The $2,500 Xperia Pro was introduced by Sony at the beginning of 2021. The phone was designed for professionals in video. Sony has returned with a second professional-grade smartphone that is aimed at photography enthusiasts. The Xperia Pro-I's main feature is a 1 inch sensor that was borrowed from Sony's RX100 VII point-and-shoot cam. This sensor is much larger than what you will find on most phones.
The Pixel 6 Pro's primary sensor has a pixel pitch 1.2m. The Pro-I's main sensor has 2.4m-sized Pixels, which makes it better in low-light. The camera can also capture native 4K video at native resolutions of 12 bit RAW files at 120 frames per seconds with eye-detection autofocus. It has 315 points for auto-focus that cover 90% of the frame.
Sony's BIONZX imaging processors are also included in the Pro-I. This allows it to capture up to 20 frames per minute with auto-focus enabled and auto-exposure disabled. Sony claims that the Pro-I's fast readout speed allows it to avoid rolling shutter effects, which makes it stand out against other phones with 1-inch sensors such as the Mi 11 Ultra. These handsets don't feature phase-detection automaticfocus, as the Pro-I does.
A 24-mm lens is available to complement the sensor's 1-inch size. It can switch between f/2.0 or f/4.0 apertures. Sony chose an aspherical design for the optics. The primary camera is flanked by a 16mm wide camera and a 50mm long-range telephoto camera. Sony claims that it made the lens arrangement after speaking with photographers about their needs and ensuring that it matched their prime lenses.
The Xperia Pro-I, once you get past the camera, is essentially a Xperia 1 III. The phone has a Snapdragon888 processor and 12GB RAM. It also has 512GB internal storage. A microSD card can be used to add upto 1TB storage. The 4,500mAh battery that powers everything, Sony claims will last for up to a day on one charge. The box contains a 30W power adapter, which can charge your phone up to 50% in just 30 minutes.
The 6.5-inch OLED on the Pro-I is also present. The display is 4K with a 120Hz refresh rate, 21:9 aspect ratio and a 4K resolution. The Pro-I also features a 3.5mm headset jack and Sony's LDAC/DSEE technologies.
These capabilities come at a high price. The Xperia Pro-I will be sold in the US for $1,800. According to the company, the Xperia Pro-I is effectively a flagship phone and RX100 VI for less than what it would cost to buy them separately. The Xperia Pro-I doesn't replace the RX100 VI. Sony's point and shoot camera outputs images at 20.1 megapixels using the entire readout from its sensor. Because the Pro-I requires a larger lens to take advantage of its entire sensor, it uses a crop.
Pre-orders open for the Xperia Pro-I on October 28th. General availability will follow in December.
