The Sony Xperia Pro can be utilized as an exterior area monitor for a devoted digital camera. It can present a reside video preview from the digital camera’s HDMI output.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The Sony Xperia Pro is completely one of the vital compelling telephones I’ve examined in a very long time. But it is not for everybody. The $2,500 cellphone continues Sony’s transfer away from smartphones designed for a mass shopper viewers and confidently towards gadgets for picture and video fans. (UK and Australian launches have but to be confirmed, however the US worth converts roughly to £1,830 or AU$3,250.) Last yr, we acquired the fantastic Xperia 1 II and the Xperia 5 II, which was the very best cellphone Sony made in years. The Xperia Pro takes this narrow-appeal strategy to the following degree. It is not meant to compete with the likes of the iPhone 12 Pro Max or the Galaxy S21 Ultra. In reality, there actually is not one other system prefer it that gives the identical performance.A 6.5-inch 4K show, 5G connectivity and HDMI enter rework the Xperia Pro right into a handful {of professional} instruments for photographers, video shooters and content material creators. And even when you’re a type of individuals it nonetheless may not be precisely for you.
LikeProfessional degree video monitor featuresRobust utilitarian buildLive broadcast streaming over 5GAs a cellphone its basically the Xperia 1 II
Don’t LikePrice is excessive limiting its slender attraction2020 specs and Android 10Wished it recorded video through HDMI enter
The Xperia Pro is basically an Xperia 1 II repackaged into a brand new barely greater physique with the addition of a micro-HDMI port. It seems to be unabashedly plain and utilitarian, which is suitable for a severe piece of kit. It has a devoted shutter button, a side-mounted energy button that is additionally a fingerprint reader, and a brand new {hardware} shortcut button.It has the identical easy-to-open dual-SIM card tray that can be used with a microSD card for additional storage. It has the identical cameras, and it appears able to taking the identical glorious images and movies because the Xperia 1 II. The Xperia Pro additionally has final yr’s Snapdragon 865 chip and runs Android 10, although it acquired a lift in RAM to 12GB. Since the vast majority of the Pro is identical because the Xperia 1 II, I encourage you to learn my Xperia 1 II overview for a in-depth evaluation of all these options. Note that I used a preproduction mannequin of the Sony Xperia Pro, which is why I have never given it a full, rated overview.
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You is perhaps questioning that if the Pro is so much like the Xperia 1 II, why does it price $1,400 extra? That’s the place issues get very fascinating and really area of interest. The Xperia Pro is a cellphone, a digital camera monitor, a speedy picture file-transfer system and a 5G broadcast/livestreaming machine. I used to be undoubtedly wowed by the way it can streamline the artistic workflow of photographers, videographers and reside broadcasters. But after per week of testing, I additionally understand that it isn’t for all photographers, videographers and reside broadcasters.Aside from indicating that its capabilities are far past the atypical, the $2,500 worth will certainly trigger sticker shock for a lot of. If you add up the Xperia Pro’s performance (cellphone, 4K monitor, 5G mobile modem) the value turns into slightly simpler to swallow. But the query stays, is that this cellphone for you?
The Xperia Pro as a 4K area monitorOftentimes, when capturing video with a devoted digital camera, you need a bigger display to preview the picture to examine issues like focus and publicity. The built-in screens on cameras are severely restricted by their small measurement. There are numerous 4K exterior displays you should buy ranging in worth from a few hundred {dollars} as much as almost $7,000.One of the primary appeals of the Xperia Pro is that you need to use it as a 4K area monitor. You merely join your digital camera and the Xperia Pro utilizing an HDMI cable (one which has a micro-HDMI connector for the Pro). Next, you activate the digital camera and open up the aptly named External Monitor app on the Xperia Pro. Depending in your digital camera’s settings and output, you will see a preview of what you are filming, in your cellphone.It is completely fantastic utilizing the Xperia Pro as a digital camera monitor. The first profit comes when it comes to measurement and weight. The standalone digital camera monitor that I take advantage of to movie CNET movies is cumbersome and heavy. In reality the Xperia Pro weighs 75 grams much less and that is not even accounting for the load of the large batteries my monitor wants for energy. And talking of batteries, the Xperia Pro and its 4,000-mAh battery lasted hours when used as a monitor in comparison with the 45 minutes or so I acquired with my 4K digital camera monitor. If I have to cost the cellphone whereas it is mounted on the digital camera, I can plug in a USB-C cable and a conveyable battery.On the left is a 7-inch 4K video monitor with battery connected that I usually use to movie CNET movies. On the appropriate is the a lot smaller Xperia Pro, standing vertically, which has a 6.5-inch 4K show and a 4,000-mAh battery.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Another profit is that I can work together with the Xperia Pro like a cellphone as a substitute of controlling it with early-2000s laptop show buttons and a goofy generic menu interface. I can pinch to zoom the preview picture bigger or smaller. The Pro’s External Monitor app additionally has instruments for display lock, brightness management, zooming, grid strains, body strains and a 180-degree picture flip.Smartly, Sony hasn’t made any of the performance proprietary. I attempted the Pro out as a monitor for each a Sony A7SIII and a Panasonic S1H mirrorless digital camera. For probably the most half, the app labored nice, although a couple of occasions it misplaced the preview picture. I did not expertise any main bugs with the External Monitor app, however I could not inform if the few occasions the connection dropped was as a result of the HDMI cable was free or the truth that this was a preproduction cellphone. Hopefully that is addressed within the remaining model.The Sony Xperia Pro mounted and linked to a Sony A7SIII digital camera.
