Sony Xperia 1 VI PhoneArena camera score: Promising, but with some issues

Main Camera

The Sony Xperia 1 VI features a very decent main camera. Some signature characteristics of it are the realistic color reproduction and lack of tinting. Exposure is okay, though phones like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Pixel 8 Pro fare better. There’s some oversharpening present here, which isn’t ideal. While the phone supports high-res 48MP images, it won’t give you a high-res or HDR preview. 

Zoom Quality

3.5x

7.1x

The telephoto camera delivers very decent detail on both ends of the zoom range, matching and beating its rivals and its predecessor. As a reminder, the stepless optical zoom takes the reins between 3.5x and 7.1x. Of course, you can zoom past that, but have in mind anything past 7.1x will involve digital zoom. There’s no over-sharpening here, which is great. 

Ultra-wide Camera

The ultra-wide camera somewhat struggles to nail the correct exposure in comparison with the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Pixel 8 Pro, but interestingly, its predecessor has also fared better. Some oversharpening is present here as well. Details captured with the Xperia 1 VI’s ultra-wide camera are not so good: the phone’s rivals all capture more detail, and so does the older Xperia 1 V. At least we get a dedicated macro this year. 

Front Camera

The front camera delivers very realistic photos, with proper exposure and mostly correct colors. Detail is much better than before, but some slight oversharpening can be seen here, too. 

Main Camera – Video

Turns out that video is not a strong suit of this Xperia phone. Exposure and colors are decent, but this is where most great things about this phone’s video-taking capabilities end. Detail is simply not good in video. The phone also exhibits some stabilization issues which drag it down in comparison with the Galaxy 24 Ultra, Pixel 8 Pro, and even last year’s Xperia 1 V, which is a shame. 

Zoom Quality – Video

Telephoto 3.5x video frame

Telephoto 7.1x video frame

When it comes to video taken with the variable telephoto, the phone is a pleasant surprise. The video exposure is great, colors are true-to-life, and the stabilization works good here. There’s no oversharpening, so the remarkable level of detail on both ends of the 3.5x-7.1x spectrum are preserved in the best way possible.

Ultra-wide quality – Video

You can capture some decent videos with the ultra-wide camera. Aside from little to no distortion, it has very decent exposure and nice color rendition. Some finer details lack, but at least there’s no excessive oversharpening. 

Front camera – Video

Video taken with the front-facing camera is good, but it has some shortcomings: background highlights are often blown out, and there’s some oversharpening going on. Detail is soft, but leaves a lot to be desired. 

Conclusion

It delivers very true-to-life colors and has a very intriguing and capable telephoto camera. We hope that this stepless optical zoom camera sticks around and gets picked up by other phone makers, as it will elevate phone zooming a step ahead.