Sony Xperia 1 VIII: Top smartphone with microSD slot and jack connection

Jan Johannsen

13.5.2026

Translation: machine translated

Sony occupies a niche with the Xperia 1 VIII: it is the only top smartphone that still has a jack connection for headphones and a slot for microSD cards. The telephoto camera has a larger sensor to improve image quality.

3.5 mm jack and a microSD slot sound like relics from times gone by, but they have loyal fans that Sony is making happy with the Xperia 1 VIII. The rest of the smartphone's features are state of the art and the price is correspondingly high.

Telephoto camera: larger sensor, no more optical zoom

Sony has equipped the telephoto camera of the Xperia 1 VIII with a 1/1.56-inch sensor. It thus catches up with the ultra-wide-angle camera and quadruples its sensor area. The predecessor only had a 1/3.5-inch sensor. This puts Sony ahead of Apple and Google: the telephoto cameras of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro are only 1/2.55 inches in size. In return, Sony has now dispensed with the optical zoom and installed a fixed focal length of 70 millimetres in the Xperia 1 VIII.

An overview of the other key camera data:

The Xperia 1 VIII retains its own camera button, which serves as the shutter release. Sony uses RAW multi-frame processing for all lenses, which is intended to increase the dynamic range (HDR) and reduce image noise in low light. A new AI camera assistant recognises subjects and makes suggestions for colour looks, lens effects or bokeh settings. The suggestions are based on «Creative Look» settings, which are inspired by Sony's Alpha camera series.

Fast processor, slow charging

The Xperia 1 VII has a 6.5-inch OLED display. The resolution of 2340 × 1080 pixels corresponds to an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, which is less narrow than the 21:9 displays that Sony has installed in the past - but still quite narrow.

Scratches and other damage are prevented by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and Gorilla Glass Victus on the back. The entire housing is IP68 water and dust resistant. Sony praises the smartphone's new ORE design and says the colour scheme is inspired by rough gemstones.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor ensures that the Xperia 1 VIII has more than enough computing power. It is supported by twelve gigabytes of RAM. The internal memory for data is 256 gigabytes and can be expanded with a microSD card. Sony has equipped the gold version of the smartphone with 16 gigabytes and one terabyte.

The battery has a now below-average capacity of 5000 mAh and charges at a leisurely pace with a maximum of 30 watts. Wireless charging via the Qi standard is possible with up to 15 watts.

The Xperia 1 VIII runs Android 16 out of the box and Sony provides it with four system updates and six years of security updates.

Price and availability

The recommended retail price for the 256 gigabyte version of the Xperia 1 VIII is 1349 francs and 1499 euros. As soon as it is available here, I will link it here. The gold version with more memory is only available directly from Sony for 1799 francs and 1999 euros.

Jan Johannsen

Senior Editor

Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.de

As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus. more

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