Sony kept thermals in check most of the time. It never felt slow or bogged down, even when using the advanced videography apps. In terms of everyday usage, the device felt fast and smooth, despite the strain from the 4K, 120Hz screen. The Snapdragon 888 is a fine engine for the phone. Performance: The phone ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, which is among the fastest smartphone chips on the market, and includes a solid 12GB of RAM and an exceptional 512GB of built-in storage.This is something you should think about before jumping on the Pro-I bandwagon, especially considering the price tag.
It certainly does not match market leaders Google and Samsung when it comes to supporting its devices with software over time. Sony’s commitment to monthly or quarterly security updates is even murkier.
There’s simply no telling when the Pro-I will receive Android 12 and whether or not it will get Android 13. It indicated that its recent flagship, the Xperia 1 III, will receive two years of OS upgrades - but that might mean only one actual jump in OS version.
Moreover, the phone supports Bluetooth 5.2 and a vast array of audio specs and technologies. Forward-firing stereo speakers are on board as well, and they generate excellent, balanced sound when playing games or watching movies. It provides one avenue to get high-quality audio off the device when syncing your content with PCs or other equipment, not to mention sound for your wired headphones. As noted, there’s a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack on the top of the phone. See also: Why are smartphone camera bumps becoming so huge? While it all looks very camera-y it doesn’t do anything to suggest that the Pro-I is supposed to be a camera first and a phone second. The main camera lens is about the size of a nickel and is flanked by the smaller secondary cameras along with the flash and focus elements. Sony aligned the three cameras in a row and centered them on the matte rear panel near the top edge.
It’s nothing like the monstrous module of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. A niche feature, perhaps, but an omission to note for pros.Ĭonsidering the dimensions of the sensor underneath the lens, Sony kept the size of the Pro-I’s external camera module in check. You won’t find a dedicated HDMI port, however, which is something that was included on the Xperia Pro to allow users to connect the phone to a camera as an external 4K monitor/viewfinder. This makes it much easier to eject the microSD card for transferring files than phones with trays that require an ejector tool. I like that Sony continues to make it possible to remove the SIM tray with your thumbnail, rather than a SIM tool.
You’ll find a headphone/microphone jack on the top edge, a combo SIM card/microSD card tray and a lanyard loop for wrist straps on the left, and a USB-C port on the bottom.