Sony's latest AV-focused flagship smartphone is here: meet the Sony Xperia 1 VIII.

It’s good news for audio fans as, like the brand's previous offering, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is quite a rarity in smartphones and claims to "support high-quality audio using wired headphones."

It has enlisted the help of the firm's Walkman division once again to boost audio quality on this new handset.

Sony has also improved the full-stage stereo speakers, which the brand says will produce deeper bass and extended high frequencies.

The new smartphone's 6.5-inch, Full HD+ (1080 x 2340) OLED display has been tuned by Bravia, and it features a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate too.

It can also automatically adjust the brightness and colour of the display according to the environment, with Sony claiming it delivers a “bright display even under sunlight”.

If you are looking at the VIII and VII editions side by side, then the immediate difference is in the camera design. Instead of having the camera lenses in a vertical line as with its predecessor, the new Xperia model features a raised camera square containing three lenses.

There are plenty of AI features packed into Sony’s latest release, including an AI camera assistant which “suggests creative expressions based on the scene recognised”. If you don’t want artificial intelligence poking around with your photography, however, there is the option to switch it off.

The brand is also implementing a new ORE-inspired design, which has a textured feel like rough stone. This comes in Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red and Native Gold colour finishes.

In terms of chipset, owners of the Xperia VIII will be looking at the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (backed up by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage). If you choose the Gold edition, which is available in select countries in-store, then you have the option of upgrading to 16GB RAM and up to 1TB of storage.

Sony also claims you can get two days of battery life from the phone, thanks to the 5000mAh battery.

The new model is launching at the same price as its predecessor in the UK, setting you back £1399 for the 256GB version and £1849 for the 1TB Gold version. When we had the Sony Xperia 1 VII in our test room, we were impressed by its detailed audio and balanced picture. Its limited HDR format and frustrating operating system quirks held it back from true greatness, but it still received a four-star rating overall.

The previous Sony phone was outshone by the five-star Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, so it will be intriguing to see how the new model compares.

MORE:

Here is our review of the Sony Xperia 1 VII

Check out the best smartphones we have tested

I will keep playing music through my phone's speakers for this very simple reason

Sony has announced the latest entry in its Xperia smartphone lineup in the form of the budget-friendly 10 VII. The cheapest handsets in Sony's range have impressed us for quite some time now, with the Xperia 10 IV, Xperia 10 V, and Xperia 10 VI all scoring five-star reviews and coveted What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Naturally, I should be highly invested in this smartphone launch, as its predecessors have been amongst the best smartphones for watching movies and listening to music on the go. However, Sony has made a big change this year, and it's one that's sure to divide on-the-go cinephiles.

Much like its bigger and much more expensive counterpart from last year, the Xperia 1 VI, the 10 VII drops the 21:9 aspect ratio display that we've been raving about for the past three generations.

It now sports a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, which means that cinematic content will no longer naturally fill the display, and instead we'll be met with black letterboxing bars when watching supported movies.

That's a shame, because there is no budget phone that dedicates itself to AV in the same way that Sony's Xperia 10 series has in previous years.

Sony's approach, which is to cut back on cutting-edge specs and offer a relatively basic plastic chassis while focussing on providing a five-star picture and sound experience, has always resonated with our AV-first preference.

This year's model focuses more on a new camera system (complete with the physical shutter button shortcut) and AI software features, though there are some AV-focused upgrades to keep in mind.

Sony has upgraded the display to 120Hz, which should make scrolling and gaming on the OLED display feel a lot smoother. It also highlights that the new aspect ratio – which it shares this with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro – should suit 16:9 content better.

And we can't forget the 3.5mm headphone jack, which Sony is still supporting for high resolution wired audio, alongside a long list of wireless audio codecs including Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive and Sony's LDAC options.

Paired with redesigned front-firing stereo speakers that appear to directly address the issue we had regarding the predecessor's cabinet vibration, the latest Xperia 10 should still be a top-choice handset for audiophiles.

We'll need to test the Xperia 10 VII for ourselves to see if it lives up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessors, and we must remember that the Xperia 1 VI was still a five-star device even without the 21:9 display of its predecessor.

Regardless, its the end of an era for Sony, as an AV-first feature that it pioneered on its smartphones for quite some time has now been officially dropped from its lineup.

The Xperia 5 V remains on sale, which is now the only model in Sony's lineup to feature a 21:9 screen, though that handset is swiftly approaching its second year on sale with no sign of an update from Sony, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

If you do want a 2025 smartphone with a 21:9 display, then the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is likely your best bet; though we didn't think it was necessarily the best smartphone for music and movies.

MORE:

Read our full Sony Xperia 10 VI review

As well as our iPhone 16e review

And check out the best smartphones for movies and music

Sony's Xperia series has been an oddity in the smartphone world for quite some time, and its dwindling popularity against heavy hitters such as Apple and Samsung is hard to ignore.

Despite the difficulties, Sony has remained steadfast in continuing production of its Xperia phones; that, though, might be about to change. Rumours are circulating that Sony's new Android smartphone will usher in a new era, in which it won't have a hand in its production.

A report from Smartphone Digest (via Android Authority) claims that the Xperia 1 VII, which was announced just a couple of weeks ago, won't be manufactured by Sony internally.

Instead, Sony could be outsourcing assembly of its latest premium smartphone to third-party manufacturers, as evidenced by the removal of any mention of smartphones on its manufacturing-focused website.

Sony already uses other manufacturers to assemble the step-down smartphones in its range, namely the mid-range Xperia 5 and entry-level Xperia 10, so the Xperia 1 appears to be following in the footsteps of its siblings.

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the Xperia range is winding down. However, it does seem that Sony has taken an unusually reserved approach to announcing its smartphones for the last couple of years.

The Xperia 5 V is still awaiting a successor, despite launching back in 2023. Though there might not be much use in waiting, as Sony reportedly cancelled the Xperia 5 VI last year.

The Japanese-language publication Impress Watch (also via Android Authority) reported that Sony opted to continue selling the five-star Xperia 5 V instead of launching a sequel, and the company is yet to confirm if the Xperia 5 series will return this year.

The Xperia 10, on the other hand, is often refreshed alongside the flagship model yet there was no mention of an Xperia 10 VII at Sony's last launch event.

Considering the last three generations of Sony's budget smartphones have picked up Awards, we're eagerly anticipating the next version's announcement.

Overall, it seems as though Sony's Xperia phones are in somewhat of a limbo state, though the 1 VII's upgrades to picture and sound performance are certainly appealing to us, so we hope to see the rest of the lineup get the same attention later this year.

As for the shift in manufacturing strategy, it's unclear what impact this will have on the new Xperia 1, though we didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary when we reviewed the latest generation Xperia 10 and Xperia 5 devices.

Generally speaking, it could either be the lifeline that the Xperia series requires, or Sony's way of sidelining its smartphone division without abandoning it entirely; only time will tell.

MORE:

Read our full Sony Xperia 1 VI review

As well as our Sony Xperia 10 VI review

And check out our picks for the best smartphones

Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone has an AV ace up its sleeve. That’s right, the Galaxy S25 Ultra might look like an iterative update over its predecessor, but Samsung’s decision to put a spotlight on picture performance means that it immediately resonates with us, especially considering how its competitors have approached AV features in the past year.

Apple’s last batch of iPhones impressed, but picture and sound features were glossed over entirely in favour of AI features, while Sony opted to walk back on its movie-first approach by swapping out the 4K 21:9 display on the Xperia 1 VI for a more conventional screen. Samsung isn’t quite going for the completely dedicated AV angle that we’d like to see, but considering the wider smartphone market, we’ll take what we can get.

Now that we have the S25 Ultra in hand, does it live up to its promises? And more importantly, does it live up to our expectations?

Price

At £1249 / $1300 / AU$2199, there’s no getting away from the fact that the S25 Ultra is a pricey handset. It’s flanked by the iPhone 16 Pro (£1199 / $1199 / AU$2149) and Sony Xperia 1 VI (£1299 / $1700 approx / AU$2500), sitting squarely in the middle of these rivals.

That price will get you the 256GB model; however, there are larger storage options, including 512GB (£1349 / $1420 / AU$2349) and 1TB (£1549 / $1660 / AU$2749) for those who require more space for photos, music and apps.

There are also seven finishes to pick from, all of which look rather dashing and have slightly pretentious names; Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver, Titanium Grey and Titanium Silverblue are widely available, whereas Titanium Jadegreen, Titanium Jetblack and Titanium Pinkgold are exclusive to Samsung’s official store.

Build

While the genetic similarities to its predecessor are strong from a distance, the S25 Ultra features a design upgrade that makes it look slightly smarter and fit more comfortably in the hand. The titanium frame sandwiched between two layers of glass returns, though the edges have been rounded out this year, meaning the device doesn’t dig into our hands in the same way the S24 Ultra’s boxy corners did.

Much like the S24 Ultra, the new handset sticks with a flat screen, marking an end to Samsung’s curved displays that melted over the frames of its smartphones of old – well, the mid to late 2010s. Speaking of which, the display on the S25 Ultra has grown by 0.1 inches, leaving us with a 6.9-inch screen – this is due to Samsung shrinking the bezels of this phone by 15 per cent.

On the rear of the handset, you’ll find a smooth, matte glass rear panel; our review unit is the Titanium Silverblue finish, and we think it looks rather suave. The scattered cluster of cameras and sensors also adorn the rear panel, this year with a contrasting ring around each sensor. It’s still not our favourite smartphone design, especially compared to the sleek iPhone 16 Pro, though it's a bit more interesting than the mundane Xperia 1 VI.

Turning to the edges of the phone, you’ll find the left edge unobstructed, while the right-hand side features the power and volume controls. There’s a USB-C charging socket, SIM tray, downward-firing speaker and the S-Pen on the bottom of the phone, which is an identical set-up to the S24 Ultra.

Ultimately, the S25 Ultra certainly looks a lot like its predecessor. However, there is enough here to make it feel like a new generation, unlike the Apple iPhone 16 Pro, which looks practically identical to its previous iteration.

Features

As this is Samsung’s premier handset, there is an expectedly exhaustive list of features, as was the case with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Inside the phone, you’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite for Galaxy processor backed by 12GB of RAM. As expected, this powerful combination ensures the phone is super responsive. That "for Galaxy" suffix hints towards the processor being an exclusive variant made by Qualcomm for Samsung, with a slightly higher clock speed.

The phone flies through the One UI 7 operating system, which runs on top of Android 15. It's worth noting that Samsung is promising seven years of software and security upgrades, so this phone should (theoretically) continue to receive updates through to 2032.

A major part of this device's software is the Galaxy AI system, which encompasses a wide array of AI tools and features. All the favourites from the S24 Ultra return, including the incredibly useful Circle to Search with Google, Generative Edit photo editing suite, Live Translation tools and Chat Assist feature, which can tweak the tone of your messages and emails for different scenarios. Samsung has upgraded this feature, however, by including a new on-device large language model (LLM), which will reportedly make the generative fill tools in the photo editor more reliable and accurate.

As for the AV features, the S25 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz and a Quad HD+ resolution. This expansive and vivid screen is a joy to interact with thanks to the high refresh rate, while the claimed 2600 nits brightness – the same as last year's model – is plenty for indoor and outdoor visibility. Samsung has also included its impressive glare-reducing screen coating on this device, and it is reportedly even more effective than last year's model. In practice, we have no issues viewing the screen in a range of lighting conditions.

The biggest new AV upgrade is Samsung's new ProScaler feature, which is inspired by the company's flagship 4K and 8K TVs. It can reportedly improve image scaling quality by 40 per cent, meaning lower-resolution content streamed from the device will appear sharper and more detailed. In our minds, implementing a system to bring content up to the specification of the screen is a genius move by Samsung, as the mobile versions of our favourite services tend to be capped at 1080p. As we’ll come to find out in the picture section of this review, the ProScaler feature works wonders on a wide variety of streaming services.

As for the other AV features on this device, it supports HDR10 and HDR10+; the latter has had a recent boost as Disney Plus has agreed to support the format on a selection of its content, while the likes of Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Paramount Plus already support it. Dolby Atmos audio is also on board via the speakers and headphones, though Samsung's new Eclipsa Audio immersive format is, unfortunately, not supported. As expected, there is no headphone jack, so you will need to rely on a USB-C DAC or wireless audio peripherals; the 25 Ultra features Bluetooth 5.3 with the LE and A2DP codecs supported for the latter.

This latest Ultra device carries forth many of the staple features of past Galaxy phones. The S Pen returns for scribbling down notes, and the quadruple-stack camera system is back, too. Unfortunately, the S Pen gets a downgrade this year, as Samsung has stripped it of its Bluetooth capabilities, meaning you can no longer conduct air actions to remotely conduct functions on your device, nor can you use it as a remote camera shutter.

Camera-wise, Samsung has carried three of the lenses over from the S24 Ultra – the 200MP main sensor, 50MP telephoto lens, and 10MP secondary telephoto camera – but has upgraded the ultrawide lens to 50MP from 12MP. In practice, the S25 Ultra produces exceptional pictures, with crisp, vibrant colours, and the range of lens options to capture different scenarios is greatly appreciated.

Finally, the S25 Ultra has the same 5000mAh battery as its predecessor. Much like the S24 Ultra, we’ve struggled to completely drain this handset in a single day, even with heavy usage.

Picture

With a new picture-enhancing feature being a headlining aspect of this smartphone, our expectations regarding how it handles on-the-go movie watching are understandably high. We also need to remember that the last Samsung Galaxy smartphone that we reviewed, the Z Fold 6, delivered a five-star AV experience, so the heat is on for the S25 Ultra.

So, does it deliver the goods in the picture department? Simply put, yes, it does. We have no qualms with stating that this is one of the most impressive smartphone displays we’ve seen in a long while, especially considering how tough the competition has been. This is clearly in part due to the excellent ProScaler feature, which proves that when given the right attention, an AV feature on a phone can truly be the standout aspect.

We watch a range of content, including John Wick: Chapter 4, The Batman, and 1917 on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, with the Sony Xperia 1 VI on hand as a benchmark device.

The S25 Ultra wastes no time in showing us how capable its display is, with the John Wick scene in which Caine is recruited by the villainous Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont having an abundance of sharp details. This sequence takes place in a lavish palace interior, with each intricate fixture, chandelier and intricately etched pillar realised in impressively clear and crisp detail. Close-up shots of the characters reveal plenty of texture to skin and clothing, too.

What’s most striking about this picture is how solid and three-dimensional it appears. Actors in the foreground of the shot are clearly separated from the background, and the sense of space is truly impressive. This is an area where Sony has previously excelled, but we’re inclined to say that Samsung isn’t far behind. Moreover, the picture doesn’t seem overly etched or too bold. A scene taking place on the rooftop of the Osaka hotel looks fantastic, as the cherry blossom tree on the left-hand side of the shot is oozing with detail and three-dimensional depth.

Sticking with John Wick, we approve of how the S25 Ultra handles colours. For reference, we’ve opted for the natural screen mode, which can be found in the display settings, as the vivid mode that’s enabled as standard is a bit too poppy for our liking. Once that adjustment is made, the S25 Ultra delivers rich, bold colours that don’t stray into the realm of over-enthusiastic, and a range of skin tones all look healthy and natural too.

Switching to The Batman, we can study how this handset approaches dark details, as this grimy and murky movie is mostly played out under the cover of night. The consensus is that the S25 Ultra makes a strong effort, with a decent separation between the titular hero’s suit and the pitch black alleyway that he steps out of before dismantling a group of thugs at a train station. Furthermore, the henchmen’s all-black outfits have plenty of tangible detail (for instance, the clear separation between a black jacket over a black shirt).

We switch to Peep Show to see how the S25 Ultra handles older, lower-resolution content, and we’re pleased to say that the handset makes a solid attempt at cleaning up the image, boosting brightness and adding a touch of depth. It’s not perfect as there is still a touch of fuzz around the edges of subjects on screen, but it’s certainly an admirable effort nonetheless.

Rounding things out with 1917, here is where we come across an issue with the display that’s hard to ignore but thankfully doesn’t present itself too often. A panning shot through an outdoor barn structure that tracks an overhead dogfight is presented with a lot more judder than we tend to prefer, to the extent that we even tweak the motion settings to see if the adaptive refresh rate is causing this.

Unfortunately, regardless of whether it's turned on or off, the wooden slats of the barn seem to flicker quite noticeably – we check if this happens on the Xperia 1 VI and iPhone 16 and can confirm it’s also an issue on these devices, though it's more pronounced on the S25 Ultra. Furthermore, while motion itself is mostly well handled, it can look slightly oversmoothed at times.

Motion snags aside, the S25 Ultra’s fantastic detail levels, rich colours, and superb contrast are comparable to the five-star Samsung S95D OLED TV.

Sound

The audio performance of the S25 Ultra might not be quite as impressive as its picture credentials, but we still deem it to be a solid effort from Samsung overall. As we’ve established, the device supports Dolby Atmos via its stereo speakers (comprising the earpiece and downward-firing loudspeaker) and headphones (wired and wireless).

Starting with headphone audio, we plug a pair of wired cans into the device with the help of a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter, and listen to a range of tracks on Tidal, including Taylor Swift’s The 1, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Luther, Charli XCX’s Sympathy Is A Knife and Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.

There is plenty to praise here; the Samsung delivers a crisp and detailed audio performance with a focus on delivering clear vocals. Larger dynamic shifts, such as the electronic beat drop of Charli XCX and Ariana Grande’s Sympathy Is A Knife, are presented well, with an appreciated punch. The handset also delivers a spacious and open performance, with a clear sense of space established, especially with Dolby Atmos tracks.

However, we are left wanting more by way of low-level dynamics. The S25 Ultra just misses the emotive qualities of The 1 and Landslide, presenting the tracks more matter-of-factly rather than highlighting the subtle aspects, which is something we praised the iPhone 16 Pro for achieving. Furthermore, we’re not convinced that the S25 Ultra nails timing completely, as both the competing Apple and Sony smartphones have stronger and more precise rhythmic drives.

Ultimately, the S25 Ultra is still a good device for streaming music on the go, however, its Apple and Sony competitors are more talented at capturing the subtleties in the tracks we test.

Switching to the loudspeakers, this is where the Samsung hits its sonic stride. We’re certainly not endorsing blasting music directly from your phone’s speakers – Bluetooth speakers were invented for a reason – but they’re ideal for a spot of movie or TV watching.

The sheer size of the device means we get an impressive sense of stereo separation and, while Dolby Atmos understandably isn’t delivered in the same way we see in the world of home cinema, the S25 Ultra tracks the sound of cars rushing past the Batmobile in The Batman’s epic chase sequence to impressive effect by smartphone standards.

Verdict

Samsung’s new flagship handset is simply begging to be taken on a long-haul flight or lengthy train journey. Its big, bold screen, rich colours and crisp details liken it to a pocketable OLED TV, making it a great companion for portable movie watching. And, while we wish its musical performance had a touch more in the way of low-level dynamics, its clear and spacious sound should appease those looking to take their music library on the go.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the iPhone 16 Pro

Also consider the Sony Xperia 1 VI

Read our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review

The best smartphones for music and movies

Apple has finally released their newest model – the iPhone 16e. It’s picking up where the iPhone SE left off to provide all of Apple’s latest smartphone tech with a (semi) reasonable price tag.

While the new smartphone looks mighty promising, the Sony Xperia 10 VI has a lot going for it as well.

We have not had the opportunity to get our hands on the iPhone 16e yet, but in the meantime we can compare its specifications to the Sony Xperia 10 VI to get an idea of how the two compare.

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: price

The Sony Xperia 10 VI is one of the cheaper smartphones available that we have given five stars, retailing for £349 on paper for 128GB, which is already a steal in the realm of smartphones. We have seen reductions on this already reasonable price as well, with some retailers selling it for £299. The phone is not available to buy in the US or Australia, though.

Pricing for the iPhone 16e starts at £599 / $599 / AU$999 for 128GB, £699 / $699 / AU$1119 for 256GB and £899 / $899 / AU$ 1549 for 512GB. It will be available for pre-order in the US, Australia and the UK starting 21 February, and first orders will arrive on 28 February.

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: design

The iPhone 16e boasts a 6.1-inch OLED screen display, meaning it is about the same size as Apple’s standard iPhone 16. It weighs in at 167 grams, and is available in just a black or white finish. It has a notch at the top which is used for the Face ID support. We have not been able to see the phone up close yet, but from what we can tell the design looks much like a combination of the iPhone 14 and 16.

Sony’s entry is also an OLED 6.1-inch, and is slightly lighter than the iPhone at 164 grams. There are also a few more finish options available, with black, white and blue on the cards. It has a 1080 x 2520 and a pixel density of 449ppi.

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: features

One of the most notable features of the iPhone 16e is its C1 modem, which is the first cellular modem designed by Apple. Apple claims it is the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone, set to deliver speedy and reliable 5G cellular connectivity. There’s also support for HDR, portrait mode, and night mode.

AI, or Apple Intelligence as the brand calls it, also plays a big part in the iPhone’s functionality thanks to the A18 chipset. Apple says the six-core CPU is up to 80 percent faster than the A13 Bionic chip on iPhone 11. This AI skillset includes support for features such as Genmoji, Writing Tools, Clean Up in the Photos app, and ChatGPT integration. You can also access Visual Intelligence via the Action button. Turning to battery life, Apple says it has “the best battery life ever on a 6.1-inch iPhone, lasting up to six hours longer than iPhone 11 and up to 12 hours longer than all generations of iPhone SE.”

As with all the latest iPhone models, it has integrated Face ID support. You can also find a USB-C port at the bottom for charging and data transfer. The device also features the Action button instead of the classic mute switch. We have not had the chance to test the iPhone 16e’s camera, but will be keenly awaiting our chance to test it out. It has a single 48MP Fusion camera and will take high-resolution 24MP photos, but you can also choose to take 48MP images. In terms of video quality, we do know it offers 4K with Dolby Vision up to 60 frames per second.

But what about the Sony Xperia 10 VI? The phone’s lower price point does mean it lacks a few features, but that does not mean it should be underestimated. Its display is 60Hz, and supports HDR. Its chipset is not as powerful as that of the iPhone 16e, using the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM.

It runs Android 14, whereas the iPhone 16e runs iOS 18, giving you access to Google’s latest AI features, including the Magic Eraser photo editing tool and the Gemini assistant. The latter proved useful during testing, as we were able to produce a coherent meal plan in a matter of seconds. The Sony Xperia 10 VI slightly underwhelmed when it came to the camera. We said in our review: “It gets the job done for quick snaps here and there, but if you’re serious about smartphone photography, this phone will not satisfy your needs.”

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: picture

Once again, we have not tested the iPhone 16e so cannot comment on its picture quality.

For the Sony Xperia 10 VI, we were surprised by its three-dimensional depth during testing. It balanced colour well too, with skin tones being portrayed as lively yet not overly bright. The darks don’t quite reach the blackest depths of more expensive models, but that is to be expected at such a reasonable price.

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: sound

All the usual caveats; we have yet to get close and personal to the iPhone 16e so cannot vouch for how it sounds. We do know it has Dolby Atmos support through headphones or built-in stereo loudspeakers.

The Xperia 10 VI’s speakers are more than acceptable, and while they won’t knock your socks off, they’re perfectly usable for watching the occasional TV show without connecting headphones. We said that the phone’s speakers were “more than useable” with a decent sense of weight and well organised.

iPhone 16e vs Sony Xperia 10 VI: early verdict

We have not given the iPhone 16e anything close to a full review, so will reserve judgement until we get to do so. But its comparatively low price compared to the rest of the iPhone family is welcome, especially considering its impressive specifications. We’ll have to see how they all play out in practice, though.

With an affordable price tag and solid overall performance, we think the Xperia 10 VI is a great buy. But will the iPhone knock Sony’s offering off its pedestal as the best affordable smartphone? We'll update this page once we've reviewed the iPhone 16e.

MORE:

Here is the review of the Sony Xperia 10 VI

This is what we know so far about the iPhone 16e

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New reports suggest that Apple's upcoming affordable iPhone – which has tentatively been dubbed the iPhone SE 4 – could launch later this week. It is set to join the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro in Apple's current iPhone lineup and will replace the nearly three-year-old 3rd Generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022.

This new rumour comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has delivered many reliable Apple leaks before; so we are inclined to believe this rumour, though we should remind you to take any rumour or leak with a pinch of salt. If Gurman's prediction is true, we could expect to see the new affordable iPhone before the end of the week – though we're not anticipating a full live-streamed Apple event akin to the annual September launch.

Instead, Gurman suggests that we could see a more tame unveiling on Apple's website, which will be more in line with the quiet launch of the iPad Mini 7th Generation. According to the Bloomberg report, we could expect to see the new iPhone go on sale later this month, with stock of the current model supposedly drying up at some Apple retailers. We have attempted to verify this, though a quick look at Apple's website shows that the SE 3rd Generation is still available at many of its locations here in the UK.

We eagerly await the release of the iPhone SE 4 for a multitude of reasons – especially as rumours point to this iteration of the smartphone being a major departure from the previous two generations. It's reportedly set to drop the iPhone 8 chassis and adopt an iPhone 14-style look with slimmer bezels and a notch. As part of this upgrade, Apple is rumoured to be incorporating a 6.1-inch OLED display, which should make this affordable iPhone a much better device for on-the-go movie watching.

Furthermore, Apple has been on its A-game regarding audio performance lately; in fact, we called the iPhone 16 "easily one of the best-sounding smartphones we’ve heard". If this supposed new SE 4 follows in the footsteps of its flagship siblings, then we could be in for a treat. We are also eager to pit this rumoured new iPhone against our current favourite budget handset, the Sony Xperia 10 VI. It took home the coveted Product of the Year title at our most recent Awards thanks to its superb AV performance and excellent value – so could this new iPhone SE pose a genuine threat?

Other rumours (courtesy of Tom's Guide) suggest that the new SE will swap Touch ID for Face ID, support Apple Intelligence (Apple's AI feature suite) thanks to the A17 Pro chip, and ditch the Lightning port in favour of USB-C. There are also reports that it will stick to having just one camera, though that is expected to jump from 12MP to 48MP.

Of course, we are most intrigued by the picture and sound capabilities of this prospective iPhone, so stay tuned to see if this affordable Apple handset materialises later this week.

MORE:

Read our full iPhone 16 Pro review

iPhone 16 vs Samsung Galaxy S25: how do they compare?

Check out our list of the best iPhones

Apple’s iPhone launches have become somewhat formulaic in recent years. The shiny new model is revealed, we hear about how powerful the new processor and camera are, and the phrase “best iPhone yet” is usually thrown in there for good measure. Picture and sound performance, on the contrary, is relegated to the footnotes or is sometimes absent altogether.

While we yearn for a segment in Apple’s yearly livestream to dig deeper into new features that enhance the movie and music capabilities of the latest iPhone handset, we’re also ready to accept that megapixels and app loading times are a bigger draw, even though each iPhone generation traditionally tends to feature a better AV experience than its predecessor. 

2024 marks the year of the iPhone 16 series which, despite the name, is the 18th generation of iPhones. We have the iPhone 16 Pro specifically on hand today and, as expected, it's quicker and features a better camera than the iPhone 15 Pro; but how does it handle movies and music?

Price

iPhone prices have been somewhat unstable in recent years, and it usually heavily depends on which region you’re situated in as to whether you’ll be paying more, less or the same as the previous generation handset. Thankfully, this year it actually looks like good news all around, as the iPhone 16 Pro costs £999 / $999 / AU$1799 – the same as the 15 Pro in the UK and US, and AU$50 cheaper in Australia.

That will get you the base storage option with a frustratingly stingy 128GB capacity; though you can spec it up to 1TB for a less wallet-friendly £1499 / $1499 / AU$2699. Apple does offer a larger screen alternative with the iPhone 16 Pro Max (which starts at £1199 / $1199 / AU$2149), as well as two cheaper models in the form of the iPhone 16 (£799 / $799 / AU$1399) and iPhone 16 Plus (£899 / $899 / AU$1599).

The iPhone 16 Pro occupies an unusual position in the smartphone market, as other manufacturers tend to position their flagship devices to contend with the Pro Max variant. The Galaxy S24 Ultra launched at £1249 / $1299 / AU$2199, whereas the Sony Xperia 1 VI retails for £1299 / $1700 approx / AU$2500 – both are more expensive. 

The Xperia 5 V (which launched last year) is a closer comparison at £849, or the recently released Google Pixel 9 Pro (which we’re yet to review) might be the most like-for-like comparison at £999 / $999 / AU$1699. 

Build

Apple claims to have given the iPhone 16 Pro a “stunning new design”... are we missing something? The 16 Pro looks nearly identical to the 15 Pro, which in turn looked very similar to the previous generations of iPhones stretching back to 2020’s iPhone 12 series. Apple has clearly found a formula that works though, as this handset looks and feels exquisite, even if it’s not exactly revolutionary. 

The build once again combines glass and titanium, to create a rigid and premium feel in the hand. Apple has swapped brushed ‘aerospace-grade’ titanium for a polished effect, which makes the side rails slightly shinier; as a result, you’ll likely see more fingerprints on your phone depending on the finish you opt for. 

Speaking of finishes, there are four to choose from: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium and, new for this year, Desert Titanium. We have a white model on hand, and approve of its smart and clean styling, though you might want to opt for the new gold hue if you want people to know you’ve splashed out on the latest device.

Admittedly, there are a few new design cues to signal that this is indeed a new iPhone. The 16 Pro sports a slightly larger screen than last year’s device – 6.3 inches up from 6.1, the Pro Max reaches a colossal 6.9 inches up from 6.7 – and the bezels around the display have shrunk even further. 

It’s not totally borderless, and the dynamic island still floats across the top edge (which can be intrusive for watching video), but Apple has done an excellent job of shaving the bezels down to achieve a sleek and minimalist look, which makes the 16 Pro feel even more futuristic than its predecessor. The display is also coated with Apple’s Ceramic Shield material, which makes it reportedly twice as durable as the glass on other smartphones.

