General Reviews Are in on the Xperia Pro-i

[marcus01432]

Now that the phone is shipping, review s are coming in.
1. Android Authority is using a pre-production model here I think: https://www.androidauthority.com/sony-xperia-pro-i-review-3061123/
2. Digital Camera World is spending more time with the phone and will update the review: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/reviews/sony-xperia-pro-i-review
3. Never heard of magazine. But then everyone has an opinion. https://www.jioforme.com/sony-xperia-pro-i-review-hands-on/968762/

There is also the GSM Arena Review, a site I follow daily. https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_pro_i-review-2353.php

I'll be interested to see what Notebookcheck.com and DXO have to say. Juan Carlos Bagnell, The Gadget Guy has interesting points of view. I do like his perspective. About the Pro-i he said many reviewers underestimate the skill level of a significant segment of the buying public in their reviews. Not all of us will be overwhelmed by the camera apps on the phone. And all the reviews say the battery life is OK. Then there is the price.... well that's a different story and soooooo Sony.

Let's take these reviews with a grain of salt.

 

[elwuero]

i'm not a fan of gsmarena. imo they got so much wrong in their review of the 1iii. i have one on order and am anxiously awaiting for its arrival. im in the us and the release day is 12/10. i have been very happy with the 1iii and before that the 1ii. i just have to believe the bigger sensor, even if not completely used, will produce better photos. and with the 1iii i have been in situations where ive wanted an nd filter. now i'll basically have one with the ability to switch the aperture.

 

[marcus01432]

i'm not a fan of gsmarena. imo they got so much wrong in their review of the 1iii. i have one on order and am anxiously awaiting for its arrival. im in the us and the release day is 12/10. i have been very happy with the 1iii and before that the 1ii. i just have to believe the bigger sensor, even if not completely used, will produce better photos. and with the 1iii i have been in situations where ive wanted an nd filter. now i'll basically have one with the ability to switch the aperture.

Damn. Now you have me reconsidering again. I will want to hear what you think on 1 iii, please. The battery life on the 1 III scares me a bit. Agree that the bigger sensor (well maybe not bigger, but better quality sensor) will take better pictures.

Photos and high quality audio are important to me. The mid range Xiaomi I have takes very nice photos. The phone was recommended by 4 different sites at the time of purchase. The Xiaomi Note 10 Pro also has great battery life. (DXO still has it rated at 121 under their old ranking system. Better than many new phones and I think the Xperia 1 iii.) It did teach me I don't need a flagship level phone to be happy. (I am not a gamer.)

GSM Arena and the other techie websites do pump up the big brands and tilt the discussion to the big phone manufacturers. I mean they have even justified no memory cards or 3.5 inch jack just because Apple decided to monetize those parts of the phone. I don't mind GSM because GSM has phone specs in a handy compare utility. I do like Notebookcheck. Although Notebookcheck is dumbing down lately too.

Somebody please start a mobile phone review satire web site.

 

[gui3gui]

I'm a french user of a Snoy Xperia Pro I.

I'm using a zenfone 7 pro as everyday phone.

There is a drive with some pictures shot and movie.

Xperia Pro-I - Google Drive

drive.google.com

For now, I'm a bit confused for a phone which is sell 3x the price of a Pixel 6 or 2x the price of a Pixel 6 pro...

I have also ordered and resend a Pixel 6, which was good but without optical zoom et within only 128 gb...

So I'm thinking of a Leica/R6 sharp or waiting for 2023/2024...

An objectif and technical Sony vs Pixel...

Labo – Sony Xperia Pro-I : derrière le marketing, la réalité contrastée

Sony veut marquer la fin 2021 avec un smartphone extravagant. Le Xperia Pro-I est en effet équipé d'un capteur photo de 1 pouce hérité du compact expert RX100 VII. Mais derrière le marketing, la réalité est-elle source de joie ?

www.lesnumeriques.com

 

[elwuero]

Damn. Now you have me reconsidering again. I will want to hear what you think on 1 iii, please. The battery life on the 1 III scares me a bit. Agree that the bigger sensor (well maybe not bigger, but better quality sensor) will take better pictures.

