Sony Xperia 1 VIII announced - Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, upgraded 48MP telephoto camera, AI assistant camera, and more

As confirmed earlier this week, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII was officially announced today. The official product page isn't up yet, but the company has dropped an announcement trailer to reveal the phone's design, new features, and key specs. Let's see what this new model has to offer.

Tech specs and features

The Sony Xperia 1 VIII features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. There's also a variant with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, which is great for people who plan to record more videos. Unfortunately, Sony is sticking to its guns on the battery side. The Xperia 1 VIII uses the same 5000mAh battery, with 30W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.

As for cameras, this phone packs three cameras at the back - a 48MP main camera (f/1.9), 48MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.0), and 48MP telephoto camera (f/2.8). It also comes with a 12MP front camera. For reference, the Sony Xperia 1 VII featured a 12MP telephoto, so the new model offers 4 times the resolution.

Another interesting bit is the inclusion of an AI Camera Assistant to help with enhancing your photos. Other camera features include RAW multi-frame processing, Human Pose Estimation technology, Auto Framing, Real-time Eye Auto Focus, and more.

Besides that, the Xperia 1 VIII has a now uncommon 3.5mm audio jack that promises to deliver high-quality wired audio. On top of that, it has a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 1080x2340 resolution. In other words, you can expect this phone to be good for watching videos and playing music too.

Price and availability

Currently, Sony has yet to announce the official price and availability for the Xperia 1 VIII. However, last year's model launched with a base price of RM6499. We also know that new 2026 smartphones are being priced higher (due to the RAM shortage), so expect an RM200-500 increase here.

Still, the upgrades and new features could make Sony fans consider getting this new phone. Would you? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to TechNave for further updates.