Sony Xperia 1 V is beautifully finished, fits well in the hand, and has sharp edges
I bought the Xperia 1 V 30 hours ago and still sit and admire it because Sony is getting more beautiful and refined. I used to praise Sony’s flagship a few years ago, then I stopped using Sony phones for a few years…
Now that I hold it again, I see that Sony still makes it very beautiful, or even more beautiful while most of the other smartphones I use have tried their best but still look bland compared to Sony… even the iPhone 14 Pro.
The smallest and most compact in the high-end Android world
In the world of high-end phones, Sony Xperia 1 V is probably the most compact and comfortable phone for me.
Like the iPhone, I choose the Pro line instead of the Pro Max because Pro Max is too big. Xperia 1 V has a screen size of 6"5 but because the screen ratio is very vertical 9:21, it is thin and long instead of big and fat like other Android phones.
Plus, the top and bottom edges of the screen are thicker than the two side edges, so it’s even longer.
I measured it and found that its width is exactly the same as the iPhone 14 Pro I’m using, while its 6"5 and 14 Pro is 6"1.
Xperia 1 V can be considered as the most compact and high-end Android phone in the Android world. Not only compact, Xperia 1 V also weighs only 187g, so it’s very light, iPhone 14 Pro weighs up to 204g.
The frame is finished with very even and classy stripes
Nowadays, manufacturers usually finish the phone frame by painting it glossy or matte, but the surface of the frame is flat.
The Xperia 1 V has a matte-finished frame and adds small grooves around the edge.
These grooves are even, fine, aligned, and look very eye-catching and beautiful.
The edge above the screen right at the back cover is recessed a bit also very fine and beautiful. The design of this type of frame makes it feel like looking at the edge of Xperia 1 V is very thin.
I read the specifications and saw that Xperia 1 V is thicker than iPhone 14 Pro, but holding it in my hand and looking at it anyway makes me feel that Xperia 1 V is thinner than my 14 Pro.
Very even and exquisite at positions for feature buttons
The straight grooves each time they pass through areas containing feature buttons such as power, camera, volume, Mic 3.5 mm port, and USB-C port will have a pause to form a part around those buttons.
That pause is very even. Then the hard buttons like power, volume, and camera are separate components placed on the frame but very even, I don’t think people can make such meticulous details.
Even the SIM cover when closed into the frame of the machine then the gaps between the edge of the SIM tray cover and the part cut on the frame are also perfectly equal, not loose, not skewed… There is no other phone that has such a good level of finish.
Usually, phones with many buttons will make them look messy and not beautiful. However, with Xpreria 1 V I like to look at its buttons because they are no longer messy, but they are where to show off the sophistication of the manufacturer.
Compact and beautiful camera cluster
Compared to most of the increasingly large and rough camera clusters of other manufacturers’ flagship phones, this camera cluster of Xperia 1 V is neat and well-finished. Sony has combined a total of 3 cameras, a flash, and a mic into a neat bar.
Looking closely you can also see Sony make this frame to combine different components into a unified whole very close to the main components, it can be said that it can not be closer. While other phone camera clusters are more protruding and higher.
The back is rough and does not stick fingerprints
Currently you see there are 3 types of backs: glossy glass, matte glass that is very finely made matte, faux leather back…
The back of Xperia 1 V will be matte but not finely finished matte but printed with tiny grains on its surface, so when you hold it you will feel different.
Sharp edges feel a bit uncomfortable on the hand
The top edge where the frame meets the screen above and the bottom edge where the frame meets the back below are quite sharp, so you will feel a bit uncomfortable for the first few hours when you hold it. After 2 or 3 days, you will get used to it better.
All of the above will be meaningless when you use a phone case
The case has become a culture of human beings when using smartphones. And with Xperia 1 V, all of its subtlety and excellence will become zero when you use a case or thick tempered glass. Most other phones of human beings are also like that.
You may have noticed that in this article I hardly mentioned anything about “configuration parameters” or “camera hardware configuration”,… because when you have spent $1399 for a phone, you don’t need to care what chip the phone is using, how much ram, is this lag,…? Or is this phone’s camera 12MP or 100MP,…?
With a $1399 phone, the differences in details from perfection, design or the feeling of holding, daily use are important, and that is also what we feel and use every day.
I’ve stopped caring about the phone specs of the $1000 phones. Surely it will run Snap-Gen 2 chip, pure Google operating system, so it will be used smoothly for at least the next 5 years.
I don’t care about the configuration of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, or other phones, what I care about is the different 21: 9 aspect ratio screen of Sony, the details of the Xperia’s finishing compared to the rest, the comfort of daily use with this “quite long” phone.
