Introduction
Sony worried many of its mobile phone fans earlier this year after announcing a joint venture with TCL that would effectively give up control of the Bravia TV brand. Thankfully, the Japanese giant quickly came forward to confirm that there has been “no change in the status” of the Xperia phone. So, exactly a year after the launch of the Xperia 1 VII, we now get the Xperia 1 VIII (with the Roman numeral Mark 8).
The new Xperia 1 VIII is still clearly a Sony phone with all the specifications intact, but it has gone through one of the most major redesigns in a while. You’re still looking at a “long and thin” chocolate bar-style device, with a seamless display with no punches on the front.
Sony Xperia 1 VIII details at a glance:
- Body: 162.0×74.0x8.3mm, 200g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus), aluminum frame; IP65/IP68 dust resistant and water resistant (low pressure water jets; submersible up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes).
- Display: 6.50″ LTPO OLED, 1B color, 120Hz, HDR BT.2020, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 396ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-AC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm): Octa-core (2×4.6 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L + 6×3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M); Adreno 840.
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Up to Android 16, 5 major Android upgrades.
- rear camera: wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.35″, 1.12µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; telephoto: 48 MP, f/2.8, 70mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, dual-pixel PDAF (15cm – ∞), OIS, 2.9x optical zoom; ultra wide angle: 48 MP, f/2.0, 16mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0μm, PDAF.
- Front Camera: 12 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/2.9″, 1.22µm.
- video capture: rear camera: 4K@24/30/60/120fps HDR, 1080p@30/60/120fps; 5-axis Gyro-EIS, OIS; front camera:4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 5-axis Gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 5000mAh; 30W wired, PD3.0, PPS, 50% in 30 minutes, 15W wireless, reverse wireless.
- Connectivity: 5G; é SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive; NFC; 3.5 mm jack.
- various: fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Original Sony Alpha camera support.
However, to be clear, Sony hasn’t returned to its 21:1 cinematic display aspect or anything. It’s a 19.5:9 display, but the phone still looks taller than it is wide, largely due to the top bezel and display chin, which are no longer common design elements in 2026.
A lot has changed, namely a completely redesigned new camera island. It has a completely new look with a sloping edge on one side. It kind of reminds us of the camera design of the Galaxy S22 or S21 generation, which even extended to the side bezels. However, Sony’s approach is certainly different.
Another special feature of the new design is the matte, rough finish, which is different from any other phone we’ve seen. It feels very sticky, even a little porous – think of a very fine nail file to get an idea of this – but it’s definitely more refined than a nail file.
Specs-wise, it seems like Sony didn’t want to rock the boat too much. The camera setup has been tweaked a bit, and there’s a top-dog Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 on board, as you’d expect from a 2026 flagship, but other than that, not much has changed internally. It remains to be seen whether this is positive or not.
unbox
The Xperia 1 VIII comes in a very simple cardboard box, probably the simplest box we’ve seen in a while. You won’t catch us complaining. Investing in fancy boxes is generally unnecessary and often not environmentally friendly. What we have here is only black and white printing and it also includes an internal cradle for the phone, but it is also made of the same cardboard, not plastic.
Sony phones don’t even come with a USB cable – this has been the case for the last few years. So don’t expect anything beyond the phone, as you don’t even need a SIM ejector tool to access the toolless SIM tray – one of Sony’s trademark features.