The second and more obvious design difference that gives this new model away is the Camera Control button. Last year’s iPhone 15 Pro got the remappable Action Button, and this year it’s joined by Camera Control, which is a combination camera shortcut and capture button. If you gently depress the button with a half click, you can access a selection of camera controls. To interact with these, you just swipe your finger across the sapphire crystal-coated surface, which feels fairly intuitive for the default zoom function and a bit clunky for anything else.

We wish it was slightly lower on the side of the device, as we have to crane our finger awkwardly around the edge of the frame to reach the button – something that would be negated if the Camera Control button was shifted a few millimetres to the right, and physically pushing down on the side of the device can make lining up shots trickier, as we’ve snapped our fair share of wonky pictures with this iPhone. 

Features

We’ll get this out of the way first: Apple Intelligence is not available on the iPhone 16 Pro yet. It’s plastered across the marketing for this device, and all over Apple’s website too, but when we hold down the lock button expecting to interface with this new AI system, we’re instead met with the same Siri interface we’ve seen from the previous generation of iPhones. AI features are expected to go live in a forthcoming update, but they’re absent so far – note that availability will vary by region when it does launch, with EU regions especially being affected. 

Having Apple Intelligence missing at launch feels like an unusual misstep from Apple. We rarely see an iPhone launch without one of its tentpole features. Bear in mind that the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will also gain access to this feature when it launches, so if you’re on the previous generation device, you shouldn’t feel the need to upgrade immediately. 

The triple camera arrangement on the rear of the device should also be familiar to anyone with previous generation iPhones, as the 48MP main sensor and 12MP telephoto lenses return, while the ultrawide camera gets a bump up to 48MP this year. In practice, the iPhone 16 Pro is an excellent smartphone for photography, as it produces crisp and detailed images with rich colours, and the versatility of the different lenses is appreciated. That being said, it can be overshadowed by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which also produces high-quality pictures and features an additional telephoto lens for zoomed photography.

Internally, the 16 Pro is a step up over the already powerful 15 Pro, with the A18 Pro processor powering the device alongside 8GB of RAM. In practice, the phone flies through the iOS 18 operating system and isn’t challenged by having multiple heavy-duty apps running. Furthermore, we anticipate that it will be supported by Apple for at least five years of software upgrades. As was the case with last year’s model, the 16 Pro’s powerful GPU is capable of delivering console-quality titles elsewhere seen on the Xbox Series X and PS5, including Resident Evil 8: Village, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, and Assassin’s Creed: Mirage. 

Moving onto the AV-oriented features of the 16 Pro, we get to the display. It’s a nearly identical affair to the 15 Pro it replaces, albeit slightly larger as we’ve previously mentioned. It’s a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, with a variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz – Apple calls this ProMotion and it can also be found on the iPad Pro M4. It supports HDR in the HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats too, and has a resolution of 1206 x 2622 pixels and a pixel density of 460ppi. 

ProMotion remains a key asset of the Pro-series iPhones, as it makes navigating the iOS 18 operating system a dream; animations flow and swiping between home screen pages feels incredibly smooth. It also features a broad brightness range from one nit to 2000 nits peak brightness. You may wonder why the display would need to reach such a low brightness, but Apple pairs it with the 1Hz refresh rate for the always-on display feature to minimise battery usage. We’re well aware that a large portion of the Android phone market has had 120Hz and always-on displays for quite some time, so Apple is slightly behind the curve, but they’re nice features to have nonetheless.

As for sound, the iPhone 16 Pro is slightly more limited than its Android counterparts. It features a stereo speaker set-up that combines the earpiece and bottom-firing loudspeaker, and there’s no headphone jack (as to be expected) though you can hook USB-C earbuds up or wired cans via an adapter. Wireless audio utilises Bluetooth 5.3 in the A2DP and LE codecs, and Dolby Atmos is supported on both the loudspeakers and over headphones. 

Finally, Apple quotes a higher battery capacity on this new iPhone, with a larger 3582mAh cell that can reportedly last for 27 hours of consistent video playback. We find that it comfortably lasts us through some intensive video and audio testing at high brightness with an impressively small drop in battery percentage. 

Apple also sells an upgraded MagSafe wireless charger that is compatible with this device. It supports 25W wireless charging, though wired charging still maxes out at 20W with a supported USB-C fast charger. Apple claims that you can reach 50 per cent battery in just 30 minutes over wired charging, which should be useful if you need to juice your phone up in a pinch – just remember that the 20W power adapter is not included in the box. 

Picture

As has been the case for practically every generation of iPhone we’ve seen, the latest model performs better than its predecessor, even if Apple doesn’t make any grand claims of potent AV upgrades. We fire up content in Dolby Vision on Netflix, and content from our Apple TV library too – and the bottom line is that this iPhone delivers a balanced, sharp and bright image that looks stunning regardless of the content we throw at it.

Starting with Top Gun: Maverick in Dolby Vision on Netflix, we’re met with a warm, rich and engaging image. The edges of fighter jets are crisp and well-defined, leading to a pleasingly three-dimensional presentation, and details of the jets are retained even when submerged in shadows. The setting sun that bathes this sequence in golden light is reproduced to great effect, and the times that we do see the sun in all its glory, we’re treated to bright highlights and plenty of detail retained in the surrounding clouds.

While the picture as a whole is rich and punchy, it’s also expertly balanced, and there is a palpable subtlety to be found. As evidenced by 1917 in HDR10 (also on Netflix), clothing textures have a subtle gradation of colour throughout that isn’t visible on equivalent handsets, such as the Sony Xperia 1 VI. The dirt that forms the trenches is packed with detail, with defined rocks and rubble adding texture without looking either mushy or over-etched. 

Furthermore, the iPhone is excellent at identifying the focal point of the image, ensuring our focus is drawn to Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield. It still retains a crisp three-dimensionality with other elements of the picture, like a tree in the background, but it ensures that they are firmly in the background – which further enhances the depth of the image. 

Top that off with inky blacks courtesy of the OLED display and impressive motion handling of speeding jets and motorbikes in Top Gun, and the iPhone 16 Pro proves itself a formidable portable movie-watching machine. With dark content such as Drive’s opening sequence, we see plenty of detail retained in the darkest part of the image – the side of the titular Driver’s face and ear are still visible even when he’s mostly covered by shadows; notably, this has tripped up other smartphones which are heavier handed where dark details and contrast are concerned. 

Sound

Apple has settled on a signature sound with its iPhones, however, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t innovate with each iteration. Put simply, the iPhone 16 Pro is easily the best-sounding phone we’ve heard all year.

Starting with the headphone performance, we plug a pair of wired headphones into the 16 Pro using the same USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter we use for all smartphone reviews and find that Apple has refined its sound to be even more inviting than before. We listen to a range of tracks on Tidal from the likes of Tool, Taylor Swift, James Blake and Bon Iver, and find the warm, smooth and dynamic sound that we’ve come to expect from iPhones to be present. However, this year it digs out even more detail.

Each strike of the piano in Taylor Swift’s The 1 sounds delicate yet crisp and impactful, while the rhythmic plucking in Tool’s Invincible is bursting with texture and detail. Stepping up to Fred Again’s Places To Be, the iPhone doesn’t even think about stumbling over the pacey electronic beat – ensuring that the dance track is buzzing with energy and timed perfectly. 

Apple does lock some of its premier audio features behind its AirPods line of wireless earphones, such as Spatial Audio, so you may find extra value if you’re already deep into the famed Apple ecosystem; however, you’ll still find an abundance of audio excellence if you have a pair of wired cans or non-Apple earbuds. 

Unplugging our headphones and reverting to the stereo loudspeaker system, we find it to be a more than acceptable experience for a spot of movie watching. Returning to Top Gun: Maverick, we’re met with a clean and punchy sound from these speakers, that manage to inject energy into Kenny Loggins’ iconic Danger Zone track while also making an admirable attempt at tracking the sound of the jets as they roar down the aircraft carrier and into the sky. These speakers carry some genuine weight behind them and are surprisingly dynamic too, though we wouldn’t count on them to replace a quality Bluetooth speaker if you do want to play your music out loud.

Verdict

The iPhone 16 Pro is an easy handset to recommend if you want a flagship Apple smartphone, and that’s not just because it has completely replaced the excellent iPhone 15 Pro. It’s a formidable smartphone for watching movies, and it’s equally impressive when it comes to music too. Ultimately, it comes down to subtlety – something other manufacturers seem to overlook in favour of chasing the brightest screens or longest list of audio features. Apple’s attention to detail is practically unrivalled, and that enhances every aspect of the 16 Pro’s AV experience in a meaningful way.

Review published: October 2023. Review updated: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Also consider the iPhone 15 Plus

Read our review of the Sony Xperia 5 V

Read our Sony Xperia 1 VI review

These are the best smartphones for music and movies

Sony’s smartphones tend to score well on our testing metrics, as they’re practically the only handsets on the market that are designed for content consumption first and foremost. The 21:9 OLED displays, front-firing stereo speakers and old-school headphone jack are features we wish every phone had, but even Sony now appears to be softening in its resolve.

After announcing that the flagship Xperia 1 VI would forgo the cinematic aspect ratio and drop to 1080p, we were immediately sent into a spiral. Thankfully, in the same breath, Sony announced that its entry-level Android smartphone, the Xperia 10 VI, would stick to the established formula, and that’s what we’re here to look at today.

Can Sony hit a hat-trick of affordable five-star handsets? Will this device continue the streak of Award-winning budget brilliance that is the Xperia 10 series?

Price

The Sony Xperia 10 VI retails for £349 on paper, which is already a steal in the realm of smartphones. Better yet, we’re already seeing it available for just £299 at a wide range of retailers, which is a frankly bonkers bargain at a time where thousand-pound handsets are the norm for many. Unfortunately, Sony has once again opted not to launch this device in the US or Australia, where it would hypothetically cost around $465 and AU$670 respectively.

Competition at this price is very slim, aside from perhaps the Nothing Phone (1) (£399 / AU$749) and Google Pixel 7a (which now sells for £349 / $310 / AU$549 after being replaced by the Pixel 8a). Comparing the Xperia 10 VI to the current batch of Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S smartphones is futile, as we’re talking about doubling or tripling the price depending on which model you opt for.

Build

Sony has made strides in the design and build quality of its budget handset this year. The latest Xperia 10 is a step up over last year’s Mark V device, with a more rigid and premium-feeling chassis. It’s still all plastic (aside from the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus display), but this year’s device features a smoother back panel that incorporates the camera lenses more stylishly. It’s also a touch heavier this year, weighing in at 164g compared to 159g for the 10 V. While a heavier handset might sound like a step in the wrong direction, in reality, the new Xperia 10 feels more solid as a result.

While the flagship Xperia 1 VI has lost its taller and thinner aspect ratio, Sony has curiously opted to keep it on the Xperia 10 VI. We’re not complaining, as it is a feature we’ve harped on about in practically all of our previous Xperia phone reviews, but it does seem like an odd choice to split the range in this way. While we appreciate the taller and thinner aspect ratio for watching movies, we have to admit that it comes at the expense of usability at times; for instance, not all apps play nicely with the ratio and people with smaller hands might find reaching the top of the screen tricky when using the device one-handed.

Overall, the Xperia 10 VI looks and feels more premium than its predecessor, and the new trio of available finishes – black, white and blue – all look fairly slick. Our review unit is in the blue hue, and we think the icy pastel finish suits the device perfectly.

That being said, the Xperia 10 VI is plagued with a similar issue to its predecessor. We don’t usually complain about this sort of thing on smartphones, but the haptic feedback on the Xperia 10 VI is so bad that we opt to turn it off in the settings menu. Every tap of the keyboard elicits a vibration that rattles the entire chassis of the device, creating an unpleasant buzzing noise. Cranking up the volume of the built-in speakers also results in a fair bit of chassis vibration, although we feel as though that aspect has been slightly reduced compared to the 10 V.

Features

Compared with the Xperia 1 VI and 5 V, the Xperia 10 (understandably) has a cut-down list of features. However, this entry-level device doesn’t appear too distant from its relatives on paper. It boasts a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2520 and a pixel density of 449ppi, that’s an identical specification to the more expensive Xperia 5. That being said, the Xperia 10’s display is 60Hz instead of 120Hz, and while the device technically supports HDR, it’s not the HDR10 standard as seen on the Xperia 5.

The Xperia 10 VI is a step up over its predecessor where internal components are concerned too. While picture and sound performance on the outgoing Xperia 10 V is excellent, we found day-to-day usability took a hit due to the use of the middling Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset, which was also featured on the 2022 model. Sony has implemented a more powerful Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM (up from 6GB) this time around, and while it won’t outpace a Galaxy S24 Ultra or iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s certainly less stuttery than its predecessor. It also features 128GB of internal storage as standard, though there is a slot for a micro SD card on the SIM tray, meaning you can load media onto the device or expand the storage as needed.

We’re also pleased to see that, despite this being an affordable device, it doesn’t sacrifice the latest software features seen on more premium handsets. It’s running Android 14 and will reportedly receive the next three major Android system updates at a minimum – meaning you’re getting a worthwhile, future-proofed investment even though this isn’t a flagship device. As part of Android 14, you get access to Google’s latest AI features, including the Magic Eraser photo editing tool and the Gemini assistant. The latter works flawlessly on this device. For example, we ask it to “suggest some meals to cook this week that take less than 30 minutes to prepare and are high in protein” and Gemini delivers a coherent meal plan complete with instructions.

You may notice that there are two lenses on the rear of the Xperia 10 VI, whereas the previous iteration featured three. Sony has dropped the 8MP telephoto lens from last year’s model while retaining the 48MP main shooter and 8MP ultrawide lens. Honestly, this is no great loss as the entry-level Sony handsets have never really wowed us when it comes to camera performance. The Mark VI is unfortunately no different, as it produces images that are fairly noisy and lack much in the way of detail. It gets the job done for quick snaps here and there, but if you’re serious about smartphone photography, this phone will not satisfy your needs.

Sony is renowned for offering the most extensive smartphone audio features on the market, and it remains one of the few manufacturers to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack. We’re always happy to see the headphone jack, but if you prefer wireless audio you can take advantage of Bluetooth 5.2 in the A2DP, LE, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs. If you’d rather play audio directly from the phone with no cans or buds attached, the front-firing stereo speakers will appeal.

Picture

Sony’s strategy of cutting down on premium build materials and camera performance, while retaining picture quality in order to reach a more affordable price point, has always resonated with us. This is the third generation that we’ve reviewed with this formula, and we’re pleased to report that picture performance is as strong as ever.

We’ve loaded Netflix and Amazon Prime Video onto the phone to watch a range of our reference movies, such as Top Gun: Maverick and Blade Runner: 2049. Put simply, the Xperia exceeds its diminutive price tag when it comes to picture performance, meaning we echo our sentiment from the Xperia 1 V; this is once again the “most cinematic phone we’ve seen for the money”.

The opening sequence of Blade Runner is delivered with well-defined outlines and plenty of detailed texture in clothing, skin and the environment alike. While the display can appear to lean cooler than we prefer, the colours overall remain balanced and well-judged, leading to a pleasingly natural-looking image.

What’s most striking (but perhaps least surprising if you’re familiar with Sony smartphones) is how much three-dimensional depth there is to the image. The dystopian California stretches far into the distance during the opening shots, and Sapper Morton’s gloved hand looks solid and impactful as it arises from a grimy tank holding squirming maggot-like creatures.

As Officer K enters the farmhouse, we find that there is some loss of dark detail in the very blackest part of the image, but the areas bathed in murky white light from the windows have a natural-looking illumination without appearing over-brightened. While the edges of the piano and some detail within the chairs in the scene get lost, it’s forgivable considering the price of this device, and it doesn’t distract too greatly from the overall picture quality.

Switching to Top Gun: Maverick, the sequence introducing the titular character echoes much of what we saw with Blade Runner 2049. There is a great sense of three-dimensionality and edges are well defined. We also get to see motion in action and are pleased to report that there is no observable judder to be seen as Maverick tears down the road on his Kawasaki motorbike. Furthermore, skin tones look accurate, with a solid balance between looking lively without being overtly orange or red.

Sound

The Xperia 10 VI continues the budget series’ trend of formidable audio performance at a reasonable price. We plug a pair of over-ear headphones directly into the 3.5mm headphone jack and load up Tidal to test performance and, in all honesty, it's very reminiscent of its Award-winning predecessor.

Playing DARE by Gorillaz, we’re met with a snappy and rhythmic performance that captures the playful energy of the track. Switching to something a bit more melancholic and slower-paced, Taylor Swift’s The 1 sounds detailed, with the sort of low-level dynamic subtlety required to deliver Swift’s yearning lyrics with the necessary emotive qualities. The sound remains spacious, well organised and dynamic, making it difficult to pick holes in, especially considering the price.

The Xperia 10 VI’s speakers are also more than acceptable, and while they won’t knock your socks off, they’re perfectly usable for watching the occasional TV show without connecting headphones. The front-firing stereo pair returns, with a clear and decent sense of weight (as much as can be expected from an affordable smartphone). We find that they’re not particularly dynamic or full-bodied – and we implore you not to be that person who plays music on your phone’s loudspeaker – but the speakers are overall more than usable. Just be warned of the previously mentioned chassis vibration if you plan on using them at high volumes.

Verdict

Sony’s ability to deliver a phone this talented in the picture and sound department for this price should be studied by other manufacturers. We’ve seen phones that cost double or even triple the price of the Xperia 10 VI unable to deliver a performance like this; thus proving that you don’t need to spend ludicrous amounts of money if you want a handset that doubles as an impressive portable music and movie player.

Review published: October 2024. Review updated: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Google Pixel 7a

Also consider the Nothing Phone (1)

The best smartphones for music and movies

We often get asked why we bother to review smartphones when our wheelhouse is hi-fi, TVs and home cinema. The answer is simple; it is the primary music device for many people, and given the use of an HDR-supporting OLED screen, possibly the highest-quality display that they own. 

No other smartphone has devoted itself to AV and musical prowess quite like Sony’s revitalised Xperia series, namely the flagship Xperia 1. We’ve long recommended it as a top choice for those who want the best-looking and sounding smartphone available (and don’t want an Apple iPhone). For years, the Sony’s unique 21:9 aspect ratio screen made it stand apart from the Android crowd. While the Xperia 1 wasn’t necessarily the best for daily use, it was an absolute treat for watching movies. 

Alas, Sony has opted to take the latest generation, the Xperia 1 VI, in a new direction to get its handset in more, well, hands. It’s no secret that Sony hasn’t enjoyed the same success as Apple, Samsung and Google, with average consumers opting for the more well-known and (without sounding too critical) consistent brands. 

So, can Sony snag itself a slice of the mainstream smartphone pie with its latest Xperia? And more importantly, has it sacrificed much of what we like about the previous generation to do so?

Price

Let’s face it, the 4K display on the older Xperia 1 models was a costly addition, so dropping it from the lineup should subsequently drop the price, right? Wrong. The Xperia 1 VI launches at the exact same £1299 price as its predecessor and, much like its precursor, it won’t be launching in the US or Australia (where it would cost roughly $1700 / AU$2500 respectively if you were interested).

While that might not be the end of the world – after all many manufacturers are still upping their prices year on year – it’s also not good news by any means, as last year’s Xperia 1 V was already considered an expensive phone. It also puts the Xperia 1 VI in the direct firing line of established smartphones from the likes of Samsung and Apple. 

Samsung has the four-star Galaxy S24 Ultra which launched at £1249 / $1299 / AU$2199, though that has dropped to around £1149 now that it has been on the market for over six months. Apple’s five-star (and Award-winning) iPhone 15 Pro Max is also a direct competitor, and it can be found for £1199 / $1199 / AU$2199 – though it's expected to be replaced in the next month.

Build

The latest Xperia should be familiar to anyone who’s owned or used any of the previous generation Xperia 1 devices, albeit with a few tweaks. It’s most akin to the Xperia 1 V, sharing its ridged aluminium rails and grippy textured matte glass backing. It even comes in the same black, platinum silver and khaki green finishes and retains the flat, boxy shape and squared-off edges from last year’s Mark V.

While it feels solid in the hand and the additional security of the grippy back and sides is appreciated, we do prefer the smoother and more premium-feeling offerings from Apple and Samsung when it comes to their tactility. The rear panel of the Xperia can even feel slightly sharp, which means it loses some comfort points, but this could also be interpreted as a clean-cut and precise build feature. Sony has added an extra layer of protection in the form of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front of the phone and the first generation Gorilla Glass Victus on the rear. This should make the handset more resistant to drops and scuffs. This Xperia is also IP65/IP68 water and dust-resistant, meaning it can survive a dip in water of up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes. 

The most radical departure from the previous Xperia 1 devices has to be the new aspect ratio, as Sony has ditched the tall and thin 21:9 profile in favour of a more conventional 19.5:9 aspect ratio  – the same ratio seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s a bittersweet farewell to this unique screen size as, while we’ll miss it for watching movies, we found it to be rather inconvenient for day-to-day functionality. So while the AV enthusiast side of us is disappointed, we have to chalk this up as an improvement, as truthfully it makes the Xperia 1 VI a much nicer handset to use overall.

As for the various buttons and ports on the frame of this device, we have a USB-C charging socket on the bottom, as well as a combination power, lock and fingerprint scanner, textured camera shutter button and volume rocker on the right-hand side, and finally (drum roll please) a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top edge – thank you Sony for keeping this alive for yet another year. 

Features

Sony’s latest flagship might not have the AI smarts of the latest Samsung Galaxy, but it’s funnelled its energy into AV features instead; we, of course, approve of this strategy. This Xperia phone is still focused on content consumption and creation, and Sony has enhanced its display and speakers accordingly.

Starting with the display, Sony has equipped the VI with a 6.5-inch LTPO OLED screen, with a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz. It supports HDR in the BT.2020 colour space which is a feature commonly found on TVs. Speaking of TVs, Sony seems to have called in some backup from its Bravia TV division, as the default picture mode on this phone carries a “tuned by Bravia” badge. As ever, there is also the Creator Mode picture setting (which is reportedly tuned by its CineAlta professional film camera team), which to us seems to equate to a Filmmaker mode. It dials colours back slightly to a more cinematic standard, with a greater emphasis on authenticity.

There is one downgrade that may sound bad on paper, and that’s the new display resolution. Sony has dropped from 4K down to 1080p HD – now if this was a TV review, we would be calling this an absolute catastrophe, but as this is a handheld screen with an immense pixel density of 396ppi (4K TVs tend to have a pixel density of 140ppi), we don’t find this to be the tragedy we first thought it was when the phone was announced. 

While we feel as though 1440p (otherwise known Quad HD) might have been a better resolution to choose, especially considering most of its rivals use this resolution on cheaper handsets, we don’t consider it to be a noteworthy deficiency on the Sony. Furthermore, the Android versions of a majority of the streaming apps we use to watch content on mobile devices don’t support 4K playback anyway, with YouTube being the biggest platform for playing UHD content on the go, so the loss of 4K is ultimately less of a sacrifice than we anticipated.

Moving onto the sound chops of this smartphone, we’ve established that the Xperia VI continues the legacy of the headphone jack which for us means instant bonus points. It can be used to play hi-res audio to cans plugged directly into the smartphone. If wireless audio is more your style, then Sony has you covered with Bluetooth 5.4 on board and a boatload of supported audio codecs including aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, LE and A2DP, alongside its own LDAC wireless audio codec. 

Speaker audio also gets a boost thanks to the full-stage stereo speakers. Unlike other handsets on the market that combine the earpiece and bottom-firing speaker to create a stereo effect, the Xperia 1 VI features dual front-facing speakers that deliver a more balanced sound with enhanced clarity and spatial separation. The positioning is also better than other smartphones, as it's much harder to block the speakers with your hand when holding the phone in landscape orientation. 

Moving onto the camera performance, we find the Sony to be a top-tier choice for smartphone photographers who want to dabble in the more complex areas of professional photography. We won’t equate this to a high-end DSLR by any means, but the combination of the dedicated camera shutter button and the “Pro” mode found in the camera app makes for a dedicated camera-like experience that’s intuitive and fun to use. You can even half-press the camera button to establish focus, and the UI changes that mimic the interface of a Sony Alpha camera are both nice touches. There are also a handful of AI features (a staple of 2024 smartphones) to be found in the camera software, including a human pose estimation feature that can track subjects for smoother video tracking. 

As for the cameras themselves, Sony has equipped the VI with three on the rear – a 48MP main lens, a 12MP ultrawide and a true optical 85mm to 170mm zoom telephoto lens. The camera module is also coated with Zeiss’ T* anti-reflectivity coating for enhanced picture quality. While we don’t profess to be photography aficionados, we manage to get some great-looking shots out of the Xperia with ease. 

The Xperia VI uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor from Qualcomm, with 12GB of RAM. The most common variant has 256GB of storage, though a 512GB option is available from select retailers. It's also running Android 14 with a small handful of Sony-specific features. This includes a dashboard for quickly accessing some settings and tools, as well as some Sony-specific apps like the Creators’ App, Music Pro and an app that lets you use the handset as an external monitor for a Sony camera. We’re yet to discover any software glitches or stutters, and day-to-day operation feels smooth and responsive.  

Picture

Sony’s smartphones have always impressed where picture performance is concerned, and the Xperia 1 VI continues this trend for yet another year. While black letterboxing bars have been introduced with this generation, we find that the remainder of the picture remains uncompromised. We watch some of our go-to reference films such as The Batman and Blade Runner 2049 on various streaming platforms, using both available picture modes. 

Starting in the creator mode, in many ways this feels like having a pocketable Sony TV, as many of the characteristics we’ve seen on the Bravia 9 and Bravia 8 (review coming soon) are apparent here. Sony’s tendency to lean towards a slightly cooler colour temperature is apparent, with some skin tones looking a tad pasty and colours lacking some richness. However, the solidity and detail found within the image more than make up for it. 

Switching to the standard picture mode helps to reintroduce some life and richness to the colours, with more lively skin tones and a more engaging presentation overall. While the creator mode setting is certainly the more authentic of the two settings, we find that the Bravia-tuned standard mode is the one we prefer thanks to the enhanced colour saturation.

Edges are sharp and details within clothing and skin textures are well-defined, resulting in a richly detailed image overall. The opening shot of Blade Runner featuring a close-up of an eye is striking thanks to its intricate reproduction of the iris, and spectacularly detailed skin texture. Pair this with the excellent contrast and punchy highlights and we’re treated to an image that oozes three-dimensional depth.

The Sony is also talented in the motion department. Watching sweeping panning shots and scenes in which Officer K’s flying car zooms towards the LAPD headquarters, we find the Xperia to deliver smooth yet natural motion that doesn’t contain any noticeable judder. 

Our main criticism here is that, when placed side by side with an iPhone 15 Plus, the Sony can look as though it's trying slightly too hard. It lacks a touch of subtlety and nuance that the iPhone captures effortlessly, which can be best spotted when it comes to how naturally skin tones are presented. The Apple handset is slightly more reserved and cinematic at times, though the Sony’s added oomph can suit some content more – and truthfully some may prefer the more extroverted Sony in this regard. 

The iPhone also bests the Xperia in retaining dark details, though the Sony trumps the iPhone where brightness is concerned. In scenes with characters’ faces obscured by shadow, we find that the iPhone manages to keep facial features visible, whereas the Sony tends to let them disappear into the shadows. The Sony does impress where black depths are concerned, though, with inky true blacks courtesy of the OLED display.

Sound

Sony once again delivers class-leading sound when it comes to mobile phone audio with the Xperia 1 VI, as evidenced when we plug a pair of wired headphones into the handset. We use both the built-in 3.5mm headphone jack and an external USB-C to 3.5mm adapter for the sake of fairness when comparing it side-by-side with the iPhone 15 Plus, although it must be said that performance seems similar, pretty much regardless of which way we choose to plug the headphones in. 

We play a range of songs from Tidal, including The 1 by Taylor Swift, Dare by Gorillaz, Luna by Bombay Bicycle Club and more, and we conclude that the Xperia delivers a similar experience to its predecessor. It’s a clean, detailed and crisp sound, with superb timing and dynamics, though it can verge on lean-sounding at times. While it may not sound as full-bodied as the iPhone, the Sony injects an enhanced sense of energy, while remaining well organised and composed. 

Bombay Bicycle Club's Luna is a prime example of content that best showcases the Xperia’s prowess, with crisp vocals, textured and sparkling instrumentals (the guitars and woodwind are particularly well served), and steadily building dynamics that deliver a punch when the chorus kicks in. It’s all tied together with solid timing and rhythmic pace, resulting in a truly engaging sonic experience overall. 

The loudspeakers are mostly impressive by mobile phone standards. They’re detailed and feature good stereo separation that makes a solid attempt to position sounds in relation to what is happening on screen. However, they feel somewhat lightweight, and lack some much needed dynamic punch, meaning we’d prefer to plug some cans in for any extended watching or listening sessions.

Verdict

The Xperia 1 VI somehow manages to drop a handful of cherished AV features without sacrificing picture and sound performance. While waving goodbye to the 21:9 screen will be a tough pill to swallow for those who love to take their films on the go, it's a sensible move when it comes to literally everything else this phone does, and the new Bravia-tuned picture mode makes up for this loss in many regards.

It remains an excellent-sounding device that supports wired audio without the need for an adapter (which will always be a win in our books), and even if the speakers lack some impact and weight, we still appreciate the positioning and how spacious they sound. Pair the AV performance with a slick user interface and impressive camera, and the Xperia 1 VI might have the most mass appeal we've seen in a Sony phone for years.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

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Sony Pictures Core (previously known as Bravia Core) is Sony's high-end movie streaming service. It promises picture quality to rival 4K Blu-ray, a large selection of IMAX Enhanced movies and the latest box office releases from Sony Pictures. But is it right for you? And how can you get it? Here's everything you need to know about Sony Pictures Core...

