Sony Xperia 1 VIII leaks in full: square camera, Zeiss glass, and a steep price

Sony's next flagship arrives tomorrow, 13 May, but renders of the Xperia 1 VIII are already everywhere. German journalist Roland Quandt published high-quality official marketing images — reportedly leaked by an Asian carrier — showing the phone in three colours and confirming one of the largest redesigns the Xperia line has ever seen. The launch price of £1,728 in the UK (€1,868 in Europe) sounds alarming at first glance, but it includes a pair of WH-1000XM6 headphones; strip those out and the phone itself lands at roughly £1,328, marginally below the Xperia 1 VII's £1,399 opening price.

The look

The headline change is the camera module. Every Xperia flagship for the past decade used a vertical stripe of sensors down the back — it was a defining part of the brand's identity. The Xperia 1 VIII replaces that with a square island, a move that echoes the design language used by OnePlus and others. It's the biggest visual shift in Xperia history, and it's a calculated risk from a brand that holds less than 1% of the global smartphone market.

Renders show three colourways at launch: Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, and Garnet Red. A gold variant is rumoured for certain markets. The front camera stays in the top bezel rather than punching through the display, and both the top and bottom bezels remain slim.

The specs

The 6.5-inch FHD+ OLED panel runs at 120Hz with HDR support and a tall 19.5:9 ratio — a Sony staple. All three rear cameras are 48MP sensors, and the telephoto lens is built with Zeiss optics, continuing a partnership Sony has maintained for several generations. A new "Xperia AI" layer handles photo processing and battery optimisation, though Sony has not detailed exactly what sets it apart from comparable features on rival flagships.

Sony is keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack and dual physical SIM slots. Whether microSD card support returns from the previous model has not been confirmed.

The catch

Pre-orders are expected on 26 June, with no US availability — marking the third consecutive year Sony has skipped an American launch, per Notebookcheck. In the UK, that puts it up against the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (around £1,199) and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Sony's own track record offers one silver lining: the Xperia 1 VII dropped 10–15% within three months of launch, as Gagadget EN notes, suggesting patient buyers may not need to pay full price for long.