Sony's Xperia 1 VIII: Best Camera Yet, But For Fanboys

Sony has redesigned its flagship Xperia 1 VIII, introducing a blocky aesthetic and textured finish. This model abandons the continuous optical zoom telephoto lens found in previous generations, opting instead for a 2.9x telephoto lens with a large sensor. While retaining the 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot, the Xperia 1 VIII is priced high, starting at £1,399 / €1,499 in the UK and Europe.

The phone features a 6.5-inch 120Hz OLED display with stereo speakers housed in thick bezels. Internally, it uses a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset with 12GB or 16GB of RAM. Despite smooth operation most of the time, the device has shown stuttering, slowdowns, and overheating issues, particularly when using the camera or switching apps. Battery life from the 5,000mAh cell is also described as middling, often requiring daily charging, and charging speeds are slow at 30W.

The camera system, though improved with larger sensors for telephoto and ultrawide, is marred by an aggressive AI Camera Assistant that applies unwanted filters. Sony promises four OS updates and six years of security support, but software quirks like auto-folder creation and pre-installation of numerous Google apps persist. Ultimately, the Xperia 1 VIII is presented as a device for Sony loyalists rather than a competitive flagship for the broader market.