Sony Xperia 1 II costs as much as a Galaxy S20 Ultra, comes with free ANC earphones

Nearly 3 months after its official announcement, the Sony Xperia 1 II is finally going on sale in the US. This is Sony’s latest flagship smartphone that runs on a Snapdragon 865 processor and it addresses a number of shortfalls from the current Xperia 1.

According to The Verge, the Sony Xperia 1 II is priced at USD 1,199 (about RM5,231) and it is available for pre-order starting 1st June 2020. That’s the same price as the Galaxy S20 Ultra 128GB in the US which is now going for USD 1,199 with a USD 200 discount.

As an added bonus, pre-order customers in the US are also given a pair of Sony WF-1000XM3 active noise-cancelling earbuds for free. This is somewhat similar to Sony Malaysia’s Xperia 1 pre-order promo last year but they are giving out the over-ear WH-1000XM3 headphones instead.

While you might think that Sony must be mad to sell their latest flagship phone above USD 1,000, it is worth pointing out that the Xperia 1 II now comes with 256GB of storage. In fact, it is USD 50 cheaper than an unlocked iPhone 11 Pro Max 256GB.

Despite being having the latest Snapdragon 865 processor, the Xperia 1 II is said to be a 4G LTE-only device for the US market. For European markets, it will support 5G.

To recap on the specs, the Xperia 1 II (pronounced as Xperia One Mark Two) features a 6.5″ 4K HDR OLED display that comes with a “cinematic” 21:9 aspect ratio. Although there’s no 90Hz or 120Hz screen refresh rate, Sony is boasting “motion blur reduction technology”. In theory, this is meant to provide a 90Hz like smooth viewing experience without actually having a high-refresh rate screen. Apart from having the latest Snapdragon 865 processor, it comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB of UFS storage which is still expandable via microSD card.

In the camera department, Sony is stepping things up with a new triple-camera setup plus a 3D iToF sensor. It has a 12MP main camera with a large 1/1.7″ sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 12MP telephoto camera that offers 3x optical zoom.

The device also has SteadyShot stabilisation that uses both OIS and EIS. It can record 4K HDR movies up to 60 fps. For selfies, the device comes with an 8MP front camera.

Unlike most flagship smartphones these days, the Xperia 1 II still retains a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports Hi-Res Audio. Also retained are a pair of front-facing stereo speakers that promises to offer balanced stereo sound.

As you would expect from a Sony, the device still comes with IP68 dust and water resistance. Powering the device is a 4,000mAh battery that supports USB-C PD fast-charging. Wireless charging is also included and it supports Qi Wireless charging standards.

So far there are no details yet on its Malaysian pricing and availability. Just recently, Sony Malaysia has announced that its mid-range Xperia 10 II will go on sale locally in July with a retail price tag of RM1,799.

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