Sony Pictures Core is a streaming service with a difference. Or quite a few differences, actually. Starting with the fact that it is not currently available on any devices that aren’t made by Sony.

For much of its three-year life, in fact, Sony Pictures Core was available – under its previous Bravia Core name – exclusively on Sony TVs. Playback was later enabled for Sony’s Xperia smartphones, too, and then in October 2023 the service’s availability was finally extended to two other key members of the Sony product family: the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 games consoles.

Since the Bravia part of the old Bravia Core name referred specifically to Sony’s TV technologies, it made sense for Sony to change the service’s name to Sony Pictures Core when it was expanded out to the PlayStation family. But we’d also say the new name more accurately reflects the fact that all of the service’s content comes from Sony’s own film and TV studios (including the Crunchyroll anime streamer Sony bought in 2021).

Free movies for Sony owners

With most streaming services, of course, the idea is to be as widely available as possible. With Sony Pictures Core, though, Sony seems to see the service more as a way of driving purchases of its TVs and games consoles. A notion backed up by the fact that from the moment the service launched as Bravia Core in 2021, Sony TV buyers have been entitled to a number of free recent release movie purchase credits, as well as free access to a curated selection of up to 100 movies from the service’s back catalogue. A classic ‘buy this TV, get free movies’ marketing promo.

The exact number of movie credits and the length of free catalogue access you get depends on the Sony TV you’ve bought. Buy a premium model and you’ll earn 15 free ‘new release’ permanent purchase credits and two years of access to the curated back catalogue titles. Mid-range Sony TVs see the free movie token offer drop to 10, while more entry-level models get you five new release purchase tokens and a year’s subscription to the curated (and regularly updated) back catalogue selection. You should check the small print of any Sony TV you’re thinking of buying to see how much Sony Pictures Core access your TV purchase is getting you.

PlayStation Plus subscribers, meanwhile, bag new free movie credits on the service too, with PlayStation Plus Premium members getting access to the 100 or so curated movie catalogue.

Prices for additional movie rentals and purchases

Sony TV purchase and PS Plus subscription rewards are, of course, not the only way to access content on Sony Pictures Core. You can also rent or buy extra titles, with the amount varying between £13.99 and £7.99 in the UK to buy recent releases, and between £5.49 and £3.49 to rent films where a rental option is available.

Sony claims that there are up to 2000 titles available to rent or buy across the whole of Sony Pictures Core, some available with bonus content such as director’s commentaries and exclusive offers. At the time of writing, titles available went as recent as 2024’s Anyone But You and Tarot, and as old as 1939’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington – with a huge range of classics across the decades in between. Honestly, it only takes a few moments browsing Sony Pictures Core’s catalogue to come away amazed at just how many classics Sony owns the rights to.

Sony Pictures Core streaming quality

That said, it’s not so much the quantity of content on Sony Pictures Core that’s its main attraction as it is its quality. Starting with the fact that the service claims to support the highest streaming bandwidths in the video streaming world. So while Netflix and Prime Video get by on data rates of under 25Mbps and Apple TV+ tops out at 40Mbps, Sony Pictures Core uses a technology it calls PureStream to support rates up to 80Mbps.

Obviously, this depends on your own broadband system being able to carry such rates. In fact, Sony recommends that your broadband supports rates up to 115Mbps or higher to ensure you enjoy the full-quality Sony Pictures Core experience without buffering, with a minimum of 43Mbps required before the PureStream technology even kicks in.

The PureStream name accurately describes why the sort of streaming bandwidths the Sony Pictures Core service offers matter; basically, the higher the bandwidth of a digital video signal, the less that signal should have to be compressed. And the less a video stream has to be compressed, the sharper, cleaner and more natural the resulting video playback should look.

Unfortunately, PureStream is only available via Sony TVs. Via the PS5 or PS4, movies are streamed at the sort of bit-rates that are common with rival streaming services.

IMAX Enhanced content on Sony Pictures Core

At least as important as the unique streaming speeds supported by Sony Pictures Core is the quality of the masters it provides. Pretty much every remotely recent release is available in 4K resolution and high dynamic range, and Sony has been pretty busy remastering a fair number of its old catalogue titles in 4K too.

Sony Pictures has also been the most enthusiastic embracer of the IMAX Enhanced home video system. Full details about this can be found in our IMAX Enhanced explainer, but briefly, IMAX Enhanced involves three key features. First, titles are scanned and mastered in 4K HDR using a special IMAX system that’s designed to enhance the clarity and colour of the resulting home video presentations, as well as remove excess noise and grain.

Second, where a film features sections shot in IMAX’s relatively tall 1.9:1 aspect ratio, those sections will appear in that ratio, even if the rest of the film is shown in a wider aspect ratio.

Finally, IMAX Enhanced titles are accompanied by special ‘signature’ DTS audio mixes that are apparently designed to deliver more of the full dynamism of an IMAX theatrical release’s audio track. These IMAX Enhanced DTS:X tracks can now be output from Sony TVs to compatible AV receivers and soundbars using HDMI’s eARC functionality.

At the time of writing, Sony Pictures Core carries 157 IMAX Enhanced titles – including, surprisingly, a few golden oldies such as Easy Rider and Gandhi alongside the more expected modern releases and classics.

As well as all the IMAX Enhanced titles on Sony Pictures Core adding DTS soundtracks to their specially mastered pictures, many of the other recent and semi-recent non-IMAX films the service carries are accompanied by Dolby Atmos sound mixes.

Is Sony Pictures Core any good?

So does all of this impressive technical spec really add up to a superior streaming experience? We’d say it really does, actually. Provided you have the broadband speed for it and remember to activate the PureStream technology via the app’s Settings (it’s off by default), a full 80Mbps Sony Pictures Core 4K HDR experience really does look cleaner (especially in dark areas), crisper, more detailed and more dynamic than the streams of any other service. Though Apple TV can get quite close with some of its best-looking shows.

We wouldn’t say Sony Pictures Core’s performance is quite up there with good 4K Blu-ray image quality, but it delivers some supremely engaging images by streaming standards – especially with many of its IMAX Enhanced titles.

So if you’re the proud owner of one of the best Sony TVs and haven’t yet explored what Sony Pictures Core has to offer, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. Especially as the tokens you earned when you bought your TV mean you can check out the service’s quality across a decent number of films without having to spend a single extra penny.

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Sony has unleashed its latest pair of Xperia smartphones for 2024. It is continuing the Roman numeral naming convention with the Xperia 1 VI and Xperia 10 VI – however, there's a controversial change on one of these devices that is sure to upset movie fans.

Starting with the Xperia 1 VI, this handset is a follow-up to the excellent Xperia 1 V from last year. This is Sony's flagship device in the new Xperia lineup. It has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset inside and 12GB RAM, with either 256GB or 512GB of internal storage. This is the same specification as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra which was a mighty powerful device crammed full of features; so expectations are high for this new handset. 

The camera has also received an upgrade over last year's model. The Exmoor T module that made its debut on the Xperia 1 V returns, with a new 7.1 times optical zoom lens alongside it, and a new telephoto macro mode for capturing subjects up close. The Pro Camera and Pro Video apps have also been consolidated into a single app, meaning you can access professional shooting modes in one convenient place. 

Sony is also touting the power of its AI integration, with new human pose estimation technology, which will track a subject with points attached to each part of their body and allow for smoother tracked video, as well as more accurate focus. Much like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Xperia 1 VI will now apply HDR to your viewfinder within the camera apps, meaning you will be able to preview exactly what your camera will capture. 

It is with the display that things get controversial. As the rumours foreshadowed, two iconic aspects of the Xperia 1 series smartphones have been removed from this generation. First is the 4K resolution, which isn't immediately a problem – very few apps support 4K streaming on mobile. However, Sony has instead opted for a Full HD+ (2220 x 1080) display, which makes this downgrade feel especially jarring; many other handsets use a Quad HD display (2560 x 1440). Sony highlights a few benefits of dropping this display resolution down to 1080p though – namely better battery performance and display brightness. 

Next to go is the 21:9 aspect ratio. Sony is now using a more conventional 19.5:9 display on the 1 VI. The 21:9 display was a unique feature on the Xperia phones which made them ideal for watching movies, as content would fill the screen without any black letterboxing bars. The more commonly used aspect ratio (also used on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, once again) will probably make day-to-day usability better, as the tall and skinny screen wasn't without its flaws.

Thankfully, it's by no means all bad news when it comes to the display. The 6.5-inch screen is a "new and smarter OLED display" according to Sony, and it has Bravia pedigree to back it up. Sony claims that the display on this smartphone is "powered by Bravia", meaning Sony's TV division may well have had a hand in tweaking the performance. Sony claims that the built-in AI remastering feature will improve colour, contrast and clarity on both your own videos and on streaming services. 

It is also 50 per cent brighter than the Xperia 1 V for enhanced outdoor viewing and it has a variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz; that's quite the step up, so we look forward to seeing how this new model compares with its predecessor. 

Thankfully, there are far fewer compromises where sound features are concerned. The Xperia 1 VI has a new full-stage stereo speaker system, which pairs a symmetrically placed loudspeaker and earpiece for a more balanced performance and less distortion at higher volumes. And we are delighted to see that Sony is keeping the headphone jack alive for yet another year, although Bluetooth audio with LDAC is also supported if you prefer to use wireless headphones. Dolby Atmos is also on board if you want to take advantage of the immersive format for watching movies or streaming music from Tidal, Apple Music or Amazon Music Unlimited. 

Design-wise, Sony is keeping things familiar, as the Xperia 1 VI looks nearly identical to the model it's replacing. Internally it has the same 5000mAh battery which Sony claims will last for two days, and on the outside, the textured back panel and ribbed side rails return which is a plus in our books. It even comes in the same three colours as the Xperia 1 V – Black, Platinum Silver and Khaki. 

The Sony Xperia 1 VI goes on sale in early June, and it will cost around £1299 – which is the same price the Xperia 1 V launched at. As is the case with its predecessor, there are no plans to launch it in Australia or the US.

Moving away from the flagship space and looking at Sony's new budget offering, the Xperia 10 VI has rather large shoes to fill. The last two iterations of this device earned themselves What Hi-Fi? Awards for best smartphone under £500, so all eyes are on the Xperia 10 VI to deliver an equally good, or ideally an even better, AV experience. 

A fair few features are cut back from the Xperia 1 VI, including the metal and glass construction. Instead, the new Xperia 10 features an all-plastic build, with a translucent back panel and smoothed-out camera module. It's also a touch heavier than its predecessor, weighing 164g up from the Xperia 10 V's 159g weight. It will launch in three finishes: Black, White or Blue. 

As expected, camera upgrades are at the forefront of this new model. Sony has included three new focal lengths to the dual camera, meaning one lens has been dropped from last year's model. There are a few new software features to compensate though, including automatic camera modes and colour settings, as well as a clever video editing app that allows you to tweak a video for social media in around a minute – both tools here are powered by Sony AI. 

Sony has opted for a particular strategy for the Xperia 10 VI's display. While the 21:9 has been dropped on the Xperia 1 (arguably the more enthusiast-focused device), the aspect ratio has been retained on the cheaper handset. The Xperia 10 VI has a 21:9 OLED screen, which Sony says is brighter this year, although it's still tipped to be 1080p and 60Hz. It is a Triluminous Display for mobile, which Sony claims will leverage "technology cultivated for Bravia TVs", so picture performance expectations for this budget handset is high. 

The improved stereo speakers from the last model return, although Sony claims they are louder this year. We hope Sony has addressed the issue that means the Xperia 10's frame rattles and vibrates when the speakers are in use, although most people should stick to headphone audio on this device anyway. Once again the headphone jack returns, and wireless audio is supported over Bluetooth with LDAC support.

Internally, the Xperia 10 VI has a few surprises too. Thankfully, Sony has upgraded the processor, using the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chip inside the Xperia 10. This won't be a life-changing update over the Snapdragon 695 5G from the previous two generations, but the underpowered internals of the Xperia 10 V were an issue so we are glad to see it addressed. Sony is once again touting a two-day battery life on this phone much like its more expensive counterpart. 

The Xperia 10 VI launches in mid-June, and it will cost £349 – the same price as its predecessor. Unfortunately, it will not launch in the US or Australia, much like nearly all of the recent Xperia handsets.

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Sony has a pretty stellar track record when it comes to its smartphone reviews here. While they may not be the perfect all-round handsets, the current Xperia range delivers exactly what we look for in our reviews; a top-notch picture and sound experience that's worthy of becoming your portable companion to watch movies and listen to music on. 

Thanks to a host of AV-centric features such as the 21:9 aspect ratio, 4K display, impressive sound performance and the Creator Mode screen preset, Sony has delivered a consistent stream of phones that have been genuinely enjoyable portable media players, but its dedication to AV excellence might be faltering, according to a recent bombshell rumour. 

If you missed our recent coverage about the potential Xperia 1 VI, then I'll get you up to speed. Sony is reportedly ditching the 21:9 aspect ratio for a more conventional 19.5:1 aspect ratio on its new flagship phone; this aspect ratio has most recently been seen on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. It's also expected to drop the 4K resolution in favour of a more common Quad HD+ resolution, which a majority of manufacturers such as Samsung, Google and OnePlus use for their respective smartphones.

The good news is that the 3.5mm headphone jack appears to live another day, leaving Sony as one of the very few manufacturers to continue offering this feature after Apple set the standard for ditching it on the iPhone 7 back in 2016. Considering the Xperia line's sonic proficiency up to this point, we're relieved by the early reports that Sony won't be cutting back on features here. 

However, back to the screen, the backpedalling of the features that earned the five-star reviews seems counterproductive. Sony's mobile displays are consistently excellent with every model from the entry-level Xperia 10 to the premium Xperia 5 and the flagship Xperia 1, so seeing Sony take a step back at the higher end has me wondering how the rest of the range will be impacted. 

The 21:9 aspect ratio can practically only be found on Sony mobiles, the closest thing we have is the 22:9 aspect ratio of the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5. It's seriously effective at eliminating black letterboxing bars on supported content – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Disney Plus fills the screen entirely, for example – while the OLED display ensures any letterboxed or pillarboxed content features pitch black bars that don't distract from the content. Losing this unique feature is a blow for watching films on this phone for sure, but it may have upsides elsewhere. 

I've used the last two generations of Xperia 1, 5 and 10 smartphones extensively, and from personal experience, I can say that the 21:9 is purely inconvenient for everything but watching content. The awkward aspect ratio makes swiping down from the top of the screen a risky game of hand gymnastics, and the unique ratio can cause havoc with the presentation of some apps. While I appreciate how unique it is and how movies look with this ratio, it might be beneficial to switch to the more conventional ratio for most other tasks. I can also see where Sony is coming from with this move, as the thinking is that it might entice more people to buy its phones too.

However, TV and AV editor Tom Parsons quite rightfully points out that Sony will also be losing a unique selling point with its phones here. We've always struggled to compare the Xperia phones to other handsets on the market due to this unique screen feature, but now we're already drawing comparisons with other handsets from Samsung; could Sony be making its smartphones more generic in a sea of abundant options with this move? It's entirely possible. 

On to the other display feature now, its lack of 4K resolution; and I'm going to keep it simple here; I'm not going to miss the 4K resolution. Realistically, 4K playback on video content is extremely limited, with few streaming services offering 4K streaming on mobile. Sony only names YouTube and its own Video Pro recording application when it comes to supported video playback in the highest resolution, with very inconsistent support on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Truthfully, 4K resolution on a screen of this size makes little sense, as the pixel density with Quad HD+ is plenty good enough for delivering details.

However, it's not as cut and dry as that, as Sony's upscaling engine is truly impressive, and I hope that it continues even if 4K on its mobiles doesn't. The enhanced contrast, clarity and colours given to Full HD content via upscaling are thoroughly effective, so if that can be replicated on a slightly lower resolution display then I'll be satisfied. Moreover, this should hopefully reduce the price of the next Xperia 1 handset, although I can't make any promises. 

To summarise, the next iteration is guaranteed to be an interesting one, and truthfully these rumours might prove to be false, in which case all of us can breathe a sigh of relief. But if these speculations do end up being true, then we can at least take solace in knowing that general useability will be improved.

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Sony's Xperia range has included some of the best smartphones for AV fans in the past, offering content consumption features that few alternatives can rival. Unfortunately, according to recent rumours and leaks surrounding the 2024 successor to the Xperia 1 V, it looks like Sony is dialling back the features that make watching movies and TV on its premium smartphone so enjoyable. 

Thanks to a collaboration between OnLeaks and Android Headlines, we can take an early look at the next version of the Xperia 1's design. The upcoming phone seen in these images – presumably the Xperia 1 VI unless Sony decides to shake up its naming convention – sports a broader build and, as a result, a new aspect ratio. In fact, the Xperia 1 VI is expected to be a touch shorter and wider than the 1 V, all while retaining the same 6.5-inch display; the rumoured measurements are 161.9 x 74.5 x 8.4mm (hwd), whereas the 1 V measured 165 x 71 x 8.3mm (hwd). 

This results in the 1 VI supposedly adopting a more conventional 19.5:9 aspect ratio, which is the same as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Gone is the 21:9 aspect ratio; a feature that we've praised previously for chopping the black letterbox bars off in favour of an 'all-screen' effect when watching supported content. However, this more commonly used aspect ratio might be a good sign for those who weren't fans of the tall and thin display due to the slightly awkward handling and software experience it brings.

That's not the only change that's expected to come to the Xperia 1, as it is also expected to drop the 4K resolution in 2024. Sony has been the only mainstream smartphone manufacturer to feature a 4K display on its smartphone since in 2016 and it has kept that tradition up for the majority of the following eight years. That streak looks to be ending this year, though, as further leaks reported by Fone Arena claim that the Xperia 1 VI could drop down to a more conventional Quad HD+, roughly 3200 x 1440 resolution (otherwise known as 2K+). 

Elsewhere the Xperia 1 V is expected to include a triple camera array with the Exmoor T sensor that featured prominently in last year's model making a return, as well as the dedicated shutter button on the frame of the device. More importantly, the headphone jack remains, which is promising news for those who value high-resolution wired audio (such as ourselves). Design-wise, these early renders appear close to the existing Xperia 1 V, with squared-off corners and flat edges around the device. 

We must remember that these are merely rumours for now, with no release date or even announcement date for this upcoming Android smartphone. Only time will tell if Sony opts for these AV downgrades with its latest smartphones, but we'll tell all in our review when the product does launch. Considering the Xperia 5 and Xperia 10 also sport the ultrawide aspect ratio, we might be in for a major shift with Sony's 2024 smartphone slate.

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Moondrop, known mainly for its IEMs and earbuds, appears to be branching out into a new product type. 

Listed under a new 'phone' section on its site, you'll find a teaser for the upcoming MIAD 01 described as being a '5G Hi-Fi Mobile Audio Device'.

What this means exactly isn't clear just yet, however, there are very few 'hi-fi phones' available anymore so we're excited to find out what this device is capable of. Could this mean this phone has a better DAC than mainstream rivals or brings back the beloved 3.5mm jack? We'll have to wait and see.

The closest rival of the MIAD 01 could be something like the Sony Xperia 1 V. Sony is one of the few manufacturers who still include a headphone jack on its phones. The Xperia 1 V supports hi-res audio via wired headphones and wireless options such as Bluetooth 5.3 with LD, AptxHD, aptx Adaptive, and LDAC codecs. 

Moondrop's design choices are often eye-catching and intricate, with some particularly unique models of earbuds and charging cases available. We're hoping for something equally visually pleasing from the brand's first phone

Unfortunately, the web page for the MIAD 01 simply says "Coming Soon" without providing a launch date, so we're unsure when we can expect this curious device to hit shelves.  

We will report back with more information as it becomes available, but the news has already started tongues wagging in the What Hi-Fi? office. This is because, as noted by staff writer Lewis Empson,  very few phone companies focus on audio quality at the moment.

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Need a new phone but don't want to shell out over a thousand pounds for an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy? Sony's budget mobile might be the phone for you, especially if you're after a top-notch portable AV experience. It's down to its lowest price, which is especially impressive considering it wasn't an expensive phone to begin with. 

The Sony Xperia 10 V can be yours right now for £270 at Amazon, which is £79 off the asking price. Usually carrying an RRP of £349, this deal ensures you get a five-star, Award-winning handset for well under the price we reviewed it for. 

Sony has delivered a budget banger of a smartphone two years on the bounce with the Xperia 10. Now its Mark V phase in 2023, the cheap Android handset scooped up a What Hi-Fi? Award for its stellar AV performance and practically unmatched performance-to-pound ratio. 

So what makes this smartphone so great? As is the case with the much more expensive Xperia 5 V and flagship Xperia 1 V, this phone is designed to consume and create media with. Sony puts great emphasis on this with the 21:9 OLED display which is now synonymous with the company, alongside a headphone jack - remember those? 

The display is HDR compatible and when you play supported 21:9 content on it, the black bars we're used to on other smartphones magically dispensary, as the content fills up the whole screen. In many ways, this phone's display is reminiscent of the aforementioned Xperia 5 V, as it's the same size (6.1 inches), resolution (1080 x 2520) and features the same pixel density (449ppi) as the more expensive model. The key difference is that its maximum refresh rate is 60Hz, whereas the 5 V goes up to 120Hz. 

Sound-wise, the 10 V is a mighty impressive phone. The headphone jack allows for hi-res wired audio, making it a perfect pairing with a pair of the best wired headphones. Prefer to cut the cords? No problem, it also supports Bluetooth audio with the LDAC and Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec both on board. 

Moving on from headphone audio, the Xperia 10 V made a huge leap over its predecessor with its upgraded speaker layout. Gone is the slightly pathetic mono offering of the Mark IV, as the Mark V embraces a stereo arrangement combining the speaker on the bottom of the device with the earpiece on the top. This has resulted in a much louder, more dynamic and generally much more usable set of speakers on the Xperia 10 V.

We'll admit that while it excels in AV, the Sony could probably be a slightly better smartphone in other departments. It's using the same processor as its predecessor, the plastic chassis certainly isn't premium and the whole vibrates quite badly when the speaker sound is cranked up. The camera is also a bit of a weak spot on the 10 V, despite it being a huge upgrade over its predecessor on paper. 

That being said if you use your phone as a portable music and movie player first and foremost, and you're constricted to a fairly rigid budget, then this Sony deal will be hard to beat.

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Google returns with its 8th generation flagship smartphone in the form of the Pixel 8 Pro. This year it’s all about AI which, if we’re being honest, doesn’t mean a great deal to those of us primarily concerned with how a smartphone delivers movies and music.

Thankfully, while AI photo and video editing features and AI Google Assistant upgrades seem to be the priority for the search-engine-turned-hardware-developer, dig a little deeper and under all of that are quite a few enticing improvements to picture and sound performance. 

While it doesn’t dethrone the top-notch AV experiences we find on the likes of the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max or Sony Xperia 1 V, the Google Pixel 8 Pro has plenty to offer for quite a lot less than its rivals.

Price

At £999 / $999 / AU$1699, the Pixel 8 Pro undercuts a substantial number of its flagship Android peers. Both the Sony Xperia 1 V (£1299 / $1399) and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (£1249 / $1199 / AU$1949) are considerably more expensive. 

If you’re willing to look further than the Android options on the market and don’t mind converting to iOS, you’ll find Apple’s top-of-the-range iPhone 15 Pro Max (£1199 / $1199 / AU$2199) to once again be a pricier option, although you can step down to the smaller iPhone 15 Pro (£999 / $999 / AU$1849) for a more similarly priced option.

There is, of course, the standard Google Pixel 8, which is a fair bit cheaper at £699 / $699 / AU$1199, although the tradeoffs include a lower resolution and smaller screen, one less camera lens and no temperature sensor on the rear – if that’s something of use to you.

Ultimately, it is worth noting that the Google Pixel 8 series is more expensive than last year, though. 

Build

This might just be the best-looking Pixel phone we’ve seen to date, and it feels great in the hand too. Google has swapped out the glossy rear glass panel on the Pixel 7 Pro for a frosted matte glass effect for the Pixel 8 Pro, and it looks mighty fine. This small change has made the device easier to hold and use one-handed, makes pesky fingerprints on the device less visible and it just looks super sleek, especially in the Charcoal colourway that we have here. You can also find the device in a white-gold finish dubbed Porcelain, or a vibrant two-tone blue finish called Bay.

In contrast to the matte finish on the back of the phone, the Google Pixel 8 Pro features glossy aluminium rails around the edge that seamlessly blend onto the visor-style camera bar on the rear – a feature that’s stuck around since the Pixel 6 series. It’s a design language that grows on us with each revision, with this year’s iteration looking more rounded and fluidly integrated into the build than ever before. 

In fact, the device as a whole is a lot more rounded than last year’s Pixel 7 series, with the boxy, squared-off corners of its predecessor now smoothed off in a much more appealing design. The front of the device also ditches the curved display of its predecessor, now using a totally flat 6.7-inch display; while this certainly isn’t a compact device by any means, it is surprisingly easy and comfortable to use. 

Looking around the edges of the device you’ll find a USB-C port and sim tray along the bottom, and power and volume keys along the right edge, leaving the other two sides of the device uninterrupted. Unlike other Android devices we’ve tested recently, such as the Sony Xperia 5 V, you won’t find a fingerprint sensor built into the lock button, as it's located underneath the screen instead.

Features

Google’s flagship phone is, of course, filled to the brim with proprietary tech and exclusive features. First up is the new Tensor G3 processor, Google’s in-house developed chip and answer to Apple’s successful A-series chips for iPhones and iPads. In practice, the Pixel 8 Pro runs smoothly in daily operation, and with 12GB of RAM, it feels particularly slick when swiping through the Android 14 operating system. 

This slickness may also be at least somewhat due to the Quad HD LTPO 120Hz OLED display, which varies the refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz depending on the content and results in scrolling that feels especially fluid. The display is HDR-enabled, too, with support for HDR10+. That should make it ideal for content on Amazon Prime Video, which supports said format, but content from services such as Disney+ and Netflix will playback in standard HDR10 as the Pixel 8 doesn't support the Dolby Vision format that they use.

A lot of the upgrades with the Tensor G3 processor centre around AI, which as well as making the Google Assistant a bit brighter, adds some new features to the camera. Most notable is the option to combine multiple group shots and individually swap faces to ensure everyone looks as Instagramable as possible. Is it slightly unsettling? Yes, but it's also handy at times. 

It should come as no surprise that the Pixel 8 Pro is overall another excellent performer in the photography department. With a triple camera arrangement comprising a 50MP main lens, 48MP ultrawide and 48MP telephoto, the 8 Pro delivers sharp, bright, detailed and punchy pictures that impress. The photos aren't quite as natural as those of an iPhone and there aren’t as many pro tools available as on the Sony Xperia 5 V, but the Pixel 8 Pro is an ideal point-and-shoot solution that wants to provide you with good-looking snaps to plaster across social media. 

Moving onto audio features, the Google Pixel 8 Pro offers Bluetooth 5.2 with support for the LE and aptX HD codecs, as well as A2DP. You won’t find support for Dolby Atmos, though, which is a shame as it means you won’t be able to take advantage of Atmos music on Tidal or Atmos movies from Netflix and the like.

The Pixel 8 Pro features a 5050mAh cell and a host of impressively quick charging options. This includes up to 30W wired, 23W wireless and reverse wireless charging, the last of which means you can juice up other Qi-compatible devices by using this phone as a wireless charging pad. In practice, the 8 Pro is a dependable performer that makes it through a day of fairly intensive use without any issues, although there are useful battery-saver options that kick in when needed.

Picture

The Pixel 8 Pro is a strong all-rounder in the picture department but it doesn’t go above and beyond in any way. That’s not to say it doesn’t impress visually, as there’s lots to like here, but we have seen more cinematic smartphones of late that cost roughly the same.

Starting with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Disney+, we use the tried-and-true opening shot to allow for the OLED panel to flex its muscles when it comes to black depths. Unsurprisingly, it handles the infinite void of space with convincingly deep black levels and there are plenty of glistening stars for contrast. While it's not quite as impactful as the recently reviewed Sony Xperia 5 V, it’s a solid start for the Pixel.

Moving onto motion, the Pixel handles the speeding Imperial shuttle’s descent through the atmosphere and along the surface of the planet with judder-free ease, and even the rhythmic crashing of waves onto the black sandy beach is smooth and perceivably stutter-free.

The Pixel goes on to demonstrate its sharp and crisp image as the villainous Director Krennic confronts Galen Erso during the opening scene of the movie. Here we see crisp details in the skin and clothing textures of the characters, in addition to well-defined outlines of subjects on screen. Overall it’s well-rounded and detailed.

Switching over to Drive on Netflix, we unfortunately come across the Pixel’s greatest weakness: shadow handling. The phone lacks practically any sense of subtlety in dark scenes, as demonstrated by the opening getaway chase. Despite it taking place at night with minimal illumination from streetlights, the display seems to highlight subjects with a glowing spotlight effect, negating most of the intended shadow effects. When the display does concede and allow for shadows to appear, there is little to no detail or gradient from light to darkness, so characters are either submerged in bright light or pitch-black darkness. 

Moving into something brighter and bolder with Netflix's Our Planet 2 highlights how the Pixel is also slightly over-enthusiastic when it comes to colours. Foliage takes on a somewhat neon-green hue, for example. Bringing the Sony Xperia 5 V back into play for comparison, we find that it delivers a more balanced approach to colours, with a vibrant touch that is underpinned with a supreme naturalness, making trees and rainforest shrubbery appear bold and vivid yet not oversaturated.

