ISSUE 64 • ANDROID ADVISOR 31REVIEWPro app on the phone to record fully manual video.
You will only get good results here if you understand
how to use a fully manual video camera. It’s fun to
play with if you’re an amateur though, and a good
way into learning how to get good results without
a £10,000+ cinema camera.
But, as with video captured in the main camera
app, results suffer from lack of decent stabilization.
Despite Sony building in a hybrid of OIS and EIS, I
found videos shakier than acceptable in the regular
camera app (Cinema Pro disables stabilization, so
you can use a tripod, slider or alternative).
An unfortunate side note is the appalling front
facing camera. An 8Mp f/2.0 sensor sounds okay, but
Sony has built in infuriating beauty modes into it that
are not obviously disabled, and results are always
washed out and blurry. Selfies in any sort of low light
looked absolutely awful. It’s a pretty big oversight
and detracts from the phone’s appeal considering
the beef of the rear triple cameras.
But then again Sony is really leaning into a niche
market here. If you love Sony, cameras and cinema,
then this is the phone of your dreams. And where
other companies might panic that they haven’t
sold any phones, Sony seems content to buoy its
smartphone business with the massive success
of its TV, camera and PlayStation businesses and
produce quirky products like the Xperia 1.
Performance
The Xperia 1 is like a short distance race winner. It
screams through every task with ease thanks to the