Sony just announced the Xperia 1 VII (Pronounced Mark 7), the company’s latest flagship smartphone at an online event, as expected. It packs a 6.5-inch FHD+ LPTO display with 1-120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch scanning rate, and 19.5:9 aspect ratio, similar to the predecessor, but this is 20% brighter.
To improve the viewing experience in bright conditions, an additional light sensor has been added to the back of the device, which enables the adjustment of brightness and colour best suited to the conditions.
The phone is powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC with 12GB of RAM, and has vapor chamber cooling. It runs Android 15, and the phone now gets 4 OS updates and 6 years of security updates.
Improved ultra-wide angle lens
The Xperia 1 VII retains the 52MP rear camera with Exmor T lens, Zeiss optics and 24mm to 48mm focal length and the 12MP periscope telephoto camera has 85mm to 170mm focal length for up to 7x Zoom.
This gets a larger 48MP 1/1.56-inch sensor for the ultra-wide lens, which is 2.1 times larger than the previous model, has minimal distortion and can also capture 5cm macro shots.
The new ‘AI Camera Work’ feature helps to create pro level stable and framed videos, keeping the subject fixed in the centre of the composition, even in situations where you’re walking around while filming a moving subject.
Additionally, ‘Auto Framing’ uses AI to track the subject and automatically crops the shot to centre it on the screen. When filming a moving subject, you can simply point the camera roughly at the shooting subject, and it will automatically capture it without you having to chase it yourself.
Inherits the DNA of Walkman
In addition to a circuit design focused on sound quality, new components proven for their excellence in Walkman devices have been incorporated. This significantly enhances the sound quality when connecting wired headphones, achieving clarity as if listening on a dedicated music player, said the company.
Furthermore, there is high-quality enhancement technology ‘DSEE Ultimate for both wired and wireless. This utilises AI to allow even compressed streaming audio sources to be enjoyed with immersive, high-quality sound.
The phone has Full-Stage stereo speakers with further adjustments to deliver even clearer sound across the entire frequency range, from high to low, Sony’s own 360 Reality Audio and also comes with Dolby Atmos sound. It has both IP65 and IP68 ratings for dust and water resistance.
It has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front and the back has Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The phone still features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging and Qi wireless charging. It promises 4 years of battery health.
Sony Xperia 1 VII specifications
- 6.5-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels) FHD+ OLED HDR Display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 1-120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz Motion blur reduction, 240Hz Touch scanning rate, Creator mode “powered by CineAlta”—Inspired by Master Monitor color reproduction, DCI-P3 100%, ITU-R BT.2020 (REC.2020), Illuminant D65 White point, 10 bit tonal gradation, X1 for mobile, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection
- Octa Core Snapdragon 8 Elite 3nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 830 GPU
- 12GB LPDDR5X RAM, 256GB (UFS 4.0) internal memory, expandable memory up to 2TB via microSD card
- Android 14 (4 OS upgrades and 6 years of security updates)
- Dual SIM (nano + eSIM)
- 48MP rear camera with Exmor T sensor for mobile, 1/1.35″ sensor, f/1.9 aperture, Hybrid OIS/EIS, 48MP f/2.0 aperture 1/56″ 104° 16 mm ultra wide-angle camera, 12MP f/2.3 (85 mm 28° FoV) to f/3.5 (117 mm 15° FoV) 1/3.5″ Exmor RS for mobile telephoto lens, 3.5 to 7.1x equivalent optical zoom, 21.3X hybrid zoom, ZEISS T* coating, Real-Time Eye AF (Human, Animal), Real-Time Tracking, 4K video recording
- 12MP front-facing camera with 1/2.9″ Exmor RS mobile sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 84° wide-angle lens, 4K video recording
- 3.5 mm audio jack, 360 Reality Audio, 360 Reality Audio hardware decoding, 360 Spatial Sound, Full-Stage stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, DSEE Ultimate, Stereo Recording, Qualcomm aptX HD audio
- Side-mounted Fingerprint sensor
- Dimensions:162 x 74 x 8.2 mm; Weight: 192g
- Water resistant (IPX5/IPX8), Dust proof (IP6X)
- 5G (sub-6GHz) / 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 7 802.11 be (2.4GHz / 5GHz) 2 x 2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.4 LE, GPS/ GLONASS, NFC, USB 3.2 Type-C
- 5000mAh Battery with 30W (USB PD) fast charging, Xperia Adaptive Charging, Battery Care, STAMINA Mode, Qi Wireless charging, Battery Share function
Pricing and availability
The Sony Xperia 1 VII comes in Moss Green, Orchid Purple and Slate Black colours and is priced 1499 Euros (USD 1,665 / Rs. 1,41,245 approx.) / 1399 GBP (USD 1843 / Rs. 1,56,325 approx.). It is now available to pre-order, and will roll out in the UK, Europe and more countries starting from June 4th, 2025.