Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Xperia 1 VI

86 out of 100
Sony Xperia 1 VIII
VS
79 out of 100
Sony Xperia 1 VI

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 Sony Xperia 1 VI, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and came out 2 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 VIII
  • 83% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3842K versus 2096K)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • The phone is 2 years newer
  • Delivers 8% higher peak brightness (1419 against 1318 nits)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
  • 66% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3522 and 2125 points
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 VI
  • The rear camera has a 7.1x optical zoom

Review

Evaluation of Sony Xperia 1 VIII and Xperia 1 VI crucial features
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.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 25% Yes
Mostly no. The difference is too small to matter in everyday use.
The overall difference between Sony Xperia 1 VI and Sony Xperia 1 VIII is not big enough to justify updating.
Main improvements: gaming, performance, and display.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.5 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 396 ppi 396 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes
Max rated brightness 1500 nits 1300 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2200 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz 240 Hz
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Screen-to-body ratio 86.5% 86.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97.5% -
PWM 240 Hz -
Response time 1 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
1419 nits
1318 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 162 mm (6.38 inches) 162 mm (6.38 inches)
Width 74 mm (2.91 inches) 74 mm (2.91 inches)
Thickness 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) 8.2 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 200 g (7.05 oz) 192 g (6.77 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Gold, Red Black, Silver, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Sony Xperia 1 VIII and Sony Xperia 1 VI
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Max clock 4610 MHz 3300 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2)
Architecture - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance
- 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime
- 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4
L3 cache 8 MB 12 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 840 Adreno 750
GPU shading units 1536 1536
GPU clock 1300 MHz 903-1000 MHz
FLOPS ~3993.6 GFLOPS ~2774 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Sony Xperia 1 VIII and Sony Xperia 1 VI
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
3522
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
9923
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 28578 -
Single-core score 3522 2125
Multi-core score 9923 6119
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
3842882
2096581
CPU 1085245 562725
GPU 1325452 735671
Memory 568742 319925
UX 863443 478260
Total score 3842882 2096581
Samples Less than 3 Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 68%
Graphics test - 12 FPS
Graphics score - 1553
3DMark Solar Bay
Graphics test - 29 FPS
Section 1 - 36 FPS
Section 2 - 29 FPS
Section 3 - 20 FPS
Graphics score - 7505
Sources: 3DMark [5]
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 14369
Video editing - 8074
Photo editing - 33057
Data manipulation - 16875
Writing score - 19796

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Sony Xperia 1 VIII
No benchmark results yet
Sony Xperia 1 VI
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-11-19 (Belgieca)AnTuTu 112096581

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5300 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 4.0
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 2048 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 16 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
OS size 45 GB -
OS updates 4 years -
Security updates 6 years -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes Yes
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging Yes -
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:25 hr 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 11:45 hr
Watching video - 20:22 hr
Gaming - 07:25 hr
Standby - 127 hr
General battery life
29:19 hr

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 2.9x Optical, 7.1x
Flash LED 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 60FPS
Slow motion 120 FPS (1080p) 120 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.9
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony IMX888 Sony IMX888
Sensor size 1/1.35" (≈ 0.74 inch) 1/1.35" (≈ 0.74 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.8 f/2.3 - 3.5
Focal length 70 mm 170 mm
Sensor Sony IMX 906 Sony IMX650
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/3.5" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 16 mm 16 mm
Sensor Sony IMX906 Sony IMX563
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony IMX663 Sony IMX663
Sensor size 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1 micron
Autofocus No No
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 5.4
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
Network
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 Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced May 2026 May 2024
Release date June 2026 June 2024
Launch price (MSRP) $1499 $1399
Successor - - Sony Xperia 1 VIII
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Xperia 1 VI:
    - Wi-Fi 7 support depends on the region.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
0 (0%)
6 (100%)
Total votes: 6

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