Sony Launches Xperia 1 VIII With Larger 48MP Sensor and Square Camera Module

Sony released the Xperia 1 VIII smartphone, the first in its flagship line to depart from the vertical camera arrangement that has defined the series since 2020. The new model features a chunky square camera island. The three lenses are laid out in a square block together with the flash and a Sony logo.

This raised island slopes toward the phone's edge. The Xperia 1 VIII is available in black, silver, red, and gold colors. The gold color is exclusive to Sony’s online store. A subtle texturing appears on the camera island, the frosted glass back and the aluminum edges, along with a knurled finish on the dedicated camera shutter button.

Sony retained several signature features. 5mm headphone jack, a microSD slot and a combined IP65/68 resistance rating.

The most substantial hardware change sits behind the new camera island. 56-inch-type, almost four times larger than the Xperia 1 VII’s sensor. 8 aperture and 48-megapixel resolution.

To accommodate the larger sensor, Sony dropped continuous optical zoom, a feature present on its last four flagships. The main and ultrawide cameras are both 48-megapixel and unchanged from the previous model. Software improvements accompany the hardware.

The Xperia 1 VIII has a new RAW multi-frame processing pipeline, improved bokeh and updated macro shooting incorporated into the default camera mode that supports autofocus. It also features an AI camera assistant that suggests filters, framing, lens choice and fine-tuned tweaks such as brightening the photo’s subject but not its background.

These suggestions appear before the photo is taken and can be turned off.

Sony has packed in a few other upgrades too. The Xperia 1 VIII has new full-stage stereo speakers tuned with Sony Pictures and Sony Music. The 5,000mAh battery and 30W charging are unchanged, though the battery lasts an hour longer than the previous model due to optimizations.

The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The 16GB RAM and 1TB storage configuration is only available in the gold finish sold online.

Software support falls short of many competitors. The Xperia 1 VIII will receive four years of OS updates and six years of security patches. Pricing starts at £1,399 / €1,499 (about $1,765) for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model.

The Xperia 1 VIII is available to order now in Europe and Asia. Sony has no plans for a North American launch. The Verge reported these details in an article published on May 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM UTC.