Sony Xperia 1 VIII: official reveal set for May 13 as square camera design confirmed
Sony has confirmed an online event for May 13 at 4:00 AM CEST, where the Xperia 1 VIII will be officially revealed. A short teaser posted to the @sonyxperia account gave away the phone's biggest visual change: the camera module is now square, replacing the tall vertical strip that defined every Xperia 1 before it. An accidental Amazon UK listing, since deleted, pegged a bundle sale date of June 26.
The design and specs
The square camera block isn't the only shift. The Xperia 1 VIII is expected to drop the variable telephoto zoom lens from last year's model in favour of a fixed 70mm 3× telephoto — a move that trades flexibility for consistent optical quality, per Notebookcheck. All three rear sensors are reported at 48 MP each. The display is a 6.5-inch OLED at FHD+ resolution, 120Hz, with HDR support and Sony's familiar 19.5:9 aspect ratio.
Make way for our next epic Xperia, coming this May!
— Sony | Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 8, 2026
Don’t miss the official Xperia Product Announcement on @SonyXperia YouTube.https://t.co/BY3EabKTwM
13 May, 2026 11:00 Japan time / 4:00 CEST#SonyXperia #ProductAnnouncement #NextXperia pic.twitter.com/6B3hwIko0F
Sony is keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack and dual physical SIM slots — both increasingly rare on flagship phones. MicroSD support has not been mentioned in any leak so far, even though the Xperia 1 VII included it. A new "Xperia AI" feature handles photo processing and battery optimisation, though Sony has not detailed exactly what it does.
The price question
The deleted Amazon UK listing showed a bundle price of £1,728 with Sony's WH-1000XM6 headphones included, according to MyMobiles. Strip out the headphones — which retail around £350 separately — and the phone alone lands somewhere around £1,328 to £1,400. That puts it above the Galaxy S25 Ultra's £1,199 starting price and in a tier where Sony's brand trust still carries a question mark: the Xperia 1 VII suffered a hardware defect that forced a replacement programme and paused sales through July and August 2025.
Historically, Xperia 1 flagships have dropped 10–15% in price within three months of launch, Amazon leak reveals Sony Xperia 1 VIII price and June 26 launch date. US availability has not been confirmed — the Xperia 1 VII launched in Europe only. Sony's May 13 event should answer that, along with the actual phone-only price and whether microSD makes a return.