Photos and high quality audio are important to me. The mid range Xiaomi I have takes very nice photos. The phone was recommended by 4 different sites at the time of purchase. The Xiaomi Note 10 Pro also has great battery life. (DXO still has it rated at 121 under their old ranking system. Better than many new phones and I think the Xperia 1 iii.) It did teach me I don't need a flagship level phone to be happy. (I am not a gamer.)

GSM Arena and the other techie websites do pump up the big brands and tilt the discussion to the big phone manufacturers. I mean they have even justified no memory cards or 3.5 inch jack just because Apple decided to monetize those parts of the phone. I don't mind GSM because GSM has phone specs in a handy compare utility. I do like Notebookcheck. Although Notebookcheck is dumbing down lately too.

Somebody please start a mobile phone review satire web site.

unfortunately i can’t comment on battery life. the 1iii is not my main smartphone. i carry it with me everyday as my camera, but i do almost everything else on my other phone. as a camera phone, having the dedicated shutter button is so nice. for me that makes it a must have device. i had a samsung s21 ultra and a vivo x60 pro plus. and an iPhone 13 pm. i love gadgets. all of them shoot good photos especially if you know how to use a camera. the sony is the only phone with a camera like interface. i got great photos and bad photos from all of them.

honestly, when i look through my photos i can immediately notice a huge difference in image quality when i come across a photo shot on my full frame camera. these camera phones can’t even come close. with the pro-i i am hoping the image quality is above and beyond the other smartphones i have used. i realize its probably not going to be much better, but as my pocket camera no other smartphone has a dedicated shutter button, a lanyard attachment point, a headphone jack with a good hi res dac, a slot for a memory card and a variable aperture. i also like the slim leather case that doesn't block the sides of the phone. whatever comes out from the other manufacturers, i know they won’t be tempting.

 

[marcus01432]

Well, you are more addicted to tech than I am. I also don't think any of the phones compete with a DSLR or mirrorless. When I really want detail I go to my cheap Nikon 5500 rather than the phone. I will keep the very practical Xiaomi Note 10 because it has a reliable battery life. The Xioami OS is getting better but still a bit of a hard pill to take. I used the Goofle phones for 8 years or so. I kept waiting for an updated phone from them. The Six is probably quite good but I don't think there is really a pro app with the camera to compete the other phones. I do love the features you mention about the Sony mobiles. Don't know if I want to spend $1800 US on a phone that should sell for $1200 at most. I will see when I go to Singapore and can pick one up. The sad reality is that I might have slid into being a proverbial window shopper with no purchase. While I could spend the money I also have this queasy ecological physical feeling when I have to dispose of tech that no longer works. But, I can't resist the fun.

 

[marcus01432]

I'm a french user of a Snoy Xperia Pro I.

I'm using a zenfone 7 pro as everyday phone.

There is a drive with some pictures shot and movie.

Xperia Pro-I - Google Drive

drive.google.com

For now, I'm a bit confused for a phone which is sell 3x the price of a Pixel 6 or 2x the price of a Pixel 6 pro...

I have also ordered and resend a Pixel 6, which was good but without optical zoom et within only 128 gb...

So I'm thinking of a Leica/R6 sharp or waiting for 2023/2024...

An objectif and technical Sony vs Pixel...

Labo – Sony Xperia Pro-I : derrière le marketing, la réalité contrastée

Sony veut marquer la fin 2021 avec un smartphone extravagant. Le Xperia Pro-I est en effet équipé d'un capteur photo de 1 pouce hérité du compact expert RX100 VII. Mais derrière le marketing, la réalité est-elle source de joie ?

www.lesnumeriques.com

 

[marcus01432]

Wow. Thanks for the photo files and the review. A great review. I value objectivity in reviews and not style opinions. I share the pricing confusion. Kind of like paying 3-5x's the price of bluejeans from a couture name designer for ones from the warehouse store for $20. And for many parts, the phones we lust after are made up of parts from the same manufacturers: MediaTek, Samsung, Snapdragon, etc. Samsung makes the majority of parts for the Pixel 6's. So I may just be a window shopper when I get to see the Xperia 1 iii or the Xperia Pro-I in Singapore. It's not the money so much as my ecological and practical sides. Like you I might wait another whole year or so before buying. The Leica/R6-the same phone- is of interest here too. Let's stay in touch about looking. It's fun.