Sound

This is by no means the first Pixel phone (or portable Google device for that matter) that we've tested, but it sure is the best-sounding. After a run of similar-sounding devices in the form of the Pixel 7, Pixel 7a and Pixel Tablet, Google has finally injected some life into its sonic presentation. While it's not entirely revolutionary, it is an appreciable upgrade and one we notice almost immediately upon listening to the 8 Pro.

Tuning into Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver via Tidal, we're met with a warmer, richer sound than its predecessor. There's a touch more detail and definition in the piano notes, while the earnest vocals of Bon Iver are more engaging and textured than before. It's also more dynamic, with the duet section of the track in which Swift and Bon Iver retaliate emotionally charged lines coming across with plenty of punch.

There's still room for improvement, though. Switch to Phoebe Bridgers' Kyoto and we find that timing is something of an issue. The Pixel doesn't strike notes as precisely as it could, leading to a lack of rhythmic drive. Bringing the Sony Xperia 5 V as a comparison once again, we find it to be much snappier and a touch more engaging as a result.

Should you be forced to listen to the phone out loud, the stereo speakers on the Pixel 8 Pro are actually quite good. Dialogue is clear, they go quite loud and the Rogue One's cinematic score has a semblance of oomph behind it. That being said, they still don't produce the most spacious and full-bodied sound imaginable. We'd recommend pairing the Pixel 8 Pro with a good set of cans for best results.

Verdict

While the Pixel 8 Pro doesn't fully excel at picture and sound performance, Google has made an effort to improve both areas and it shows. While it hasn't shouted about audio improvements, they're certainly there, and the screen gets all the basics right, too, with enhanced brightness the cherry on top.

Ultimately, a smartphone doesn't live and die by its picture and sound performance, as you have to use it for much more than that – and that's where the Google Pixel shines. It's slick, well put together, and has a boatload of features that make it feel like a true flagship-level phone.

But picture and sound are what we care most about, and a lack of subtlety holds the Pixel 8 Pro back from true greatness. The heavy-handed approach to shadows and colours plus a sluggish take on musical timing mean that the cheaper Sony Xperia 5 V is the better buy for portable movie and music use.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Pixel 7a

Also consider the OnePlus 11 5G

Read our Sony Xperia 5 V review

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

Sony seems to have settled into a comfortable, if not terribly exciting smartphone formula. Skinny, tall and squared-off rectangles built for content creation and consumption, the Sony Xperia family genes run particularly strong in all the devices we’ve seen so far. This can certainly also be said for the Xperia 5 V, the third and final phone to complete Sony’s trio of Mark V devices.

We’ve already taken a look at the flagship Xperia 1 V as well as the cheapest phone of the series, the Xperia 10 V, which earned itself a What Hi-Fi? Award thanks to its stellar AV performance and inexpensive price tag. Both phones earned five stars in their respective reviews, so what does the middle device have to offer? Unsurprisingly, Sony’s prioritisation of picture and sound has won us over once again, but it’s up against some tough competition. 

Price

The Sony Xperia 5 V is priced at £849 here in the UK. That, surprisingly, is £100 cheaper than the last generation model. It hasn’t launched in the US or Australia yet, but we anticipate the price will be around $899 and AU$1299 respectively when (or if) it does. Lower prices are always welcome to see, and this has been a trend across the Sony smartphone lineup this year, as the 1 V and 10 V are also cheaper than their predecessors. 

While welcome, the lower price still puts the Xperia 5 V in the firing line of some seriously tough competition. It’s slap bang in between Apple’s latest equivalent offerings, with the iPhone 15 starting at £799 and the iPhone 15 Plus at £899. There’s also pressure from Google’s latest Pixel devices, with the Pixel 8 undercutting it at £699, while the Pixel 8 Pro isn’t far off at £999.

Build

If it wasn’t for the slightly redesigned camera module on this unit, we’d find it impossible to differentiate this new Xperia 5 from the 2022 version. Its premium metal and glass construction feels great in the hand and looks sleek too in the matte black finish, but the Xperia 1 V is more exciting and feels more secure in the hand with its grippy textured back and side rails. 

You have three finishes to choose from on the Xperia 5 V; Black, Platinum Silver and Blue. If we had to choose, we’d take the pleasingly subtle blue hue that has a hint of purple to it – according to Pantone it would be classed as “light periwinkle”.

The 5 V’s 6.1-inch 21:9 aspect ratio screen makes handling the phone easier than its bigger sibling, although swiping from the top of the tall display still requires some manoeuvring when using the phone one-handed. That being said, the smaller display is easier to navigate than the larger 1 V, and it's the same size as the cheaper Xperia 10 V.

Flipping over to the rear of the phone, you’ll find the camera housing tucked into the top left-hand corner. It’s more compact than the 5 IV, now sporting just two lenses, while the microphone and flash have been integrated into the camera housing, giving it a much neater appearance compared to last year’s model. 

Around the edges of the phone you’ll find a USB-C and “no tool required” SIM tray on the bottom, on the right-hand side are all of the buttons including a camera shutter button, volume controls and a power/lock/fingerprint sensor combination button. On the top of the device is where, pleasingly, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, when every other smartphone manufacturer seems to have abandoned it many moons ago.

Features

We’re reluctant to call the Xperia 5 V a mid-range phone because its price and feature set are on par with most flagship phones. However, it is literally in the middle of the current Sony range, meaning it isn’t quite as high spec as the Xperia 1, but it’s got more to offer than the Xperia 10 V.

That being said, it shares a lot of screen specifications with its smaller and cheaper sibling. It uses an OLED panel, with a resolution of 1080 x 2520 and a pixel density of 449ppi, identical to the 10 V. Although, it does feature a higher refresh rate at 120Hz, and it has access to Sony’s excellent Creator Mode screen setting which uses image processing and colour tuning to allow for content with “faithful reproduction of the creator’s intended vision”. The display also supports HDR via the HDR10 standard.

Sound features are also very similar to the other two models in the lineup, with front-facing stereo loudspeakers, hi-res wired audio and plenty of Bluetooth 5.3 audio codecs including A2DP, LE Audio, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive, as well as immersive audio formats in the form of Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. 

Internally, we’re happy to report that the Xperia 5 V more closely resembles the flagship 1 V, sharing the same powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor which ensures the 5 V is buttery smooth in daily operation. Pair that with 8GB of RAM and 128GB and we have a near-enough-flagship set of internals. This phone also has the same 5000mAh battery as its more expensive sibling, although you’ll have to supply your own charger (wired or wireless) as one does not come in the box. 

The Xperia 5 V is arguably closest to the flagship grade in its camera. It has dropped the telephoto lens this year, meaning you’ll have to rely on digital zoom, but it does get the Xperia 1’s Exmoor T for Mobile primary camera sensor. The 48MP main shooter and 12MP ultra-wide combination provide a pretty excellent camera experience, creating sharp and detailed images that should be good enough for self-proclaimed smartphone photographers and Instagrammers. Sony also includes its Photography Pro app for users who want to delve into the more complex areas of photography.

Picture

If you’ve read any of our Sony phone reviews before, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that the Xperia 5 V is seriously talented in the picture department. While we prefer the bigger screen of the 1 V for watching movies, the 5 V gains most of the best picture qualities from its more expensive counterpart. 

Starting with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Disney Plus, the opening shot of pitch black space perforated by hundreds of miniature stars and the planet Lah'mu looks striking and clear, with each star bursting with plenty of brightness against the expanse of space, which looks convincingly deep black thanks to the OLED display. 

As the shot transitions to the Imperial shuttle entering the planet’s atmosphere, we do notice a slight wobble in the motion, although this seems to resolve itself in the next tracking shot of the spaceship soaring over the beach. Not only this, we’re quickly distracted by the solidity and depth of the image, which ensures even the mountains in the background of the shot appear structured and three-dimensional. We can truly appreciate this as a shot lingers on a service droid, as its outline is sharp yet not overly etched, resulting in a solid depth effect without verging into the unnatural “cardboard cutout” look.

Moving onto John Wick: Chapter 4 on Amazon Prime Video, we jump into the thrilling sequence set in the Osaka branch of the Continental Hotel. It’s a visual feast on the Xperia 5, with punchy, dramatic red neon lights juxtaposed with a pitch black night sky that looks appropriately cinematic on this smartphone screen. It’s also worth noting here that the film is uninterrupted by a notch or black bars, taking up the whole 21:9 display in a sleek and cinematic fashion. 

While it can do brighter and bolder colours, the Sony is also adept at handling skin tones, with a natural warmth on everyone from the titular hero to the henchmen he swiftly dispatches and hotel owner Shimazu Koji alike. Individual wrinkles and skin textures are sharp and defined, as well as finer details on clothing and even the vast array of weapons seen in the shot. 

The display is also pleasingly bright, as while we have it cranked up to maximum brightness for full effect, it adds to the spotlights and lens flare seen throughout the sequence. Especially as the lights go out and the action kicks into high gear, the neon lights and flashes of gunfire pop with vibrancy.

The only issue we can find with the Xperia 5 V’s display is that content not in the 21:9 aspect ratio, such as Peep Show on Netflix is subject to hefty black pillars flanking the left and right of the picture. While you can zoom in to fill out the full display, it does cut off a fair amount of the top and bottom of the picture as a result.

Sound

It’s likely, though not surprising, that Sony’s latest smartphone would be equally talented in the audio department – after all, who puts a headphone jack on a phone in 2023 without considering sonic performance? Plugging straight into that seldom-seen port offers a rich and textured rendition of James Blake’s Limit To Your Love, with the piano and vocals sounding authentic and engaging. Dynamics are particularly strong, with Blake’s vibrato vocals punching through the moments of silence before the warbling bass kicks in. 

Moving onto the 5 V’s speakers, they’re by no means game-changing and we’d still recommend plugging in some proper cans to listen to music on this device, but they’re decent for watching an episode of a TV show or even a movie here and there. Listening to a quick clip from John Wick: Chapter 4 we find the dialogue to be clear, and there’s even a semblance of low level dynamics that adds detail to voices. That being said, they could offer a touch more weight, as punchy gunshots and the cinematic score fail to muster the strength to provide much impact. 

Verdict

Sony nails the cinematic experience on a phone once again, something it’s getting very good at. It’s hard to pick faults in its picture, and the smaller screen and lower price tag will most likely be a draw for many who don’t want or need everything the flagship Xperia 1 V offers.

If we’re being frank, the Xperia 5 V is the best chance that Sony has to distract people from the iPhones, Galaxys and Pixels of the world, and it certainly shouldn’t be overlooked.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the iPhone 14

Also consider the Sony Xperia 10 V

Read our Sony Xperia 1 V review

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

Apple is issuing a fix for a screen burn-in issue affecting some iPhone 15 handsets. Users have complained that certain parts of the OLED screen is showing a ghost-like image from something previously viewed.

Apple claims this is an image retention problem, rather than screen burn-in, Android Authority reports. In other words, it's the software that is faulty, rather than the hardware. Apple will soon release iOS 17.1 to fix the issue.

Screen burn-in has been known to affect OLED smartphone screens, but it usually occurs years into a handset's life. The iPhone 15 range only launched in September. Screen burn-in happens when some parts of the screen degrade quicker than others due to over use – if you're always using the same app, for instance. This can affect the screen's perceivable colours in one area, leaving behind a "ghost" image that's visible when using other apps.

Apple has released iOS 17.1 to beta users. It has reportedly fixed the image retention issue. Expect a full rollout soon.

We didn't suffer the problem during testing for our iPhone 15 Pro Max review. We did, however, notice slight improvements to the image and sound quality that Apple hadn't flagged in its marketing or PR materials. Which makes the handset one of the best smartphones for movies and music.

MORE:

Also consider the Sony Xperia 1 V

iPhone 15 is official: release date, price, deals, specs and features

There's one big audio update that Apple didn't mention at the iPhone launch

Sony’s series of Xperia devices is somewhat of an oddity in the smartphone world. Ten years ago this was far from the case: thanks to a stellar series of Xperia smartphones, Sony was a big player in the Android sector. That all fell apart in the late 2010s due to confusing branding and the company pumping out too many smartphones in short succession, and it's been attempting to regain that spark ever since. 

While we don’t see many Sony smartphone users in the wild, here at What Hi-FI? we’ve been consistently impressed by the relaunch of Xperia devices that began with the Xperia 1 in 2019. Sony has come a long way since then, now on its fifth generation of Xperia smartphones consisting of three models; the flagship Xperia 1, the mid-range Xperia 5 and the entry-level Xperia 10 – the one we’re here to talk about today. 

Last year’s Xperia 10 IV thoroughly impressed us, offering practically unmatched AV performance at the price. It even took home an Award for its stellar performance. Now a year on, we have the Xperia 10 V, a modest upgrade over last year’s model, but an upgrade nonetheless. Does it live up to its predecessor? And can it once again deliver portable music and movie excellence at a fraction of the price of its bigger and much more expensive sibling, the Xperia 1 V?

Price

At £349, the Xperia 10 V is somehow even cheaper than its predecessor, which launched at £429. There is one slight issue, however, and that’s regarding availability. Much like the 10 IV, this new model is once again not officially launching in the US or Australia, so we’ll have to approximate prices at roughly $430 / AU$670.

The Xperia 10 V is still a much cheaper option than the Xperia 1 V though, with that flagship model retailing for £1299 / $1399. That being said, the 10 V is by no means as premium when it comes to build and features, as we shall see.

Build

Not much has changed since last year when it comes to the Xperia 10 V’s build. It’s still 100 per cent plastic, which is expected at this price point. As plastic phones go, the Sony is a particularly nice one to hold, with smooth edges and backing that make it comfortable and easy to grip. It’s also astonishingly light at just 159g, making comparative devices feel like lead weight with their aluminium and glass enclosures. 

It’s available in four finishes; Black, White, Lavender and Sage Green, with the last two colour options offering a more vibrant pastel finish – something to consider if you prefer to stay away from traditional monochromatic mobiles. 

The Xperia 10 V is IP68 dust and water resistant, which means it should survive a quick splash in a pool, and is technically rated to last up to 30 minutes in a metre of water – although as ever it’s up to you whether you decide to take it swimming or not. A nifty design feature on the Sony phones that doesn’t get enough love is its SIM tray. It can be ejected by just using the thumbnail port and doesn’t require one of those pesky (and easily lost) SIM ejector tools.

Up front is a 6.1-inch display in Sony’s trademark 21:9 aspect ratio. We’ll talk about the benefits this brings for watching movies momentarily, but first let's focus on usability. It’s a double-edged sword to be truthful, as while the skinnier display is easier and more comfortable to hold and use with one hand on the horizontal axis, it is a bit trickier to accomplish vertical swipes from the top of the display. 

Back to the rear of the device, you’ll find a triple camera tucked neatly into one corner with a small flash unit on the back. Moving around to the sides of the phone we have a combination power and fingerprint sensor button, volume controls, a USB-C port for charging and data, and a 3.5mm headphone jack – bravo to Sony for keeping this alive on its phones. 

One aspect of the phone’s build that we have to complain about is haptics. Due to the lightweight plastic build, the entire phone rattles and buzzes whenever it attempts haptic feedback, making typing a somewhat jarring experience. Interactive haptics can be disabled in the menu, but there is no option to instead reduce the strength, which would be more appreciated.

Features

Internally the Xperia 10 V is very similar to its predecessor. It’s using the exact same Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G chip as last year’s phone, with the same 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There does appear to be an upgraded model with 8GB of RAM in some regions, although the UK doesn’t appear to be included. If 128GB of storage isn’t enough, you can upgrade storage via the Micro SD slot up to 1TB if you wish.

Day-to-day performance on the Sony is acceptable, it’s certainly not as responsive as the Xperia 1, but at this price, we wouldn't expect it to be. It’s running Android 13 currently, although we anticipate an update to Android 14 will be coming soon. While there’s no discernible stuttering within the operating system and apps often load quickly, we do have concerns about the longevity of the device considering it is using an ageing processor. 

Moving onto the display, the Xperia uses an OLED panel with a 1080p resolution, a pixel density of 449, and a 60Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR and reaches a maximum of 624 nits peak brightness. For the money, this is an admirably specced screen, and it's specially impressive that it's an OLED.

Sound features are also plentiful on the Xperia, with plenty of functionality for wired and wireless audio. High resolution audio is supported through the 3.5mm headphone jack and wirelessly through the LDAC Bluetooth codec, as well as support for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio immersive format and Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec. One of the biggest upgrades for the Xperia 10 this year is the introduction of stereo loudspeakers, directly addressing one of our few qualms with the prior generation. The Mark V uses a front-facing stereo pair, with a combination loudspeaker and earpiece arrangement that is much more powerful than last year’s measly mono speaker. The one downside is that this additional power does result in the chassis of the Xperia vibrating when the volume is cranked up. 

Camera performance also gets quite a noticeable boost this year, with a 48MP main sensor replacing the 12MP one on the 10 IV. The telephoto and ultrawide lenses remain at 8MP. In practice, the images that the 10 V captures aren’t anything particularly great, with a definite lack of detail and depth, and colours tend to look a bit washed out, but it gets the job done in a pinch. The front-facing 8MP camera is equally flat and noticeably grainy, making this a hard pass overall for budding smartphone photographers. 

Finally, the phone uses the same 5000mAh cell as its predecessor which, when combined with the fairly low energy processor, 60Hz screen and 1080p resolution, provides easily a full day of use. It also supports 5G for faster mobile data speeds which makes it ideal for streaming music and movies if you have an appropriate data plan.

Picture

We’ve yet to come across an Xperia phone that doesn’t impress in the picture department, and the Xperia 10 V is no exception. Much like its predecessor, the Sony offers ludicrous picture performance for the price, making it the most cinematic phone we’ve seen for the money.

Starting with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Disney Plus, the Sony’s OLED panel immediately shows its strengths, offering convincing, deep blacks combined with excellent contrast that creates a stunning display of space permeated with plenty of pinpoint stars. The gleaming planet in the distance of the shot looks solid and there’s a welcome sense of three-dimensionality to the image despite it being a fairly simple shot. 

As Director Krennic’s shuttle enters the atmosphere of the planet, we are introduced to a stunningly bright and punchy vista, as the sun gleams on the crashing waves. There is subtle variation in the blue of the sky that is captured nicely on the Xperia. In fact, colours in general are a key strength of the 10 V. There’s a warmth to the beige tones within the Verso family homestead and skin tones benefit from this too, with a richness that doesn’t extend to ruddy or overdone. 

Detail-wise, the Xperia 10 V continues to impress, as the finer wrinkles on Galen Erso’s face are nicely defined, as well as the folds on the villainous Krennic’s cape. As Krennic enters the foreground of the scene, we once again get to appreciate how solid the image is, and how three-dimensional it feels. Outlines of characters are clean without looking unnaturally sharp, which helps to create this depth effect.

Moving onto Avatar: The Way of Water, also on Disney Plus, the intense battle sequence towards the end of the film provides us with a chance to study motion on this device. Despite the hectic camera movements and lots of fast-moving subjects on screen, the Xperia refrains from stuttering and motion remains smooth and cinematic. This film also affirms much of what we felt from Rogue One, including the vibrant colours and excellent clarity. 

Overall, the Sony Xperia 10 V excels in the picture department, making it tricky to think of anything around the same price that can rival its performance.

Sound

Sonically, the Xperia 10 V sounds better in some regards, and much the same as its predecessor in others. The big difference is the 10 V’s speaker performance, which is heavily improved over last year. As we’ve already established, Sony has upgraded the budget Xperia to include a stereo speaker set-up like its more expensive siblings, and it's a worthy upgrade.

While it won’t be the best way to listen to music, watching a section of Avatar using the built-in speakers proves more than acceptable, with clear dialogue and a much fuller and richer sound compared to last year’s 10 IV. Bassier sound effects such as explosions are a lot more impactful and present, and the Xperia 10 V can now better balance volume without sounding distorted, thin and harsh. 

Moving onto headphone audio, it’s a similar story to last year. Listening to James Blake’s Limit To Your Love using the 3.5mm wired audio input, we’re treated to a rich, detailed and dynamic performance that betters most Android phones that cost triple its price. It offers a spacious and warm sound that keeps Blake’s vocal natural and emotive while giving it plenty of room to breathe amongst the piano and subsequent bass effects.

Verdict

Sony has delivered yet another compelling budget Android phone with the Xperia 10 V. Its picture and sound performance are hard to believe when we take into account how little it costs and, while it may not offer cutting-edge internal specs and the camera is hardly class-leading, it's comfortably the best budget phone on the market for movies and music.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 3

MORE:

Read our review of the Google Pixel 7a

Also consider the OnePlus 11 5G

Read our Nothing Phone (1) review

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

At some point in the last few years, Apple (and its rivals, it must be said) clearly decided that processors and cameras are sexy but picture and sound quality are not. Why else would iPhone after iPhone be launched with nary a mention of movie or music performance?

It’s a state of affairs made more sad by the fact that each new iPhone generally does include undocumented audio-visual improvements and has clearly been tuned to deliver the best picture and sound possible. Presumably, it comes down to processor and camera upgrades being quantifiable in GHz and megapixels, whereas display and DAC improvements are less about numbers and more about tuning and calibration.

All of which brings us to the iPhone 15 Pro Max which, true to form, features a faster processor and fancier camera but, according to the spec sheet, no changes to movie and music output. Once again, though, that turns out to not be the whole story.

• iPhone 16: release date, price and specs rumours

Price

The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at £1199 / $1199 / AU$2199 which is, in an unusual turn of events by recent historical standards, a price increase over the 14 Pro Max for the US and Australia but no change for the UK.

That starting price now gets you a 256GB model (the entry-level iPhone 14 Pro Max came with 128GB), but you can upgrade to 512GB or 1TB – though each step up in terms of storage will cost you an extra £200 / $200 / AU$350.

If it’s simply a large phone with a big screen that you’re after, Apple does offer a ‘Plus’ version of the standard iPhone 15 that starts at £899 / $899 / AU$1649.

Clearly, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a very expensive phone, but it’s worth pointing out that it has rivals that cost more. Sony’s Xperia 1 V is nominally priced at £1299 / $1399 and has a very AV-focused skill set.

Design

One of the headline upgrades for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, at least as far as Apple is concerned, is the move from ‘surgical-grade’ stainless steel to ‘aerospace-grade’ titanium. This is said to improve durability while also reducing weight. The new model is 19g lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which sounds like very little but does make a noticeable difference.

The new Pro Max still feels incredibly solid and premium, mind you, and the new contoured edges make it a little more comfortable in the hand. Ergonomics are also helped by a slight slimming down of the border around the screen (though it still isn’t edge-to-edge, unfortunately), which reduces the overall width of the device by just under a millimetre. It is, however, also a smidgeon thicker.

The biggest design change in terms of impact on the user has to be the move from Lightning to USB-C, though. Broadly speaking, this is a good thing: it means you can use one cable and charger for your MacBook, iPad and iPhone, and support for the USB 3 standard means the iPhone 15 Pro Max has 20 times faster transfer speed than the iPhone 15 and last year’s iPhones. It does, though, make all of the Lightning cables you’ve amassed over the years redundant and potentially cause some mild issues for those with family members who still have a Lightning iPhone – particularly if they share a car. Those niggles will clearly pass over time, though, as Lightning iPhones become rarer.

Features

The rear of the iPhone 15 Pro Max sports three huge camera lenses that look identical to those of the 14 Pro Max. Two of those are in fact the same as before – the 48MP main camera and 12MP ultrawide – but the telephoto lens now boasts 5x optical zoom, up from the 3x optical zoom of the previous model. Combined with new image stabilisation technology, this allows for much better zoom photography.

There have been changes on the software side of the camera system, too, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max now capturing 24MP images by default. And there are new features for serious snappers, such as the ability to switch between 24mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses, and options to shoot full 48MP HEIF and even 48MP ProRAW images.

In truth, capabilities such as those are beyond our photographic needs and expertise, but even those of us of a more point-and-shoot photographic persuasion can appreciate the extra detail and resolution offered by the new set-up, particularly when we blow some photos up for printing.

We’re fans of Apple’s ‘Portrait’ mode, too, and this has been improved further this year through the use of the ‘Photonic Engine’, which Apple has designed to boost detail, colour and dynamic range. Sure enough, the portraits we take during testing are noticeably punchier and more detailed than those from the old model, particularly in low-light conditions. Perhaps best of all, though, is the fact that you can now apply the portrait effect after the fact – there’s no need to specifically select it before you take your photo.

Powering these new camera features, as well as everything else the iPhone 15 Pro Max does, is the new A17 Pro processor. This is quite the change, according to Apple, most notably on account of the move to 3-nanometer transistor technology. The company claims that the CPU is 10 per cent faster than that of the previous model and that the GPU is 20 per cent faster.

What’s most interesting about this GPU is that it apparently allows for complex graphical features such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing. This is the sort of thing usually associated with next-gen gaming consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X and, in fact, Apple has announced that proper console games including Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. It will be fascinating to see how these run on a smartphone. In the meantime, the 15 Pro Max offers the same super-snappy user experience as its predecessor.

On the subject of speed, the iPhone 15 Pro Max also supports Wi-Fi 6E for two times faster wireless transfer. You’ll need a Wi-Fi 6E router to take true advantage of that, but it does also speed up transfers between Wi-Fi 6E-enabled Apple devices via AirDrop.

Battery life is unchanged and exemplary. Apple quotes 25 hours of constant streamed video and 95 hours of audio playback. In real life, two days of pretty heavy use is more than possible. A 20W charger (which depressingly but predictably isn’t included in the box) will charge a dead iPhone 15 Pro Max to 50 per cent in just 35 minutes, and the phone is of course compatible with MagSafe accessories and wireless chargers.

Naturally, the screen is of utmost importance to us, and in this regard the new iPhone 15 Pro Max appears to be identical to its predecessor. That means it has a 6.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2796 x 1290, which equates to a monstrous pixel density of 460ppi. For reference, a 55-inch 4K TV has a pixel density of just 80ppi.

Apple claims a 1600-nit peak brightness for HDR content and 2000-nit peak for outdoor use (when the screen has to combat bright sunlight), and the HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision flavours of HDR are all supported. It’s also a ‘ProMotion’ display, which means the refresh rate is adaptive all the way up to 120Hz, resulting in super-smooth action.

The Dynamic Island, which was introduced with last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max returns. Some find it useful while others can’t stand it. As far as its impact on movie viewing goes, it’s invisible when watching in the default letterbox mode but very visible if you zoom to fill the iPhone’s screen. Clearly, no island at all would be preferable for us, as would an Xperia 1 V-style 21:9 aspect ratio, though we’re not holding our breath for that.

Picture

Once again, Apple has left us thinking that nothing has changed on the AV front but in fact snuck in upgrades. Within seconds of firing up Fast X in Dolby Vision from the Apple TV app, we can see a noticeable increase in brightness, not only in peaks such as the sun over Rio De Janeiro and Jason Momoa’s crisp white shirt but across the whole image, which simply pops that little bit more. In fact, in some scenes the iPhone 15 Pro Max actually makes the 14 Pro Max look a little dull.

Blacks are just as inkily deep as before so that extra brightness means there’s extra contrast – perfect for a movie with a bold and dynamic presentation such as Fast X. It also helps to reinforce the already super-sharp edges of the previous model, making the image exceptionally solid and three-dimensional.

Crucially, though, while the iPhone’s picture sizzles with excitement, it’s still supremely subtle, too. Those super-sharp edges are solid but unforced, and while the colours pop when they should, there’s also delicate shading and overall naturalism to the delivery, particularly skin tones.

On top of all of that, detail levels are extraordinarily high – it really is astonishing how much detail can be squeezed into a display this size – and the iPhone 15 Pro Max digs up more from the shadows than its already very insightful predecessor.

Motion handling hasn’t improved but it didn’t need to. There’s no motion processing of the sort you’d find on the best TVs, and yet the Pro Max is never anything but in complete control of the action, keeping things as blur- and judder-free as possible without adding jarring enhancement.

As we move from movie to movie, through Dolby Vision, standard HDR and then SDR, the new flagship iPhone is always brilliantly well-judged. If Apple could produce an iPhone in proper 21:9 and without a cutout / Dynamic Island of any kind, we’d be even happier.

Sound

Should you need to rely on the integrated speakers for some movie sound at any point, you’ll find the iPhone 15 Pro Max sounds cleaner and smoother than its predecessor, with a slightly rounded-off top-end that ensures there’s no treble harshness and a slightly weightier, more full-bodied overall delivery. The speakers go loud, too, and there’s very impressive dynamic range for a phone.

Of course, we strongly recommend connecting a pair of headphones whenever possible. A pair of AirPods makes sense when you consider the seamlessness of the way they integrate with an iPhone and the Spatial Audio functionality offered by most models, which results in a really cinematic portable movie experience, particularly if you’re lucky enough to be able to go for the AirPods Max.

For music, though, you still can’t really beat plugging in a pair of ‘proper’ wired headphones. You will of course need to buy a USB-C headphones adapter, but your effort and small outlay will be rewarded with a delivery that’s packed with detail and subtle dynamics. Taylor Swift’s breathy vocal in The 1 is mesmeric thanks to the 15 Pro Max’s focus, resolution and fluidity. The balance of crisp clap and smooth piano is effortlessly maintained throughout, and the phone has no trouble spatially or rhythmically organising the various strands as the track builds and instruments are added.

Of course, the iPhone 14 Pro Max was already an exemplary-sounding phone, and it remains so today, but as with the speaker delivery, when listening via headphones the treble of the new model is a little smoother and cleaner, helping to keep a lid on the little bit of sibilance in Swift’s voice. It’s once again a little weightier and more full-bodied, too, improving the naturalism of the vocal but without sacrificing any of the energy or impetus of the previous model.

Verdict

Apple has done it again: subtle tweaks to picture and sound quality have added dynamism and refinement to a delivery that was already superb. If you care about portable movie and music quality, there’s simply no better phone out there. For us, the fact that it’s gorgeous, supremely powerful and has an incredibly good camera is just icing on a tasty AV cake.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Also consider the Sony Xperia 1 V

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

After launching the upgraded Xperia 1 V and 10 V earlier this year, Sony has followed up with its middle-of-the-range (but by no means mid-range) Xperia 5 which has now also been given the Mark V treatment. 

