Sony’s $1,400 phone has a “functional tactile design,” hits the US in July

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  The Sony Xperia 1 V. [credit: Sony ]

Sony is still pumping out smartphones, and the latest flagship is the Sony Xperia 1 V. Believe it or not, this has a US price, and you can order it online!

You can never call Sony generic. This is the only company in the world that ships a "4K" (3840×1644) smartphone, giving the 6.5-inch, 120 Hz OLED a ridiculous 643 PPI. We've seen some of these in person—Sony's densest smartphone displays hit 801 PPI once upon a time—and these ultra-dense displays always seemed far past what anyone can see at a reasonable distance. The other uniquely Sony design traits are symmetrical top and bottom bezels and a camera shutter button. There's also a side power button fingerprint reader. I'm starting to think Sony's fancy 4K displays don't support any of the normal under-screen components like a hole punch camera or in-screen fingerprint reader, and that's how this entire design happened.

There are a bunch of lovely textures happening all over this phone. The back is still glass, but it has a small diamond dimple effect sort of like a diamond plate, and that's in the glass, not under it. Apparently, you can feel it, as Sony calls it a "functional tactile design." The band that wraps around the phone's perimeter is ribbed, and there is diamond knurling on the camera shutter button. There's also a slick-looking matte finish to the glass.

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