Despite its high price point, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is witnessing robust sales across Japan and Europe, driven by its retention of legacy features like a 3.5mm headphone jack and expandable microSD storage, suggesting a loyal niche for Sony’s premium handsets.
Sony says the Xperia 1 VIII is selling strongly despite a higher price, with the company reporting particularly healthy demand in Japan and a notable uplift in Europe. Executives told Japanese media that buyers also appear highly satisfied with the phone, suggesting the model is resonating beyond the usual niche for Sony’s premium handsets. The device has also drawn attention for retaining two features that have all but disappeared from the flagship market: a 3.5mm headphone jack and support for microSD storage.
That decision appears to be part of Sony’s broader product identity. According to the company, expandable storage remains one of the main reasons customers choose Xperia phones, while wired audio is still treated as a core advantage rather than a legacy add-on. In practice, that keeps the Xperia 1 VIII apart from most premium rivals, which increasingly rely on fixed internal storage and wireless audio or dongles.
The biggest hardware change is the telephoto camera. Sony has replaced the variable zoom system used on the previous generation with a fixed 70mm lens in order to accommodate a larger sensor without making the phone noticeably thicker. The telephoto camera now uses a 48-megapixel sensor, up from 12 megapixels, and Sony says it can deliver a 140mm-equivalent frame through lossless zoom. The wider camera system also includes a 48-megapixel main sensor and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, while the phone’s imaging software adds subject tracking, eye autofocus and video tools aimed at more advanced users.
The Xperia 1 VIII is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and comes with either 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage or 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It has a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 5,000mAh battery and Android 16, with Sony promising four major Android upgrades and six years of security updates. In the UK, the phone is on sale from £1,399, which places it firmly among the most expensive Android flagships. Sony has not announced a formal launch for Brazil.
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