Rumours are beginning to circulate about what we could see when Sony pulls back the covers on its latest flagship phone – the Xperia 1 V. Here’s all the news and leaks we’ve gathered so far about what could be a very special device.

When will the Sony Xperia 1 V be released?

There’s no official announcement from Sony at the time of writing, but several rumours suggest it may be revealed at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, which runs from 27 Feb to 2 Mar 2023. If this is true, then we don’t have long to wait.

Looking at the past debuts of Sony’s Xperia flagships does suggest that while the device might be announced, it could be several months before you can get one in your hands.

Here’s when the previous generations launched, bearing in mind that several were announced months beforehand:

Sony Xperia 1 IV: June 2022Sony Xperia 1 III: August 2021Sony Xperia 1 II: May 2020Sony Xperia 1: May 2019

As you can see, the company tends to wait until summer before making the phones available, so we think it’s likely this happens with the Xperia 1 V.

How much will the Sony Xperia 1 V cost?

As this will be a modern flagship, and a Sony one at that, you can be pretty sure that the price tag will be high. As a guide, here’s the launch prices for the previous models:

Sony Xperia 1 IV: $1,599/£1,299Sony Xperia 1 III: $1,299£1,199Sony Xperia 1 II: $1,199/£1,099Sony Xperia 1: $949/£849

The Xperia 1 IV price is a little deceptive, as the UK and European market versions came with 256GB of storage, while the North American variant doubled it to 512GB – hence the disparity.

Either way, the prices for technology have been going up over the past few years, as the effects of Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to cause disruption in the manufacturing and distribution areas of production. We can’t see Sony cutting the asking price of its flagship in 2023, so expect similar figures to that of the Sony Xperia 1 IV.

What features will we see in the Sony Xperia 1 V?

While solid facts are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, we have come across images and leaks from sources that can give us a clue as to what might appear in the Xperia 1 V.

Design

In terms of design, it seems that Sony will follow the pattern laid down by the Xperia 1 IV (and the last few models before that).

We’ve seen an image online that claims to be the rear panel for the new device, which was closely followed by rendered images from @OnLeaks and GreenSmartPhones that show an aesthetic hardly altered from the previous model.  

The rear panel remain home to a triple-camera array, although there could be some upgrades to the sensors. The tall, slim construction stays, but some rumours suggest the new device could be slimmed down this year.

In the renders you can see the same button layout, headphone jack and USB-C ports that should adorn the reported 161.0 x 69.3 x 8.5 mm frame, which is indeed a little shorter and thinner than the previous generation. If that’s the case, then we hope Sony has addressed the heating/cooling issues with the Xperia 1 IV that meant it could get quite toasty in the hand.

Here’s a video that accompanied the images:

Otherwise, it should sport the same sized 6.5-inch 4K OLED display with its 21:9 aspect ratio, albeit it with the potential upgrade to a full LTPO panel that can go from 1-120Hz rather than the more limited scaling available on its predecessor.  

One change mentioned is a slightly higher camera bump which Sony will alleviate by giving it bevelled edges to appear less prominent.

Processor and memory

Sony rarely holds back on its flagships, and the Xperia 1 V is expected to come fitted with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Perhaps more impressively, rumours are saying that the 12GB of RAM from the Xperia 1 IV will be upgraded to a whopping 16GB in the Xperia 1 V.

Cameras

Cameras are an area that always gets some serious attention from Sony when designing its smartphones, and the upcoming model looks likely to continue this trend. While the Xperia 1 V seems set to get a similar triple-camera array to its predecessor, there should be some upgrades included.

NotebookCheck reports that the main shooter will go from a 1/1.7-inch 12Mp sensor to a bigger 1/1.28 12Mp sensor. But it also states that a CMOS sensor of that size and pixel count doesn’t currently exist, so it could be a new one or an erroneous rumour. The other two cameras are thought to be in line for upgraded sensors, while the variable zoom introduced on the Xperia 1 IV could be refined from its current 85mm-125mm to 70mm-105mm.

The Greensmartphones report also states that the 12Mp ultrawide camera from the Xperia 1 IV will be upgraded to a 48Mp sensor in the new model.

Aside from these changes, it looks likely that everything will be quite close to the specs found on the Xperia 1 IV, including a 5000mAh battery, embedded fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, and an IP68 waterproof rating.

That’s all we know for now, but check back regularly as we will updating this article as more details come to light.

Until then, you can check out our current favourites in our roundups of the best smartphones and best Sony smartphones.

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