A mind-blowing telephoto camera
The Sony Xperia 1 VII, which was released last year, didn’t score good marks in our in-house testing. The overall camera performance was very unimpressive, especially if you consider its €1,499 price tag. The company has definitely tried to improve on the camera front this year, as the Xperia 1 VIII comes with improved cameras.First, let’s talk about the star of the triple camera setup – the telephoto lens. The phone features a completely new 1/1.56-inch sensor, which is four times bigger than what you will find in its predecessor. The announcement video claims that the new, bigger sensor will allow the device to deliver high-quality images when shooting distant objects in low-lighting conditions.The company also mentions that all three 48 MP cameras at the back are compatible with RAW multi-frame processing. In simple terms, the smartphone will offer an expanded dynamic range, and images taken in low lighting conditions will have less noise compared to previous models.
Other than the hardware improvements, the announcement video also gives a lot of emphasis to the new AI camera assistant. It will basically analyze the subject and the environment and suggest different things you can do to take a perfect shot. For instance, you might be suggested different filters, asked to change the angle, or even given a bokeh setting that will work the best based on the environment.
Other details of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII
Sony Xperia 1 VIII from all angles. | Image by Sony
Although the camera is the main highlight of the phone, some other departments have also seen noticeable changes. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, which is an upgrade over its predecessor, which runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The screen is 6.5 inches that supports a 120 Hz refresh rate.Sony is one of the few brands that is still offering a 3.5mm jack, and the trend continues in its latest device as well. The battery numbers are still the same this year – a 5000mAh cell that supports 30 W wired charging. However, the company claims that it will offer slightly better battery life because of better optimization under the hood.
It’s too costly
It’s time to reveal the biggest flaw of the latest Sony flagship: its price. The smartphone is available in two storage options. The standard 12 GB/256 GB variant costs $1,759 (via direct conversion from €1,499), while the 16 GB/1 TB variant costs $2,346 (via direct conversion from €1,999).
In fact, just before the official launch of the device, we talked about its leaked specifications in one of our posts. The story included a poll in which we asked you to share the most exciting part about the Xperia 1 VIII. Unsurprisingly, most of you voted for the option that said, “At this price, nothing is exciting,” which clearly suggests that pricing is still king when choosing a smartphone.
The phone doesn’t seem worthy of this price
I believe the pricing of Sony smartphones has always been one of the main reasons they don’t perform as well in the market as phones from Samsung, Google, or Apple. Also, if you go through the specifications of the device, you would realize that the whopping $1,759 isn’t justified at all. First, let’s start by comparing the camera.
Undoubtedly, its telephoto shooter looks best on paper, and in fact, it is much larger than those in Apple’s and Samsung’s latest flagships. However, it’s very close to what you get in the Vivo X300 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra. If you compare the other specifications of these two devices with the Xperia 1 VIII, you will find that the latter is lagging behind significantly.
For instance, compared to the 6,600 mAh and 6,000 mAh batteries you find in the Vivo X300 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, respectively, the latest Sony device only offers a 5,000 mAh cell. It’s still stuck with a 120 Hz display, whereas 144 Hz has become common even in mid-range devices like the OnePlus Nord CE6.
Most importantly, the phone will only get four years of Android updates and six years of security updates. Because of all this, I personally think the smartphone is definitely not worth the price. That said, it can be purchased in Europe and Asia, with no plans from Sony to launch it in the American market.
