Sony Xperia 1 II

For most of us, our phones are our cameras — and some of us want a really good one. Sony is prepared to deliver on the image capture front with the new Xperia 1 II. Despite a name that fascinatingly combines both Arabic and Roman numerals, Sony is presenting this version of the Xperia as its flagship smartphone — and aims to be the best camera you carry in your pocket. If you think about it, they have a right to win that contest considering their deep history of manufacturing professional camera equipment that’s regularly considered among the top brands. 

Developed in concert with the engineers behind the top-of-the-line professional Alpha 9 series cameras, the Xperia 1 II’s three rear cameras, all offering 12 MP resolution with a wide, ultrawide, and telephoto lens. The autofocus is sharp and fast, including human and animal Eye AF (eyeball-centric focusing), and focusing in low light and on moving subjects. The photographers who scoop up this $1,200 beauty will enjoy the orchestra of manual features for capturing and editing images, and the physical shutter button. 

Another benefit of a Sony product? They know their way around a display, so if it’s going to take such killer images, it might as well display them well too. As one of the only smartphones delivering a 4K display, your shots will look quite nice — but so will playing Call of Duty or binging a season of The Expanse.

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