One of Sony smartphone’s cameras is not competitive: Xperia 1 VIII vs. Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

The main camera performed impressively in our review, with very appealing color reproduction and good photo quality. However, at a price of nearly €1,500 in europe, this is to be expected.

But just how well does the Xperia 1 VIII stack up against one of the best smartphones currently available in terms of camera performance? We’ll take a closer look using the Oppo Find X9 Ultra.

To better assess the quality of the Sony phone, we’re using the Oppo flagship as a point of comparison for our test shots. To do this, we’re comparing the 48-MP Sony camera with the Find X9 Ultra’s 200-MP sensor. We’ll also take a look at the Xperia 1 VIII’s new telephoto lens.

Both main cameras produce very nice photos in daylight, although the Xperia phone takes much longer to capture the shots. The Sony phone also has noticeable disadvantages compared with the Oppo Find X9 Ultra when it comes to dynamic range.

While the Xperia 1 VIII still delivers quite good results at its native 3x zoom, the digitally enhanced photos are no longer truly competitive. Even in our 6x zoom shots, the loss of sharpness and detail is already noticeable.

At this price point, a 2026 flagship smartphone should offer better zoom capabilities, making the telephoto lens one of the biggest points of criticism in our review.