Sony has finally given its flagship Xperia 1 smartphone an official launch date and price. The handset, which features a large 21:9 OLED display that supports wide color gamuts, will arrive on July 12th for $949.99.

First introduced back at MWC 2019, Sony's new flagship smartphone is a very strong play for the high-end mobile market. Without a doubt, the key feature of the Xperia 1 is its 6.5-inch OLED display featuring a 21:9 aspect ratio with a 3840x1644 resolution. The screen supports the BT.2020 and the DCI-P3 color spaces with the D65 white point, and Sony says that it reproduces colors so precisely that that one of its movie studios used the Xperia 1 to review its work on set. To properly display HDR content, Sony is further adopting some of their display algorithms originally designed for their Bravia TVs. Meanwhile, the display is protected using Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6.

Under the hood, the Xperia 1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, which is paired with 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB of NAND flash memory (which can be augmented via microSD cards). Like other high-end 4G/LTE smartphones launched this year, this one supports Gigabit 4G/LTE, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, and other advanced features of the platform. The handset also supports Dolby Atmos via its USB-C headphone output, while its speakers were tuned by engineers from Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to Sony.

In addition to its advanced display, the Sony Xperia 1 also comes with a 12 MP triple sensor camera cluster, which is comprised of a 26-mm regular RGB camera, 16-mm wide-angle camera, and a 52-mm telephoto camera. The camera cluster incorporates several Sony camera technologies, including Eye AF technology to focus exactly to the level of eyes, burst shooting with up to 10 fps AF/AE tracking, and it can shoot in 4K HDR at 24 fps with different color presets. Meanwhile, there is an 8 MP camera for front-facing photos.

Overall, being one of the first 21:9 smartphones on the market, the Xperia 1 is unusually long, yet it still very comfortable to hold and use, as we discovered back at MWC.

When it hits the streets in mid-July, Sony will be offering the Xperia 1 in two colors: black and purple. All of the usual suspects will be carrying the phone, including Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Focus Camera. Interestingly, the $949.99 price tag is actually a tad lower than the price Sony was floating in March, where at the time they were intending to launch it as a $999 phone.

As for international customers, it looks like they'll need to wait a bit longer; for the moment Sony isn't announcing a launch date outside of the US. But in traditional Sony fashion, it is likely that the company will try to launch its flagship smartphone across the world more or less simultaneously.

The Sony Xperia X1
   Specifications
Display OLED
6.5"
3840x1644
21:9 aspect ratio
BT.2020, DCI-P3 color spaces
with the D65 white point
HDR
643 PPI
Corning Gorilla Glass 6
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
1x Kryo 485 cores at 2.84 GHz
3x Kryo 485 cores at 2.42 GHz
4x Kryo 485 cores at 1.80 GHz
Adreno 640 GPU
RAM 6 GB LPDDR4X
Storage 64 or 128 of NAND flash
Local Connectivity Wi-Fi  802.11ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0
Data/Charging USB 3.1 Type-C
Audio No 3.5 mm jack
NFC Yes
LTE 4G/LTE
Navigation A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
Rear Camera Wide: 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm, 1/2.6", 1.4µm, OIS
Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.4, 16mm, 1/3.4", 1.0µm
Telephoto: 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.4", 1.0µm, predictive OIS
1 × LED flash
Front Camera 8 MP, 1.0µm
Battery Capacity 3330 mAh
Expected Life ?
SIM Size Nano SIM
Sensors accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass
Biometric Security Fingerprint on the side
Facial Recognition -
Dimensions Height 167 mm | 6.57 inches
Width 72 mm | 2.83 inches
Thickness 8.2 mm | 0.32 inches
Weight 172 grams | 6.35 ounces
Colors black, grey, purple, white
Protection Drop Protected
Water, Dust IP67, IP65
OS Google Android 9.0
Launch Countries United States
Price $949.99 for 128 GB version

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Source: Sony

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  • privater - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    S.O.N.Y each letter worth $100, that's how I rationalize it's ridiculous price tag.
  • jordanclock - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    Am I the only one that feels like 18.5:9 is too thin, let alone 21:9?

    On one hand, too many phones chase trends and are worse for it. On the other hand, Sony is imagining problems and desires that I don't think anyone has.
  • eastcoast_pete - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    Agree. Trying to type on one of this sliver-like phones promises to be a pain for anyone with larger hands. And holding it in landscape is not exactly a work-around. Wish that at least some makers would have mid- and high-end phones that retain the 16:9 aspect ratio.
  • StevoLincolnite - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    Yeah. I wouldn't mind a return to 16:9. - It's simply better for media.
  • s.yu - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    It really took this long...should have given them enough time to completely remake the camera system, it'd better be worth it.

    If this is a professional screen, is it real 10bit or 8+2 dithered like the Oneplus? If it really doubles as a 10bit monitor then the price would seem pretty excusable too.
  • wrkingclass_hero - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link

    Ha! Who would spend $950 on another buggy POC from Sony? Just get an S10+ and save yourself the headache.
  • beginner99 - Saturday, May 18, 2019 - link

    Way too large like all flagships but Sony final good rid of their humongous bezels. Hoping for a compact version(that actually is compact)
  • s.yu - Saturday, May 18, 2019 - link

    The current rumors point to that being named "Xperia 2".
  • khanikun - Monday, May 20, 2019 - link

    Ya, that's what I'm looking towards, although rumors has it as a 6.1" and won't be this weird long phone like the Xperia 1. So probably not compact, but more regular.
  • mr_tawan - Saturday, May 18, 2019 - link

    If I'm not mistaken, this is made in Thailand, right? Too bad it won't be available here :P

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