Hello pinchers! Technology news!!! And SONY.
Sony entered the phone market in 2001 in a joint venture with Ericsson. Those early feature phone days brought plenty of success. Even up until 2012 Sony was doing good. They were the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer by market share in 2012. But things nosedived sharply thereafter. One of the major reasons Sony’s smartphones weren’t successful in the years that followed was the company’s overall strategy for the mobile market. Sony, being a technology giant, wanted to become the "Apple" of Android by offering premium phones only.
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| Img source: theverge.com |
In 2012, Sony Mobile's CEO said "That is where the value is, that is where the money is", referring to the top segment. The problem was the Android market was demographically very different from that of the iPhone. Android users had a wide variety of smartphones to choose from, and premium prices had to be backed up by significant hardware features or consumers would just get something cheaper that offered pretty much the same experience. The reason I'm saying all of this is that in 2020 Sony is still following the same strategy. The Xperia 1 Mark 2 launched earlier this year had a price tag of $1200 and the phone, in almost every way was inferior to the Galaxy S20+ which was available for cheaper. Sony has a new flagship up for launch on September 17th called the Xperia 5 mark 2 and we have every detail about the handset including the specs and the whole promotional videos and it looks like this is going to be a really great handset with promising features provided Sony price this thing right.
First up, this is going to be a compact version of the Xperia 1 mark two. When I say compact, it's compact only in screen size. In other areas, it's actually better. The video you see is a promotional video for the Xperia 5 mark 2 leaked by Evan Blass. One of the best features of this handset is actually in software. Sony will borrow a page from its Alpha-series mirror-less cameras by enabling real-time eye-tracking when you point the camera at both humans and animals. On Sony’s cameras, eye-tracking makes it easy to nail focus on your subject consistently. So if this works on this phone then Sony's auto-focusing will be on top. The phone can also take a 20-frames-per-second burst mode that can automatically adjust the camera’s focus and exposure between shots.
When it comes to video, this phone supports 4K video capture at 120fps with HDR enabled. That's way better than the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra that does 120fps at 1080p. This phone also has what Samsung and Apple's flagships don't, a headphone jack. The phone also comes with its suite of proprietary audio codecs coupled with front-facing stereo speakers, the audio department of this handset looks to be better than the rest. There's also a 120Hz of screen refresh rate in a 6.1" 1080p plus display. There's also a gaming mode that enhances the gaming experience, a triple camera setup, and a 4000mAh battery to power all of these. On top of that Sony also said that they will provide 3 years of software updates for this year along with the Xperia 1 mark 2.
All in all, a really promising handset to consider. Sony has been taking positive steps lately. I mean it has cut back its bloated software and streamlined its user interface, moving closer to stock Android. The focus on screen quality, the shift to a cinematic format, and bringing camera features from its excellent Alpha series mirror-less camera is a smart move. But like I've said, if they don't price this thing right then it won't sell in good numbers. And not just the pricing, Sony still has work to do to change perceptions. Making great phones isn’t enough if you can’t get enough people to try them. That means backing its phones up with smart marketing. Anyway, let me know what do you think about this down in the comments. Till then, keep pinching.