Ridiculous name aside (Xperia Five five?), Sony's latest premium Android phone packs in plenty of AV upgrades alongside the already strong suite found on its predecessor, the Xperia 5 IV. Sony's usual smartphone staples like the 21:9 OLED display, headphone jack and front-firing stereo speakers are all present and correct here, although there are various upgrades for this 2023 model.

Starting with sound, the biggest news on the Xperia 5 V is its upgraded speaker amplifier which Sony says will provide more powerful and deeper bass. Combined with the direct front-facing drivers, Sony claims that you'll get cinematic sound without the need for an external speaker. However, if you do decide to pair the phone with some headphones wirelessly, then you can take advantage of Bluetooth 5.3 for Hi-res audio as well as Dolby Atmos, Qualcomm aptX, DSEE Ultimate and Sony 360 Reality Audio support.

We'd be remiss not to mention the headphone jack, something we celebrate with each and every Sony smartphone as it remains practically the only premium smartphone manufacturer to continue to include it on its devices. Hi-res wired audio will of course be the best way to listen to content and Sony is once again committed to supporting this without the need for a dongle.

Moving onto the device's screen, it seems to be a very similar, if not the same display that was used on last year's model. The 21:9 OLED panel is synonymous with Sony phones now, and here it's a 6.1-inch Full-HD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate; while we would like to see Sony step up to Quad-HD on a phone of this stature, we found this spec to be more than capable on last year's device. 

Sony has included some features from its Bravia TV division once again, with the X1 for mobile image processing, real-time HDR and even the Bravia Core streaming app which claims to be the highest bitrate service on the market right now. Ultimately, this phone is designed with watching content in mind, and if it's anything like its bigger and more expensive sibling, the Xperia 1 V, then we should be in for a treat.

Speaking of the 1 V, the 5 V is getting the same headlining camera feature as found on the flagship model. Xmoor T for mobile makes its way down to the cheaper model, meaning the 5 V goes up to a 52MP main shooter, up from 12MP on the previous model. The tradeoff is that it drops down to two lenses with the telephoto lens appearing to take leave on this latest Xperia. 

Sony claims that the camera performance is the biggest draw for the 5V however, with crisper and more detailed images as well as improved bokeh effects. Its mission to create phones for both creatives and consumers alike seems to still be its main objective.

Rounding things off with the specs of the device, it uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor from Qualcomm, the same one found on the Xperia 1 V and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is backed up by 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage; this is the only configuration available with expandable memory available up to 1TB via the microSD expansion slot. Running the show will be Android 13, likely with Sony's skin over the top which changes some functionality and design aspects.

Available in three finishes - Black, Blue and Platinum Silver, the Xperia 5 V is set for a late September release date. It's actually set to be cheaper than last year's model with pricing currently set at £849 (around £1080 / AU$1660), which is £100 cheaper than the Xperia 5 IV. You can pre-order it right now through Sony's official online store.

MORE:

Read our full Sony Xperia 1 V review

As well as our Sony Xperia 10 IV review

And check out our picks for the best smartphone

The Sony Xperia 1 has long been our go-to recommendation if you want a flagship Android smartphone that prioritises the AV experience. Every generation since 2020 has earned five-star reviews from us, with the Mark II and III versions both bestowed with What Hi-fi? Awards.

Now we have the latest model, the Sony Xperia 1 V, in hand; with upgrades to the build, features, picture and sound, it certainly looks as though this could be another knockout from Sony.

Price

Sony is bucking a trend established by Apple and Samsung in the past year; the Xperia 1 V costs the same as its predecessor. Available in Black, Platinum or Khaki for £1299 / $1399, the 1 V doesn’t appear to be launching in Australia, which is unfortunate.

We are, of course, pleased to see the Xperia’s price stay the same, but it remains a rather expensive piece of kit. It does seem, however, taking its Apple and Samsung peers into account as well, that we need to accept that the days of flagship smartphones costing under a grand are well and truly over. The Apple iPhone 14 Pro costs £1199 / $1099 / AU$1899 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in at £1249 / $1199 / AU$1949, meaning both options are slightly cheaper than this Sony but not by much.

Build

Sony’s Xperia 1 series has been in desperate need of a facelift for some time now, as trying to distinguish between the III and IV is less like a game of Spot the Difference and instead more akin to Where’s Wally (Waldo for our American readers). Thankfully, the Xperia 1 V’s build has been upgraded in a few ways. These may seem inconsequential at first, but they are actually some of the best attributes of this new device.

The smooth matt glass on the rear of the previous model is replaced with a textured Gorilla Glass Victus that does more than enhance the device’s appearance. As it features a 21:9 screen, the device is taller and skinnier than your average smartphone, making it slightly unwieldy – especially when you need to reach up to the top of the screen to swipe down for the notification shade. The new texture on the back makes the phone feel much grippier, and those feats of hand gymnastics far less risky.

This improvement in handling extends into the new ridged aluminium rails, which also make the phone feel more secure. Here is where you will also find the returning USB-C connector, volume controls, combination lock button/fingerprint scanner, textured camera shutter button and, last but certainly not least, the 3.5mm headphone jack. Finally, the camera housing on the rear is slightly redesigned, with the flash and rear-facing microphone now incorporated into the larger module.

Moving around to the front of the device we are met with a more familiar scene, with the Xperia 1’s trademark 6.5-inch 21:9 aspect ratio display making its return. This time it is covered in Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for enhanced protection against drops and scratches. As a whole, the Xperia 1 V’s new design adds a more premium feel to the device, which is welcome.

Features

Sony’s flagship phones tend to be the definition of “feature-packed”, so what does this Xperia bring new to the table?

Starting with its internal specification, it now uses Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset backed by 12GB of RAM. There are two storage options: 256GB and the less widely available 512GB model. and the storage capacity can be upgraded further via the MicroSD card slot. As of now, this Sony is running Android 13, although the company has promised that it will provide at least two years of software updates to the device.

In use, the new Sony feels a bit snappier than its predecessor, and the overall software experience feels slightly slicker. We are yet to come across any stuttering within the user experience, although this is no surprise, given the specification would give most laptops a run for their money.

Moving onto the star of the show, the Xperia 1 V’s display. Why is that 6.5-inch 21:9 aspect ratio display important? Well, it’s the same aspect ratio that most films are shot in, meaning when you play supported content from Netflix, Disney+ or Sony’s own Bravia Core app, you should get a full-screen experience with no obstructions, black pillars or letterboxing. What makes the screen even better is that it's a 4K HDR OLED panel with a pixel density of 643ppi, resulting in incredible detail. In comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro Max features a pixel density of 460ppi. The display is 120Hz (as is that of its Apple rival), which means scrolling through social media feeds and mobile gaming both feel smoother than phones with lower refresh rates.

It is worth noting, though, that some apps aren’t optimised to deal with the uncommon aspect ratio, so can leave some areas of wasted space towards the top and bottom of the screen.

Audio features are equally satisfying, not least because Sony remains one of the very few manufacturers still to include a headphone jack on its phones. The Xperia supports hi-res audio when paired with a decent pair of wired headphones, and when it comes to wireless options, the Xperia has Bluetooth 5.3 with the LE, aptxHD, aptx Adaptive and LDAC codecs; and you can enable Dolby Atmos within the sound settings of the device too. The phone also features a front-firing stereo speaker arrangement, which floors the usual earpiece and bottom-firing speaker setup we see on most other phones. More on the performance of that later.

The Sony’s biggest new feature this year is the camera system, with a 48MP main sensor making its debut. Called the ‘Xmoor T for Mobile’ sensor, it's a capable camera when it comes to everything from quick snaps to tricky low-light photography. It is paired with a sophisticated interface, designed for professional use, which was developed alongside Sony’s Alpha camera division – although you can find a more streamlined interface within the standard camera app.

The Xperia 1 positions itself towards professional creators with various tools and tricks, including the ability to livestream directly from the camera app and even use the phone as a 4K camera monitor by hooking it up to a compatible Sony snapper. In practice, the software can be somewhat daunting, but the camera produces clean and detailed images.

Rounding out the phone’s feature set we have a 5000mAh cell that easily provides a day of use depending on the tasks. Streaming in 4K obviously kills the phone off quicker, but regular day-to-day activities such as social media and music streaming don’t strain the battery as much. Sony advertises that you can charge the phone up to 50 per cent in 30 minutes as the phone is capable of up to 30W wired charging speeds; however, you won’t find a USB adapter or cable in the box, so you will need to provide your own. The phone also supports wireless charging, as well as reverse wireless charging for other devices – especially useful for charging a dead wireless earbuds case.

Picture

The Xperia 1 V shares many characteristics with the last generation when it comes to picture performance, although there are some subtle upgrades across the board that help nudge it slightly ahead of its excellent predecessor. Sony knows how to capture the cinematic feeling on a smartphone by now, and this handset proves that its winning screen formula is still effective five generations on. We set the display to Creator Mode, the brilliant preset that's designed to deliver content as close as possible to the creator’s intent.

We kick things off with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – already in the ideal 21:9 aspect ratio, although the Disney Plus app allows streaming only up to 1080p HD resolution. Even so, we can see the Xperia 1 V’s medley of visual strengths on display, starting with the impressive three-dimensionality of the image. During the opening scene, as the villainous Krennick looms in the foreground, the phone’s considered handling of contrast, shading and carefully defined (but not overly sharp) outlines results in an image with tangible depth. 

The 1 V’s image is slightly cleaner and those edges are a touch sharper than before, which accounts for the more three-dimensional image. Fast-moving objects in this scene, such as the swooping Imperial Shuttle or the frantic character movements, appear smooth and avoid stuttering.

Colours are also slightly richer, delivering an appreciated warmth to characters' skin tones and a slightly deeper and richer green to the alien planet’s flora. These punchier colours are particularly striking in the CGI-heavy Avatar sequel The Way Of Water, also on Disney Plus. A scene taking place at night, illuminated by bioluminescent organisms, shows us a vibrant display of various shades of blue, green, purple and turquoise. Characteristically, the Sony phone begins to embody the much larger Bravia OLED TVs in terms of presentation, which is impressive considering the phone is tiny in comparison.

As the scene takes place at night, we get to experience the OLED display’s strength when it comes to black depth. The night sky is convincingly deep, with the contrast once again impressing with plenty of pinpoint white and blue stars punching through. Dark details are also solid, with defined environmental textures present even in sections of the scene cast in shadow.

Rounding things off with a test of something a bit older and in standard definition, the Xperia handles an episode of Peep Show on Netflix admirably. Despite the lower resolution, the display is still plenty sharp enough, and the richer colours add some vibrancy to the older material, making for a perfectly watchable display.

Sound

As was the case with the Xperia’s picture, the sound performance is reminiscent of its predecessor in many ways, with a few enhancements to ensure a performance upgrade.

Notably, the sound of the Xperia 1 V offers slightly more clarity, with Bon Iver’s opening verse in Taylor Swift’s Exile sounding articulate and well defined. During the duet section of the track, the complicated arrangement of vocals, building rhythm and instrumentation is handled well, with each component given ample room to breathe. In many ways, the Sony does a good job of replicating the environment of the original recording, with its rich and natural presentation.

Moving to something a bit more upbeat, Jamie XX’s Loud Places offers a solid rhythmic drive with its tapping percussion. It's also a good example of the Xperia’s capable handling of dynamics, as the track’s low-key introduction builds to the louder and punchier chorus in an effective swell of sound. 

The Sony’s built in speakers are well placed and offer a decent amount of separation (mostly due to the length of the phone), but, inevitably, they are still not the ideal option when listening to music. Vocals are decently clear and timing is acceptable, but the sound is lacking in the dynamics and bass we hear through headphones.

Verdict

Sony once again makes a case for its 4K flagship phone by providing yet another Xperia 1 that nails picture, sound and features. The unique form factor still won’t appeal to everyone, and there are some Sony-specific software quirks, but they can easily be overlooked in favour of this phone’s performance. 

This is still undoubtedly a phone for AV enthusiasts. If you are serious about taking your movies and music on the go, you will be hard-pressed to find a better alternative.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our Sony Xperia 1 IV review

Also consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

These are the best smartphones you can buy right now

If you’re not familiar with Google’s “a” series of Pixel phones and are wondering why we’re reviewing another Pixel 7 that looks almost identical to the model that was released in October of last year, then we’ll get you up to speed. Each year, Google releases a duo of Pixel smartphones in the Autumn time, and roughly seven months later it follows up with a cheaper model with a similar design and spec sheet, with a few corners cut in order to bring the price down. 

Hence, we have the Pixel 7a – a budget Android phone that looks almost identical to the flagship Pixel 7, both in looks and on paper. So should you spend the extra money and get the flagship model? Or will this wallet-friendly Android smartphone suffice, especially when it comes to picture and sound?

Price

The Pixel 7a retails for £449 / $499 / AU$749 and comes in only one configuration. For the money you get 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and it's powered by the same Google-designed Tensor G2 chip that powers the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Speaking of the Pixel 7, the 7a is a fair bit cheaper than the 7’s original retail price of £599 / $599 / AU$999. However, as it's been over half a year since the 7’s release, we’ve seen the price fall significantly – in fact, the Pixel 7 can be found for around £470 / $500 currently, meaning that you can snag the flagship phone for almost the same price. 

It's also worth mentioning that the Pixel 7a is more expensive than last year’s Pixel 6a (at least in the UK and US), which launched at £399 / $449 / AU$749. However, the Pixel 7a gets an additional 2GB of RAM as well as plenty of upgraded features which we’ll get onto soon.

The Pixel is up against some tough competition, with the Award-winning Sony Xperia 10 IV now retailing for £380, although it is a UK and European-exclusive device while the PIxel 7a is globally available. 

Build

While the Pixel 7a features an almost identical design to the Pixel 7, it is ever so slightly smaller and lighter. The 7a features a 6.1-inch display, down from the 7’s 6.3-inch, and it has marginally thicker bezels. It’s also about four grams lighter at 194g, which is likely due to the fact that it uses a plastic back cover instead of glass. However, the aluminium frame remains, giving this budget Pixel a sturdy and premium feel in the hand, and the glossy back panel does a decent job of imitating glass. 

The phone comes in three finishes: Charcoal, Snow, Sea and Coral – the last option being a Google Store exclusive. We have the Pixel 7 and 7a in their Obsidian and Charcoal hues respectively, and they’re strikingly similar, with the only giveaway being the 7a’s less prominent camera bar.

As for the rest of the phone, you’ll find a power/lock button and volume rocker on the right edge of the device and a USB-C port on the bottom for charging – just remember to provide your own USB charger plug as (like practically every smartphone these days) there isn’t one in the box.

Features

As we mentioned before, the Pixel 7a gets a host of upgrades over its budget predecessor. Foremost it gets an upgrade in the screen department, with a 6.1-inch OLED display, running at 1080p/90Hz. The display has a pixel density of 429ppi and supports HDR; Google doesn’t specify which format but we suspect it to be just HDR10. If we were to pick one hole in the screen (that isn’t the centred hole-punch camera) it would be its brightness. Google hasn’t supplied an exact figure, but even cranked up to maximum brightness, the screen seems slightly dim which can impact visibility in bright environments. 

Comparatively, the Pixel 6a had a 1080p/60Hz OLED screen, so the smoother motion for scrolling and gaming is an appreciated upgrade – although you’ll need to switch “Smooth Display” mode on in the settings menu to take advantage of it. 

The 7a also features a stereo speaker set-up with the same bottom-firing and earpiece combo arrangement as the 6a and 7. As expected, there’s no headphone jack here, but there is Bluetooth 5.3 with Bluetooth LE for connecting wireless headphones. The Pixel is slightly nerfed in the audio department as it doesn’t support Dolby Atmos (neither does the Pixel 7) or Google’s Spatial Audio sound format that you can find on the 7 and 7 Pro.

One area in which the Pixel excels is with its camera, as it makes a ludicrous jump from 12MP on the 6a to 64MP on the 7a. It even outclasses the Pixel 7’s 50MP main camera on paper, and it's backed up by a 13MP ultrawide sensor that also appears to be newer than the 12MP one found on the 7 and 6a. In practice, the Pixel 7a keeps up Google's excellent reputation when it comes to smartphone photography, meaning social media snappers and budding photographers will be well taken care of by the 7a.

The Pixel 7a also gets a selection of features that have trickled down from the flagship models, including wireless charging (albeit at 7.5W so not particularly quick) and face unlock. The under-display fingerprint scanner also returns from previous models, and it's pleasantly responsive and accurate. Rounding off the feature set is the 7a’s 4385mAh battery which, although slightly lower capacity than the 6a, still comfortably provides over a day’s worth of use. In fact when fully juiced up the phone claims it can last for three days, which is impressive – although we found that to be optimistic and is likely based on fairly light use.

Picture

Despite being the cheaper device, the Pixel 7a outperforms the Pixel 7 in practically all aspects of its picture. Firing up Thor: Love And Thunder on Disney Plus, we’re presented with a punchy image that suits the film’s bold colour palette, yet skin tones remain natural and overall colours refrain from looking overcooked. The image is also nicely detailed, with everything from subtle skin textures to broader environmental aspects looking crisp.

What really strikes us with the Pixel 7a is that the picture looks much more three-dimensional when compared to its more expensive counterpart. Edges of subjects are sharp and contrast is handled well, which results in an image with impressive depth and three dimensionality. When the action kicks into high gear, we also see that the 7a is adept with motion, as fast-moving subjects don’t appear to stutter. In some instances we see areas where the regular Pixel 7 struggles with motion, while the 7a takes it in its stride. 

Moving onto Drive on Netflix, the Pixel 7a once again impresses with its detailed and perceptibly deep image, which we can safely say by now punches above its weight when it comes to the price-to-performance ratio. Lighting also looks good here, as The Driver’s silver jacket shimmers under the street lights as he prowls down the dark Los Angeles streets. However, this does bring us to the Pixel’s main picture caveat.

Despite using an OLED display, the 7a seems fairly weak when it comes to darker scenes. Shadows are a greyish blocky affair, and not nearly as convincing as the regular Pixel 7, which seems a lot deeper in comparison and holds more detail in the darkest parts of the image. This blockiness obstructs details and makes the darker sections of the picture look distracting, something we didn’t come across with the Pixel 7a’s Sony rival.

Speaking of which, undoubtedly the biggest thorn in the Pixel 7a’s side is the existence of the Sony Xperia 10 IV, which is more cinematic than the 7a in many ways. Its 21:9 OLED display was made for watching films, and it especially outclasses the Pixel when it comes to deeper blacks and enhanced dark details. The Sony is also cheaper than the Pixel, meaning that if getting the best picture at the lowest price is your top priority, then you should probably pick the Xperia 10 IV.

Sound

The Pixel 7a’s stereo speakers aren’t exactly ideal for listening to music with, however they certainly are good enough for some light movie watching. Voices are clear and there is a hint of bass when we watch Thor: Love And Thunder’s first big fight sequence, although we find that the speakers appear to be a fair bit quieter than the Pixel 7’s. That isn’t necessarily the end of the world, however, as the Pixel 7 can sound harsh at the highest volumes, and these speakers are leagues ahead of the Sony Xperia 10 IV’s mono loudspeaker.

Plugging in some headphones via a USB-C to headphone jack adapter provides a much better experience, with a more full-bodied and detailed sound. The 7a sounds much more dynamic than the 7, with the piano intro to James Blake and SZA’s Coming Back conveyed with a decent amount of punch. Moving onto Phoebe Bridger’s Kyoto, we find the Pixel handling the track’s quicker tempo and more upbeat nature well, with snappy timing and a hint of vocal sparkle. While it's mostly positive, the Pixel can’t quite shake off the slightly computer-ish nature of the regular 7, as we feel the sound still lacks a little warmth and it could sound more emotive. However, the Pixel 7a is certainly a step in the right direction when it comes to sound.

Verdict

The Pixel 7a is, by almost all accounts, better than the Pixel 7 when it comes to picture and sound. It carries many of the features over from the 7, all while costing slightly less. Admittedly the main draw of saving money compared to the flagship model is slightly less alluring now that the regular 7 has seen some fairly hefty discounts in the US and UK, but it's hard to argue with the Pixel 7’s excellent value.

If it were to exist in a world without the Sony Xperia 10 IV (and soon the Xperia 10 V) then we would recommend it without a second thought, but unfortunately for Google, the Sony is both cheaper and more cinematic. That’s not to say the Pixel 7a isn’t worth your time, as it is a compelling choice for those who want an excellent jack-of-all-trades Android smartphone that’s easy on the wallet. 

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Features 5
• Sound 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV

Also consider the Nothing Phone (1)

Read our Google Pixel 7 review

Best smartphones for music and movies

There are no two ways about it, smartphone prices are skyrocketing, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. I still remember the day Apple announced the iPhone X in 2017, with its thousand pound/dollar price tag - and since then we've seen Samsung, Sony and Oppo all release phones that exceed that figure. 

Thankfully, there are plenty of brilliant budget phones that buck this inflated price trend, with Google's Pixel a-Series, Sony's Xperia 10, and newcomer Nothing Phone (1) that don't compromise too much when it comes to pivotal aspects like the screen, sound and performance. So why mention these phones when we're hotly anticipating the iPhone 15 and Xperia 1 V? Well, it looks like 2023 might be a big year for budget phones, with Google and Sony unveiling their respective devices just hours apart. 

Last week, Google held its annual I/O event, which was mostly focused on AI and Android upgrades, however, we did see some new hardware. This includes the ludicrously expensive Pixel Fold and versatile smart display/tablet hybrid, imaginatively titled the Pixel Tablet. While the latter is worth keeping an eye on, the real star of the show in my eyes is the new Pixel 7a, which seems to offer a majority of what the regular Pixel 7 does, with £100 knocked off the price.  

The Pixel 7a gets a 1080p/90Hz OLED display, the same specification as the Pixel 7 but it's a tad smaller at 6.1 inches compared to the regular 7's 6.3-inch screen. The 7a also gets wireless charging, more RAM, face unlock and a much higher resolution camera system when compared to last year's Pixel 6a. The 7a even gets the latest Tensor G2 processor that's found in the Pixel 7 Pro, meaning performance should be buttery smooth. Overall, the 7a is looking like a pretty enticing budget smartphone for most people; but there's an even better-looking option for AV enthusiasts.

Introducing the Sony Xperia 10 V, which also debuted last week. If the name sounds familiar, then you may recognise its predecessor from the 2022 What Hi-Fi? Awards Best Smartphone category as the 10 IV wowed us with its stellar AV performance at a very reasonable price. I seriously respect Sony's commitment to AV performance with its smartphones, with the 21:9 aspect ratio on all its devices and dedication to keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack alive after every other smartphone manufacturer kicked it to the curb. 

The 10 V carries over many of its predecessor's best features, including that 1080p 21:9 OLED display, which wowed us last year, and hi-res audio support for both wired and wireless headphones. It's getting some AV-focused updates, however, including a brighter display and better loudspeakers - the latter is especially exciting as the 10 IV's speakers were my biggest gripe with the device. 

The only caveat is that it's not getting much in the way of internal upgrades, with the same Snapdragon 695 5G chip powering the device. I would've preferred a more up-to-date processor in this latest-generation smartphone, considering that the 10 IV did stutter occasionally, but I can look past it - especially if the picture and sound performance are as good as last year's model.

Ultimately, both the latest Google and Sony announcements prove that you can get a lot of smartphone, for not a whole lot of money. That's why I've got my eye on the Xperia 10 V, as it could be the next great movie-focused phone that doesn't break the bank.,

MORE:

Get your first look at the Sony Xperia 1 V and 10 V

Read our full Sony Xperia 10 IV review

And check out our picks for the best Android smartphones

Sony has unveiled two new Xperia smartphones for 2023, with the Xperia 1 V and Xperia 10 V launching later this year. These Android phones serve as successors to two of our favourite smartphones of yesteryear, the Award-winning Xperia 10 IV and the five-star Xperia 1 IV.

Starting with the flagship Xperia 1 V, most of the upgrades are centred around the camera this year, which shouldn't come as a surprise as that was the case last year. It's using a new sensor called the Exmor T for mobile, which Sony claims is 1.7 times bigger than the sensor found in the 1 IV. This new camera module means that the Xperia 1 V can produce images with better dynamic range, as well as clearer and brighter low-light shots. 

Sony is targeting this device at budding content creators and vloggers, with an additional third microphone located within the triple-lens camera cluster, as well as upgrades to the Camera Pro app, including a vertical shooting mode and product review video setting which locks focus on an item if you place it in the foreground of the shot. While these are all great additions for content creators, we're more concerned with content consumption, so what's new there?

Unfortunately not much. However, considering the Xperia 1 IV is still a benchmark device, that may not be a bad thing. Sony has equipped the Xperia 1 V with the same display as the 1 IV. The 6.5-inch, 4K HDR 120Hz OLED with the unique 21:9 aspect ratio that's perfect for watching movies on supported services makes its return, and if it's anything like last year's model, then we have no complaints. 

Sony also highlights the return of the 3.5mm headphone jack, as it is one of the few companies out there including this on its smartphones. It supports wired Hi-res Audio, although there is also Bluetooth with hi-res, LDAC and Bluetooth LE support. The Xperia 1 V also features a stereo speaker system with an earpiece and lower loudspeaker combination. 

The phone features a slightly revised design that Sony says should provide enhanced grip and it comes in three colours; Black, Khaki and Platinum. It features the same 5000mAh battery, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as last year, however, we do get the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. 

The Xperia 1 V launches in late June for £1299 (around $1635 / AU$2430), the same launch price as the 1 IV. There are even some tempting pre-order offers that bundle in a free pair of the Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM5 if you pre-order from selected carriers starting on the 14th of June.

Moving onto the more basic Xperia model, and arguably the more interesting of the two, the Xperia 10 V. The 10 IV was a surprise hit for 2022, as it provided a thoroughly enjoyable AV experience despite its reasonable asking price. 

The Xperia 10 V has more in the way of picture and sound upgrades than the 1 V, with the 6.1-inch OLED display (also 21:9 aspect ratio) now apparently 1.5 times brighter, which Sony says makes outdoor visibility better. The 10 V also gets a stereo speaker set-up this year, with a 20 per cent increase in volume and a more balanced and direct sound, which Sony says is supported with a low noise amplifier. 

The 3.5mm headphone jack is here, with wired and wireless hi-res audio support as well as LDAC over Bluetooth. Elsewhere, the Xperia 10 V has a larger main camera sensor in its triple-lens array and it's even slightly lighter than the IV – with Sony claiming this to be the lightest 5G smartphone. 

However, it's the internal specs that leave something to be desired, as the Xperia 10 V is using practically identical components to last year. The 10 V is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, as well as a 5000mAh battery. While the Xperia 10 IV certainly wasn't unusable by any means, it wasn't the smoothest-performing smartphone we've ever tested, so a newer processor would have been appreciated. 

The Sony Xperia 10 V will launch in mid-June for £399 (around $500/ AU$745) and comes in four finishes; Black, White, Sage Green (replacing Mint from the IV) and Lavender. These colours match the new WF-C700N wireless earbuds perfectly, which is a nice touch, and the design uses Gorilla Glass Victus for the display for enhanced durability. 

Sony's latest smartphone duo has certainly piqued our interest, so expect reviews for both devices soon.

MORE:

Read our full Sony Xperia 1 IV review

As well as our Sony Xperia 10 IV review

Check out our picks for the best smartphones 

2022 signified an evolutionary year for Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone line, as the brand unified the S and Note devices into one smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy S22 Ultra. With a huge AMOLED display, S-Pen support and top-of-the-line specs and build quality, it really lived up to its Ultra name.

A year on, Samsung has followed up on its former flagship with the Galaxy S23 Ultra; a phone that is equally massive and fully featured, that basically represents the no-compromise approach for Android phones. But with minimal upgrades over last year’s model accompanied by an increase in price, does the S23 Ultra still represent the ultimate Android phone?

Price

There’s no escaping the slow creep-up of prices we’ve seen on many smartphones this release cycle, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra is no exception – unless you live in the States. The S23 Ultra starts at £1249 / $1199 / AU$1949; that places it well above the iPhone 14 Pro Max and even its predecessor in the UK and Australia; however, the price stays the same as last year in the US. It is slightly cheaper than the Sony Xperia 1 IV, our current favourite Android phone, although if you shop around you may be able to find the Xperia has dropped in price since its launch in June of last year.

For your money, you get the new and exclusive Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor (more on that later), 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There are also 512GB and 1TB storage configurations, with the latter serving as a Samsung.com store exclusive. 

Build

The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s build is fantastic, but it's also almost identical to that of its predecessor. Its casework is solid and high quality, making it look as good as it feels in the hand, with smooth aluminium rails around the edge of the device, and a matte glass rear panel that makes the phone less likely to slip out of your hand or off the side of a table. 

The added grip to the rear panel is necessary with this phone, as it takes some fairly intense hand-gymnastics to navigate if you’re using it one-handed. We find ourselves shuffling the phone around in a slightly awkward (and dangerous) fashion when going from the navigation controls at the bottom to the notification panel at the top. Thankfully, Samsung has built in some one-handed mode functionality and smart software tricks that make it more manageable at times, such as being able to swipe up anywhere on the home screen to get to the apps menu or down anywhere to expand the notification panel. Still, there’s no way of getting around the fact that this phone is massive. 

To be precise, its screen is 6.8 inches diagonally and the handset weighs 234g in total – making it very similar to the iPhone 14 Pro Max in stature and heft. Against its nearest Android rival, the Xperia 1 IV, it's practically identical in height, but the Sony’s 21:9 aspect ratio makes it the skinnier of the two devices. 

