Stuff just about stopped covering Sony Xperia device launch news when the brand decided to pull out of South Africa. Still, it’s a little nice to know what we’re missing out on every once in a while. Like the newly-announced Xperia Pro-I pro-grade smartphone, complete with a 1in camera sensor straight out of a point-and-shoot.

A one-inch sensor rather large for a smartphone — and this one hasn’t been commercially available ever. It’s become evident that Sony is focusing its mobile efforts on niche products — specifically at the film industry.

Xperia’s back, kinda

Engadget details what the large sensor is capable of fairly well in a comparison: “[T]he primary sensor on the Pixel 6 Pro features a pixel pitch of 1.2µm. By contrast, the main sensor on the Pro-I has 2.4µm-sized pixels, making it much better in low light.”

Thanks to the monstrous sensor, this device is capable of shooting 12-bit RAW images and also shoots video at 4K and 120fps. That’s with autofocus and eye-detection features found on the brand’s full-fat camera tech. The new Xperia’s autofocus features 315 points that cover 90 percent of the frame.

The phone is also home to one of Sony’s BIONZ X image processors. Generally, you’d expect to find a bit of BIONZ hardware in one of Sony’s excellent mirrorless cameras. Having it crop up in a smartphone is something really special.

Other than that, it’s fitted with all the expected smartphone bits, including a Snapdragon 888, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of internal storage. There’s also a 4,500mAh battery and a 6.5in OLED 4K display with a 120Hz refresh rate, so it hits most of the flagship high notes.

Add that beefy camera sensor and all of Sony’s image processing tech and you’ve apparently got yourself a $1,800 (around R25,500) smartphone. Pity we won’t ever see it sold natively here in South Africa. Oh well, there’s always the import route…