A ZOOM WITH A VIEW

Sony Xperia 1 IV

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£1299/sony.co.uk

True optical zoomery and a brighter 4K display put the best of Sony's different divisions in one pocketable gadget

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Smartphones are so good these days, and competition is so fierce, that standing out is all about marginal gains. A little unique feature here or there can be the difference between catching the eye and disappearing into the crowd with all the other glowing rectangles. So while the optical zoom on the Xperia 1IV won't make it a best-seller, it is something of a world-first for a phone, offering continuous zoom from 85 to 125mm instead of using Al-assisted cropping for everything in between. That's only a small range, but in theory, it'll offer better results than digital.

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