Features

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is practically the definition of feature-packed – but then so was its predecessor. So what’s new here? The main feature that Samsung is advertising with the Ultra is its advanced camera system, with the main sensor coming in at 200MP, an increase from the S22 Ultra’s 108MP main camera. This is backed up with a 10MP periscope telephoto lens, a 10MP telephoto lens and finally a 12MP ultrawide camera. In practice, the camera on the S23 Ultra is brilliant, fusing top-notch performance with intuitive software, meaning even the most amateur of photographers can snap a quality image.

Elsewhere, little has changed for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It features a very similar 120Hz 1440p screen as did year's model, for example. Not that that's an issue in general use, though, as it's still a joy to interact with. Whether it’s swiping and tapping through the One UI 5.1 operating system or scrolling through social media and news feeds, the S23 Ultra’s display is just as silky smooth and sharp as you’d want it to be. On the topic of One UI, Samsung is shipping its latest software on the S23 Ultra, adding a few new quality-of-life improvements and camera shooting modes, but otherwise, there doesn’t appear to be any drastic changes to the OS this year.

Underneath that display is a fingerprint sensor for biometric unlocking and authentication. It's lightning fast, unlocking the device with just a quick tap, making it much quicker and more accurate than the likes of the Google Pixel 7. There is also a 12MP hole-punch-style front-facing camera that can be used for facial recognition as an alternative. 

Another feature that is becoming synonymous with the Galaxy Ultra line is the S-Pen, the stylus formerly affiliated with Samsung’s now-extinct Galaxy Note series. It pops in and out of the frame with a satisfying click and vibration, and is a useful (if slightly gimmicky) addition that allows you to scrawl notes on the screen and even control some of the phone’s functionality remotely. 

Getting on to what we’re most interested in, the phone’s AV features, the S23 Ultra supports HDR in the HDR10+ format, meaning content from Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Google Play should get a boost, but since the phone lacks support for Dolby Vision, Disney Plus and Netflix won’t get as much love as the aforementioned services. However, Dolby is featured on the audio side of things, with Dolby Atmos support for both the phone’s speakers and via both wired and wireless headphones.

Finally, the S23 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, although the S23 receives a unique “for Galaxy” variant here. The suffix doesn’t allude to much, and in reality, it just means that this version of the 8 Gen 2 has a slightly higher clock speed than on other devices. Putting it into practice, the S23 Ultra is blisteringly fast and responsive in day-to-day use, with no noticeable stuttering or lag when opening apps.

Picture

With Samsung’s pedigree when it comes to TVs and history of providing excellent displays on its smartphones, it's no surprise that the picture performance on the S23 Ultra is mostly very good. Movies feel right at home on the expansive AMOLED display, leaning towards the vibrant and punchy colours that have become synonymous with Samsung up to this point. 

This leads to some slightly warmer-looking skin tones and reddish complexions at times, but it's by no means unpleasant, and there is an option to knock the display’s warmth back in the settings menu. Watching a section of Le Mans 66 (or Ford v Ferrari for US readers), the slightly punchier colours are appreciated when it comes to the golden Californian skies and glistening supercars. Switching over to the opening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we can see where colours begin to look a bit overdone, though, with the foliage within the opening scene verging on neon green.

Black levels are an immediate highlight thanks to the OLED technology, and there’s a good amount of dark detail during a young Jyn Erso’s escape to the sanctuary of a secluded cave during the Empire’s raid. A decent amount of detail can be seen on the rocks despite them being mostly cast in shadow. Overall, the Ultra’s display manages to capture a good amount of detail in environmental, skin and clothing textures, avoiding the sometimes overly etched effect of the generally superb Sony Xperia 1 IV.

Side by side, we prefer the Samsung’s slightly more subtle and balanced approach in some cases, with its softer display making the Xperia seem sometimes overly sharp. However we can’t deny that the Sony’s 4K display takes the edge when it comes to capturing extra detail, and it also trumps the Samsung when it comes to motion, as some blur is noticeable when it comes to fast-moving spacecraft and character movements in this Star Wars flick.

The real thorn in the Galaxy’s side is Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Side by side we prefer the iPhone in practically every picture aspect. The iPhone’s Dolby Vision-equipped display provides much more natural and realistic colours and skin tones. This is thanks to its slightly less vibrant display and more balanced approach to contrast, which adds more subtle detailing even in brightly coloured objects. The motion blur found on the S23 Ultra is also not an issue for the iPhone and it retains its strengths when it comes to black depth thanks to its own OLED panel. 

The iPhone clearly betters the S23 Ultra when it comes to picture, and considering Samsung has made no real effort to upgrade the viewing experience on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it slips behind the 14 Pro Max – which now also costs less.

Sound

Sound performance on the S23 Ultra is actually the opposite of what we find with many of the smartphones we test, as here the speaker audio is possibly more impressive than that of the headphones. Not that the S23 Ultra actually sounds better via the speakers than it does with headphones, but that its speaker performance is better than that of most rivals and its headphone performance isn't.

With Dolby Atmos support for the speakers, we find that the Samsung provides a surprisingly wide and well-organised audio presentation. This likely benefits from the Samsung’s large frame, which allows for more physical separation and therefore a wider soundstage, but we also feel that there is a slight additional warmth and naturalness to the Samsung’s speakers. Voices appear to correspond well to the subject’s position on the screen, and there is a touch more depth than is offered by iPhone, which sounds a bit flatter and less spacious in comparison. It’s worth noting that the iPhone’s speakers can go louder than the Samsung’s, but the S23 Ultra’s speakers are more than adequate in most scenarios. 

Headphone performance, on the other hand, is not quite as good as that of the iPhone. That’s not to say it's unpleasant, as the Samsung offers a detailed and clear delivery when we throw our favourite tricky test track Limit To Your Love by James Blake at it, but it lacks the warmth and natural tone that it seems to possess with its speakers. The Samsung sounds slightly mechanical and analytical when compared to the iPhone’s rich and natural presentation. The iPhone also exceeds the Samsung when it comes to dynamics, with the former providing more impact.

One area where the Samsung does excel is with spatial audio playback, as streaming the Atmos version of Supercut by Lorde on Tidal makes for an impressive show of immersive audio – though it has to be said that the iPhone also handles this very well.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is another case of the iterative phone cycle we have found ourselves in within the past year. Not much has changed from last year’s model apart from the camera and processor, and while both are good additions, we’re not sure if they justify such a steep rise in pricing.

And when it comes to a phone that costs this much offering little to no upgrades in the AV department, it leaves us feeling a little bit disappointed – especially now that Apple has upped its game even further with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is still a great daily handset, and it provides a solid picture and sound experience – but for the money, it needs to be outstanding.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV

Also consider the iPhone 14

Read our iPhone 14 Pro Max review

The best smartphones for music and movies

Sony's Xperia 10 IV is a budget hero and one of our favourite phones of the year - taking home a What Hi-Fi? Award just over a month ago thanks to its brilliant price-to-performance ratio. Usually costing just £380, the 10 IV is already a steal, undercutting most Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxies and Google Pixels, without sacrificing a truly dependable and enjoyable AV experience. So what could possibly make this phone more appealing? How about getting it for £80 cheaper with this Black Friday deal?

This exceptional Xperia features almost everything we love about the other Sony phones on the market right now. With a sharp and punchy 21:9 aspect ratio display front and centre, this phone practically begs you to watch movies on it. Even more impressive is that its an OLED display, with many phones at this price point resorting to LCD screens to cut down on costs. 

The only place where the Sony takes a bit of a wobble is in the audio department, with a fairly weak loudspeaker catching our attention. It suffices for some brief movie watching, however, its thin and compressed sound should probably be avoided. Thankfully, its headphone performance tells a different story, with a much more full-bodied and clearer sound that immediately impressed us. It sounds good by most smartphone standards, and even better at this price. 

Overall the Sony is a plucky and charming smartphone that is an absolute bargain on a normal day, and an unmissable deal on Black Friday. It's a five-star phone without the five-star price tag, and at just under £300, you'd be hard-pressed to find a phone this good at this price. 

More:

The best Android smartphones

Read the full Sony Xperia 10 IV review

The best Black Friday deals

We’ve reviewed both the bigger and smaller siblings of the Xperia 5 IV, but in a tale as old as time, it's the middle child that gets attention last. The Xperia 5 has a tall ask if it wants to stand out against the Award-winning and incredible value Xperia 10 IV, as well as the 4K-toting, no-compromise Xperia 1 IV.

For some, though, the Xperia 5 IV might actually represent the sweet spot in the range. More premium and feature-rich than the 10 IV but significantly more affordable than the 1 IV, could it be the perfect balance of performance and price?

Price

The Xperia 5 IV might sit in the middle of the current Xperia line-up, but it’s not what most people would think of as a mid-range phone. Its price is the first clear indication of this: starting at £949 / $999 / AU$1399, the Xperia 5 IV is in iPhone 14 and 14 Plus territory.

It undercuts the top of the range 1 IV (£1299 / $1599 / AU$2300) by a fair amount, but it costs more than twice as much as the budget 10 IV, which retails for just £429 (around $495 / AU$733).

The price thankfully brings better specs, with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB (the latter for more money of course) of storage depending on your configuration. The processor is the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which keeps the Android 12 software running buttery smooth.

Build

The Xperia 5 is best described as a shrunken-down Xperia 1. With an aluminium frame sandwiched between a 6.1-inch display and a matte frosted glass back panel, the 5 IV is a sleek device that feels smooth and premium in the hand. It's undoubtedly a more premium in-hand experience than the budget 10 IV, which is comparatively plastic-tastic. It’s heavier, too, at 172g, although the frosted back panel makes the phone easy to grip.

The phone retains the tall and thin build for which the Xperia range is renowned, with the 21:9 aspect ratio making for a narrow and lanky device that's ideal for watching movies, but can make everyday operations, such as swiping down the notifications panel from the top of the screen, a bit awkward.

Features

Sony has trickled many features of its more expensive flagship down to its smaller counterpart, making the Sony Xperia 5 IV a worthy alternative to the 1 IV in terms of features. Starting with the aforementioned 21:9 OLED display, which has become a trademark feature of Sony's Xperia phones. The thin bezels keep the phone pocketable, while the aspect ratio is perfect for watching movies without black bars flanking the screen. The display also supports HDR (in the HDR10 format). 

The only knock to the Xperia’s display is the fact that the 10 IV has a very similar one for half the price. The 5 IV has a 1080 x 2520 (FHD) display that features a pixel density of 449ppi. This is actually lower than the much cheaper Xperia 10 IV, which has a 6-inch display at 457ppi. Rather than upgrade the resolution for the 5 IV, Sony has instead decided to double the refresh rate to 120Hz, so performance is smoother but not any sharper.

One aspect where the Sony doesn’t hold back is battery life. The phone is equipped with a 5000mAh cell, the same size as the one in the Xperia 1 IV, which already had a more than acceptable battery life. Without the need to run a 4K display, the Xperia 5 is a battery titan – easily getting through a day of intense usage. This almost makes up for the fact that the fast charger is an additional extra cost as, much like the 1 IV, there’s no charger to be found in the box.

Elsewhere, Xperias are among the ever-dwindling number of phones that have a 3.5mm headphone jack. If wireless is more your thing, Sony has you covered with Bluetooth LE and aptX HD support for high-quality wireless audio. The phone also sports a stereo loudspeaker set-up, comprising two front-facing speakers, similar to the more expensive 1 IV.

Another one of the 5 IV’s headline features is the excellent camera arrangement, which features some of the best aspects of the 1 IV’s camera set-up. The main 12MP shooter appears to be lifted directly from the 1, alongside the Zeiss-branded camera glass designed to reduce glare. The main camera is backed up by additional 12MP telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide cameras for versatile photography opportunities. Much like its more expensive relation, the Xperia 5 IV is a solid camera companion for budding photographers, and it even includes a more in-depth camera interface for those wanting to try their hand at “professional” photography.

Picture

Both of the Xperia mark IV smartphones we’ve already tested have scored five in the screen department thanks to their sharp, bright and deep pictures. One of the greatest strengths of the Xperia 1 IV is its customisable picture settings, especially the Creator Mode, which the 5 IV inherits. We have this switched on for testing as it provides a 'truer to the creator’s intent' approach to colours; a feature we’d love to see on more phones. 

Watching Thor: Love And Thunder on the Xperia, the bold and punchy colours are certainly at home on the Sony’s display, although it’s a more considered approach than most rival phones offer, which ensures they aren’t overblown or unnatural. The Creator Mode tends to reel in overly saturated scenes for a more cinematic effect, and it’s mostly excellent. However, it does also from time to time produce skin tones that look slightly pale. Overall though, the Sony gets colours right and its handling of HDR content is admirable, generally striking a fine balance between celebrating bold colours and natural hues. 

Contrast is also one of the Xperia’s strengths, as it is with the other phones in the lineup. Sony has found a sweet spot here, allowing subjects on screen to be presented prominently against the background without looking overly etched or cut out. In scenes with sprawling alien planet backdrops, Thor stands firmly in the foreground of the shot, with neatly defined edges and a real sense of three-dimensional depth. The iPhone 14 is actually even better when it comes to the depth and solidity of the image, but it's a close-run thing.

The Xperia 5 IV might lack a QHD resolution, but it’s still sharp enough for movie and TV watching without sacrificing too much fidelity. Environmental surfaces retain detail, and skin tones have enough subtle texture in them to ensure they don’t look overly smoothed.

One thing that is smooth is the motion, especially when the action is kicked into high gear in Thor. Sweeping panning shots and fast-moving subjects are virtually stutter-free, and the bold, flashy fight scene feels right at home on the Xperia’s display.

All told, the Xperia produces an excellent picture that captures the cinematic feel that both of its siblings also display. The only issue is that the cheaper 10 IV punches above its price tag on picture performance, and that means that the 5 IV isn’t quite as much of an upgrade as you might expect, given the price difference.

Sound

Via headphones, the Xperia 5 IV produces a natural and textured rendition of James Blake’s Limit To Your Love, with decent spatial separation and a fair amount of weight behind the bass-heavy segments. Vocals are also given a chance to shine here through said separation, not getting overshadowed by the other elements of the track.

There is room for improvement when it comes to dynamics, though. Moments in the track that are supposed to be clean breaks of silence tend to struggle a little; and while this doesn’t write off the Sony’s overall strong headphone performance, we have heard better from the likes of the iPhone 14. 

The 5 IV also gets a very similar front-firing speaker set-up to the 1 IV, and while you won’t want to listen to whole albums on these speakers, they’re a more than acceptable choice for a quick spot of movie watching. Thor: Love And Thunder is easy to follow, with clear dialogue and enough weight to avoid the tinny and thin sound provided by the loudspeakers of most phones. This is one area in which the Xperia 5 tells a completely different story to the 10, which suffers from a particularly weak loudspeaker.  

Verdict

The Xperia 5 IV really does feel like the middle child of the current Xperia range. It doesn’t get the fanfare of the all-singing, all-dancing Xperia 1, nor does it get the praise of the Award-winning budget performance of the 10. However, when given the chance to shine, the Xperia 5 IV is a really vital addition to the Xperia line for those who want something in between. 

If you want the quality build, audio performance and features of the 1 IV, and could happily live without the costly 4K screen in favour of a still very likeable 1080p alternative, then the Xperia 5 IV deserves your attention.

SCORES

• Features 5
• Picture 5
• Sound 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Apple iPhone 14

Also consider the Sony Xperia 10 IV

Read our Sony Xperia 1 IV review12

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

Sony’s current lineup of smartphones is centred around the creation and consumption of media first and foremost. The range includes 4K resolution, OLED displays with a 21:9 aspect ratio and HDR support while fervently keeping the 3.5mm headphone port alive. 

But what happens when you have to start cutting back on features to make devices like these more accessible? The Xperia 10 IV answers this question with pared back specs, a lower quality screen and a plastic build that reduces the price significantly. However, despite this entry level Xperia cutting some corners, it still manages to provide the essence of what Sony is trying to achieve – providing a cinematic experience that fits into your pocket.

Price

The Xperia 10 IV is priced at a very reasonable £429 (around $495 / AU$733). Availability is limited, however, with the 10 IV only so far officially launched in the UK and Europe, where it retails for €499.

The good news here is that the Xperia 10 IV undercuts its bigger and pricier siblings, and quite significantly so. The upcoming Xperia 5 IV is the next step up in the lineup, and that will retail for £949 / $1000  (around AU$1609), which is quite the jump. Beyond that is the stunning Xperia 1 IV, which will set you back £1299 / $1599 (around AU$2300).

For the Xperia 10 IV's price you get a specification that includes 128GB of internal storage, 6GB of RAM, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor and 5G support. It's worth noting that storage can be upgraded down the line via an SD card. In use, the Sony doesn’t exactly struggle with these specs, but there is a little bit of stutter at times. 

Build

The Xperia 10 IV features a plastic shell, which is a clear departure from the aluminium and glass construction of the Xperia 1 IV – this is of course a cost-saving measure from Sony. It doesn’t look or feel too cheap in the hand, though, and a matte rear plastic panel emulates the frosted glass rear of the 1 IV to some extent. This plastic build also keeps the 10 IV light, coming in at just 161g. Even with a 6-inch display, the Xperia also feels like a compact device. 

It does feature a surprisingly small camera housing that neatly tucks the triple camera arrangement away, meaning that the Xperia sits almost flush to any surface it's laid on and doesn’t wobble or rock around. Elsewhere on the device you’ll find a combination lock button and fingerprint sensor that performs reliably, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack – something Sony remains steadfast on including despite many other companies having ditched the port years ago. 

It's safe to say that the Xperia 10 IV doesn’t feature the most elaborate construction, but its slim and understated build certainly gives the illusion that it may be a more premium device than it really is. It’s available in a selection of four colours – black, white, lavender and mint – with our matte black review model looking fairly sleek and stealthy.

Features

A consistent feature across all current Xperia devices is the 21:9 aspect ratio OLED display, here measuring 6 inches. The display has a 1080p resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. While the resolution is fine, it would have been nice to see a slightly higher refresh rate for smoother scrolling and better gameplay performance.

21:9 is of course the perfect aspect ratio for watching wide-screen movies, with no black bars flanking the feature on optimised streaming apps such as Netflix and Disney+.

Sony’s budget phone also features a surprisingly versatile triple camera set-up. This consists of a 12MP main shooter, an 8MP ultra wide camera and 8MP telephoto lens, combining to make a versatile camera system. You won’t find the Alpha branding or Zeiss-branded lens glass, but the camera produces decent, if not exceptional, photos overall. It’s certainly a better snapper than you’d expect for the money.

Elsewhere, the Xperia 10 has a 5000mAh battery, which keeps the device ticking over for easily a full day of use before it needs charging via the USB-C charging connector. Rather surprisingly, you’ll find neither a wall adapter or charging cable in the Xperia 10 IV’s box. While many companies no longer include a power adapter with their phones, the lack of a USB charging cable feels extraordinarily cheap on Sony’s part, even if it claims to reduce e-waste.

Picture

This entry level device features a display that performs well above what its price may suggest. The Xperia 10 IV may not be the sharpest screen on the block, but it balances excellent dark detail, black depth, contrast and colours to create a surprisingly cinematic affair. Despite the display not having HDR certification, the considered approach to colours against the strikingly deep blacks certainly makes for an HDR-like presentation.

Sony includes a suite of settings for the picture, with an “original mode” aimed at reproducing colours faithfully. This is the setting we find ourselves using most, with the white balance set to Warm for as close to a cinematic approach as possible. It's encouraging to see Sony include these options on the Xperia 10 as, although it's a more affordable option, it doesn’t leave those wanting an in-depth AV experience behind.

Testing the sci-fi action epic, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we can see how accomplished the display is in both bright, natural scenes, and scenes with lots of dark depth and detail. In the opening moments in which the protagonist’s family is hunted down by the menacing death troopers lead by Director Krennic, the natural lighting and colours lean towards the paler side, but still appear accurate in the context of the scene. Well-defined edges and impressive contrast control mean that subjects on the screen retain a level of three-dimensional depth against the backdrops of planets in a galaxy far, far away. Skin tones and facial textures are mostly authentic and nuanced, with clothing materials and environmental elements also coming across with ample detail.

In stark contrast, a scene taking place at night in the dimly lit alleyways of a city provides excellent insight into how capable this phone is with dark detail. Unlike many other budget devices, shadows do not act as crushing black masses, instead harbouring subtler details that can easily be picked out. In even darker scenes, such as the infinite vacuum of space, the deep blacks courtesy of the OLED display are perforated with punchy pinpoint stars that shine through with an authentic glimmer, once again highlighting the superior display performance at this level.

There are some moments where motion could be smoother, but taking into consideration how well it performs elsewhere, the screen of the Xperia 10 IV is exceptionally good for the money.

Sound

Sound on the Xperia 10 IV comes in two very different halves. Starting with the loudspeaker, Sony’s mono speaker is thin, compressed and should generally be avoided at all costs if you can help it. SBTRKT and Sampha’s Trials Of The Past lacks practically any bass and features a claustrophobic arrangement. It feels like all aspects of the track are fighting for dominance over the phone’s measly single speaker. While it may suffice for some short TV and movie watching, that may be about all we can recommend for this speaker.

Thankfully, headphone performance is a completely different story. Plug some cans in and you get an impressively clear and detailed vocal performance, snappy timing and a spacious arrangement that makes listening to music on the Xperia very enjoyable. This is good sound by general smartphone standards, let alone smartphones at this sort of price.

Verdict

Sony’s budget handset really impresses where it counts. Many budget Android handsets only meet the goal of affordability by cutting major corners, but Sony has instead considered how to boil the essence of the Xperia line down without sacrificing crucial performance.

It may not be perfect, but with a screen that impresses for the price and satisfying headphone audio, the Xperia 10 IV offers excellent value for those looking for an entry level Android that doubles as a portable movie-watching companion.

SCORES

• Features 4
• Picture 5
• Sound 4

MORE:

Check out the full list of What Hi-Fi? Awards 2022 winners

Read our review of the Sony Xperia 1 IV

Also consider the OnePlus 10 Pro

Best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

The Sony Xperia Mk IV continues the brand’s reinvigorated take on the smartphone, providing the tools to both create and consume content that verges on professional level. But with the daunting task of outshining its predecessors, both of which received five stars and a smartphone Product of the Year Award from us, has Sony done enough to keep the momentum going?

While it may look strikingly similar to the previous generations, the IV makes meaningful, if not mind blowing improvements on the Sony Xperia 1 III. Upgraded internals and features ensure smooth day-to-day use, and most importantly an awesome AV experience.

Price

If you want the Sony Xperia 1 IV, you'd better be prepared to pay for it, as it is retailing for £1299 / $1599 / around AU$2300. That's an increase of £100 from last year’s Xperia 1 III, which then retailed for £100 more than the Xperia 1 II; we’re sensing a trend. This puts the Xperia 1 IV in an immediate uphill battle, as the likes of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra undercut this.

For the asking price you’re getting the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with 5G support, 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. If you’re in the US, however, you’ll be lucky enough to have a 512GB storage option with the rest of the specs staying the same. With a powerful processor and plenty of RAM, the Xperia 1 IV should hopefully keep things running smoothly under the hood for a while.

Design

If we were to sum up the design of the Xperia 1 IV in one word it would have to be ‘sleek’. It's minimalist, with chunky, squared-off edges that are comfortable to hold, and the rear features a smooth, luxurious finish that wards off fingerprints, giving the illusion of a “new phone look” even after plenty of use. The metal rails and frosted glass rear blend together to make the Xperia feel premium, weighty and comfortable in the hand.

Features

The phone takes the best parts from its predecessor and tacks on some new ones to make a phone that is pretty stacked when it comes to features. This includes the smooth, high resolution 6.5-inch, 21:9 wide 4K OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, as well as the side-mounted fingerprint scanner, wireless charging support and dedicated textured camera shutter button. 

The IV has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve however, with an upgraded stereo speaker system, as well as a comprehensive set of creator tools including what Sony is claiming to be the world’s first true optical zoom lens. The camera is a standout, especially with the zoom lens which keeps things crisp, although the user interface can appear daunting to amateurs at first glance. 

The camera isn’t just your standard point and shoot system however, as it has built in live streaming, eye and object tracking and is capable of recording at 4K HDR 120fps on all lenses. This makes the Xperia 1 IV a powerful tool for those hoping to create video content as well as watch it. This has all been tuned by Alpha, Sony’s camera division, for an incredibly deep and technical camera experience that bridges the gap between smartphone and professional DSLR cameras.

Battery life on the Xperia is also excellent, with a 5000mAh cell stepping up to the all day challenge. Even with constant use throughout the day with video and music consumption, the Xperia soldiers on with plenty of juice left in the tank in the evening. It's just a shame that Sony has gone the way of Apple and Samsung by not including the fast charger in the box.

Sony has also brought a feature down from its best TVs in the form of Bravia Core, a streaming service that is home to a selection of movies produced by Sony. When you purchase an Xperia 1 IV, you are granted five film tokens to redeem on the service, which is an appreciated bonus.

Picture

Picture performance on the Xperia 1 IV is as good as you’d expect it to be. It retains the excellent detail thanks to the 4K resolution and cinematic feel from the widescreen 21:9 widescreen display. Brightness gets a boost on the Xperia 1 IV – Sony claims a whopping 50 per cent more than the Xperia 1 III – and in practice it may be subtle but it does add depth into the lighting of scenes.

Streaming 1917 on Netflix shows what the Xperia 1 IV is capable of. The differences between the IV and III aren’t immediately obvious, but the boost in contrast creates wonderfully dynamic lighting that is impossible to ignore once you notice it. The candle-lit scenes set within the tents at the British front lines look convincingly gloomy, with detail being retained in the shadowy backgrounds. The boost in contrast alongside OLED’s natural strengths when it comes to black levels are an excellent match for scenes like this. 

Colours retain a natural look when needed, especially in 1917, with the pale complexions of the soldiers and the overcast skies looming over the battlefield avoiding looking overblown. To contrast, the neon lit streets of Blade Runner 2049 pop with vibrancy, with sharp detail and natural skin tones and textures of the humans and replicants that inhabit them. Sony’s excellent creator mode screen preset retains the authentic cinematic grandeur of these films even on a 6-inch screen.

K’s car glides through the skies of 2049 Los Angeles smoothly without stuttering or janky motion, as well as providing a sense of three dimensional depth within the image, highlighting the core strengths of the Xperia 1 IV’s display all in one scene. The display excels when it comes to detail, colour, motion and contrast – making it a class-leading device once again.

Sound

The audio performance on the Xperia 1 IV is another highlight, with every track that we listen to through the included 3.5mm headphone jack ticking all the boxes for excellent sound. The most striking feature of the Xperia 1 IV’s sound performance is how natural and textured instruments come across. Guitars sound rich and characterful, while bassy kick drums are tight and defined in Depeche Mode’s iconic Personal Jesus. This song also highlights how on-point the timing is on the Xperia, making it impossible not to tap your foot along with the rhythm. 

Sony has implemented its 360 degree spatial audio system on the Xperia 1 IV, alongside support for Dolby Atmos listening, which results in a spacious, wide soundstage. This gives every instrument and vocal performance room to shine, creating an immersive performance that puts you centre-stage in a convincing three-dimensional space. The Xperia 1 IV also supports high-resolution audio, LDAC and Bluetooth LE.

Another feature to get an upgrade on the IV is the speaker system, which consists of a stereo pair of front-firing speakers for a surprisingly strong audio performance. These speakers are more than acceptable and are a nice surprise when compared to other mobile loudspeakers which are often not an ideal alternative to using headphones.

Verdict

Topping last year’s Sony Xperia 1 III must have been a daunting task, so Sony has potentially taken the easy route by taking the best parts of the III and just making them a bit better. Now while that may sound like a negative, it's really not; the design is sharper, the screen is brighter, the sound is punchier – improvements across the board.

While it may not be the most inspirational generation jump we’ve ever seen, it's still a phone that ticks all the boxes to make it an ideal companion for small screen AV use. The Xperia 1 IV is an excellent enthusiast choice for those looking to squeeze the best AV and music listening performance out of their smartphone.

SCORES

• Features 5
• Picture 5
• Sound 5

MORE:

Read our iPhone 13 Pro Max review

And our Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review

Our pick of the best smartphones: the best phones for music and movies

A premium device at a premium price, Oppo’s Find X5 Pro smartphone boasts the flashy design and standout camera that we all now expect of flagship phones. Our primary concerns, though, are picture and sound quality, and here it’s a bit more of a mixed bag.

Still, those determined to avoid the usual high-end options and instead go for something out of the ordinary will find much to like here, particularly if they’re willing to spend some time in the settings menu.

With it coming up on a year since the Oppo Find X5 Pro's official announcement, we expect to see some news regarding a successor soon; likely the Oppo Find X6 Pro. There hasn't been much in the way of leaks or official news quite yet, but we anticipate the next Find X Pro device making its debut soon.

Price

As standard, the Oppo Find X5 Pro comes in a 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration costing £1049 / AU$1799 (about $1314 – unfortunately the Find X5 Pro isn’t officially available in the US). There appears to be a 512GB version available in China, but there’s no sign of that making its way to the UK or Australia. It’s worth noting that there’s no option to expand this via SD card.

The Oppo’s price puts it up against some stiff competition. For similar money you could buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max or Sony Xperia 1 IV, and you’re even encroaching on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Oppo’s sister company, OnePlus released its 10 Pro flagship last year, and it shares a lot of features with the Find X5 Pro, including a Hasselblad branded camera system, and it’s a fair bit cheaper. There is also the freshly announced OnePlus 11 5G which launches soon, another rival that provides similar specs to the Find X5 Pro for a fair bit cheaper. 

Design

The Oppo Find X5 Pro comes in two stunning finishes, Glaze Black and Ceramic White, that adorn the weighty, premium ceramic body and smooth, polished aluminium frame.

