Speaking of Sony, many friends may comment that it is a Japanese company with black technology. Sony has many businesses, among which consumer electronics is the most familiar one, such as Sony cameras, PlayStation game consoles, televisions, etc.
However, not many people may know about Sony mobile phones, and you may not believe it. The Sony Xperia series is one of the oldest smartphone models on the market. Friends who often follow the digital industry should remember that Sony released the first Xperia mobile phone in early 2008, running Windows Mobile.
Technically speaking, the phone was really named the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 because the joint venture between Sony and Swedish communications company Ericsson was still in existence at the time. On February 15, 2012, Sony Mobile Communications subsidiary was established, and Sony Ericsson officially withdrew from the market.
2020 is a special day for Sony, which means the 10th anniversary of the birth of the Xperia smartphone sub-brand. The 10th anniversary here refers to Xperia X10 to Xperia 1 II.
Let us take this opportunity to review those important Xperia models.
Sony Ericsson Xpeira X10
In November 2009, Sony Ericsson released the first Android mobile phone Xperia X10, which was launched in Japan on April 1, 2010. Initially, this phone was equipped with Android 1.6 system, but starting from the end of October 2010, users could upgrade the system to Android 2.1. On July 29, 2011, Sony pushed the Android 2.3.3 update to users, which is The last system upgrade for this machine.
In addition to the Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson also offers two other similar products, the Xperia X10 Mini and the Xperia X10 Mini Pro.
Sony Ericsson Xperia acro
In May 2011, Sony Ericsson released Xperia acro for the Japanese market. Its appearance is exactly the same as that of Xperia arc LT15i. The official provides a variety of colors such as sapphire blue, milky white, enchanting night black, etc. for users to choose from.
It is worth mentioning that the machine incorporates Sony’s exclusive technologies, such as a real-life screen with a mobile BRA image processing engine and a rear 8.1-megapixel Exmor R back-illuminated camera.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
At the 2011 MWC, Sony Ericsson released the Xperia Play, a side-sliding smartphone that focuses on gaming. Its core selling point is that it can play games on the Play Station platform and is equipped with a PSP-like controller. Users can download and run PS One games through the Play Station Pocket platform.
However, the sales of Xperia Play are not very good. It can be seen from the side that people are not very receptive to the design that combines handheld devices with mobile phones, or the design may be too advanced.
Sony Ericsson Xperia SX
In May 2012, Sony Ericsson released the new 4G mobile phone Xperia SX, positioned as a mid-range phone. The whole machine weighs only 95g and is equipped with Qualcomm S4 dual-core processor.
Due to its stylish design, this model was very popular at the time, especially in Japan.
Sony Xperia Z
At CES 2013, Sony released its first waterproof and dustproof flagship model - Xperia Z, which is also the first to use a 1080P screen and a 5-inch body mobile phone.
The square design is reminiscent of Xiaomi MIX and Smartisan phones. Its body thickness was only 7.9mm, which was very thin at the time.
In addition, thanks to Sony's new generation mobile image sensor Exmor RS, HDR video can be shot in a backlit environment.
Sony Xperia Z3
At the 2014 IFA conference, Sony brought us a new model, the Xperia Z3. It inherits the design style of Omni Balance and has a similar appearance to Z1, but is much more rounded than the former.
Although the Xperia Z3’s camera is still 20.7 million pixels, its ISO has been upgraded to 12800. Beyond that, its screen and speakers are much improved.
Sony Xperia Z5
Xperia Z5 is a flagship mobile phone released by Sony in September 2015. Its autofocus speed is only 0.03s, which can be said to be the fastest in the world. Even now, this technology is future-proof.
Inspired by the heat generated by the Xperia Z3, this model uses a dual heat pipe silicone grease cooling solution, but it is somewhat unable to deal with the 810 processor, which is called "Fire Dragon".
Sony Xperia X Performance
In February 2016, Sony launched the new Xperia X series product X Performance. The back of the fuselage is made of metal, and the brushed texture design makes this phone look high-quality.
The front screen of the fuselage is covered with a layer of 2.5D glass. Sony calls it unified design, which may be a major feature of the Xperia X series.
