We’re less than a week away from the May 11 unveiling of the Sony Xperia 1 IV, so it’s no surprise that Sony is ramping up its teasers for the phone, and that includes three short videos that hint at major features.
First up there’s a video claiming that the Sony Xperia 1 IV has been built for content creators, with Pierre T. Lambert (a travel and adventure photographer and YouTuber) claiming that the Xperia 1 IV “feels as if you had a big optical lens in your hand with a great camera.”
They go on to say that it adds range, both in terms of focal length and creative possibilities. So aside from anything else that hints at a telephoto camera, and perhaps longer-range optical zoom than the 4.4x offered by the Sony Xperia 1 III.
Next up, there’s a teaser highlighting the Sony Xperia 1 IV’s music creation skills, with Ippei Haino (a Sony Music Labs A&R producer) proposing that what you record just as a memo could end up being professional quality or studio quality.
It’s not clear exactly what’s meant here, but perhaps the Sony Xperia 1 IV has high-quality microphones built in, or pro-grade audio editing tools.
Finally, there’s a video advertising the phone at gamers, with Xifan Wu (a professional PUBG Mobile player) saying that they can livestream as they play “sharing every move, without anything else.” That likely means there’s built-in streaming software.
We wouldn’t be surprised if more videos land before launch too, but either way we should learn everything there is to know about the Sony Xperia 1 IV soon.
Analysis: a real pro
The Sony Xperia 1 IV isn’t expected to have Pro in the name (though technically the name hasn’t been revealed yet, so it could), but based on these teasers it’s shaping up to be more of a ‘pro’ handset than the likes of the iPhone 13 Pro or the OnePlus 10 Pro.
It so far seems like Sony is aiming the Xperia 1 IV at creators and streamers more than casual users, given that content creation, music production and game streaming have been highlighted.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be stuff for more casual users as well, but this is expected to be a very expensive phone, so giving it genuinely pro-grade credentials could make sense, and could help it stand out from the crowd.