The rear of the phone houses a camera bump unlike any other phone we’ve seen. Instead of a step-up style bump that feels separate to the rest of the phone, Oppo has engineered a fluid camera cluster that melts into the rest of the ceramic backing to create a seamless finish.

It's certainly unique and eye-catching, and it's equally as impressive as the camera system it is housing. Inside is a powerful array of Hasselblad cameras, consisting of a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera that reaches a field of view of 110 degrees and a 13MP telephoto camera.

Features

The camera system is ideal for a budding photographer, with every lens you could need on a phone to capture both close up targets, or squeeze sprawling vistas into a single shot. Colours look punchy and, together with the phone’s colourful display, the Find X5 Pro is an ideal companion for snapping shots on the go. 

The Oppo Find X5 Pro features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor which, when paired with the aforementioned 12GB of RAM, keeps things running smoothly at all times. Apps load quickly and there are useful software management options to make sure the phone is running at maximum efficiency. There are a few instances where this software is a bit intrusive, though. For instance, when you try to close all apps and the phone insists that’s unnecessary in terms of performance – we don’t care, Oppo, we would like to close all apps please.

Bundled in the box is the Oppo Find X5 Pro’s most convenient feature, an 80W SuperVooc charging adapter. It's always nice to get a charger in the box these days as many manufacturers are leaving them out, and it's especially nice when the bundled charger can juice up the phone at a blistering rate – a 50 per cent charge takes just 12 minutes.

The Find X5 Pro launched with Android 12 earlier last year, skinned with Oppo’s ColourOS on top. It has since received Android 13 (dubbed ColourOS 13) as of August 2022, which has brought a host of aesthetic changes to the software. This includes updated animations and a card-based system for a lot of the visual elements which makes organising the navigating the OS easier than ever. Arguably the biggest upgrade to ColourOS is the new always-on-display, which will now cycle down to just 1Hz while active. This supposedly offers a 30% power-saving increase to the Find X5 Pro.

Picture

Up front is a 6.7-inch curved display running at 3216 x 1440 resolution (525ppi) in a 20:9 aspect ratio, and the LTPO AMOLED screen supports variable refresh rates right up to 120Hz. The display has a hole punch camera nestled in the top left corner that can be used for facial recognition and remains fairly unobtrusive to the viewing experience. There is also an under-display fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. 

As for picture quality, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is crisp and delivers a solid HDR performance, making for an enjoyable viewing experience overall. Netflix’s Lost In Space looks great on the Oppo’s AMOLED screen, with inky blacks to reflect the depth of endless space while the pinpoint stars burst through with surprising impact.

As the Robinsons’ ship loses power and the lights dim, it’s still easy to pick out details within the shadows and, to juxtapose, grandiose scenes of an ice-clad foreign planet retain their epic scale. It's not all perfect, though: the edges of the ice-capped mountains in the background of the scene are a tad fuzzy and when compared with our Award-winning Sony Xperia 1 III, the impression of depth and overall detail levels are slightly lacking.

By default, the Oppo comes in a slightly overbearing Vivid mode that tends to accentuate colours a bit too much, though there is a suite of picture settings, including a Cinematic mode that utilises Display P3 for apparently faithful colour reproduction, as well as a Brilliant mode that uses the widest colour gamut for an almost blindingly bright picture. There’s also the option to customise colour temperature in a couple of the presets. Even so, despite vast amounts of tweaking, the Find X5 Pro never quite reaches the cinematic accuracy of its Sony rival, particularly when the latter is in its Creator Mode.

That isn’t to say that the Oppo looks unnatural. Playing an episode of 2007 teen drama Skins, it retains the colour in characters’ vibrant clothing while keeping skin tones natural. That said, this lower resolution video suffers with soft edges and slightly ill-defined textures to skin and clothing. The Xperia does a better job of retaining detail and keeps edges a little sharper and more defined, with skin textures specifically looking noticeably better.

The other issue with the Oppo’s display is its curved edges, which create some distortion and, on white and lighter coloured backgrounds, produce a strange glowing halo effect that runs down the edge of the screen. Whilst this doesn’t cause too many issues as it’s such a slim part of the screen, it does bring into question whether the Oppo is more dedicated to form than picture performance.

Sound

While the Oppo Find X5 Pro’s picture is good overall, it’s rather let down by its audio performance, with a lack of dynamic expression and rhythmic drive, as well as slightly mushy bass when using a range of headphones (with the necessary third-party USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor). Grand compositions such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra's rendition of In The Hall Of The Mountain King feel unnervingly tight and claustrophobic, with little separation between the vast array of instruments. The instruments lack texture and reverberation, leading to a processed and unnatural delivery that fails to capture the grand scale of the piece. Dynamics also suffer here, with the jump from quiet to loud also feeling restrained.

The same can be said in relation to the Oppo’s speakers. They too make a mess of the classical piece with the same compressed, claustrophobic arrangement and overall lack of definition, stifling the piece's grand composition and making it a less than ideal option. 

For something more conventional, Billie Eilish’s Bury A Friend sounds decent, though not much better than that. The thumping bassline is certainly present (as much as we can expect from a product like this), but it lacks definition and sounds a bit soft. Thankfully, the bass isn’t too overbearing, so vocals remain clear and distinct.

Verdict

Oppo’s Find X5 Pro is a solid device in most ways. It's packed with features, user friendly software and it provides an enjoyable, if not mind blowing visual performance. However, it's marred by an audio experience that’s easily surpassed by the class leaders.

An iPhone 14 Pro Max costs roughly the same money and features fantastic sound and picture quality, as well as an equally solid build and feature set, and the Sony Xperia 1 IV is another great option if you prioritise picture and sound quality. 

Still, if you’re determined to go with an outsider choice for your next phone and sound quality isn’t much of a priority, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is certainly worth a look.

SCORES

• Features 5
• Picture 4
• Sound 3

MORE:

Read our review of the iPhone 14 Pro Max

Also consider the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Read our OnePlus 10 Pro review

These are the Best smartphones 2022: the best phones for music and movies

The Samsung Galaxy S22 line-up was officially announced on 9th Feb, 2022, the jewel in its crown being the Galaxy S22 Ultra – not only is it the biggest, most powerful S22 variant, it also comes with an S Pen stylus for writing and drawing on screen.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on the flagship Galaxy phone early doors for a hands-on review, but a more thorough test over several days was absolutely imperative. Does it compare favourably to the finest Apple offering, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, for example? Having now reviewed both devices in full, we can now tell you. 

Once again, it's the battle of the heavyweights: Apple vs Samsung. Which flagship phone is most worthy of your hard-earned cash? Let's find out.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: price

Being the best of the best from the world's two biggest phone firms, neither of these handsets is what you would describe as cheap. In fact, they're quite the opposite. But if you want the best, it's going to cost you.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max launched in September with a starting price of £1049 / $1099 / AU$1849. That's for the basic 128GB capacity. If you want more storage, again, you will have to pay for it.

The 256GB model comes in at £1149 / $1199 / AU$2019, the 512GB is £1349 / $1399 / AU$2369, and the big daddy 1TB option is £1549 / $1599 / AU$2719. Ouch.

So how does the Galaxy S22 Ultra compare? Storage options and prices are broadly similar to the iPhone 13 Pro Max – there's £100 in it for the base model. The S22 Ultra is £1149 / $1199 / AU$1849 (128GB), £1249 / AU$1999 (256GB), £1329 / AU$2149 (512GB) or AU$2449 (1TB).

And just for reference, the S22 Ultra is still cheaper than the What Hi-Fi? 2021 Award-winning Android phone, the Sony Xperia 1 III (£1199 / $1300 / AU$1699)...

The Galaxy S22 smartphones were released on 25th February. 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: design

The iPhone 13 Pro Max doesn't change much from its predecessor, the iPhone 12 Pro Max. In fact, bar a 0.25mm increase in thickness, it's nigh-on identical. The camera arrangement is a little bigger, and the screen notch a little smaller, but really, it's business as usual on the design front.

That means you get the volume rocker and silent switch on the left edge, and the wake button on the right (as you look at the phone). There's also the usual Lightning connector flanked by speaker perforations on the bottom edge and SIM card slot below the volume controls.

In all, despite a lack of aesthetic innovation, it's a real beauty to look at and – more importantly – to use. It could be a little grippier, but that's soon sorted by sticking it in a case. 

While the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a case of more of the same, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is all change. It continues the legacy of the now-discontinued Galaxy Note range, thanks to the addition of the S Pen stylus – housed in the casework, it pops out when pressed from the unit's underside. And that Note heritage continues in terms of design.

Like the Note phones before it, the S22 Ultra has squared-off corners, giving it a more business-like look. It's a little more formal than we're used to, but the near bezel-less screen has the feel of actually slinking around the device. The handset certainly has corners but, thanks to the curved sides, it feels comfortable rather than brick-like when held in portrait mode. Given that this is a phone geared for work as well as pleasure, it's a wise choice.

The casework is made from more durable armour aluminium for the first time plus another exclusive, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, on the front and back of the device, which is 12 per cent stronger than its predecessor. So even without a case, it should shrug off the odd bump and knock (though we would always recommend a case for complete protection, especially given the plethora of camera lenses on the back – more on these below).

The S22 Ultra is also one of the greenest phones Samsung has ever made – not in terms of colour (though a Green colourway is available), but in terms of eco credentials. It uses 20 per cent transformed repurposed fishing nets into polyamide resin pellets as an eco-friendly material (on the key bracket and S Pen inner cover) – the overall quality of which has been tested and is 99 per cent equivalent to that of the plastic Samsung normally uses – and we certainly cannot tell the difference. But that's not all: post-consumer materials such as CD cases and water bottles have also been used in small quantities in the phone's makeup (in the inner part of the power and volume keys, and the inner speaker module).

To go with the Green, the phone also comes in Burgundy, Phantom Black and Phantom White colour schemes.

Those well versed in using Samsung's past S Pens will happily note that this iteration still boasts neat features such as the ability to take photos by pressing the side button on the stylus, but it's also a technological step forward: the hardware for the Ultra’s S Pen has been adapted to reduce the latency as you write on the screen, from 9ms to 2.8ms. If that sounds like a massive leap in terms of performance, it really is. Using the S Pen on the S22 Ultra feels almost akin to writing on a non-digital surface and we find ourselves reaching for it often. If you've always wanted to write (rather than type) out text on your phone, it's a huge selling point. 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: camera

As with any high-end handset, the camera is one of the main selling points. According to Samsung, the main camera hardware on the S22 Ultra is "completely different" and includes the firm's new Adaptive Pixel Tech, allowing the capture of 108MP (Re-mosaic mode) and 12MP (Nona-binning mode) images at the same time to create a more detailed and brighter image. The dual telephoto lenses (both 10MP, one with 3x optical zoom and one with 10x) are also different to promise a crisper zoomed-in image, and the sensor is now re-engineered for optimal performance in low-lighting. 

The "massive" 108MP sensor now has pixels that are 1.23 times brighter than the S21Ultra. This bigger, higher-resolution sensor, combined with Samsung's Multi-Frame Processing tech blends multi-exposure frames for seriously levelled-up night photography and actually processes four times more data to sharpen your images.

A quick glance at the back of the S22 Ultra reveals a veritable smorgasbord of lenses – take note, these protrude somewhat and mean that the smartphone does rock slightly when placed down on a surface and prodded with a finger or the S Pen. Dust or lint from a pocket does have a habit of collecting around the sharp edges of the lenses too – all the more reason to get a case. 

In truth, only the 40MP front camera and the 12MP ultra-wide camera remain untouched from the older-generation S21 Ultra – but the way in which they're implemented is very different.

Now, the fan-favoured Portrait Mode. Updates introduced with S22 include AI Stereo depth map, a feature that deploys the smartphone's more sophisticated AI algorithm and AI learning to produce a striking soft-focus effect. Samsung says even single strands of hair on your head will be brought into complete focus, while backgrounds remain blurred no matter how busy they are. 

New studio lighting features should also ensure better selfies. You can now pinpoint the light-source on a circle around your face, to highlight your best side, even at night (using night portrait mode, which refreshingly also works on the front camera). Influencers are going to love that.

When it comes to videography, the S22 Ultra has the same 8K @24fps highest-resolution frame rate (at 120Hz) as the S21 Ultra, but the new NPU brings plenty of new features to play. Thanks to a link-up with Snapchat, you can use a super-resolution Night Mode while in the photo-sharing app. And because the Galaxy S22 Ultra now supports AI-based Auto focus, Super Steady System and Super HDR, expect its on-device AI to work better, sharpening details and reducing noise and physical movement, especially in low light conditions. Samsung refers to it as its "best AI camera ever".

How does all of that work in practice? The S22 Ultra can detect people within five metres, and can track up to 10 people in order to automatically pan out or adjust, to keep them all in-frame. And, if you select one individual, your phone will track them, adjusting the zoom to always place them in the centre of a shot. Which should make them feel like a movie star.

It's all very impressive and certainly brings the fight to the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Like the S22 Ultra, the 13 Pro Max is aimed at those looking for pro-level results from their snaps – and it's a closely run race during our tests.

Also like the S22 Ultra, its camera system consists of Telephoto, Wide and Ultra Wide cameras, with the Ultra Wide and Wide cameras benefitting from large apertures. This allows both cameras to gather significantly more light, making for better and faster low-light photography. The Ultra Wide camera also now has auto-focus, and that allows for the sort of macro photography that wasn’t available before.

The Telephoto camera, meanwhile, has seen an increase in optical zoom from 2.5x to 3x compared to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which adds more flexibility to portrait photography. The optical zoom of the camera system as a whole has risen from 5x to 6x, and digital zoom from 12x to 15x.

Video capture resolution can't quite match the S22 Ultra's, as it tops out at 4K@60fps, but you do get the added bonus of Dolby Vision HDR tech, along with the Cinematic mode which lets you change the depth of field while videoing. Changing focus from one person or object to another makes your flicks look much more, well, cinematic, as the name suggests. Though it's worth noting that this is limited to a maximum resolution of 1080p HD, not 4K videos.

Pro snappers will get the most out of these camera improvements on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, but us amateurs will also see the benefit. That's particularly true in low-light conditions, where the Pro Max excels.

Which is best? Well, Samsung has easily trounced the competition in terms of the S22 Ultra’s zoom capabilities. On zoom skills alone, Samsung has achieved new levels of crispness and three-dimensional clarity of objects. Of course, in 2022 a phone's ability to zoom in on a subject is hardly the whole story, but the S22 Ultra's camera system overall is also the most feature packed on a smartphone device yet; perks such as single take (to use a group of different lenses simultaneously), director’s mode, object eraser, remaster and pro mode elevate the photography performance to degrees other smartphones can only dream of. 

Against the iPhone 13 Pro Max, it’s a close battle across the course of our testing – but the clarity of the Ultra’s shot, especially in low light and especially at 3x zoom, is unparalleled and for us, the colour saturation is more natural and benefits from a slightly wider colour palette. 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: screen

When it comes to the size of these two phones, the names say it all: Max and Ultra don't exactly scream small, do they? In terms of pure size, Samsung has the edge here – its 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display just pips the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 6.7-inch Super Retina OLED screen. Dig a little deeper into its specs and the Samsung screen has the marginal upper hand in other ways, too.

The S22 Ultra has a refresh rate that maxes out at 120Hz, but can also scale all the way down to 1Hz. That dynamic scalability does make for seamless adaptability depending on what content is on-screen – a higher refresh rate for games, sports and other fast-moving content, then a much lower refresh rate for static content such as text display and emails. This greater efficiency should optimise the battery life while still reducing blurring, although dependable battery life is one area where we had to mark the S22 Ultra down... 

It also has a 240Hz touch sampling rate while in Game Mode. 

Add to this the Vision Booster (which optimises colour vividness regardless of brightness level), Eye Comfort Shield and a peak brightness of 1750 nits (making it the brightest screen ever to feature in a Samsung Galaxy S phone) and you've got a screen to behold.

In terms of pure specs, the iPhone 13 Pro Max can't compete on paper. Its ProMotion display also has a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, and can scale down – but only as low as 10Hz.

Its OLED is brighter than its predecessor's, but still not a patch on Samsung's. Apple only discusses an average brightness increase (from 800 nits on the 12 Pro Max to 1000 nits) in relation to use of the phone outside – it doesn’t allude to any changes to HDR video peak brightness, which is said to be 1200 nits, as it was last year. Again, that's quite a bit lower than the S22 Ultra's 1750 nits.

However, this is purely on paper. Ask yourself this: will the average user be able to tell the difference between the S22 Ultra's low refresh rate of 1Hz and the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 10Hz? Probably not. After all, what's 9Hz between friends? In our tests, it amounted to very little and we'd consider it a draw between the titans here, both in terms of brightness and a snappy but smooth display when gaming or watching Netflix. 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: specs and features

Now, the crux of the issue. What can these phones actually do? A lot, actually.

First, the S22 Ultra. As you can imagine, it's not short of power, or abilities. It's powered by a 4nm processor, the fastest processor ever on a Galaxy device. According to Samsung, the S22's operating speed is up to twice as fast as the S21's.

It also features Samsung's One UI 4, which features more options for customisation, a wider variety of emojis and GIFs, plus enhanced security and an improved privacy dashboard and Google Duo.

Key to its operation is the S Pen stylus. Its whole user experience has been overhauled to make it slicker than ever. The S Pen hardware has been adapted to reduce the latency as you write on the S22 Ultra's screen, from 9ms to 2.8ms. Writing feels much smoother and more natural, and that's because of an upgrade to Wacom's handwriting component, enhanced by an AI-based coordinate prediction technology. Basically, it is better at understanding your handwriting and can pre-empt what you're trying to write or draw with greater intelligence. There's also an advanced Handwriting to Text feature, boasting a higher recognition rate to transform your rushed scrawl into cleanly typed notes, and it now works in up to 88 languages, which is 12 more than usual. The S Pen inclusion here does not feel gimmicky – it feels embedded in the device's ecosystem and becomes a useful tool across the course of our testing. 

The S22 Ultra works better than ever with other Samsung devices, thanks to its new Collaboration View. This promises seamless syncing between the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the brand new Tab S8 Series tablet. Start sketching in Samsung Notes on your Tab S8, for example, connect to you Galaxy S22 Ultra and you'll be able to change your colour palette, pen width and settings on the smartphone, thus reserving the entire tablet screen for your creation. 

Samsung claims the S22 Ultra is more efficient than its predecessor, thanks to enhanced high throughput and low latency. To explain: data-heavy applications such as streaming in 4K require high throughput, while low latency is fast-becoming a more relevant indicator of performance, since it enables real-time gaming and high-definition video calls as well as setting the stage for AR/VR and edge computing.

Of course, the trade-off for low latency browsing is increased power consumption – but Samsung says it has this covered. In general, low latency services require your device's radio to be active more often and for longer, more battery-draining periods. But that's where Samsung's intelligent software algorithm comes in. In gaming, without said software your phone would need to stay active and ready for as long as you're playing the game, but the Galaxy S22 can analyse the game and power usage (ie. a shoot-out, with long periods of hiding) and make smart decisions about quick screen refreshes and fast responses. Essentially, between all of your fast-paced battles, the AI can detect small time gaps where it can 'rest' the wi-fi radio and conserve energy. With this AI-based software optimisation, Samsung claims gamers can save an average chipset power consumption of 30 per cent, without sacrificing performance. Impressive.

But here's the rub: for all its bold claims, the S22 Ultra has the same 5000mAh battery found in the S21 Ultra. It promises to charge up to 50 per cent in under 20 minutes, but despite the assertions regarding intelligent power saving, we found any increase in battery life from one generation to the next to be negligible. During testing, S22 Ultra lasted for a full day of heavy use, but no more.

Now, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which is also pretty stacked in this department...

For starters, it's powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chip, paired with a 5-core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) for performance that's smoother than butter. That said, it's not noticeably quicker than other high-end iPhones (or smartphones from other manufacturers, for that matter). It's only over time and with the introduction of more demanding games and other apps that the gap in performance might really be felt.

One area that does show great improvement is the battery life. The 12 Pro Max's predecessor was already capable of lasting well over a day of heavy use and, thanks to a larger battery and oodles of hardware and software efficiencies, the 13 Pro Max goes a lot further – about two and a half hours further in general use, and much longer than that with specific activities such as watching streamed videos. 

On the software side, iOS 15 comes as standard, with all the features that entails. For many, it's the most user-friendly operating system out there, nicely balancing quantity of options and customisation with a simple, easy-to-use layout. The latest version, iOS 15.4, which launched on 14th March, lets users unlock their devices using Face ID while wearing a mask – although note the reported battery issue (and how to fix it). 

The 13 Pro Max also supports HDR video, as well as Apple Music lossless (though not the highest Hi-Res Lossless quality) and Dolby Atmos-powered Spatial Audio for dynamic head tracking though a pair of compatible headphones.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs iPhone 13 Pro Max: verdict

So there you have it. Two flagship phones, two mighty fine slabs of 5G mobile joy, two absolute powerhouses from the giants of the phone world. But which is most worthy of a place in your bag – and ultimately, your life?

It's really a question of personal preference. If you want to write and draw on screen, the S22 Ultra is for you. The S Pen stylus slot is a great addition, keeping the pen with you whenever you need it – and the user experience feels deeply embedded thanks to Samsung's updated apps and software. The phone also features Samsung's most advanced camera features to date, with a heavy focus on low-light performance, as well as the ability to save 16-bit RAW files for editing. 

The S22 Ultra's remarkable photography features present the most compelling case yet for abandoning the Apple cart yet – and although we hope that Samsung is fiercely working away behind the scenes to glean a little more stamina out of the battery pack (or feature a completely new one next time around), for overall performance, the Android realm certainly has a new frontrunner. 

But if you prefer Apple's walled garden then the 13 Pro Max is a no-brainer. It's big, bright, powerful and a worthy entrant on our list of best smartphones. The top tier iPhone's audio chops also edge those offered by the flagship Galaxy device overall. Samsung S22 Ultra’s dual-firing speakers (which boast support for Dolby Atmos) offer a meatier and more spacious soundstage than the competition, but when using headphones the iPhone wins in terms of clarity, timing and musical cohesion. That’s not to say the performance is poor from the S22 Ultra (it is still solid and meaty), it just doesn’t hang together quite as well and our music suffers just a little in terms of impetus, drive and energy as a result. 

Apple fans will need no further convincing – and even long-term iPhone devotees may be surprised to learn that the newest flagship iOS device wins in terms of battery life... 

MORE: 

See our pick of the best smartphones 2022: the best phones for music and movies

And these are the best Android phones 2022: Google-powered smartphones for all budgets

Read our extensive back catalogue of Samsung reviews 

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone boasts so many headline-grabbing specs, it’s tough to know which one to lead with.

For example, it is categorically the most powerful Ultra to date thanks to the arrival of a 4nm processor, aka the fastest CPU on a Galaxy device yet, but to Samsung’s avid fan base the fact that it's the first S-series device to feature a built-in S Pen will probably garner more attention, since it effectively merges Samsung’s S line with the now-defunct Note series.

Then there's the "completely different", four-lens camera system that Samsung says delivers the best low-light photography and smoothest video of any phone yet. And that’s before we mention its Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, on the front and back of the device, which Samsung says makes it 12 per cent stronger than its predecessor.

Of course, we're drawn to the 120Hz AMOLED display, which Samsung says can hit a whopping 1750 nits at peak brightness, as well as the built-in Dolby Atmos speakers.

Could Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra finally tempt iOS-lovers into the premium Android realm? And how does it compare to the class-leading Sony Android handset? We’re about to find out. 

Price

As a flagship smartphone, it stands to reason that the Galaxy S22 Ultra should come with a premium price tag. That being said, the starting price of £1149 / $1199 / AU$1849 (for the 128GB model) is at least no higher than that of 2021's S21 Ultra.

It does make the Galaxy S22 Ultra more expensive than the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, which starts at £1049 / $1099 / AU$1849, but it's cheaper than our favourite phone, the Sony Xperia 1 III (£1199 / $1300 / AU$1699).

Design

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is 6.8 inches of AMOLED display, measured on the diagonal. It's the same-sized screen that the S21 Ultra had, but the S22 Ultra is a far more angular beast than its older sibling and the near bezel-less screen has the feel of actually slinking around the device. The handset certainly has corners but, thanks to the curved sides, it feels comfortable rather than brick-like when held in portrait mode. 

The casework is now made from more durable aluminium plus another exclusive: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, on the front and back of the device. Samsung says this makes it 12 per cent stronger than its predecessor and, although our sample is yet to suffer a fall, it certainly feels solid and durable. It's available in Phantom Black, Phantom White and new, sophisticated Green and Burgundy hues, and our black sample feels lustrous and high-end.

In a resolute nod to eco-friendliness and for the first time ever, the phone includes a material derived from fishing nets, but such is the premium feel of the device we would never have guessed. And that's not all: post-consumer materials such as CD cases and water bottles have also been used in small quantities in the phone's components (the inner part of the power and volume keys; the inner speaker module), and all of the S Series packaging has been reduced in volume by 19 per cent since the S21, or 51 per cent compared to the S20.

The S22 Ultra is fuelled by a battery that can go from 0-50 per cent in under 20 minutes, although it’s important to note that this battery has the same 5000mAh rating as that found in the S21 Ultra and, despite bold claims regarding intelligent power saving via features such as low latency browsing and multi-tasking, we found any increase in battery life from one generation to the next to be negligible. During testing, S22 Ultra lasted for a full day of heavy use, but no more.

The S22 is, says Samsung, up to two times faster than the S21 and it certainly feels snappier, especially when writing with the S Pen.

This little click-top pen pops out when you press the tactile button on the far left of the underside of the unit, but you’d be forgiven for missing it since the casework is still so light and thin. A minor issue with the S Pen is that it can be a little awkward to access if you're right-handed – particularly when the USB-C charging cable is plugged in.

Those well versed in using S Pens in the past will happily note that this iteration still boasts neat features such as the ability to take photos by pressing the side button on the stylus, but it's also a technological step forward: the hardware for the Ultra’s S Pen has been adapted to reduce the latency as you write on the screen, from 9ms to 2.8ms. If that sounds like a massive leap in terms of performance, it really is. Using the S Pen on the S22 Ultra feels almost akin to writing on a non-digital surface.

Features

A quick glance at the back of the handset reveals a plethora of new and somewhat protruding lenses that mean the smartphone does rock slightly when placed down on a surface and prodded with a finger or the S Pen. Dust or lint from a pocket does have a habit of collecting around the sharp edges of the lenses too.

The S22 Ultra includes new Adaptive Pixel Tech, allowing the capture of 108MP (Re-mosaic mode) and 12MP (Nona-binning mode) images at the same time to create a more detailed and brighter image. The dual telephoto lenses (both 10MP, one with 3x optical zoom and one with 10x) are also different and promise a crisper zoomed-in image, and the sensor is now re-engineered for optimal performance in low-lighting. 

Samsung has easily trounced the competition in terms of the S22 Ultra’s zoom capabilities. On zoom skills alone, Samsung has achieved new levels of crispness and three-dimensional clarity of objects. But the camera system overall is also the most feature packed on a smartphone device yet; perks such as single take (to use a group of different lenses simultaneously), director’s mode, object eraser, remaster and pro mode elevate the photography performance to degrees other smartphones can only dream of. 

The Ultra now has a 108MP sensor with pixels that are 1.23 times brighter than those of the S21 Ultra. This bigger, higher-resolution sensor, combined with Samsung's Multi-Frame Processing tech, blends multi-exposure frames for levelled-up night photography that actually processes four times more data to sharpen your images. 

When pitted against the S21 Ultra, taking a snap zoomed in at 23x on each, the S22 reveals an image that pops with greater crispness, breadth and depth of colour, even in natural light. Against the iPhone 13 Pro Max, at 3x zoom, it’s a closer battle, but the clarity of the Ultra’s shot, especially when zooming in, is unparalleled and for us, the colour saturation is more natural and benefits from a slightly wider colour palette.

Picture

The near bezel-free screen of the S22 Ultra is a joy to behold when watching TV or video content. We stream Jacob and Katie Schwarz’s Costa Rican Wildlife in 4K on YouTube and find the picture quality impossible to beat at this point in time. Compare it to the Award-winning Sony Xperia 1 III, and the screen on the Sony phone feels slightly blue-ish in terms of colour representation, although it is similarly crisp during action scenes. Ripples of water pop with marginally greater clarity, depth and movement on the S22 Ultra in a very natural colour palette, although for crisp edges and snappy processing it is a closely run race. 

You might expect the curvature of the Ultra’s screen to be distracting and reflect light at the top edge as you tilt it towards you, but this isn’t the case – and the 19.3:9 aspect ratio means Costa Rican Wildlife naturally fills the screen, whereas the Sony's 21:9 ratio means choosing between cropping parts of the picture or having black bars. Of course, with more cinematically presented movies or TV shows that are presented in a wider aspect ratio, the situation is reversed.

Watch The Tourist, downloaded from BBC iPlayer, and the 120Hz refresh rate (which can scale down to 1Hz for minimal blurring using an AI software algorithm) allows the Australian outback to glide past smoothly and virtually devoid of jitter on the Samsung smartphone, which continues to present one of the most immersive and engaging displays we’ve seen to date on a flagship handset.

Sound

Where the Sony Xperia 1 III includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, the Samsung S22 Ultra has only a USB-C port so, as with the iPhone 13 Pro Max (which features Apple’s proprietary Lightning port), you need to use a dongle in order to connect a pair of wired headphones.

We test the audio chops of all three smartphones by streaming 1 by the Beatles in Spatial Audio via Apple Music and find the Sony device edges it for musical cohesion, clarity and timing across the frequencies. That’s not to say the performance is poor from the S22 Ultra – it just doesn’t hang together quite as well and our music suffers just a little in terms of impetus, drive and energy as a result. 

