ISSUE 64 • ANDROID ADVISOR 25REVIEWIt’s also handy to split-screen apps in portrait
mode, allowing you to watch video in the top
third and use maps in the bottom two thirds, for
example – there’s enough screen to not make
the bottom app too cramped.
There’s also no notch on the 6.5in display and
leaves Sony as practically the last manufacturer not to
introduce one on any of its phones. There’s a hint of
a forehead, but otherwise this is an unapologetically
angular, thin phone that feels more like a sequel to the
Xperia XZ1 than the more recent Xperia XZ2 and XZ3.
The company’s first OLED on 2018’s XZ3 was
already good but this one is well calibrated with
good colour reproduction, and 4K video looks
absolutely amazing on it.
Sony has added a ‘creator mode’ display setting to
go along with the out the box mode, which nicks its
CineAlta branding from its high-end video cameras.
It basically means faithful reproduction of a specific
colour gamut and 10-bit colour HDR specifications.
Sony has also nailed its video image enhancement
software, noticeably sharpening video quality via
the inclusion of a clever new X1 image processing
engine. Watching video on the Xperia 1 is a pleasure,
and when the content is 21:9 and in HD, the best on
a smartphone at the time of release in June 2019.
Design
That comes at a price, though. Unless you’re a film
nut who wants a cinema-accurate aspect ratio screen
on their phone, the tall design of the phone is weird.
While it’s slim enough to mean one-handed scrolling