Xperia Pro-I: Sony packs the RX100 VII’s 1-inch image sensor in a smartphone

Sony made a surprise announcement a while back, revealing that they were about to launch a new device in their Sony Xperia lineup. Seeing as they had just only launched the Sony Xperia 1 III shortly before this, it was a little of a mystery as to what they had in store. However, following today’s launch we now know more about Sony’s new smartphone: the Sony Xperia Pro-I.

As its name might imply, it’s the successor to the Xperia Pro that Sony launched back in January of this year. The star of the show though in the Xperia Pro-I is the huge 1-inch image sensor in the main 12MP, f/2.0-4.0 camera that’s pretty much been taken straight from their popular RX100 VII compact point and shoot digital camera. To give an idea of how much bigger it is than the usual sensors on today’s smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra only has a 1/1.33-inch sensor, which is around 40% smaller than a 1-inch sensor.

Thanks to the massive sensor, the Xperia Pro-I gets you 12MP photos that have a 2.4µm pixel pitch, which is roughly 20% bigger than the pixels from an iPhone 13 Pro Max. The only smartphone that can get you a better pixel pitch is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra which offers 2.8µm binned pixels. The lens itself is a Zeiss Tessar 24mm lens, and comes with a variable aperture too. Sony have also fitted the Xperia Pro-I with the Bionz X image signal processor along with a front-end LSI for noise-free photos even in low light situations.

With such a powerful main camera on the rear, it’s no wonder that Sony have also packed it to the brim with features like phase-detection autofocus and the ability to shoot up to 20fps continuously with autofocus and auto exposure. You’ll also be able to capture images into the .RAW format using the Photography Pro app. There’s other stuff too like real time eye tracking autofocus, a 3D iToF sensor and optical image stabilisation.

If you prefer to shoot videos, the Xperia Pro-I will be able to capture 4K HDR video footage at up to 120fps. There’s Sony’s SteadyShot and FlawlessEye technology, slowmo video capture and an intelligent wind filter too. You can switch between the Videography Pro and Cinematography Pro apps to better fit the type of video you’re going for too. And while there are already stereo microphones on the Xperia Pro-I, Sony have added a built-in monaural microphone next to the main camera for better speech recording.

Just so we’re clear though, there’s more to come in the camera department. Flanking the main 12MP camera is a 12MP, f/2.2, 16mm ultrawide camera above it while below the main camera is a 12MP, f/2.4, 50mm telephoto camera. On the front of the Xperia Pro-I meanwhile you’ll find an 8MP, f/2.0 wide camera for selfies.

But if you happen to find the front camera not up to your standards, an optional Vlog Monitor accessory was also announced. It’s a 3.5-inch, HD monitor that you can attach to the back of the Xperia Pro-I for when you prefer to film yourself using that ridiculous main camera. The Vlog Monitor will come with a selfie stick too.

Overall it has some fairly solid flagship specs elsewhere too, with a Snapdragon 888 system-on-chip under the hood mated to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The screen meanwhile is a 6.5-inch, 4K OLED display that comes in Sony’s usual 21:9 aspect ratio. It’s capable of up to a 120Hz refresh rate with a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The Xperia Pro-I is powered by a 4,500mAh battery capable of 30W fast charging via USB-C.

Other features of note include stereo speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack, a physical camera shutter key and even a small hook for attaching a strap to it. Both the front and back of the device have a layer of Gorilla Glass for scratch resistance, and the sides of the Xperia Pro-I are ribbed for better grip. It runs Android 11 out of the box, and comes in just one colourway, Frosted Black.

Pricing and availability

So far, all we know is that the Xperia Pro-I along with the Vlog Monitor will be made available for Malaysians to buy sometime in December 2021. However, what we can tell you right now is that you can expect to shell out quite a fair bit for it, at least based pricing for it in other regions.

The Sony Xperia Pro-I will go for €1,799 (~RM8,658.60) in Europe, with a further €199 (RM957.98) for the Vlog Monitor accessory. Incidentally, it’s actually cheaper than the original Xperia Pro, which launched for €2,499. It should be noted though that local pricing ought to be cheaper than our European counterparts too, seeing as the Sony Xperia 1 III launched for €1,299 (~RM6,252.42), but officially launched in Malaysia at RM5,799.

In the meantime, if you’d like to know more about the Sony Xperia Pro-I, you can check out its product page on the Sony Malaysia website.