Sony Xperia XZ
In September 2016, Sony shelved the Xperia X series released in the first half of the year and launched a new product line, the Xperia XZ series.
There is no doubt that Xperia XZ is also Sony’s flagship, and its design continues the Omni Balance design style.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Xperia XZ Permium is Sony’s new flagship phone released at MWC in 2017. The biggest highlights of this machine are the 4K HDR screen and the "Sports Eye" rear camera system.
Sony added a DRAM layer to the CMOS image sensor, allowing this phone to support 960 FPS slow motion when shooting 720P video.
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
In April 2018, Sony released the flagship Xperia XZ2 Premium version. Sony did not follow the trend of the times and adopt a full-screen design, but continued to maintain a large forehead and wide chin.
The front of the fuselage is still square, but the back is streamlined, much rounder than the previous generation. In addition, its rear camera has an ISO of up to 51200 and supports 4K, 1080P video recording and 960 FPS slow motion.
Sony Xperia XZ3
In August 2018, Sony Xperia XZ3 was officially released. It has a 2K resolution organic light-emitting diode screen and works with Sony's Reality Moving Image Engine.
This time, Sony has added a side shortcut function to the system. Double-click the border on the edge of the surface to pop up the menu. In addition, the dynamic vibration function is very interesting, but when the phone plays videos or music, it will vibrate with the rhythm.
It is worth mentioning that in order to facilitate users to take pictures, Sony has also brought the "AI Smart Start" function. When the phone recognizes the user's horizontal screen and raises the phone, the system will automatically enter the camera interface.
Sony Xperia 1
At the MWC 2019 exhibition, Sony reorganized its mobile phone business, and the release of Xperia 1 represents the launch of Sony’s mobile phones again.
1:9’s 4K hairtail screen has become Sony’s new flagship.
In cooperation with the Sony TV department, the mobile image engine X1 was developed and released, allowing Xperia 1 to achieve 10-bit color and 100 DCI-P3 color gamut.
In addition, Sony also cooperated with the camera department to enable the machine to have BIONZ X for mobile image processing engine, and realize RAW noise reduction, eye control AF and other functions. In terms of software, Sony cooperated with CineAlta and jointly launched the Movie Master APP.
Sony Xperia 1 II
In February 2020, Sony released its first 5G flagship Xperia 1II. It continues the slender full-screen design of the Xperia 1, and also uses a 4K HDR organic light-emitting diode screen, and adds motion blur reduction and motion blur compensation technology to make the picture look smoother.
Xperia 1II’s camera has been greatly improved compared to the previous generation. The rear camera adopts a four-camera solution: a 12-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto ToF lens. In short, this machine inherits many technologies from the camera department, such as Zeiss lenses and custom Exmor RS sensors.
Summary
Although Sony has launched many mobile phones, they have not achieved commercial success. According to official news from Sony USA, Sony sold 1.1 million mobile phones in the first quarter of 2019, 900,000 units in the second quarter, and 600,000 units in the third quarter. It can be seen that Sony’s mobile phone sales in the United States in 2019 may be Not as high as the recent sales of Apple and Samsung.
So the question is, why can Sony make bad mobile phones? There are three main reasons:
1. Company structure issues, departments are independent, and each transaction must be settled internally, leading to Sony's "internal strife" culture.
2. Sony The American technology complex has influenced the concept of mobile phone products. Although Sony has introduced a lot of black technology into its mobile phones, the mobile phones are relatively biased and lack a good enough comprehensive experience.
3. Mobile phone marketing methods may have changed. Sony is unwilling to spend more money on marketing, which will greatly reduce the exposure of the product.
On the bright side, Sony announced that it will establish "Sony Electronics Corporation" on April 1 this year, which means that Sony's electronic products and solutions division will be merged, including imaging products and solutions , home entertainment and audio, and mobile communications. Can it be understood that Sony is perfecting "One Sony" and "Uncle Concept"?
And Sony Mobile has been cooperating with other departments since last year. From this point, it is not difficult to see that Sony mobile phones are developing in a good direction. If Sony can digest all these technologies and find a good balance, I believe Sony's US mobile phones will get better and better.
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