Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
87
out of 100
VS
92
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 Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is powered by the same chip and came out 3 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
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 2048GB
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
- Delivers 98% higher peak brightness (2809 against 1417 nits)
- 26% higher pixel density (500 vs 396 PPI)
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Supports higher wattage charging (60W versus 30W)
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
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 | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1440 x 3120 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 396 ppi | 500 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 1500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2200 nits | 2600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Corning Gorilla Armor 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.5% | 91.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 97.5% | - |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 1 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S26 Ultra
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) | 163.6 mm (6.44 inches) |
| Width | 74 mm (2.91 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 214 g (7.55 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red | White, Black, Silver, Blue, Pink, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Max clock | 4610 MHz | 4740 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance - 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime |
- 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance - 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | 12 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 840 | Adreno 840 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 1300 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3993.6 GFLOPS | ~3993.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28578 | 28391 |
| Single-core score | 3522 | 3624 |
| Multi-core score | 9923 | 11049 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1085245 | 1168602 |
| GPU | 1325452 | 1520337 |
| Memory | 568742 | 448779 |
| UX | 863443 | 801526 |
| Total score | 3842882 | 3939244 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [32 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 67% |
| Graphics test | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2737 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 46 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 58 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 42 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 37 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 11990 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Graphics test | - | 42 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 7123 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 23390 |
| Video editing | - | 8217 |
| Photo editing | - | 37389 |
| Data manipulation | - | 18322 |
| Writing score | - | 32854 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (27th and 22nd place)
Recent User Tests
Sony Xperia 1 VIII
No benchmark results yet
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-05 (Pavel) | AnTuTu | 3959848 |
| 📘 2026-08-29 -> szymon-bonkowski | AnTuTu | 4220521 |
| 📘 2026-08-25 (Edwin3q) | AnTuTu | 3855646 |
| 📘 2026-08-13 (Jovan Čamagić) | AnTuTu | 3848536 |
| 📘 2026-08-08 (Nan01) | GeekBench CPU | 3569 / 10336 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5300 MHz | 5300 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 2048 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | Android 16 |
| ROM | - | One UI 8.5 |
| OS size | 45 GB | 33.2 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 60 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes | Yes (25 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (84% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:25 hr | 0:43 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 10:12 hr |
| Watching video | - | 21:39 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:42 hr |
| Standby | - | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#66th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 200 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 16320 x 12240 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2.9x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| 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: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Telephoto: 10 MP 4) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 200 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.4 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX888 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.35" (≈ 0.74 inch) | 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.6 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | f/2.9 |
| Focal length | 70 mm | 111 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX 906 | Sony IMX854 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.52" (≈ 0.4 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX906 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.5" (≈ 0.4 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 165 |
| Zoom | - | 141 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX663 | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
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 |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| 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 | February 2026 |
| Release date | June 2026 | March 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1499 | $1299 |
| SAR (head) | - | 1.28 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.35 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*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 Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. It has a better display, camera, battery life, software, design, and sound.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 78