Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Xperia 1 VII
87
out of 100
VS
84
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 Sony Xperia 1 VII, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and came out 1 year and 1 month 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
- 28% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3842K versus 2994K)
- The phone is 1 year and 1 month newer
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- 14% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3522 and 3094 points
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 VII
- The rear camera has a 7.1x optical zoom
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 | 6.5 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 |
| RGB color space | 97.5% | 100% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
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) | 197 g (6.95 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red | Black, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
| Repairability | - | Bad (1.78/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Very good (B) · 181 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| Max clock | 4610 MHz | 4320 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 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M) - 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L) |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | 8 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 840 | Adreno 830 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3993.6 GFLOPS | ~3379.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28578 | 22537 |
| Single-core score | 3522 | 3094 |
| Multi-core score | 9923 | 9293 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1085245 | 894222 |
| GPU | 1325452 | 1129058 |
| Memory | 568742 | 372780 |
| UX | 863443 | 598052 |
| Total score | 3842882 | 2994112 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 64% |
| Graphics test | - | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2240 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 40 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 46 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 39 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 33 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 10520 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 19154 |
| Video editing | - | 8199 |
| Photo editing | - | 34682 |
| Data manipulation | - | 18223 |
| Writing score | - | 24878 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (27th and 103rd place)
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 | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 2048 GB | Up to 2048 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | Android 15 |
| OS size | 45 GB | 32 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 4 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 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 (51% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:25 hr | 1:27 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1400 cycles |
| Web browsing | - | 09:18 hr |
| Watching video | - | 18:31 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:32 hr |
| Standby | - | 90 hr |
General battery life
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: 48 MP |
| 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/1.9 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 16 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX906 | Sony IMX906 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 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 | 1.22 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 | 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 | Yes |
| 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 2025 |
| Release date | June 2026 | June 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1499 | $1499 |
| 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 |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the gaming and software are more important to you, then choose the Sony Xperia 1 VIII. But if the sound is more of a priority – go for the Sony Xperia 1 VII.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 60