 

[gui3gui]

I have added some Christmas pics and videos on the drive

 

[marcus01432]

Thank you again for continuing the chat and sharing the pictures. It is like I am looking at a roll of pictures I take. I take lots of the same subject to get one or two photos that really work. I must say you took a lot of pictures in very difficult lighting at night and gray days outside. I am quite impressed with the phone and photos. I quote in one that says "offline is the new luxury". Hahaha....

Questions: These are handheld? Are the purple or red lighting colors of the displays of gifts or Christmas decorations accurate to the displays? Did you edit the pictures? What shooting mode did you use, auto or manual? What do YOU think of the Sony shutter button? How have you found battery life? Have you had over-heating issues?

 

[gui3gui]

I'll answer you quickly:

- the photos are taken freehand;
- this is my secondary phone so I have no real return on the battery life but compare to my s20 FE 5g (which is also ofline) this is not very good as mentionned in the full review by les numeriques :

Test Sony Xperia Pro-I : Un photophone de niche vendu au prix fort

Après ses Xperia 1 III et Xperia 5 III, Sony enrichit son catalogue d'un tout nouveau smartphone « professionnel » : Le Pro-I. Un appareil doté d’un capteur photo spectaculaire et qui vise un marché de niche.

www.lesnumeriques.com

- the pictures are not edited and are taken in auto mode (the jpegs are very faithful and acurate to the real colorimetry of the subjects
- I felt some heating which I think is more due to the snapdragon 888 than to Sony;
- I find the shutter buton a bit cheap in the way it plays, even if it works well (for a phone at 1800 €)

 

[marcus01432]

I'll answer you quickly:

- the photos are taken freehand;
- this is my secondary phone so I have no real return on the battery life but compare to my s20 FE 5g (which is also ofline) this is not very good as mentionned in the full review by les numeriques :

Test Sony Xperia Pro-I : Un photophone de niche vendu au prix fort

Après ses Xperia 1 III et Xperia 5 III, Sony enrichit son catalogue d'un tout nouveau smartphone « professionnel » : Le Pro-I. Un appareil doté d’un capteur photo spectaculaire et qui vise un marché de niche.

www.lesnumeriques.com

- the pictures are not edited and are taken in auto mode (the jpegs are very faithful and acurate to the real colorimetry of the subjects
- I felt some heating which I think is more due to the snapdragon 888 than to Sony;
- I find the shutter buton a bit cheap in the way it plays, even if it works well (for a phone at 1800 €)

Thanks again for the reply. Your answers help me better understand the Xperias. I thought free hand, in auto mode, color accurate. All great information everyone. I keep thinking I will buy one, then I will not. You and others have helped put the phone back on my buy list. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gui3gui]

I have added some others pictures. I will add some more during the holydays for Christmas

 

[gui3gui]

Another french review with picture and exifs :

Test Sony Xperia Pro-I : grand capteur 1 pouce, petite frustration

Le Sony Xperia Pro-I se distingue par son capteur 1 pouce identique à celui du Sony RX100 VII. Mais est-ce réellement le cas ? La qualité d'image et les performances de ce smartphone justifient-ils son tarif de 1799 € ? Réponse dans ce test photo du Sony Xperia Pro-I.

phototrend.fr

 

[marcus01432]

Wow. Thanks once again. What a great review.

The review sums up the Xperia Pro-i better than any other review I have read. It also arrives at the same conclusions with which I have been struggling with.... just buy a Sony RX VII and a new phone if that's what you want (Apple 13, Pixel 6 or Sammy Ultra). But I still lust after the Xperia line for the whole package which suits me better. I found the August link of the Xperia 1 iii review equally intelligently and well done. I have been more interested this week in the Xperia 1 iii.

I do prefer the realistic Sony renderings. Plus, there is a past with me and Sony, I did start my digital camera life with the first Sony Mavic. The mavic was sooo cool. I also had a Sony travel camera for 5 or 6 years. I am familiar with their manual settings.

