World´s first native 4K 120fps high frame rate recording in a smartphone[ii].Form_factor : Bar.Display resolution maximum:1644 x 3840 pixels
Eye AF and Object tracking keeps subjects in focus for videos and stills
Triple camera array w/ ZEISS optics (16mm/24mm/50mm) and 3D iToF sensor
Anti-distortion shutter helps suppress the rolling-shutter effect
12bit RAW for smooth color gradation[iii] and high dynamic range
Product Dimensions
6.61 x 2.84 x 0.35 inches
Device interface - primary
Touchscreen
Country of Origin
Thailand
Manufacturer
Sony
Included Components
Mobile Phone, Charger Block, USB C-C cable, Printed Leaflets
Battery Power Rating
4500
Colour
Black
Form Factor
Bar
Audio Jack
3.5 mm
Other camera features
Rear, Front
Other display features
Wireless
Item Weight
7.5 ounces
Display technology
OLED
Special Features
Dual SIM, 4K Video Recording, Expandable Memory, Fingerprint Sensor, Water Resistant
GPS
True
Connectivity technologies
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, NFC
RAM
12 GB
OS
Android 11.0
Batteries
1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included)
Item model number
XQBE62/B
Date First Available
October 28, 2021
2 reviews for Xperia PRO-I 5G smartphone with 1-inch image sensor, triple camera array and 120Hz 6.5” 21:9 4K HDR OLED Display – XQBE62/B
Rated 1 out of 5
geronimo58 –
EDIT – I am very reluctant to post a one-star review. I have to be really hot to do it. Right now I’m boiling. I apologize for the technical terms, but this is a pro-level phone and the terms are meant for pros or at least accomplished amateurs. I originally reviewed this phone after using it extensively on a 7-day cruise in March 2022. At that time I was impressed with it even though it did crash at times with Filmic Pro. I am leaving my full original review for comparison. I still think it’s a great phone, but I have some big issues with Sony. The phone is capable of shooting log, 10-bit. This fact is revealed by use of the Camera2 Probe app. But the apps Sony included DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE of these features. That fact should have tipped me off, but I didn’t realize the significance of it. After all, why sell a phone with impressive video capabilities and load it with video apps that cannot use these features? Filmic Pro did work well after a couple of revisions and I was pretty happy. Then I tried MotionCam Pro, which is capable of shooting RAW video(!) I had problems from the start and other PRO-I owners had the same issues. The developers concluded that Sony had locked out multiple capabilities from 3rd party developers and the phone needed to be rooted to use MotionCam Pro unlike several other phones that perform very well when shooting RAW video – no root required. I tried to root my phone and discovered that it can’t be rooted. The bootloader is permanently locked. Since then Filmic Pro has stopped supporting 10-bit video, log or regular, with the Pro-I. Tell me that Sony didn’t pressure them to remove this great professional feature. I paid (a lot) for this phone and now discover that I could have bought a Samsung or other high-end phone and been able to shoot in RAW and 10-bit log. I thought I owned this phone when I paid for it, but SONY is controlling what I can and can’t do with it. I HAVE BOUGHT MY LAST SONY PRODUCT.
Original review. This phone has so many great features it’s hard to list them all. My wife and I just got back from a 7-day Caribbean cruise and I put the phone through its paces. Here are my observations.
First, the camera is excellent. I was dreaming of a phone camera with full manual control and the ability to shoot raw stills and log video so I could edit in my PC. This one exceeded my expectations. It is solidly built, has the best screen I’ve ever seen and it seems that Sony has made a list of all of the features that Apple and Samsung have removed from their products (while raising the prices) and included most of them in this phone. It has an earphone/external microphone jack, a USB-C power/data port – also OTG capable so you can plug a HARD DRIVE or thumb drive in and access it with no problems and it arrives with a half terabyte of storage and a slot you can access with your thumbnail that can hold a one-terabyte SD card! Bloatware? you ask. Very little and with 1.5 terabytes of storage you don’t even notice it. Did I mention the camera can be switched between f2 and f4? If you are shooting in strong sunlight you can stop it down and keep shooting without hanging a neutral density filter on it. Speaking of strong sunlight, like other phones, the camera controls are difficult to see outside during the day. I learned to make as many settings as I could before stepping outside and I turned the screen brightness all the way up. Oh, and it has actual GLASS LENSES, made by Zeiss no less! It has a programmable physical button, which I have programmed to start Filmic Pro. It also has a physical shutter button that refocuses the camera when the button is half-way down – like big boy cameras do.
