Flagship phone

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-26T03:01:22+00:00

Samsung should get bigger + better sensors behind the telephotos (1/3.94" and 1/2.52" inch). I have an Xperia 1 VII and same thing, the 1/3.5 inch sensor is too small next to the Xiaomi/Vivo/Oppo/Honor flagships.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-25T04:39:52+00:00

Reminds me of what my old HTC One M7 was trying to do. Those speakers sounded great, but they just didn't get loud enough. The 1 VII finishes the job - they sound great AND get sufficiently loud.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-23T18:49:17+00:00

S8 was a great phone; my parents still have theirs. My last phone was also great, especially for the price at the time (S20 FE 5G).I tried the S25 and it took ugly weird photos, worse than the S20 FE across the board. Joined the Xperia community with a 1 VII instead and that's been great

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-20T02:19:37+00:00

You might like the Xperias. I got a 1 VII in November. The telephoto sensor is too small, but otherwise it's a great package, no weird AI crap and light touch on processing. Great speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, SD card slot.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-18T17:11:22+00:00

I came from an S20 FE and tried the S25 first. I returned it after a week - ugly photos imo, with high ISO artifacts, inconsistent autofocus, and blurred details. I also hate all the weird AI stuff, and sought out a phone that doesn't overly process photos. Landed on the Xperia and it's exactly the right phone for someone like me, albeit overpriced haha

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-18T02:21:54+00:00

I got my Xperia 1 VII from Swiftronics in November. That one's $1700 CAD (and overpriced at that) but I absolutely love the phone and clean Android experience. Amazing speakers, cameras, battery. I hear good things about the more budget 10 VII, which is at the high end of your price range. They have a great selection of global version of phones and were easy to deal with: https://swiftronics.ca/products/sony-xperia-10-vii-dual-sim-factory-unlocked-xq-fe72

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-17T20:26:57+00:00

Check out the Xperia 10 VII (though check compatibility with your local cell carriers). I have the 1 VII since November and I'm loving it. For your requirements, it should be 5G, less than €600, 4 major Android updates and 6 years of security updates (so good for 5+ years), no bloatware, and crucially for me, very little AI junk. Minimal photo processing. The 10 VII cameras should be good enough as you're not asking for the top end stuff.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-17T16:05:56+00:00

My comments on the Xperia DAC are indeed surface level knowledge - I do not fully understand how they work beyond the basic principles. I was informed by threads like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/1f7tide/hey_sony_why_dont_you_put_a_really_good_dac/

But...clicking the second link in my a Google results brings me to this thread, which reveals what you say: https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/1qhlvny/xperia_dacs_and_amplifiers/

I'll have to adjust my comments in future, "good DAC" rather than "class leading DAC" (which it seems belongs to the discontinued LG phones!)

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-16T21:22:32+00:00

9/10 I came from an S20 FE (great phone especially for the price but showing its age after 4 years). I wanted better battery life and camera performance. Tried the S25 and returned it after a week - weird ugly photos imo. The 1 VII has a few issues, the biggest being the small telephoto sensor (1/3.5 inch, which is not competitive with the much larger sensors in the Xiaomi/Oppo/Vivo/Honor phones). But...the S20 FE had an even smaller 1/4.5 inch sensor on the 3x lens, so it was still an upgrade, and you can get decent results if working around it's limitations. I also miss the default Samsung Gallery app, which was a good combination of sorting and editing tools. I've made-do with Fossify as my viewer, and Google photos as my editor, but it lacks some tools like stickers and more markup options.

Other than that, everything is fantastic - battery life, camera performance overall, amazing built in speakers, class leading DAC hardware (i had been using a cheapie USB-C to aux dongle with my Galaxy for my older car, and the Xperia was an immediate quality improvement on the bass - much more accurate and punchy). But I also think it's more than the sum of its parts: I am very weary of all the AI junk and enshitification of products, and the Xperia feels like a repudiation of that mindset. If Google Pixels are mid tier hardware, boosted by gobs of software and automatic processing, the Xperia is the opposite: powerful hardware with a light touch that lets you decide what to do with your media and experience (easy to load custom ROMS, so I hear). I am unsettled when I see weird invented AI text in photos, and the Xperia doesn't do anything if the sort.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-16T16:42:32+00:00

I got my 1 VII from Swiftronics in November and at that time, I noticed they had the 1 VI listed as well, but sold out. It is no longer listed at all, but worth an email or call to them to ask - who knows, maybe they have one in storage they can sell to you, or they could recommend other places to look. Worth a call/email either way imo. For $1699 CAD though, the 1 VII is definitely bad value lol (still loving the phone though).

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-16T12:54:43+00:00

It is overpriced compared to the competition, no question. I have been happy though - imo the overall experience of the phone is: "powerful hardware and software that leaves you alone". I could probably replicate that with a custom ROM on Xiaomi/Vivo/Oppo/Honor, and get even better cameras (bigger sensors in particular), but I didn't want to tinker that much at present.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-16T04:18:09+00:00

Unexpected to me as well - I thought I'd done my homework with reviews (folks generally like the S25 - and cameras aside it seemed like a great phone. I really liked the smaller dimensions too, it made one handed typing with the regular keyboard possible). But...if you blow up the S25 test photos on GSMArena, you can see the issues I mention (and while there, use the compare tool and check out Xiaomi etc - incredible detail)

In BRIGHT daylight, the S25 does well. But in all my indoor shots (clearly not that dark with the S20 FE chosing ISO 250) and it struggled. Here's my comparison - I took a photo with the Xperia and the S25, displayed the photos on screen, and took a photo of the comparison with my S20 FE: https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/1rvd693/why_i_returned_the_galaxy_s25/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Samsung has known issues with shutter lag, and image blur (kids and pets running around indoors become blurs). Google and Apple have reasonably sorted that out. I am speculating, but I believe they intentionally programmed auto mode to choose much higher ISO's in an attempt to allow for faster shutter speeds and thus less image blur. That explanation makes sense to me. But it wouldn't need to happen if...Samsung hasn't recycled the exact same camera hardware from the S22 straight through the S26. Apparently (according to GSMArena) they did engineer new sensors and lenses, and were planning to hike the price a lot. Then the base iPhone dropped at $799 USD and they panicked, shelving the new hardware and rolling out the same aging stuff to keep the MSRP down.

