The Sony Xperia Pro-I can shoot 4K/120, aimed at pros and creators

Sony has announced the next in its line of professional photography/videography centric smartphones, and it's called the Xperia Pro-I. 

In many ways it's the Sony Xperia 1 III - which launched earlier this year - but with an entirely new body and a hugely upgraded camera and thermal system. 

The primary camera on the back features the same 1.0-type Exmor RS sensor used in the RX100 VII camera, but it's been "optimised for smartphone". 

For the spec fans, that's a sensor with 2.4µm pixel pitch, RAW 12-bit shooting and a camera with dual mechanical f2.0/f4.0 aperture. 

As you'd suspect, the aim is to deliver image quality you'll struggle to get with any other smartphone camera, with bokeh and low light performance you'll be unlikely to achieve with other phones. 

The sensor features 315 phase-detection AF points, which covers 90 per cent of the frame and - like its dedicated cameras - it features advanced autofocus capabilities including real-time eye AF and real-time tracking. 

It joins two other cameras on the back, and all three have lenses coated with Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating, while the main camera uses Zeiss Tessar optics. 

The main sensor is a 24mm wide equivalent, and is joined by a 16mm ultrawide and 50mm telephoto as well as a 3D ToF sensor. All three feature 12-megapixel resolution. 

As well as seeking to deliver unmatched stills performance, the Xperia Pro-I also wants to dominate the video capture market, offering 4K resolution recording up to a staggering 120 frames-per-second. 

What's more, you'll be able to use the Eye AF and object tracking capabilities when shooting video. And for additional audio quality, there are three microphones, one of which is a monaural microphone for more clear capture of speech during filming, while the other two gather ambient sound in stereo. 

Because it's aimed at professional videographers and photographers, there are professional capture apps. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's really complicated to use those manual controls. 

The new Videography Pro app lets you quickly and easily adjust settings like focus, white balance, exposure and the like, without having to go through lots of complicated options. Or at least, that's the claim. 

From a design standpoint, it looks similar to the Xperia 1 III from the front, but the chassis and frame have been redesigned, and include both a strap hole and a large, textured shutter button. 

As for other specs though, that's pretty much identical to the Xperia 1 III. That includes the Snapdragon 888 processor, 4K 120Hz OLED display and 4500mAh battery. 

There's a big focus on audio quality too, with support for wired and wireless Hi-Res audio codecs. 

The Sony Xperia Pro-I will go on sale in early December and will cost £1,599 in the UK.

Sony Mobile will also offer a Vlog Monitor that connects to the phone and allows you to film yourself with the main camera. That goes on sale at the same time for £169, as well as a premium anti-microbial leather case for £69. 

Source : https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/sony-mobile/158859-sony-xperia-pro-i-release-specs-price