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When the preview is displayed on the cellphone there’s a whole lot of black house on both aspect. I want I may offset the video feed to the left or proper aspect of the show and have the opposite half to simply assess controls and menus. My solely main criticism about utilizing the Xperia Pro as a preview monitor is that open air in daylight its brightness struggled. If I used to be shopping for the Xperia Pro to make use of as a monitor, I might undoubtedly wish to add some form of shade to it when filming open air.I additionally want there was a method for the Xperia Pro to file a video sign coming in from HDMI, like different high-end displays can. That sort of performance would attraction to me and the sort of video work I do.
The Xperia Pro is the right Zoom teleprompter monitorBut the enjoyable does not cease there; the Xperia Pro’s HDMI enter is not restricted to cameras. And due to this it proved to be a great answer for Zoom calls. Normally for a Zoom name you would possibly use your laptop’s built-in digital camera. But as many people discovered throughout the pandemic, getting an exterior digital camera for Zoom works method higher. The solely draw back to having an exterior digital camera for Zoom is that you simply’re nonetheless your laptop display to see the individual or individuals you are speaking to.For my exterior digital camera, I take advantage of a Panasonic S1H that plugs into my laptop with an adapter. I can use one other adapter that connects my laptop to the micro-HDMI port on the Xperia Pro. This basically makes the cellphone right into a 6.5-inch exterior laptop monitor so no matter is on my laptop display exhibits up on the cellphone’s display.For Zoom calls I can movie myself with a devoted exterior digital camera and use the Xperia Pro as a teleprompter digital camera show displaying the individual I’m speaking to. No extra bizarre wanting backwards and forwards between the digital camera and my laptop show.
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I’ve a mini teleprompter stand that slides onto the top of my digital camera’s lens and may assist the load of a cellphone. I took the Xperia Pro that was linked to my laptop and put it into the stand. Now after I have a look at my digital camera, I can see no matter is on my laptop display. I can put the opposite individual’s Zoom video feed onto the Xperia Pro/teleprompter and never have that bizarre back-and-forth eye contact factor occurring. This is nice for a Zoom video or any video chat that is being recorded. You get the great picture high quality from utilizing a devoted digital camera with out wanting away from the lens to see the opposite individual.The Xperia Pro can broadcast a 4K video livestream over 5GThe Xperia Pro is Sony’s first 5G cellphone for the US. Using a combo of 5G and the micro-HDMI port permits you to livestream video content material from a devoted exterior digital camera on to social media platforms like YouTube and Twitch. That means I can use a Sony A7SIII digital camera and a pleasant lens to seize 4K video reside and have the Xperia Pro add the video sign over 5G (ideally mmWave, the quickest sort of 5G) to whichever broadcast platform I’m utilizing.The Sony Xperia Pro is a cellphone, a digital camera monitor, a reside broadcasting system and a photograph file-transfer instrument.
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The preproduction Xperia Pro I examined solely had assist for 5G mmWave. The solely 5G close to the place I used to be filming was the sub-6 selection, nevertheless, which did not work on the Pro. The remaining model of the Xperia Pro will assist each sub-6 and mmWave 5G. Also you need to use the built-in cameras on the cellphone to livestream, however when you might have the power to make use of a devoted digital camera with significantly better picture high quality, why would you?Remember after I stated the Xperia Pro was geared toward a distinct segment viewers? The livestream/broadcasting function undoubtedly is. An fascinating proof of idea Sony shared was on full show alongside the sidelines of NFL video games within the type of a digital camera rig nicknamed The Megalodon. It’s made up of a Sony Alpha mirrorless digital camera, a gimbal, a monitor and a mobile modem (within the backpack) to share the sign to the published truck. That means the digital camera operator is not tethered to a large bodily cable. It shouldn’t be onerous to think about an Xperia Pro being utilized in lieu of the mobile modem and/or the monitor.
