On Wednesday, the tech firm launched the Xperia 1 VIII in Japan as its latest Xperia series handset. Sony is back with its smartphone redesigned in years.
Key features
Qualcomm's flagship powers the handset with an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, built on a 3nm process, paired with up to 16GB of RAM. It comes with a 5,000 mAh battery and supports Sony's "Gentle" charging, both wired and wireless. It supports 5G, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 6, NFC, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The redesign is transparent with the rear panel, featuring a square-shaped camera module. It features a triple rear camera system with a larger telephoto camera sensor than the Sony Xperia 1 VII.
It comes with a 6.5-inch Full-HD OLED display, delivering up to 120Hz of refresh rate and HDR support.
It supports e-SIM and physical SIMs and runs Android 16. The company promised Four OS updates and up to 6 years of security updates. For optics, it features a 48-megapixel primary shooter with a 1/1.35-inch CMOS sensor, an f/1.9 aperture, and a 48 mm maximum focal length. It also features a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 12-megapixel front camera for high-quality selfies and video calls.
Price and Availability
The smartphone is currently available to pre-order. It is offered in four colour options: Garnet Red, Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, and Native Gold. In Japan, the Xperia 1 VIII is available starting at JPY 2,35,400 (roughly Rs. 1,43,000) for the base variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Meanwhile, the higher-end 12GB + 512GB and 16GB + 512GB RAM and storage configurations cost JPY 2,51,900 (about Rs. 1,53,000) and JPY 2,68,400 (roughly Rs. 1,63,000), respectively. Lastly, the top-of-the-line option with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is priced at JPY 2,99,200 (about Rs. 1,81,000).
