The Sony Xperia 1 VIII has finally arrived. It offers some improvements over its predecessor, but its value still depends on how it compares with segment competitors in the market.
To start, the new Sony Xperia model comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which offers a significant performance improvement (20% better CPU, 23% faster GPU, and 20% better power management) over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. You also get up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and it’s good news that Sony still allows expansion for the latter, given its flagship status.
The camera department was also given a makeover with the introduction of the new 1/1.56″ telephoto unit in the system. It is significantly larger than the sensor in the Mark VII and offers higher resolution. Yet here’s the thing: unlike the unit on the Mark VIII’s predecessors with continuous optical zoom, its telephoto lens is limited to 70mm. The 48MP sensor features excellent zoom levels and low-light performance. Yet, its f/2.8 aperture (2.9x optical zoom) is behind the Mark VII’s wider f/2.3 aperture (3.5x to 7.1x continuous optical zoom).
The phone also features a new camera island, a 3.5mm headphone jack, AI features (e.g., AI Camera Assistant), and symmetrical stereo speakers. However, despite the great advances made in the smartphone industry, some might find it underwhelming that it still has a 6.5″ 120Hz LTPO OLED, a 5000mAh battery, and 30W wired and 15W wireless support. To underscore, the phone starts at €1,500 for a 12GB/256GB configuration, which isn’t cheap. (Even more, the Sony store-exclusive 1TB Native Gold variant can hit up to €2,000.) To compare, the same price tag can already get you the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a powerful camera system (50MP 23mm Light Fusion 1050L main camera with OIS + 200MP 75-100mm Samsung HPE telephoto with OIS + 50MP 14mm Samsung JN5 ultrawide), a 50MP selfie camera, a 6000mAh battery, and 90W wired + 50W wireless charging support.
The phone is available in Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red, and Native Gold. It is now open for pre-orders, giving fans the chance to get free Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones.
Here are more details about the Sony Xperia 1 VIII:
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- 256GB and 1TB storage
- 6.5″ FHD+ 120Hz LTPO OLED
- 48MP main camera with OIS + 48MP periscope telephoto with OIS and 2.9x optical zoom + 48MP ultrawide
- 12MP selfie camera
- 5000mAh battery
- 30W wired and 15W wireless charging
- Android 16
- IP65 and IP68 ratings
- Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red, and Native Gold
