Sony’s next smartphone could dethrone Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra

With Summer quickly approaching, that can only mean one thing. Sony’s Xperia 1 VI is on its way. We expect that it will be announced in the coming months; for reference, the Xperia 1 V launched in May 2023. However, today, we are able to share with you the design of the Sony Xperia 1 IV in its entirety.

We have obtained 5K renders of the Xperia 1 VI from Onleaks, as well as a 360-degree video. Showing you every part of the new phone. The Xperia 1 VI will sport a 6.5-inch display similar to the Xperia 1 V from last year. It also features a triple-rear camera, and it’ll retain that headphone jack. Sony is also keeping the dedicated camera shutter button on the side, as you can see in these renders.

This time around, Sony is making the Xperia 1 VI a bit shorter and wider, and a tad thicker. The dimensions are 161.9 x 74.5 x 8.4mm, which is similar to what was leaked a couple of weeks ago. It’s not a huge difference from its predecessor, but it might be enough of a difference to change the aspect ratio from 21:9 to around 19.5:9, as has been rumored. That would make it about the same aspect ratio as the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Sony might ditch the 4K display on Xperia 1 VI

Recently, we saw a set of leaks that pointed to Sony ditching the 4K display for a 2K display on the Xperia 1 VI. That leak also pointed to a wider aspect ratio. That would be the first time in five years that Sony has changed its aspect ratio.

When the Xperia 1 first debuted back in 2019, it was one of the few smartphones to utilize a 21:9 aspect ratio. The reason for Sony’s decision was to make it easier for people to watch movies on their phones. Movies are originally shot in the 21:9 aspect ratio, and that’s what theaters use. It later gets adjusted to 16:9 for home usage. At the time, phones were not that skinny and tall, so 21:9 seemed very odd. Today, most phones are 19.5:9, like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and some are even 20:9. So Sony is not that far off anymore.

However, an oddball was always the 4K display. Not because it was a 4K display but because it was not always a 4K display. Basically, it was only a true 4K display when viewing pictures and video. The rest of the time, it was a much lower resolution. Obviously, this was due to the battery life issues that would come up with running a 4K display all the time. So it’s a good idea to scale it back to a 2K display, similar to most other flagships.

We don’t yet have a launch date nor a price for the Xperia 1 VI, but considering the amount of leaks we’ve seen recently and it popping up in accessory listings, it can’t be too far away. It’ll likely be announced within the next month or so.