Sony Xperia 1 IV

Stellar creative features, especially for photos and videos, but we expect perfection at this price

Costing £1,299 with 256GB of storage, the Xperia 1 IV is more expensive than any comparable iPhone or Samsung Galaxy handset.

But then this is a special device, with a range of high-end photography and videography features aimed at mobile content creators.

Considering its creative ambitions, the phone itself is surprisingly plain.

It's long, thin and angular, with flat edges that aren't all that comfortable.

Colour options of violet, white or black are conservative too. Still, its 71mm width won't stretch your hand, and it's light at 185g.

As with most premium phones, there's sturdy Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and back, and IP68 certification means it's protected against dust and brief submersions in water. Around the edges you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired audio and microphones - a rare treat these days - plus a power button with an integrated fingerprint reader and a physical camera shutter button.

That last feature is a great addition. You can squeeze it to instantly open the camera app, then half-press it to find focus, just like on a real camera. I'm less sold on the fingerprint reader, however, which frequently failed to register my fingerprint.

The display is a 6.5in OLED panel. That might sound small for a premium phone, but it's a good size for the 21:9 aspect ratio, and boasts a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and a maximum resolution of 4K.

Sony points out that it goes 50% brighter than the last-generation Xperia 1 III (see issue 324, p62), but despite a peak of around 600cd/m² I struggled to read the display outdoors on sunny days.