Sony’s Xperia division has come up with another Alpha-infused camera phone – this time it’s the much-leaked Xperia 1 VII, with the Roman numerals moving on a step.
The phone boasts modest upgrades from the Xperia 1 VI which we were very impressed by on review in 2024 – even though it ended some previous stapes of the lineup such as a 4K display and 21:9 aspect ratio display.
But while much of the phone’s basics are unchanged, the camera does have a much more impressive power-up – the ultrawide lens now boasts a much larger 48MP 1/1.56-inch sensor (2.1 times large than the Xperia 1 VI), more equivalent to a full-frame camera. The lens has also gone from a 12mm unit to a 16mm one.
Sony says night shots in particular should be much better as a result, with higher dynamic range and less noise. The other cameras are unchanged so you get an 85-170mm Exmor RS 12MP telephoto and 24mm/48mm Exmor T main 48MP camera with 2x optical zoom.
There are also two AI camera enhancements as well. AI Camera Work enables you to create smooth video of a subject without you needing to continually check if the subject is in shot. So you can look where you’re walking if you’re moving around something as you record. Auto Framing can automatically crops the shot even if you move or your subject does and you can record two streams of this footage simultaneously; both in close-up as well as a wide shot.
The Xperia 1 VII won’t be available in the US again it seems but costs a hefty £1399/€1499 in Europe. Sony hasn’t shared official imagery with me as yet, so I’ll update this story with better pictures when it does.
The Xperia 1 VII has the a very similar design to its predecessor – there’s no new beginning here – and it retains the ‘best of Sony’ ethos that combines the Alpha camera knowledge, Bravia display quality and Walkman audio. It’s compatible with 360 Reality Audio , DSEE Ultimate and Dolby Atmos, plus it also has plenty of gaming features such as Sony’s PlayStation Remote Play and controller compatibility.
it once again boasts a 6.6in 120Hz FHD+ OLED display and 5000mAh battery with wireless charging but the key hardware inside has been upgraded to Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite platform. There’s also 12GB of memory as well as a meagre 256GB of storage but you can expand to 2TB with a microSDXC card.
Sony has however, added an extra light sensor so it can react better to ambient conditions and Sony says the Sunlight Vision feature will make the display even better to use in bright conditions.