When streaming REM’s Crush With Eyeliner on Tidal, our minor issues with musical strands feeling a little loose rather than regimented (or at least as firmly held in check as the band intended) persists, but it’s still an engaging and spacious performance overall. 

When listening without headphones, the Samsung S22 Ultra’s dual-firing speakers (which boast support for Dolby Atmos) offer a meatier and more spacious soundstage than the competition, however. There’s no dynamic haptic vibration option as found in Sony’s Xperia 1 III, but we don’t miss it. Overall, the Samsung S22 Ultra offers a louder sound from the onboard speaker set-up that, while probably expected owing to the screen size, is impressive. 

Verdict

The Samsung S22 Ultra’s superior user experience is now aided by slick and helpful S Pen support which, when added to its especially vibrant, immersive display, solid sound and remarkable photography features presents the most compelling case yet for abandoning the Apple cart – and although we hope that Samsung is fiercely working away behind the scenes to glean a little more stamina out of the battery pack (or feature a completely new one next time around), for overall performance, the Android realm certainly has a new frontrunner. 

SCORES

• Screen 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max

Also consider the Sony Xperia 1 III

Or the previous model, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

These are the best smartphones for music and movies

Just because you happen to listen to the majority of your music while you're on the go, doesn't mean you need to sacrifice sound quality.

Of course, for convenience's sake, you could pair a smartphone with a pair of the best wireless earbuds, but there are compromises with that particular set-up, not least with the medium of Bluetooth.

However, if you're willing to add a couple of different components to the equation (keeping a smartphone as the foundation) you can still build a system that's portable enough not to trip you up but one that also doesn't sacrifice anything in the way of performance.

Allow us to explain...

• How to build the perfect hi-fi system

The system

Smartphone: Sony Xperia 1 III (£1199, $1300)
DAC: Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt (£269, $300)
Headphones: Austrian Audio Hi-x50 (£199, $299)

Total: £1667 / $1899

Smartphone: Sony Xperia 1 III

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can’t get top quality sound from a smartphone. Get the components right, and there is a decent case to be made for a phone and a pair of headphones standing up very well as a hi-fi system. Give those two a bit of a polish with a thumb-drive sized DAC, though, and you’re in for a real treat.

It’s clear that a decent standalone personal music player from the likes of Astell & Kern or Cowon, say, will perform a bit better – but having one of those means carrying an extra, relatively bulky, handset; and this combination will provide most of a standalone player’s hi-fi capabilities in one neat package. And, as we all carry a smartphone around with us nowadays (we do all carry a smartphone around with us nowadays, don’t we?), the addition of a Dragonfly and a decent pair of headphones is a no-brainer for all but the über-serious music obsessive. 

It seems Sony is on a hot streak when it comes to smartphones. The Xperia 1 III is the company’s latest flagship phone and while certainly falling in the ‘evolution rather than revolution’ category compared with its predecessor, is another excellent handset that is well worth considering if audio and video performance are key factors for you when choosing a mobile.

Crucially for us, Sony has eked out yet more audio and video performance from the new handset over the Xperia 1 II, which gives us even more reason to recommend it over what was already an Award-winning smartphone. Comparing the two phones, we’d be more than happy to recommend either based on their sound performance but we are impressed to hear there are marginal gains with the new model.

Bass notes sound a little tighter, meaning more control and agility, and it’s clear the Xperia is capable of dynamics to rival any phone on the market – and, indeed, plenty of dedicated hi-res players.

It’s not our primary point of concern for this particular feature, of course, but the world’s first 4K 120Hz phone screen sounds good on paper and it looks even better in reality. The refresh rate really does make scrolling through anything that much smoother, but it really comes into its own when playing games or watching video content. The Xperia 1 III refuses to ramp up the colours to lure your eyes, instead sticking steadfastly to offering up images that are remarkably faithful. Throw in bags of detail, smooth motion and careful handling of black levels and skin tones, and we think it will be hard to beat the video performance on offer here. Which, of course, is something we could never say about a personal music player.

DAC: Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt

The Sony is a lovely music player in its own right; but we still believe it is well worth adding AudioQuest’s DragonFly Cobalt digital to analogue converter. The DAC backs up its not inconsiderable asking price with the clearest, tidiest and most dynamic presentation we’ve heard from a unit this small. 

It begins with a new, more advanced ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip, with which AudioQuest promises a clearer and more natural sound than from the older Dragonfly Red, while the PIC32MX274 microprocessor draws less current and increases processing speed by 33 per cent. Improved power supply filtering, meanwhile, is said to increase immunity to wi-fi, Bluetooth and cellular noise.

The DAC’s LED will shine one of six colours to indicate sampling rate: red for standby, green for 44.1kHz, blue for 48kHz, yellow for 88.2 kHz, light blue for 96kHz or purple when decoding MQA. And the Cobalt does wonders in cleaning up performance, no matter what kind of file we feed it or whether it’s streaming from YouTube, Spotify, Tidal or playing from our own hi-res library.

Lines are indelibly drawn round the edges of each instrument, with granular detail on offer to complement the cleanliness and military precision. The Cobalt isn’t necessarily concerned with polishing your music, only the lens through which it can be seen: bedroom recordings can still sound intimately lo-fi, purposefully screeching treble remains uncensored and grisly riffs still drag their knuckles along the floor.

You could spend your time analysing the music if you like – the Cobalt makes that easy with its wide-open soundstage and impressive clarity – but AudioQuest has not lost itself entirely in the detail, still offering a keen sense of rhythm and expressive dynamic range. In both senses there is measurable progress over the cheaper, older versions of the Dragonfly. Timing is greatly improved, with beats locking in like puzzle pieces. The Cobalt’s hard work is also heard as it belts out grand dynamic shifts before donning its reading glasses to contour those more diminutive quivers. Put simply, the DragonFly Cobalt increases drive and dynamics, and takes things up to another level for a not unreasonable amount of money.

Headphones: Austrian Audio Hi-X50

Which brings us to the third and final piece of this portable hi-fi puzzle. Austrian Audio is a fairly new company, but the people behind it are ex-AKG employees and some of the most experienced in the industry. That maturity shines through in the Hi-X50 on-ears. The headband structure is nicely designed and sturdy with it. The extensive use of metal in the headband, folding hinges and mounting brackets gives these cans an aura of quality lacking in more plasticky rivals. It helps that components prone to wear and tear, such as the headband cushioning and memory foam earpads, can be easily replaced, too.

These headphones are nominally for home listening, as the supplied three-metre cable suggests; but you can also buy a shorter 1.2m cable for listening out and about. And we believe you should do just that, despite the ‘professional’ tag these headphones are saddled with. There’s certainly nothing we found during testing or in the specifications to suggest that price-compatible portables will have any issue here – unless you count the Hi-X50’s forthright nature, that is.

These headphones won’t suffer fools gladly: if your source or the recording is bright or aggressive, these cans won’t sweeten the results. They’re ruthless but also pretty balanced on the whole, and that’s evidence of the company’s studio roots coming to the fore. 

In this system, with the Sony smartphone and AudioQuest DAC doing sterling work, the Austrian Audio Hi-X50 truly prove their worth. We listen to a range of music, and these headphones never miss a beat. They resolve lots of detail and manage to organise it into a musically cohesive presentation. It’s a pretty even-handed sound, without much in the way of undue emphasis on any part of the frequency range.

Unlike the slightly more expensive and open-backed Grado SR325e, these headphones aren’t an overtly exciting listen. Mostly, they simply reproduce the signal they’re given. While there’s a tendency to favour analysis over enthusiasm, it’s never taken far enough to be called unemotional or clinical. If you want to hear deep into the recording and track subtle instrumental strands, these cans do it better than almost anything else we’ve heard at this level (certainly if you stick to closed-back rivals – which, if you are listening out and about, we really recommend you do).

At this price, there’s little to criticise when it comes to dynamic expression and low-frequency punch either. The Hi-X50 simply get on with the job with little fuss.

Verdict

Indeed, 'little fuss' neatly sums this whole portable system up. These three impressive pieces of audio equipment combine together beautifully to create a revealing, dynamic system that will bring many hours of musical enjoyment.

MORE:

How to build the perfect hi-fi system

Here are the best DACs 2022

Best smartphones for music

Best over-ear headphones

It seems Sony is getting back into the swing of things when it comes to smartphones. The Sony Xperia 1 III is the company’s latest flagship phone and while certainly falling in the evolution rather than revolution category compared to its predecessor, is another excellent handset that is well worth considering if audio and video performance are key factors for you when choosing a mobile.

We loved the last-gen Xperia 1 II but here the design has been tweaked, the battery boosted, the 4K display now has a 120Hz refresh rate and there’s an upgraded chipset and GPU. Photography fans will be pleased by the inclusion of a periscope lens, too. 

But crucially for us, Sony has eked out yet more performance from the Xperia 1 III screen and 3.5mm headphone jack (wireless audio is of course an option), which gives us even more reason to recommend it over what was already an Award-winning smartphone.

Design

Put on the spot and asked to identify the Xperia 1 III next to the Xperia 1 II… we’d be sweating. The same 6.5-inch OLED screen and 21:9 aspect ratio ensures once again this feels like a long, slender phone compared to the squatter, 16:9 form that is most common.

Run your eye over the specs and you’ll see it’s ever so slightly thicker and ever so slightly heavier but we’re talking millimetres (this is likely due to the larger battery), and there is Gorilla Glass Victus instead of Gorilla Glass 6 on the front panel. This should decrease still further your chances of scratching the screen, though no doubt it’s more than possible if you try hard enough.

Turn the phones over and the change is more (or should that be less?) glaring, with the previous generation’s glossy finish being replaced by an anti-reflective frosted treatment. This finish helps to make grubby fingerprints a less discernible issue and should be similarly more forgiving when it comes to scratches.

Features

Sony has been shipping its flagship phones with 4K resolution screens since 2015 and the Xperia 1 III is no different. The company remains an outlier in this respect so if you want a 4K display in your hand, your quest for a new phone begins and ends here. 

It’s a 6.5-inch OLED, 21:9 aspect ratio screen, which is designed to maximise your enjoyment of movies “as the creator intended”. There’s a Creator Mode to prove it, as seen on the previous generation. The 1644 x 3840 pixel resolution (643ppi) may be the same but you do now get the benefit of 4K at 60Hz and full HD at 120Hz. In fact, 4K is possible at 120Hz on certain apps. The 120Hz refresh rate screen also helps smooth out scrolling and general navigation around the interface.

The chipset has been upgraded to the Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G, a new Adreno 660 GPU, and 8GB of RAM for speedy operation comparable with any phone on the market. There’s a bigger, 4500mAh battery inside, an increase on the 4000mAh in last year's model.

There’s fast-charging for 50 per cent power in 30 minutes and support for wireless charging too.

The Xperia 1 III has a triple camera set-up with that new 12MP f/2.3 telephoto lens. There’s also a 12MP f/1.7 standard lens, 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2 and an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera. Sony borrows plenty of technology from its Alpha camera range, with that telephoto set-up offering 2.9x and 4.4x zoom magnifications and optical image stabilisation. 

Crucially, after all those specs, the point and shoot method works just as well thanks to a simple Auto mode that turns out natural, faithful images. Some might miss a Night Mode but low-light photos again prefer to reveal what the naked eye actually saw rather than an artificially-enhanced, smartphone’s representation. No bad thing in our book.

Sound

We’re used to smartphones making incremental improvements; a new model every year, as is the now-standard cycle, means serious upgrades across the board can be hard. This phone’s predecessor delivered Award-winning audio and video performance so any small upgrade would be a bonus. And that’s what we’ve got.

Listening to the Xperia 1 III using Tidal through Beyerdynamic T1 Mk III headphones we’re treated to a sonic performance that manages to deliver a little more punch and a little more detail compared to its predecessor. Comparing the two phones we’d be more than happy to recommend either based on their sound performance but we’re impressed to hear there are marginal gains with the new model.

Bass notes sound a little tighter, meaning more control and agility, and helping tracks such as New Ferrari by Surprise Chef sound like they’re in a particularly good mood. Listening to Black Rainbow by Koreless, the brooding sense of tension is well conveyed and it’s clear the Xperia is capable of dynamics to rival any phone on the market and plenty of dedicated hi-res players.

As well as a wired connection via the headphone jack you can use Sony’s LDAC technology, which allows for hi-res audio transmission and aims to maximise performance over Bluetooth. There’s also support for Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos. It’s an all-round entertainer.

Screen

Talking of entertainment, that’s what it’s all about when it comes to the 4K screen. The world’s first 4K 120Hz phone screen sounds good on paper and it looks even better in reality. The refresh rate really does make scrolling through, well, anything, that much smoother but of course it really comes into its own when playing games or watching video content.

The shape of the phone takes a little getting used to for day to day use but makes perfect sense when using the screen in landscape mode. Sony has really doubled-down on delivering a natural, realistic “as the director intended” image. The 21:9 screen automatically shows you the content in the format it was shot rather than forcing it to fit, though there’s a ‘zoom to fit’ mode if you prefer.

Watching 4K video on YouTube, the Xperia 1 III refuses to ramp up the colours to lure your eyes, instead sticking steadfastly to offering up images that are faithful. Skies are blue, roses are red – and suddenly the previous generation, which we loved, does look to have over-cooked some of the bright colours by comparison. 

Throw in bags of detail, smooth motion and careful handling of black levels and skin tones, and we think it will be hard to beat the video performance on offer here.

Verdict 

It should be no surprise that Sony is capable of making excellent smartphones. The company knows more than a thing or two about audio devices, has plenty of pedigree when it comes to displays, and has a fine reputation when it comes to cameras. And the Xperia 1 III does the job of being more than the sum of those inherently good parts. 

While some of the specs may be overkill, and the shape might take a little getting used to, there’s no denying it will be hard to beat this phone when it comes to audio and video excellence.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Features 5
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our round up of the Best smartphones 2021

Read our Samsung Galaxy S21 review

Read our iPhone 12 Pro Max review

Read our Sony Xperia 5 II review

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is finally here. Having had our hands on the Galaxy S4 at the Samsung launch event last month, we've been itching to get the new flagship smartphone in for a full review. Expectations are high.

Building on the brilliant Samsung Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy S4 (or Galaxy SIV if you prefer) promises performance upgrades all over – with a larger 5in screen; slimmer and lighter build; a more powerful 1.9GHz quad-core processor; a host of connectivity including 4G and NFC; and new features such as Smart Scroll and Air View, which let you control your smartphone in intuitive new ways.

That’s the plan, at least – but with the Samsung Galaxy S4 has Samsung done enough to retain its place at the top of the smartphone review tree?

HANDS ON: Samsung Galaxy S5 review

Build and design

A glowing Galaxy S3 review last year saw it take our Best Smartphone Award over Apple’s flagship iPhone 5, partly due to the Maps debacle, and the new Galaxy S4 should of course be an improvement.

But other manufacturers have put forward their new flagship handsets since then, and the S4 has some stiff competition from the likes of the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z – both have recently received enthusiastic five-star reviews in this magazine.

So how does the Samsung Galaxy S4 stack up against the new contenders? Let’s dive straight in.

We’ll confirm what we initially thought in our brief hands-on review: the Galaxy S4’s slimmer and lighter build certainly looks and feels more luxurious than the S3.

Samsung is determined to stick with the S3’s plastic casing while rivals have moved on to sturdier metal or glass coverings, but it’s sharpened some of the curve and gained a mottled effect – all of these add up to give the S4 a more mature and structured feel compared to the S3. You can choose between two finishes, too: ‘black mist’ or ‘white frost’. So, black or white, then…

If you really can't get on with that plastic casing, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which also has a bigger, 5.7 inch screen, has a soft textured back cover complete with subtle stitching.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S4 (below, on the left) has a 5in screen compared with the S3’s 4.8in display, but it’s packed into the same length body. This gives the impression of a bigger phone, but it's more comfortable to hold – partly due to the 3g reduction in weight over its forebear.

The narrower bezel means you can accidentally brush against the very responsive back and menu touch keys at the bottom edges of the phone, though, so you’ll need to be careful when you hold it. For example, when you hold the phone when watching a video in landscape mode.

Screen

Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 3 screen promises improved damage and scratch resistance. We had the S4 (carefully) knocking about in our pockets and bags for a good few days and the company’s Native Damage Resistance tech stood up to the test, with no discernable scratches on the front or back.

Samsung has also given the S4 a couple of other fascia tweaks (including rearranged top sensors and back camera/flash placements) but most noticeably, the volume and power bars on either edge of the phone have been given a polish and look sleeker.

However, they now sit at equal positions on either side of the phone – which means you run the risk of accidentally hitting the power button when changing the volume with one hand.

Display

The jewel in the new Samsung Galaxy S4’s crown is its 5in Full HD Super AMOLED screen. It’s a dazzling display when turned on, with the 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution packing in 441 pixels per inch (ppi).

By comparison the Apple iPhone 5 has a mere 326ppi, while Sony Xperia Z comes in at 443ppi. The HTC One is currently winning this game at 468ppi. Print magazines, to give you a comparison, have a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi); tech is clearly moving on…

So while the S4’s screen might not quite top the smartphone screen charts, it’s still a massive step up from the S3’s 1280 x 720, 306ppi display – and it’s noticeable, too.

Place the two side by side and the S4’s display bursts with vibrancy; it looks exciting and really commands your attention. Pay close attention to the app icons and you’ll see that the S4 delivers super-clean and smooth edges, making the S3 look blurred and pixelated in comparison. We are suitably impressed.

There is a hint of over-saturation to the colours, but it’s in keeping with the general bright and colourful character of Samsung’s current crop of displays. However, there are options to change the Screen Mode in the S4’s systems menu should you wish.

Performance, storage and connectivity

The Adapt Display option optimises the screen performance, but to our eyes it was too subtle a difference from the Standard mode to make any difference. We stayed clear of Dynamic; it over-exaggerates the colour and contrast levels even further. Movie mode dials things down, but you pay the price in terms of punch and vividness. The S4’s display is subtler and more detailed than the S3’s, though, so we were happy to keep it on Standard.

Regardless of what we did, though, rival smartphones such as the HTC One and iPhone 5 do offer a more neutral colour balance.

The S4 runs on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) – the latest version of the Android OS. At the time of writing the Galaxy S4 and the Google Nexus 4 are the only Android smartphones to run with this update – the flagship HTC and Sony models are currently running version 4.1.2, with official updates probably (though not definitely) on the horizon. (Some phones could skip to Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.)

Combined with this Android software is a 1.9GHz quad-core processor. Now it's worth clarifying that there are two versions of the Samsung Galaxy S4. For the UK, Europe and the US, we have a Galaxy S4 with the 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor. The rest of the world gets an Exynos 5 octa-core processsor.

We also understand that the two models may well have different DACs, with possibly only the international version having the Wolfson Micro WM5102 chip and the Galaxy S4 released in the UK sporting a more typical Qualcomm DAC. We're looking to confirm this with Samsung and Wolfson, and ultimately bring you a review of the Exynos 5 octa-core model S4. Naturally, the two different Samsung Galaxy S4 phones may deliver different sound quality.

There's a 2600mAh battery inside the S4. With the 5in display running on full brightness and with all smart features turned on, you will zap your battery life, but if you switch the phone into Power Saving mode, it’s likely to last about a full day’s worth of multi-tasking with apps, games, music and videos.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is currently available as a 16GB model, with 32GB and 64GB versions in the pipeline. Though with a SIM-free price tag on the 16GB Galaxy S3 of around £600, the larger models won't be cheap.

There is also the option of expanding the storage up to a further 64GB with an SD card – great news if you want to carry a large multimedia library around with you.

The 16GB Sony Xperia Z offers a microSD card slot for adding up to 32GB extra, while in the case of the HTC One and all off Apple’s phones, you’re stuck with what you’re given in the first place.

You’re also spoilt for choice when it comes to keeping the Samsung Galaxy S4 connected. Along with standard wi-fi, 3G and HSPA+ connectivity, the S4 is a 4G LTE handset, with contracts available on the EE 4GEE network in the UK priced from £41 per month. The S4 handset itself will cost you around £600 SIM free, but you can get it free on various contract deals with O2, 3G, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange.

Tested against a 3G network, a 4G connection certainly downloads apps and loads videos much faster. It’ll tax the battery, of course, but it’s worth investing in if you’re into streaming from services such as BBC iPlayer. In fact, the S4 is a zippier experience in general compared to the S3 when it comes to downloads.

The Galaxy S4 can also share media with other devices using S-Beam and NFC (near-field communication) technology, and elsewhere there’s Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX for streaming music, the obligatory GPS, and even an infra-red LED that can be used to control TVs.

Physical connections include a 3.5mm headphone input on top, and the standard micro USB charging port at the bottom – earphones and a micro-USB-to-USB charging cable are both supplied.

Interface

If you’re familiar with Samsung smartphones, you’ll find yourself zipping through the Samsung Galaxy S4’s TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 interface in no time. It’s a bright and colourful thing, and this updated version builds on the S3’s with a couple of tweaks to enhance the performance.

These include a pull-out panel on the left of the screen for quick links to apps; some rearranged settings options; and, most useful of all, a pull-down status menu that neatly displays connections, smart features and the like.

Some might find Samsung’s interface a bit busy on top of the stock Android OS, however. There’s scope to customise apps and widgets across the rotating carousel of panels, but the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and Google Nexus 4 all offer simpler and more intuitive experiences that are less likely to see you reaching for the manual.

Interestingly, Google has announced plans to sell a Google edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4, offering the S4 with the stock Android OS. Promising a Nexus style appearance and performance, and the latest Android updates, the Google Galaxy S4 could be an option for those who prefer a simpler operating system.

Rather surprisingly, we found the Samsung Galaxy S4 beset by quite a few lag issues and operational glitches the more we used it. The quad-core processor and updated software certainly work hard to keep the experience as smooth as possible, but there are hiccups.

Stuttering or delayed reactions to animations, switching between apps or even the volume bar when playing songs in Spotify are all noticeable on the S4 – so if, like us, you’re prone to running multiple apps on your phone, then the less-than-smooth operation will catch your attention.

The HTC One and Google Nexus 4, meanwhile, are responsive and smooth, so we’re disappointed by these lag issues – it’s not something we’d expect to see at this level. At the time of writing we were assured that our review sample was installed with the latest firmware updates – this could be something that will be ironed out in time. You can check for manual software updates whenever you so choose.

Features

Along with Android’s standard Google Play store and apps, Samsung is pushing its own Samsung Apps in the revamped Samsung Hub, where you can buy music, videos, games, books and learning apps in their own separate stores.

It’s handy if you want more choice and options or if you want to keep all your purchases Samsung-based, but it’s an extra account if you’re already signed up with Google. Most people would rather settle for the one account, we'd imagine.

One of the Galaxy S4’s biggest draws – apart from that crisp screen – has to be its exciting new features: the hands free Air View and Air Gesture controls, and the eye-tracking Smart Pause and Smart Scroll (click for videos of the features in action).

With Air Gesture, you can wave your hand above the phone in up and down motions to scroll through a website, flick through photos or even answer phone calls – a good option if your hands are dirty and you don’t want to smudge the screen.

Smart Scroll lets you move through web pages by tilting either the device or your head just slightly. It’s a quirky feature and can be just a bit too sensitive – you’ll have to tilt your head or the S4 in tiny, precise movements or you’ll be scrolling all over the place.

VIDEO: Samsung Galaxy S4 features in action

The same goes for Air Gesture: it’s responsive and fun to use, but can pick up unintentional hand movements. Smart Pause was the most frustrating – it tended to pause while we were looking at the screen, instead of pausing when we looked away.

One feature we quite liked is Air View – hover your finger over a photo album preview its contents, to scroll through the progress bar when playing a video, or to magnify parts of web pages.

These features don’t work with all apps so it’s worth experimenting. For instance, we found that we could use Air View in the non-Samsung Flipboard app: it lets you preview the top three stories in your saved magazine without having to select a tile.

A neat little fillip is Quick Glance, which offers a quick look at your email notifications and missed calls without having to pick up the phone or turn the screen on. All you have to do is wave your hand over the phone and the screen comes to life with the latest notifications, time and battery life.

It’s great to see Samsung being adventurous with these new features and pushing forward new innovations – but they are a bit hit and miss. You can pick and choose which ones you want to keep switched on, though, which can help avoid unwanted interface surprises as well as conserving battery life.

Sound quality

Smartphones have fast become one of the main music sources, whether it’s listening to music on the move or using them to play music at home – so sound quality is more important than ever.

Samsung includes a pair of earphones with inline controls and a mic, and three different sized pairs of ear-tips. They fit comfortably, but if you’re serious about your music quality, opt for a pair of upgrade headphones. We'd suggest the SoundMagic E10 (£35), the Award-winning Beyerdynamic DTX 101iE (£65), MMX 101iE in-ears (£100), or the portable on-ear AKG K451s (which we’ve seen for around £55).

Whichever headphones you use, though, the Samsung Galaxy S4 sound quality still fails to excite.

Play Paradise Circus by Massive Attack and while the individual instruments and vocals are direct and sound strong, the overall rhythm lacks precision and drive, with bass and drum beats sounding flat and rather dull. Notes don’t quite gel cohesively either, and timing is short of being snappy, which isn’t conducive to foot-tappage.

The Galaxy S4’s poor audio performance is all the more apparent when it’s compared with its rivals. Apple still wins in the sound stakes, with the iPhone 5 delivering subtle detail, tight and snappy rhythms, and notes that start and stop with precision. It’s definitely the most entertaining experience of the current crop of smartphones.

Sony’s Xperia Z and Google’s Nexus 4 join Apple on the podium with clear and sharp detail, while the HTC One offers a warmer sound without robbing the music of its vibrancy.

Another new Samsung Galaxy S4 feature is Group Play, which allows you to connect two Galaxy S4s to create a ‘stereo effect’, or join up several S4s for a surround-sound effect when playing music between friends. Of course, this does depend on your friends owning a shiny new Galaxy S4 as well…

But ultimately on sound quality, placed next to its competition, the S4 sounds rather uninspiring – and we’re surprised at how low it comes on the scale of smartphone sound experience.

And before you think we’ve forgotten that a smartphone is still a phone, we of course tested out the call quality in our office. Voices sounded loud on the S4, if a little bit on the fuzzy side when it comes to detail, and we heard rather too much background noise from the other end too.

Picture

We’ve ooh’d and aah’d over the Samsung Galaxy S4’s vibrant display already, but how will it fare when it comes to picture quality on videos, photos and text?

Play some TV shows on BBC iPlayer – we chose Doctor Who, MasterChef and EastEnders – and the Samsung displays bold colours, with deep and luscious black levels. These look particularly exciting when playing games: Angry Birds in Space looks great on the big screen, and wasn’t lumbered with any lag issues.

With videos, there’s a warm touch to the overall colour palette that does add a nice glow to skin tones and during daylight scenes, but it can also lend a tad too much richness to scenes that demand a more natural palette.

Don’t get us wrong – it’s an exciting picture to watch, but if it’s natural subtlety you crave, you will be better served elsewhere.

Things take a dip when it comes to white levels – the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a decidedly yellow tinge to its whites, even with brightness on full, which is all the more apparent with text-heavy pages such as websites, Facebook, Spotify playlists or Twitter.

Pull up similar pages and apps on rival handsets such as the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and the iPhone 5, and all offer brighter, cleaner and truer whites than the S4.

The HTC has the advantage of significantly more pixels on a slightly smaller screen, but it doesn’t change the fact that it performs better when it comes to contrast levels and showing more detail in shadows when watching videos.

The Sony and HTC also have crisper edges around letters compared with the Samsung Galaxy S4. While the Sony Xperia Z suffers from poor viewing angles, the S4 fares much better and is on a par with the HTC One and iPhone 5.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S4 camera features a 13MP lens with an LED flash on the back, plus a 2MP front-facing camera. The rear camera can also record Full HD 1080p videos.

The Galaxy S4’s camera app boasts a couple of new features, such as Dual Shot to take pictures using both the front and back cameras; Sound & Shot, which includes a nine-second sound clip with the picture; and the Animated Photo option to make animated GIFs.

There’s scope to fiddle with lens and flash settings too, as well as editing pictures and adding effects later. (The following comparison shots show the Samsung Galaxy 4 on the left and HTC One on the right)

Camera

Some of the modes are more useful than others, but regardless the camera performs particularly well in daylight and the zoom is great (although the warm colour palette is once again apparent, with pictures taken both indoors and outdoors looking slightly oversaturated).

Video playback could be a touch smoother, too. Similar shots taken with HTC One, meanwhile, show a more natural representation with crisper detail than the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The shutter effect is very subtle, so we’d turn on the haptic feedback (which vibrates the phone as you press on-screen buttons) for reassurance.

And if you hate to sully your screen with fingerprints, you can use voice control to take photos. Say “smile”, “capture”, or (our personal favourite) “cheese” to take photos instantly.

Verdict

Well, this was certainly a surprise. With expectations understandably high, we can’t help but be disappointed by the ups and downs of the Samsung Galaxy S4's performance under the review microsope.

On one hand, it’s an all-round improvement over the Award-winning Galaxy S3 – but we have to take into account the new rival smartphones that have since popped up and delivered stellar performances all around to deserve their five-star ratings.

The fiercest competition comes from the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z – both of which pip the S4 when it comes to overall picture quality and a smoother user experience, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is still the one to beat when it comes to sound.

We’ve no doubt that existing Samsung users will be hugely attracted to the S4 – if you’re looking to upgrade from the S3 or S2, the company’s new flagship is more powerful and comes with all the benefits of nifty new features and 4G connectivity.

But we can’t ignore the performance issues – so if you’re looking for the best overall smartphone, there are alternatives that deliver a much more impressive and intuitive experience.

We’ll be putting all the major players together in the ring for a huge nine-way Supertest ding-dong in our July issue, on sale June 5^th, so stay tuned for the big verdict – but for a sneak preview check out our video preview comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One, iPhone 5 and Sony Xperia Z...

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