Replaceable battery? You will never see those again. Forget about it.
The phone is not perfect. For starters with a full size SD card it tips the scales at over $2,000. It doesn’t have wireless charging and the battery life is just OK although it can be recharged pretty quickly. I haven’t used the included camera apps; I use Filmic Pro or Open Camera for video and Firstlight or Open Camera for stills. It will shoot 4k video at 120 fps and 10-bit color depth with High Dynamic Range. I have noticed the phone stalls, sometimes frequently with Filmic Pro and Open Camera. I found that frequently running the Ccleaner app to delete all of the unnecessary cache files seemed to help this issue. Use the paid version – this is no time to get cheap. It has never overheated – it just beeps and stops running. So thoroughbreds are finicky.
Sony thinks of this as a professional camera that can make phone calls. I agree.
Rated 4 out of 5
L.L. –
Good evolution of the Xperia flagship line with a few caveats. Shortened battery life was expected as a symptom of the 120hz refresh rate screen but didn’t realize it was going to be this bad since I was expecting the larger battery to offset some of that. With the Xperia 1 II, I could get by with a single charge per day. With the Pro-I, it’s impossible to do that and most days will require two charges. The charging is also much slower in comparison.
The camera was one of the main components marketed as ground breaking by Sony. Well, it’s no game changer especially at night. Subpar at best and the dynamic range isn’t great either. During the day it’s better but it’s not a S22.
Worst of all, there are no system or Google Play security updates available. The phone has been stuck on the Oct 2021 system update and June 2021 Google Play updates since I received the phone in December. Sony support has been helpful but tells me the Senior engineers confirm this is the latest version available for the phone even though their notes state otherwise. Unfortunately this item will be the deal breaker. If there is not an update before the end of January, the phone will be going back. Fundamental security issues are non-negotiable.
The screen is amazing compared to my iPhone 13 Pro Max. The headphone jack and DAC sounds amazing compared to the Xperia 1 II which was horrible. Functionally, things just make much more sense on this phone and has been my daily driver since day 1. It’s unfortunate Sony can’t get their act together with updates. THAT should be priority 1!
Edit: as of March 2nd, the phone was finally updated to Jan 2022 security updates today. Sony support has been fantastic throughout the process. Although it’s unfortunate to have needed to push it along, support has been fantastic and was very much invested in getting the needed info to the engineering team.
geronimo58 –
EDIT – I am very reluctant to post a one-star review. I have to be really hot to do it. Right now I’m boiling. I apologize for the technical terms, but this is a pro-level phone and the terms are meant for pros or at least accomplished amateurs. I originally reviewed this phone after using it extensively on a 7-day cruise in March 2022. At that time I was impressed with it even though it did crash at times with Filmic Pro. I am leaving my full original review for comparison. I still think it’s a great phone, but I have some big issues with Sony. The phone is capable of shooting log, 10-bit. This fact is revealed by use of the Camera2 Probe app. But the apps Sony included DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE of these features. That fact should have tipped me off, but I didn’t realize the significance of it. After all, why sell a phone with impressive video capabilities and load it with video apps that cannot use these features? Filmic Pro did work well after a couple of revisions and I was pretty happy. Then I tried MotionCam Pro, which is capable of shooting RAW video(!) I had problems from the start and other PRO-I owners had the same issues. The developers concluded that Sony had locked out multiple capabilities from 3rd party developers and the phone needed to be rooted to use MotionCam Pro unlike several other phones that perform very well when shooting RAW video – no root required. I tried to root my phone and discovered that it can’t be rooted. The bootloader is permanently locked. Since then Filmic Pro has stopped supporting 10-bit video, log or regular, with the Pro-I. Tell me that Sony didn’t pressure them to remove this great professional feature. I paid (a lot) for this phone and now discover that I could have bought a Samsung or other high-end phone and been able to shoot in RAW and 10-bit log. I thought I owned this phone when I paid for it, but SONY is controlling what I can and can’t do with it. I HAVE BOUGHT MY LAST SONY PRODUCT.
