Expected release date and what we know so far

It’s been almost a year since the Sony Xperia 1 V landed on store shelves, and as such, we’re thinking about Sony’s next flagship smartphone. While the current flagship is an excellent Android smartphone, it’s arguably a little stale. So, what could we expect from the Xperia 1 VI? Here’s everything we know so far about Sony’s future flagship.

Sony has been fairly consistent with its Xperia launch window and there’s no reason to think it will stop at the Xperia 1 V. Based on Sony’s launch history, we’re likely waiting until late Spring or Summer 2024 before we see official details on the Xperia 1 VI’s release date.

Of course, the phone is all very unofficial at this stage, and Sony could change its usual flagship roadmap. Sony has barely tweaked its line-up much in recent years, so things could continue on a very predictable path, or we could see a more significant shakeup to reinvigorate the series. We’ll have to wait and see.

• Sony Xperia 1 III — July 1, 2021
• Sony Xperia 1 IV — June 1, 2022
• Sony Xperia 1 V — May 11, 2023

Sony has yet to officially acknowledge the existence of an Xperia 1 VI, so it should come as no surprise that we still don’t have an official launch date. What’s worse is there haven’t even been any leaks or rumors about a potential release window. As such, we’ll just have to guesstimate based on the information we have at our disposal.

In the last three years, Sony has announced an Xperia 1 in May, June, and July. The trend shows that Sony prefers to launch its flagship sometime during the summer. We expect the tech giant will do the same for the VI this year, but we’ll have to wait until more information is available to be sure.

Although details remain scarce, the rumor mill has picked up a little steam as of late. We’re starting to hear whispers about specs, features, and even the dimensions. We’ll break down everything we know so far right here.

Sony’s monolithic black slab makes the range readily identifiable against the competition, but it’s pretty tricky to tell any of its phones from the past five years apart. That’s not good if you want your latest phone to appear fresh and exciting. However, Sony did tweak the formula a bit with a new rugged back for the Xperia 1 V, but that hardly shakes things up meaningfully. So far, there’s nothing to suggest that Sony will get any more adventurous than that with the overall look.

It’s possible there could be at least one notable change to the design, which may end up being controversial for some. Leaker Zackbucks on Weibo claimed that the Xperia 1 VI’s dimensions will be 162 x 74.4 x 8.45mm. This would make the VI shorter and wider than its predecessor, which measures 165 x 71 x 8.3mm. The tipster went further to add that Sony will drop the 21:9 screen ratio in favor of a 19.5:9 ratio, making the display 149.6mm x 69.4mm (~6.5 inches diagonal).

Another rumor, courtesy of tipster OnLeaks (via Android Headlines), supports the idea that the phone will be shorter and wider. According to this rumor, the device will have a 6.5-inch display and measure 161.9 x 74.5 x 8.4mm.

Fortunately, this rumor from OnLeaks also came with a few renders, which you can see above. If these renders are correct, it looks like we’re in store for the same old monolithic black slab from prior generations. It also seems that the handset will sport its usual three-camera setup.

A third-party Chinese phone case maker put up a listing for a Sony Xperia 1 VI case on March 29, 2024. At the time of writing, the listing is still up and viewable. While the images could give us another look at the handset, it’s possible these images aren’t actual renders and are just artist interpretations.

A leaker who goes by @INSIDERSONY on X (formerly Twitter) shared a tip on what could be the smartphone’s camera specs. According to the tipster, all three rear cameras will be Exmor T 48MP lenses.

The main shooter is said to be 1/1.4 inches with a 1.12 μm pixel size and an aperture of f/1.4. This sensor reportedly also has full-pixel dual-PD autofocus and can deliver 2x optical zoom. While the ultrawide comes in at 1/2.7 inches with a 0.6μm pixel size. The leak says it features Sony’s 2×2 on-chip lens tech, which allows the camera to focus quickly and accurately. Finally, the third camera is said to be a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and 6x sensor crop zoom.

Another rumor, this time from a Japanese publication called Smartphone Digest, suggests the Xperia 1 VI will have a feature that adds a digital signature to altered images. It’s unknown how this feature will work, but Sony did put out a press release about a similar-sounding in-camera digital signature chip. This signature also allows people to see where the image has been tampered with. It’s likely this could be something used for AI-edited photos.

What might the Sony Xperia 1 VI price be?

We don’t see Sony charging under $1,000, and it’s unlikely it would charge more than $1,600. Rumors claim the 4K display is going away in favor of a 2K display, which suggests that Sony could be aiming to make the price a little more competitive this time around. Given that last year’s entry sold for $1,400, we could see the price falling somewhere under that.

There are plenty of devices worth buying ahead of the Xperia 1 VI’s debut. With the Xperia 1 V ($1398 at Amazon) still around and no real concrete information on what to expect from the 1 VI, Sony fans can’t go wrong picking up the current model. If budget is a concern, Sony’s more affordable Xperia 5 V ($799.94 at Amazon) is available for European customers, but we’re still waiting on a US release.