Sony Xperia 1 V resolution control introduced, but won’t last

There are many great things about the $1,400 Sony Xperia 1 V. One of those things is that it is one of the very few Android phones with a 4K display resolution — 3,840 x 1,644, to be precise. However, Sony doesn’t let you control that in any way. Instead, Xperia UI — Sony’s Android skin — automatically switches to 4K when you’re viewing 4K content and then switches back to a 2,560 x 1,096 resolution when you are doing anything else.

Xperia fans have long desired a setting to set the phone to 4K permanently, but Sony hasn’t come through. However, about three months ago, Sony issued its Android 15 update to the Xperia 1 V, and it included a display resolution control setting. It didn’t work, but it was pretty clear what the setting would do if it did:

As one would expect, Xperia fans got very excited by this mistake. Could it be that Sony would finally allow users to view everything in 4K all the time, regardless of the underlying content? Unfortunately, no, as earlier this month, Sony issued a statement saying this inactive setting was an error, and it will be removed in an upcoming OTA update.

Well, this has upset Xperia fans quite a bit, as evidenced by this Reddit thread. In that thread, you’ll find many negative comments about how upset people are about this, with most saying the Xperia 1 V will be their last Sony smartphone.

Interestingly, builds of Lineage OS — a custom ROM made by the community and not endorsed by Sony — allow for you to set the display to its maximum resolution permanently. While this is great for people who value that, Lineage OS comes with some significant caveats, so not everyone would want to go down that path.

One Reddit user, though, sums up the broad sentiment quite nicely: “A large part of why I bought this phone was for the screen,” they said. “If I cannot determine what my resolution is, I was sold a faulty product.”

It would seem Sony might have a problem on its hands.