Sony has launched the Xperia 1 VII, its latest flagship phone. At first glance, it looks almost identical to last year’s Xperia 1 VI. However, it now comes in two fresh colors: Moss Green and Orchid Purple, alongside Slate Black.
Sony Xperia 1 VII Announced: Familiar Design, Smart Upgrades
The design stays the same. You still get a 6.5-inch 4K OLED display, a 5,000mAh battery, and a triple rear camera setup. But Sony has made several smart upgrades under the hood.
The main camera remains a 24mm f/1.9 wide lens with a large 1/1.35-inch sensor, OIS, and PDAF. The telephoto lens keeps its unique continuous zoom, ranging from 85mm to 170mm. It also supports telemacro photography with a 4cm focus distance at 120mm.
The biggest camera change is the ultrawide lens. It’s still 16mm, but now has a brighter f/2.0 aperture and a much larger 1/1.56-inch sensor. That’s over twice the size of the one in the last model, meaning better performance in low light.
Sony also upgraded its AI camera features. You get real-time Eye Autofocus for people and pets, smart subject detection, AI white balance, depth, and exposure. There’s also Ultra HDR, which makes images look great on HDR screens. The physical two-stage shutter button is still here. It’s now slightly wider for better comfort.
Audio lovers will be pleased. The 3.5mm headphone jack is back, now enhanced with gold-infused solder to improve sound quality. Inside, Sony includes a premium Audio IC. The front-facing stereo speakers have also been improved. They now deliver 10% richer bass and midrange, tuned with help from Sony Music Entertainment.
Sony Xperia 1 VII Launches with Subtle Refinements and Powerful Upgrades
Performance is top-tier. The Xperia 1 VII uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with 12GB of RAM. It also includes a vapor chamber to help with cooling. Storage is 256GB, and you can expand it with a microSD card. A 512GB version will be available in Asia.
Other features include Wi-Fi 7, faster Bluetooth, and IP68 water/dust resistance. The phone is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and regular Victus on the back.
The screen is 20% brighter than before. Two ambient light sensors help adjust brightness and color automatically based on your surroundings.
The phone runs Android 15 and will receive 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches. Sony claims the 5,000mAh battery offers 2 days of use or 36 hours of video playback. Features like Xperia Adaptive Charging help the battery last longer—up to 4 years with less than 20% capacity loss.
The Xperia 1 VII is available to pre-order in Europe and the UK. It ships in June and costs £1,399/€1,499.