Original review. This phone has so many great features it’s hard to list them all. My wife and I just got back from a 7-day Caribbean cruise and I put the phone through its paces. Here are my observations.
First, the camera is excellent. I was dreaming of a phone camera with full manual control and the ability to shoot raw stills and log video so I could edit in my PC. This one exceeded my expectations. It is solidly built, has the best screen I’ve ever seen and it seems that Sony has made a list of all of the features that Apple and Samsung have removed from their products (while raising the prices) and included most of them in this phone. It has an earphone/external microphone jack, a USB-C power/data port – also OTG capable so you can plug a HARD DRIVE or thumb drive in and access it with no problems and it arrives with a half terabyte of storage and a slot you can access with your thumbnail that can hold a one-terabyte SD card! Bloatware? you ask. Very little and with 1.5 terabytes of storage you don’t even notice it. Did I mention the camera can be switched between f2 and f4? If you are shooting in strong sunlight you can stop it down and keep shooting without hanging a neutral density filter on it. Speaking of strong sunlight, like other phones, the camera controls are difficult to see outside during the day. I learned to make as many settings as I could before stepping outside and I turned the screen brightness all the way up. Oh, and it has actual GLASS LENSES, made by Zeiss no less! It has a programmable physical button, which I have programmed to start Filmic Pro. It also has a physical shutter button that refocuses the camera when the button is half-way down – like big boy cameras do.
Replaceable battery? You will never see those again. Forget about it.
The phone is not perfect. For starters with a full size SD card it tips the scales at over $2,000. It doesn’t have wireless charging and the battery life is just OK although it can be recharged pretty quickly. I haven’t used the included camera apps; I use Filmic Pro or Open Camera for video and Firstlight or Open Camera for stills. It will shoot 4k video at 120 fps and 10-bit color depth with High Dynamic Range. I have noticed the phone stalls, sometimes frequently with Filmic Pro and Open Camera. I found that frequently running the Ccleaner app to delete all of the unnecessary cache files seemed to help this issue. Use the paid version – this is no time to get cheap. It has never overheated – it just beeps and stops running. So thoroughbreds are finicky.
Sony thinks of this as a professional camera that can make phone calls. I agree.
L.L. –
Good evolution of the Xperia flagship line with a few caveats. Shortened battery life was expected as a symptom of the 120hz refresh rate screen but didn’t realize it was going to be this bad since I was expecting the larger battery to offset some of that. With the Xperia 1 II, I could get by with a single charge per day. With the Pro-I, it’s impossible to do that and most days will require two charges. The charging is also much slower in comparison.
The camera was one of the main components marketed as ground breaking by Sony. Well, it’s no game changer especially at night. Subpar at best and the dynamic range isn’t great either. During the day it’s better but it’s not a S22.
Worst of all, there are no system or Google Play security updates available. The phone has been stuck on the Oct 2021 system update and June 2021 Google Play updates since I received the phone in December. Sony support has been helpful but tells me the Senior engineers confirm this is the latest version available for the phone even though their notes state otherwise. Unfortunately this item will be the deal breaker. If there is not an update before the end of January, the phone will be going back. Fundamental security issues are non-negotiable.
The screen is amazing compared to my iPhone 13 Pro Max. The headphone jack and DAC sounds amazing compared to the Xperia 1 II which was horrible. Functionally, things just make much more sense on this phone and has been my daily driver since day 1. It’s unfortunate Sony can’t get their act together with updates. THAT should be priority 1!
Edit: as of March 2nd, the phone was finally updated to Jan 2022 security updates today. Sony support has been fantastic throughout the process. Although it’s unfortunate to have needed to push it along, support has been fantastic and was very much invested in getting the needed info to the engineering team.