Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
87
out of 100
VS
93
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Sony Xperia 1 VIII (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) that was released on May 13, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A19 Pro and came out 9 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 VIII
- 48% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3842K versus 2590K)
- Delivers 41% higher peak brightness (1417 against 1005 nits)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 2048GB
- Fingerprint scanner
- The phone is 9 months newer
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Weighs 33 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- 16% higher pixel density (460 vs 396 PPI)
- Thinner bezels – 5.1% more screen real estate
- Supports higher wattage charging (40W versus 30W)
- 12% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3940 and 3522 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1320 x 2868 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 396 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 3000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2200 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Ceramic Shield 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.5% | 91.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97.5% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone 17 Pro Max
6.9″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 18.1 in2
Xperia 1 VIII
6.5″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
~12% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162 mm (6.38 inches) | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 74 mm (2.91 inches) | 78 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.75 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 233 g (8.22 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red | Silver, Blue, Orange |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
| Repairability | - | Good (3.04/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Very good (B) · 180 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Apple A19 Pro |
| Max clock | 4610 MHz | 4260 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance - 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime |
- 4 cores at 2.6 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.26 GHz: |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 840 | 6 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3993.6 GFLOPS | ~2488.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28578 | 46450 |
| Single-core score | 3522 | 3940 |
| Multi-core score | 9923 | 10434 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1085245 | 788283 |
| GPU | 1325452 | 922741 |
| Memory | 568742 | 226010 |
| UX | 863443 | 653533 |
| Total score | 3842882 | 2590567 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [14 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 76% |
| Graphics test | - | 18 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2487 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 42 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 47 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 42 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 36 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 10999 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#27th place)
Recent User Tests
Sony Xperia 1 VIII
No benchmark results yet
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-31 (xon1005) | GeekBench CPU | 4028 / 10579 |
| 📘 2026-06-15 (Domi) | AnTuTu | 2427596 |
| 📘 2026-06-09 (Cristiano) | AnTuTu | 2258714 |
| 📘 2026-05-29 (Joker) | AnTuTu | 2433128 |
| 📘 2026-05-16 (Duy Dang) | GeekBench GPU | 46574 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5300 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 2048 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 45 GB | 20 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5088 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 40 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes | Yes (25 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (65% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:25 hr | 1:12 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | - | 12:36 hr |
| Watching video | - | 22:25 hr |
| Gaming | - | 08:17 hr |
| Standby | - | 154 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#22nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2.9x | Optical, 4x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 48 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 48 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.78 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX888 | Sony IMX903 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.35" (≈ 0.74 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | f/2.8 |
| Focal length | 70 mm | 100 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX 906 | Sony IMX973 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX906 | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 18 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4896 x 3672 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 20 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX663 | Sony IMX914 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | May 2026 | September 2025 |
| Release date | June 2026 | September 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1499 | $1199 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 17 Pro Max:
- Battery is 5,088 mAh on the eSIM-only model (vs 4,832 mAh on the Nano SIM + eSIM version).
- The Chinese model alone includes dual Nano SIM slots and 15 W wireless charging.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max. It has a better camera, battery life, software, and sound.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 35