The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is a flagship smartphone unveiled by Sony on May 13, 2026. It features a redesigned rear camera design for the first time since the original Xperia 1 (2019), a new, bigger periscope telephoto sensor and lens, and a 6.5-inch LTPO FHD+ OLED screen with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. The phone includes a 3.5mm headphone jack and supports expandable storage via a microSD card slot.
Hardware
Camera Xperia 1 VIII ditched the continuous optical zoom technology that was introduced in the Xperia 1 IV and extended its zoom range in the Xperia 1 VI in favor of a fixed, however bigger, telephoto sensor at 48 megapixels, four times bigger than its predecessor, to design better performance in low-light scenarios. The ultrawide, main camera, and selfie camera sensors were carried out from the Xperia 1 VII.
AI Camera Assistant Controversy Xperia 1 VIII was subjected to controversy due to overly-bright, flat images, and washed-out color by its AI Camera Assistant feature introduced in the 1 VIII as its highlight feature.
Software The phone comes with Android 16, with up to 4 major Android upgrades and 6 years of security updates promised.
References
External links Official website