GoKawiilis a news editor with over a decade’s experience in journalism. He previously worked at Android Police and Tech Advisor.
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The Xperia 1 VIII marks an attempt at a step change for Sony’s flagship phone line. Not only has it had an aesthetic overhaul, but Sony has also revamped the camera system, dropping the continuous optical zoom telephoto that’s defined the last four generations of Xperia phone.
It’s not all different. Sony staples like a 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot remain, and a few specific design touches, like a thick front bezel that fits stereo speakers, have stayed intact. Sony’s ambitious pricing hasn’t changed either: The Xperia 1 VIII isn’t launching in the US, but in the UK and Europe, it starts from £1,399 / €1,499 (about $1,850), rising to £1,849 / €1,999 ($2,450) if you want 1TB of storage.
For Sony diehards, this delivers the flagship essentials, including a capable camera, and looks good doing it. For everyone else, you can find better Android phones at this price, like Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra or the Vivo X300 Ultra.
Sony’s Xperia 1 phones have looked almost identical to one another since 2020. It was a pretty handsome design, to be fair, but probably overdue sprucing up. The 1 VIII does just that, moving to a blocky new camera island and an unusual textured finish that make the phone feel very different to every previous Xperia.
I’m a big fan of the design, which has a stark, brutalist quality. The slightly grippy texture — a bit like an incredibly fine nail file — was designed to vary subtly between the back and frame, which helps prevent the phone from feeling like a monotone slab. The texture helps sell the phone’s high price even better than ultrasmooth glass might (not that this isn’t glass, with Gorilla Glass Victus on the rear and Victus 2 on the front).
I love the stark, straight edges of the design. Sony hasn’t yet told me what this odd cutout above the volume button is for. A headphone jack! I hope you like big bezels.
I love the details, like how the camera island’s edges drop off steeply on three sides, while on the last it angles down to meet the frame. Sony’s usual knurled two-stage camera shutter button returns, adding another textural element and improved camera controls. Unfortunately, so does the recessed power button and fingerprint sensor, which is less reliable than modern under-display options. It fails about a third of the time I try it. I’m also confused by the odd rectangular patch above the volume button, which has an especially rough texture and looks like it should do something, but doesn’t. Is it some sort of antenna cutout? I’ve asked Sony.
Sony long ago gave up on using its unique 21:9, 4K displays on the Xperia lineup. The 1 VIII uses a less impressive 1080p display in a standard smartphone aspect ratio. The resolution is low for this grade of phone, but otherwise I can’t complain about the panel, which is a 6.5-inch, 120Hz OLED with decent brightness. I do still miss the taller screens Sony phones used to offer, though. Unlike most rivals, the display is also entirely uninterrupted by a camera cutout, notch, or Dynamic Island. The tradeoff is the rather thick bezel above and below the screen, which houses the camera and a pair of stereo speakers (good for phone speakers, but still phone speakers).
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