{"id":425212,"date":"2026-05-13T07:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425212\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:22:10","slug":"sonys-new-xperia-phone-is-finally-here-and-it-retains-one-key-av-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425212\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony’s new Xperia phone is finally here \u2013 and it retains one key AV feature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony<\/a>‘s latest AV-focused flagship smartphone is here: meet the Sony Xperia 1 VIII.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good news for audio fans as, like the brand’s previous offering, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is quite a rarity in smartphones and claims to “support high-quality audio using wired headphones.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It has enlisted the help of the firm’s Walkman<\/a> division once again to boost audio quality on this new handset.<\/p>\n

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Sony has also improved the full-stage stereo speakers, which the brand says will produce deeper bass and extended high frequencies.<\/p>\n

The new smartphone’s 6.5-inch, Full HD+ (1080 x 2340) OLED display has been tuned by Bravia, and it features a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate too.<\/p>\n

It can also automatically adjust the brightness and colour of the display according to the environment, with Sony claiming it delivers a \u201cbright display even under sunlight\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you are looking at the VIII and VII editions side by side, then the immediate difference is in the camera design. Instead of having the camera lenses in a vertical line as with its predecessor, the new Xperia model features a raised camera square containing three lenses.<\/p>\n

The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of AI features packed into Sony\u2019s latest release, including an AI camera assistant which \u201csuggests creative expressions based on the scene recognised\u201d. If you don\u2019t want artificial intelligence poking around with your photography, however, there is the option to switch it off.<\/p>\n

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\"Sony\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sony)<\/p>\n

The brand is also implementing a new ORE-inspired design, which has a textured feel like rough stone. This comes in Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red and Native Gold colour finishes.<\/p>\n

In terms of chipset, owners of the Xperia VIII will be looking at the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (backed up by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage). If you choose the Gold edition, which is available in select countries in-store, then you have the option of upgrading to 16GB RAM and up to 1TB of storage.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Sony also claims you can get two days of battery life from the phone, thanks to the 5000mAh battery.<\/p>\n

The new model is launching at the same price as its predecessor in the UK, setting you back \u00a31399 for the 256GB version and \u00a31849 for the 1TB Gold version. When we had the Sony Xperia 1 VII <\/a>in our test room, we were impressed by its detailed audio and balanced picture. Its limited HDR format and frustrating operating system quirks held it back from true greatness, but it still received a four-star rating overall.<\/p>\n

The previous Sony phone was outshone by the five-star Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a>, so it will be intriguing to see how the new model compares.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/p>\n

Here is our review of the Sony Xperia 1 VII<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the best smartphones<\/a> we have tested<\/p>\n

I will keep playing music through my phone’s speakers for this very simple reason<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sony‘s latest AV-focused flagship smartphone is here: meet the Sony Xperia 1 VIII. It\u2019s good news for audio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-425212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}