Sony Xperia 1 VIII launches with a Google Pixel-style camera assist feature and a new design

Date:
Wed, 13 May 2026 08:35:54 +0000

Description:
The Sony Xperia 1 VIII has a lot more changes than we're used to from this line, but the price is still prohibitive.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Sony has launched the Xperia 1 VIII It has a redesigned camera block, a new telephoto sensor, an AI camera assistant, and a top-end chipset It also costs more than most high-end
phones, and isn't available in much of the world Like clockwork, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII has now been announced, a year to the day after the Sony Xperia 1 VII . But while the day is the same, the details are different, as Sony has given its new phone a much-needed redesign.

Thats mostly meant changing the camera block, so instead of the vertical line of lenses in the top left corner that weve seen since the Sony Xperia 1 II , theres now a square camera block, with the metal housing wrapping around to the left edge of the phone. Other than some new gemstone-inspired shades (Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red, and Native Gold), thats the only major visual change, but it makes the new phone look dramatically different. Latest Videos From You may like The best Sony cameras, ranked according to in-depth testing Xiaomi 17 Ultra hands-on: 3 upgrades I love and 2 things
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change

The other big change this year also relates to the cameras, as they include a new AI Camera Assistant that will suggest things like lenses, bokeh effects, and color tones, based on the scene and subject, to help ensure your photos look their best. It sounds a bit like the Camera Coach feature on the Google Pixel 10 Pro series, so its not a totally new idea, but its a potentially useful implementation of AI anyway.

The cameras, by the way, include a 48MP f/1.9 wide, a 48MP f/2.0 ultra-wide,
a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto with a 70mm focal length, for roughly 2.9x optical zoom, and a 12MP f/2.0 front-facing camera.

Those are largely the same lenses as last year, except for the telephoto, which was previously only 12MP and with a roughly four times smaller sensor, but which had a continuous optical zoom, so you could optically zoom to more distances. Instead, on the new phone, you can use sensor cropping to get near optical-quality zoom at other distances. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Sony) (Image credit: Sony) Other specs of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII include a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a 5,000mAh battery with the promise of two days of life, a 6.5-inch 1080 x 2340 OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate,
an IP68 rating, and full-stage stereo speakers, which likely means youll get better audio from them than most phone speakers. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

It also continues to have features that the rest of the smartphone industry
is largely abandoning, like a 3.5mm headphone port and a microSD card slot plus sizable bezels above and below the screen, rather than a punch-hole camera. A high price and relatively limited support Unfortunately, those bezels arent the only bad element of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII, as it is also only promised four major Android operating system upgrades, along with six years of security updates. Thats not terrible, but its dwarfed by the likes
of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and the Google Pixel 10 line, both of which are promised seven years of Android updates.

And its not as if the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is a cheaper phone in fact, it
costs more, with a starting price of 1,399 for a version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, rising to 1,849 for a model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. What to read next Sony unveils the WF-1000XM6 earbuds here's what you need to know Move over, iPhone: the Leitzphone looks like a dream phone for photographers Sony and Canon will unveil new cameras on May 13 this one is more exciting

Theres no availability in the US or Australia, but for comparison, the
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,299 / 1,279 / AU$2,199, the Pixel 10
Pro XL starts at $1,199 / 1,199 / AU$1,999, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / 1,199 / AU$2,149. So, Sonys phone costs more than any of these, likely making it hard to justify for most would-be buyers.

If you do want the Sony Xperia 1 VIII, though, and you live somewhere that
its available, youll be able to pre-order it now, with UK shipping estimates currently showing as June 19. And if you do pre-order, you will at least get
a pair of Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones thrown in free, which are worth $449 / 399 / AU$699 in their own right. Today's best Sony Xperia phone deals Sony Xperia 1 VII 1,192.78 1,144.94 View See all prices Sony Xperia 5 V 799 View See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to
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