The superior on-field photographs on FOX’s broadcast of #Seahawks-#WashingtonFootball Team are courtesy of this contraption the crew nicknames “The Megalodon.” Here it’s. And right here’s Mike Smole, who is working it immediately. He calls it a “poor man’s Steadicam.” We ought to all be so poor. pic.twitter.com/RWuYjeaBCe— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 20, 2020
Most stadiums have 5G mmWave assist. And as 5G and particularly mmWave broaden extra within the US and once we get again to some extent the place we’re touring for video shoots once more, I can undoubtedly see the attraction of streaming a 4K video broadcast reside over 5G. But for now, this function is geared toward huge reside occasions like skilled sports activities.A community visualizer app helps you place the Xperia Pro in the very best route to get the strongest 5G sign.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Xperia Pro 5G community visualizerTo discover the strongest 5G connection, there is a built-in community visualizer app that may assist you to pinpoint one of the simplest ways to place the cellphone for a broadcast. One of the explanations behind the sensible wanting physique of the Xperia Pro is that it homes 4 completely different 5G antennas. The app exhibits add and obtain speeds in addition to which aspect of the cellphone (prime, backside, left or proper) has the strongest 5G sign. The thought is you’ll transfer the cellphone towards the strongest aspect. Since I solely had sub-6 5G out there, the app confirmed 4G LTE availability, which accurately surrounds me, as a result of it is mainly in every single place in comparison with 5G.Xperia Pro affords FTP server assist for imagesLastly, the Xperia Pro has assist for file switch protocol, or FTP, through USB-C tethering. This was a function Sony first launched final yr on the Xperia 5 II and Sony A7SIII for fast picture file transfers. But with the addition of 5G, you might have even sooner speeds — in concept. Compare Sony Xperia Pro specs vs. Sony Xperia 1 II, Sony Xperia 5 II
Sony Xperia Pro
Sony Xperia 1 II
Sony Xperia 5 II
Display measurement, decision
6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED; 3,840×1,644 pixels
6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED; 3,840×1,644 pixels
6.1-inch FHD+ HDR OLED; 2,520×1,080 pixels
Pixel density
643 ppi
643 ppi
449 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
6.7x3x0.4 in
6.5×2.8×0.3 in
6.22×2.68×0.31 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)
170.2×76.2×10.16 mm
165.1×71.1×7.62 mm
158x68x8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
7.9 oz; 225g
6.4 oz; 181g
5.75 oz; 163g
Mobile software program
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Camera
12-megapixel (normal), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 12-megapixel (3x telephoto)
12-megapixel (normal), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 12-megapixel (3x telephoto)
12-megapixel (normal), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 12-megapixel (3x telephoto)
Front-facing digital camera
8-megapixel
8-megapixel
8-megapixel
Video seize
4K
4K
4K
Processor
Snapdragon 865 5G
Snapdragon 865
Snapdragon 865
Storage
512GB
256GB
128GB
RAM
12GB
8GB
8GB
Expandable storage
Up to 1TB
Up to 1TB
Up to 1TB
Battery
4,000 mAh
4,000 mAh
4,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
Right aspect
Right aspect
Right aspect
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special options
5G sub-6 and mmWave, rated IP 65/68, adaptive battery charging and care, Dolby Atmos, Zeiss lens coatings, time of flight sensor, {hardware} shutter button, {hardware} shortcut button
5G-enabled (not in US), wi-fi charging, rated IP 65/68, adaptive battery charging and care, Dolby Atmos, Zeiss lens coatings, time of flight sensor, {hardware} shutter button
5G-enabled (not in US), 120Hz refresh price show, rated IP 65/68, adaptive battery charging and care, Dolby Atmos, Zeiss lens coatings, time of flight sensor, {hardware} shutter button, {hardware} Google Assistant button
Price off-contract (USD)
$2,500
$1,200
$950
Price (GBP)
Converts to £1,830
£1,099
£799
Price (AUD)
Converts to AU$3,250
Converts to AU$1,960
Converts to AU$1,430