Excellent 4K HDR OLED display; Slim, comfortable form factor; Novel true optical zoom periscope camera;

Incredibly expensive; Overheats easily; Camera apps demand photography expertise;

Flexible, fast and capable cameras with impressive manual controls; A true flagship in all other respects, from screen to performance; Has all the features other phones have forgotten about;

Newbie snappers will only scratch the surface of what the cameras can do; Gets toasty under load, to the point of throttling; 4K resolution has limited use, and lacks dynamic refresh;

Sony hasn’t changed direction with the Sony Xperia 1 IV, but it still offers several features you don’t get elsewhere. It’s a top-tier phone with a headphone jack, expandable memory and an unusual take on what a smartphone camera should feel like.

Non pixel-binning camera handles tricky textures well, Has a headphone jack and expandable memory, Optical zoom camera is a neat concept, You want all the bells and whistles: Sony offers a different kind of top-end Android phone, one that rejects trends that have upset many over the years.

Inconsistent camera doesn’t match expectations, Becomes hot frequently, Suffers from significant thermal performance throttling, Very expensive, You want to game on-the-go: This is an extremely expensive phone that becomes hot a lot of the time.

The Sony Xperia 1 IV is a fine-looking phone with an excellent screen. While Sony fans and enthusiast photographers will have plenty to sink their teeth into here, an overcomplicated camera interface, a prohibitively high price, and semi-regular overheating all hold the phone back from being easy to...

Classically premium design, Feature-packed, Great camera system, Bravia Core is excellent, Eco-conscious packaging

Gets very hot, Complicated camera apps, Weak portrait mode in cameras, No charger or cable in the box, Occasional user interface gremlins

Sony hasn’t reinvented the wheel with the Xperia 1 IV, but what it has changed are all welcome improvements. Crisp and detailed picture Improved speaker performance Quality build Tall aspect ratio slightly awkward Expensive

DSLR replacement for your pocket? Sony's Xperia 1 IV comes with a variable zoom lens, thus making use of real optical zoom in a smartphone. Cameras aside, the flagship phone sports other unusual features such as a status LED, a microSD slot, a headphone jack and a shutter button.

bright 4K OLED at 120 Hz, good stereo speakers, equipment (jack, status LED), image output via USB-C port, faster SoC, appealing workmanship, extensive camera software

positioning only via a single band, slow microSD slot, only 3 years of updates, low running times, 30 watt fast charging only

Sony’s multi-talented smartphone impresses from the outset thanks to its modern, sleek design and the robust glass finish of its rear side – but it’s what users are getting from the inside that’s even more attractive.

The Apple iPhone 14 is no match for the just-released iPhone 14 Pro, but if you ignore that, it’s one of the most effective phones around.

Great cameras, front and back, Fast performance, Good battery life, Innovative safety features

Design too familiar, Some average features