turns out this is common among phones with the Samsung chipset that was used in the 1iv - in fact, while the Google PIxel 7 would not give an equally obvious warning about overheating, it would actually shut down sooner with the same video settings when compared to the Pro-I (or even 1iv). In any case, with a newer chipset from TSMC, those issues are largely gone - you can now record 4K/60 fps video for well over an hour before you get any kind of warning.* The industrial design changes are subtle, but elegant. The sides and back each have textured surfaces which not only looks and feels great, but helps to prevent slipping. Sony's own case for this phone is also excellent, covering the back and surrounding the 4 corners without adding much of a girth at all. (Except for at the bottom where the kickstand is located). The updated camera stack also looks fantastic - better than any phone I've seen thus far.* Also on the Pro-I, but not on the 1iii or 1iv: A third voice-optimized microphone.* Improved front-facing speakers. They were already excellent before but didn't score very high on "loudness tests" (as if anyone ever really use phone speakers for volume). Certainly beats the imbalanced iPhone/Samsung/Pixel setup where one of the speakers blows out from the bottom.As before, the things unique to Sony include:* A hardware shutter button to open the camera. (Though unlike the Pro-I, there is no dedicated button to launch Video Pro - you'd have to open the app from the launcher instead. Or you can capture a quick video by launching the camera; the Basic mode has a button that switches to "standard" video capture).* Expandable storage, with a couple of caveats. (1) The US version of this phone does not have built-in eSIM, but instead two physical SIM slots. The 2nd SIM slot is shared with the µSD card, so you can only expand memory if you use a single SIM. (2) Built-in storage on the US version went down from 512GB in the Pro-I and the 1 iv to a "meager" 256GB. Still plenty for most people, but beware that the bitrate for video capture is higher on the Sony than on other phones, given similar resolution/frame rate/file format.* 3.5mm headset jack; no USB DACs required. Superb quality.* 21:9 screen aspect ratio, which is perfect for movies & gaming. (This turns out to be a 2.33 ratio, whereas movies tend to be 64:27, or 2.35.) To me this is also more ergonomic, since it makes the phone slim enough for one-handed operation.There are of course rumors that Sony might release a Pro-I update soon ("Xperia Pro-I ii" or something equally confusing I gather), but as far as I'm concerned there is little they could improve upon from the 1V without making the phone significantly bigger.

Sony Xperia phones have been my go to for the last 10 years or so. Shape of phone is unique, and others often ask while I'm using it if it is an "Xperia" or "Sony Pro phone" due to shape. People that know, just kinda know and recognize it from reviews.Sony Camera lenses (from Zeiss) are great on the phone and the Sony lack of unneeded apps is very helpful with saving space. This phone accepts my 1 terabyte Micro SD card and allows me to plug in headphones when I need to. I travel a great deal, so sometimes my headphones don't last the whole day. This is especially true if there is a long delay between long flights. Sony is great about having LDAC blue tooth which works great with all of Sony's best headphones and with my Mark Levinson headphones. LDAC really does make wireless listening sound better, though wired is usually still best on devices that offer it. Another reason it is great to have a 3.5 mm port on a phone.The Sony camera software is familiar to anyone familiar with Sony Alpha cameras. The software is great. You can use the auto settings for everyday usage when you're in a hurry, but you can jump to full SLR mode when you want. The camera on this phone (like other High end Xperia phones before it) has analog and digital zoom. As a purist, I like to use the analog zoom more than the digital, but the combination of both is still great when needed.Downsides of this phone? Only has two microSD/Sim slots. You can use one SIM and one SD or one two sims. Previous version allowed two sims and one microSD at the same time. Doesn't affect 95+% of users. If you regularly travel on two continents, it will though. Other thing some may not like is lack of case choices. I was able to find a few I like a lot, but the selection isn't as great as latest Samsung or iPhone choices would be.It does seem to be an enthusiast product, but the great features far outweigh the few downsides.