Sony Xperia 1 VII presented with Snapdragon 8 Elite and new ultrawide camera
The Sony Xperia 1 VII is here and it looks very similar to its predecessor. However, it comes in two new colors to make it easier to distinguish: Moss Green and Orchid Purple. But Sony has practically not touched the basic design. The Xperia 1 VII has the same 6.5-inch display, the same 5,000 mAh battery and a triple camera system on the back. Nevertheless, there are some important improvements.
Sony Xperia 1 VII’s main camera and continuous optical zoom are the same as before. You get a 24mm f/1.9 wide-angle camera with a 1/1.35-inch Exmor T sensor, OIS and PDAF. The telephoto lens features an 85mm to 170mm f/2.3 f3.5 lens with a smaller 1/3.5-inch Exmor RS chip. The zoom still has telemacro capabilities, with the minimum focusing distance being 4 cm at 120 mm focal length.
What’s new this year is the ultra wide angle camera. It’s still a 16mm lens, but with a brighter f/2.0 aperture (compared to f/2.2) and a 1/1.56-inch Exmor RS sensor – 2.1 times larger than the previous one. The camera system of course also has AI functions, not least due to Sony’s expertise through the Alpha cameras. Sony’s real-time Eye AF is suitable for both humans and animals, there is AI main subject detection, AI white balance, AI exposure and AI depth. Ultra HDR support is also on board.
The Sony smartphone also retained the physical two-stage camera button, but it is slightly wider and more comfortable this year. The Xperia 1 VII also retains a 3.5mm audio jack, which is now a real rarity in the flagship segment. On top of that, the connection has been given a higher-quality gold addition, which, according to Sony, significantly minimizes transmission losses. As before, the phone has a high-quality integrated audio circuit inside.
Sony Xperia 1 VII with headphone jack and memory-card slot
The second rarity in the High-end smartphones is the integrated microSD card slot, allowing you to significantly expand the phone’s built-in storage of 256 GB. The phone is IP68 water and dust resistant and features Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and GG Victus on the back.
The Xperia 1 VII features the fastest Android chipset available today, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is cooled by a vapor chamber. It also comes with 12 GB of RAM. It also offers Wi-Fi 7 and twice the Bluetooth throughput of the Xperia 1 VI.
The display is a 10-bit 6.5-inch Bravia 120 Hz OLED panel with 1,080 x 2,340 pixels, which is 20% brighter compared to its predecessor. Sony has integrated two illuminance sensors (one on the front, one on the back) that help with precise brightness adjustment. There’s also automatic color adjustment in varying light, increasing both brightness and saturation in strong light.
The front-facing full-stage stereo speakers have 10% richer bass and were tuned in collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment.
One point of criticism is the battery. The Sony Xperia 1 VII retains the 5,000 mAh battery with 30W charging, something rivals from Xiaomi, Honor, and vivo can now do significantly better. According to Sony, the battery lasts for two days, including 36 hours of continuous video playback. In addition, there are a series of battery protection features called Xperia Adaptive Charging and Battery Care, which are supposed to keep the battery at at least 80% for four years. Sony also promises major operating system updates (starting with Android 15) and six years of security patches.
The Sony Xperia 1 VII is available in three colors—Slate Black, Moss Green, and Orchid Purple—but only in a single 12/256 GB configuration, although there will also be a 512 GB model for Asia. It is already available for pre-order in Europe and the UK and will ship in June. Priced at €1,499/£1,399.
