Alex Walker-Todd / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A rumor claims the Xperia 1 VII will use Exmor T sensors for all three rear cameras.
- Last year’s model only had an Exmor T sensor for the main camera.
- The Exmor T sensors could reduce noise in low-light shots and improve dynamic range.
Last year’s Xperia 1 VI did little to improve the rear camera situation from the previous year. The hardware was largely identical to the Xperia V, but with some quality-of-life improvements. But a new rumor suggests the story could be different for the Xperia 1 VII.
According to a Weibo leaker (spotted by Smartphone Digest), Sony’s next flagship smartphone could include Exmor T sensors for all three rear cameras. This would be a notable upgrade from last year’s model which only used an Exmor T sensor for the primary camera. The ultrawide and telephoto cameras on the Xperia VI used the decade-old Exmor RS sensors.
If you’re unfamiliar with Exmor T, it’s Sony’s latest stacked CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor that uses 2-layer transistor pixel technology. Compared to the RS, Exmor T reduces noise in low-light shots and gives the dynamic range a nice boost.
If the rumor is correct, it looks like this may be the only big change we see. It’s said that Sony will continue on with the same sensor sizes, so that would be 52MP (which crops to 48MP and pixel-bins down to 12MP) for the primary camera, 12MP for the ultrawide, and 12MP for the telephoto.
Outside of this rumor, not much is currently known about the Xperia 1 VII. We should find out more information as we get closer to launch, which Sony has typically stuck with a June release.