I think you referenced the Leica phone and the Sharp phone in earlier comments. Along with those phones (the Leica is a branded Sharp), I expect to see a big crop of phones with large sensors shortly. 2022 should be a great year people who want cell phones that center on photography and videography.

 

[marcus01432]

The Teardown Xperia Pro-i video.

 

[elwuero]

@marcus1432 you know you’re losing sleep over this phone. you better just bite the bullet and buy it. i absolutely love it. the dac is terrific. i listened to some music today with my wired earphones, played for about an hour on xbox game pass (excellent experience), shot a few photos and streamed a show on direct tv stream. i use a live wallpaper that animates my current weather that i’m sure wastes battery but i like it so i keep it. 67% battery after today. i didn’t notice any heating. the funnest phone i’ve ever had. reminds me of when i got my first sony clie at least 20 years ago.

 

[marcus01432]

Hahaha.... Are you normally this bossy? Yes. I probably will. But there are a couple of problems. 1. Which one should I buy? Pro-i or 1 iii? I am not price sensitive. I will wait for your choice on the purchase since I am having trouble deciding. 2. I can't buy either one yet. Sony Indonesia does not import the phones here. Cell phones are a long approval process in Indonesia. There are profiteers selling on the local Amazons here, who charge more than Sony to make additional profit. 3. And I will wait to hear what SomeGadgetGuy says. Although, you know he loves Sony. 4. I don't want to travel until the holidays end. The last thing I need at my age are crowded Covid airports. It is a stopover flight in Jakarta to Singapore from Bali. Travel is not terribly complicated for approvals, etc. now, but the travel protocols can change anyday or even a travel ban if the latest variant blows up the infection numbers.

 

[elwuero]

Hahaha.... Are you normally this bossy? Yes. I probably will. But there are a couple of problems. 1. Which one should I buy? Pro-i or 1 iii? I am not price sensitive. I will wait for your choice on the purchase since I am having trouble deciding. 2. I can't buy either one yet. Sony Indonesia does not import the phones here. Cell phones are a long approval process in Indonesia. There are profiteers selling on the local Amazons here, who charge more than Sony to make additional profit. 3. And I will wait to hear what SomeGadgetGuy says. Although, you know he loves Sony. 4. I don't want to travel until the holidays end. The last thing I need at my age are crowded Covid airports. It is a stopover flight in Jakarta to Singapore from Bali. Travel is not terribly complicated for approvals, etc. now, but the travel protocols can change anyday or even a travel ban if the latest variant blows up the infection numbers.

i was just kidding with you. that’s a lot of pressure on me to advise you which one. i figured i’d be good with the 1iii for at least a year. but then sony messes that up by releasing the pro-i. i figured i would sell the 1iii but have decided to keep it, at least for now. there are occasions where the extra reach comes in handy. for me though, the pro-i will be my main device. i like the slim leather sony case, the lanyard connector (more on this below), the most used camera for me is the main camera and the pro-i “must” be better (i plan to take some comparison pics), and i really like having the remote shooting grip. imo both phones are great, but i choose the pro-i as number 1.

on the lanyard, i use this as a neck strap. on all my phones and small cameras i attach a short light mini connector that snaps into a neck strap. i only use on certain occasions.

 

[marcus01432]

And I am terminal teaser/kidder. My apologies for the teasing. I do not expect you to make a choice for me, but I do thank you for nudging me along. There is honor among teasers. Until I saw the write ups on the Pro - i , I didn't think of the wrist strap. With a camera I would never think of using a camera without a neck or wrist strap. Sony includes so many other features for which most cell manufacturers expect us to cough up extra (wireless ear phones, memory slot, etc.) Interesting commentary on the shooters, thank you. I look forward to the comparisons.

I do think I will buy the Pro-i. Another manufacturer or a newer Sony model could lure me away from the Pro-i, but I doubt it.

I do have a survey in mind for the punters to see what others think and practice. Let me work on that.

Once again, thank you for the comments and advice. I look forward to the comparison photos. No pressure, right.