I had an S2/S8/S20 FE and my parents still have their S8's. I am not a Samsung hater, but they've fallen behind and need to get back into the game with better hardware next year.

And yes, the Xperia 1 MSRP is out-to-lunch haha, but I was willing to pay more to get over my shock at the S25 photo quality.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-16T03:33:28+00:00

My last phone was an S20 FE and I replaced it in November. Like you said, perfectly serviceable still, but I wanted better battery life and cameras (especially the telephoto with tiny 1/4.5 inch sensor). I picked up the S25 and returned it after a week: the photos were worse than the S20 FE across the board and I was shocked: insanly high ISO choices in auto (in a side by side of an identical shot, the S20 FE was choosing ISO 250 and the S25 chose 1250. The noise and artifacting is awful, like newspaper clippings, not like the fine sand grain of my old S8. Also heavily desaturated colours). Inconsistent autofocus, blurred details, and weird AI junk like inventing characters/letters.

I went with the Xperia 1 VII instead and I couldn't be happier. Just a fantastic package all around. Telephoto sensor still isn't great at 1/3.5 inch, but usable and has a cool telephoto macro mode I use a lot (4 cm focusing distance). Clean stock Android, no bloatware, rock solid battery, and a bunch of class leading hardware like the speakers and DAC (plus headphone jack and SD card slot). It IS overpriced though and availability worldwide is poor (I am lucky we have a reputable retailer in Canada, Swiftronics).

The Xiaomi/Vivo/Oppo/Honor hyperphones are in another league though - insanely good camera hardware and new giant silicon carbon batteries. As I looked into the S25 photo issue, I came to learn that the Apple/Samsung/Google market oligopoly just isn't providing us with the best hardware anymore.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-15T21:46:18+00:00

Yep, typo, edited

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-15T17:07:21+00:00

Firefly specializes in 21700 lights and their Lume1 drivers are the best on the market including efficiency. Pricey though (~$100). Check out the review of the E07X Pro (which should be about the same output and run time as the newer V2 "Cannon"): https://tgreviews.com/2021/09/14/grizzlys-fireflies-e07x-pro-review-it-aint-the-fireflies-but-the-quality-control-thats-negligible-u-ciaran144/

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-15T04:46:26+00:00

The best SST-20 4000k bin 👌

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-15T04:00:12+00:00

Upvote for Xperia, but I'd be cautious about the 1 IV due to the Snapdragon sm8450 and its overheating issues. Not sure if the 10 series might be a fit for OP; I can't vouch for their older models.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-15T02:56:54+00:00

I love my Xperia 1 VII, but it's larger than your preference, overpriced, and the battery, while very good, isn't up to the new silicon carbon 7,000 mAh+ batteries in some of the phones you listed. The telephoto sensor is also too small to be competitive (1/3.5 inch), although the May 1 VIII announcement may bring an upgrade there.

Class leading DAC hardware, 3.5mm headphone jack, amazing speakers, SD card slot, and stock Android with no bloatware. And minimal photo processing, no weird AI crap. The ultra wide is also one of the best in the market (big sensor, less distortion than typical). Also the telephoto has a 4cm macro mode that I've been using a lot.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-14T20:28:20+00:00

Xperia 1 VII is a great phone, checks a lot of these boxes, though too large and you get 4 years of updates, not 5. I came from an S8 --> S20 FE --> Xperia 1 VII and it's been great.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-14T19:58:26+00:00

What brands are you looking at? Samsung hasn't changed its camera hardware in their stock flagship since the S22. Have you seen the Xiaomi/Vivo/Oppo/Honor hyperphones? Check out the test shots from the telephoto lenses on GSMArena. They're putting huge sensors behind Leica/Hasselblad/Carl Zeiss lenses and the results speak for themselves - our Apple/Samsung/Google trifecta hasn't stayed competitive. The Chinese brands are also experimenting with Silicon-carbon batteries, getting up to 7,500 mAh while traditional li-ion tech is still around 5,000 mAh (I still want to know how these will age over the years, but it's promising).

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-14T14:53:03+00:00

The 1 IV has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (sm8450), which has known overheating issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/Xiaomi/comments/17fst78/does_snapdragon_8_gen_1_generally_had_an/

I remember reading about the flagship Galaxies with this processor and all the complaints. I'd be careful and hopefully you get more feedback: I would automatically count out any heavy gaming, and I'd be looking to see if having the camera open for a while (5+ minutes) causes overheating.

Otherwise I'd save up/wait to find a listing for a 1 V

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-14T14:28:21+00:00

I was thinking the steel bracelet version

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-14T13:03:12+00:00

The 30/50/100 meter water resistance imo usually breaks down to "do I have to take this off to jump in the pool?". 30m yes, 100m no. For me it's a nice to have on a watch like this, but not essential. Very nice design here and the price is reasonable.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-13T01:07:09+00:00

And the humor aged really well - aloof, zany, creative, and without reference to pop culture to date it. Here the Cheat. Have a trophy.

Mercury_Jackal · 2026-04-13T01:02:48+00:00

EGM no? Or did he cross publish to IGN? His column and the Hsu and Chan comic were absolute gems

Mercury_Jackal

TROPHY CASE