Sony Xperia 1 II Smartphone Review: Sample Photos & Video - Performance

Sony Xperia 1 II Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Sony Xperia 1 II Sample Photos

Sample Photos - Smartphones, even the more expensive ones, have a tendency to overcook colours which seems to be something we've got so used to, when a smartphone produces more true-to-life photos, we presume they're lacking lustre. You could think this about the photos the Sony Xperia 1 II produces but actually, they reflect reality very accurately. Greens aren't toxic and the pink sauce on the ice cream only looks that bright because it was actually electric in colour. Sharpness is great overall but there were the odd occasions where the smartphone oversharpened shots and at the opposite end of the scale, some shots lacked detail (such as the swan's feathers). 

Portraits are accurate with good skin tone and sharpness but close-up images can be a little out of focus and on occasion, purple fringing crept in around branches when against a bright sky. 

It's worth mentioning that autofocus was impressively quick and had no problem tracking the ducks and swans on the lake. 

Sony Xperia 1 II Lens test images

Lens Performance - The ultra-wide, wide-angle lenses produce good results as does the telephoto lens but switch to digital zoom and detail starts to decrease with scenes not appearing quite as sharp as they could be. 

Sony Xperia 1 II Digital filters

Digital Filters - Various filters are built-in which can be applied both during capture and after in the photos app. A selection of what's available are shown above. 

The panorama mode is easy to use and stitches well so the smartphone produces a great image quickly and pleasingly. 

1080p video sample:

4K Video Sample: 

1080p video sample:

Video - Video is captured at 4K and 1080p with various frame rates, including slow motion in Full HD. You also have access to stabilisation technology which means you can capture video handheld and shake isn't an issue.