Sony Xperia 1 VIII review

Introduction

Sony had many of its mobile phone fans kind of worried for a hot minute there after it announced a joint venture with TCL at the beginning of this year, which will effectively relinquish control over the Bravia TV brand. Thankfully, the Japanese giant came in shortly to confirm that there is “no change in status” for Xperia phones. So, exactly one year after the launch of the Xperia 1 VII, we now get Xperia 1 VIII (with the Roman numeral spelled as Mark 8).

The new Xperia 1 VIII is still unmistakably a Sony phone with all the quirks that entail, but it has gone through one of the most major redesigns in a while. You are still looking at a “tall and skinny” chocolate bar-style device with an undisturbed display on the front, void of any punch hole.

Sony Xperia 1 VIII specs 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 tight and water resistant (low pressure water jets; immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.50″ LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 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: Android 16, up to 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 min, 15W wireless, Reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive; NFC; 3.5mm jack.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Native Sony Alpha camera support.

Just to be clear, though, Sony isn’t back to its 21:1 cinematic display aspect or anything. It is a 19.5:9 display, but the phone still looks a lot taller than wider, mostly due to the top bezel and display chin, which are no longer common design elements in 2026.

A lot has changed around back, namely the totally redesigned new camera island. It’s a radical new look with a sloping edge on one side. It kind of reminds us of the camera design on the Galaxy S21 Ultra or the OnePlus 10 Pro, which also extended to the side bezel. However, Sony’s take is admittedly different.

Another special feature of the new design is the matte, rough finish, which is unlike any other phone we’ve seen. It feels very grippy, slightly porous even – think a very fine nail file to get an idea – but it’s more sophisticated than a nail file, of course.

Specs-wise, Sony seemingly didn’t want to rock the boat too much. The camera setup has been switched around a bit, and there is the top-dog Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on board, as you would expect from a 2026 flagship, but other than that, not much has changed internally. It remains to be seen whether that’s a positive or not.

Unboxing

The Xperia 1 VIII ships in a very simple cardboard box, perhaps the simplest one we’ve seen in a while. You won’t catch us complaining. Investing in a fancy box is generally unnecessary and often not eco-friendly. The one we have here only has black and white printing and does include an internal cradle for the phone itself, but it is also made of the same cardboard, not plastic.

Sony phones don’t even come with a USB cable – it has been so for a few years now. So don’t expect anything beyond the phone itself, as you don’t even need a SIM ejector tool to access the toolless SIM tray – another one of Sony’s trademark features.