Sony Xperia 1 VII
Specifications

Secondary Camera: 12 MPix 1/2.9" Sony Exmor RS for mobile, 1.22µm, F/2.0, 24mm, FOV 83°, video recording up to 4K@60fps
Price comparison
Average of 22 scores (from 45 reviews)
Reviews for the Sony Xperia 1 VII
The Sony Xperia 1 VII is an extremely fast, high-end smartphone with a unique set of features. Equipped with a 7.1x optical zoom and Zeiss lenses, it also comes with special features such as a headphone jack and a microSD slot. The premium phone has even already received the Android 16 update. Our review reveals whether photo enthusiasts can take advantage of these features.
Source: Nextpit EN

By this point, you probably don’t need to be told whether the Xperia 1 VII is a good buy or not. Sony diehards will keep defending the company’s approach, and excuse the high price on the lack of third-party apps, and the excellent technical features of the phone. For most people, however, it is hard to justify spending 1500€ (the phone is not officially available in the US), when a comparable flagship phone can be had for a third less. Unless features like the headphone jack, microSD slot, shutter button, and notchless display are really worth 500€, you can find better value elsewhere. Still, we acknowledge Sony’s efforts in keeping alive features abandoned a long time ago by other companies. Even its improved software support policy, despite still lagging behind the competition, is probably the best we can expect from a niche brand. But that is not enough to stop worrying how viable Sony Mobile is in this day and age.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/11/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Android Authority

The perennial problem with the Xperia series is that it’s still living in the previous decade. Yes, Sony has invested in streaming and video creation tools to appeal to new audiences, but any number of third-party options can easily replicate these. Clinging to fan favorite features like the headphone jack, a stripped-back take on Android, and a belief that computational photography doesn’t matter caters to an increasingly niche crowd. Ultimately, very few will want to buy a phone at this price when they can obtain the same or better specs and features for less elsewhere. Especially given the motherboard issues that affected some launch models. That’s not to say this is a bad phone by any means. The Xperia 1 VII is a gorgeous, well-built piece of kit.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/15/2025
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Trusted Reviews

Sony’s Xperia strategy is a curious one that likely only makes sense if you happen to be someone who really likes the Xperia phones. It’s a phone that keeps hold of technology long-sinced ditched by the big name competitors – things like a physical audio port and microSD card slot – all the while keeping very much the same design year in, year out and loading the phone apps that only those with the desire and patience for pro-level video, photo and audio tools appreciate. So the latest Xperia is one for those people, but even for them, this year, it feels like there’s little need to buy this phone over last year’s model. It’s not really any better, and is still too expensive for what it offers, to the point where I’d say if you have an older Xperia model and want to upgrade this year, you’d be better off saving money and buying last year’s model.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/11/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Tech Spurt

As usual there's plenty to love here. Sony's slab is the only flagship to offer expandable storage AND a headphone jack, plus front facing speakers. The Xperia 1 VII also boasts one of the best gaming modes, while DSLR fans will love that camera app. However, there's not enough new bits in the Sony Xperia 1 VII to justify upgrading. The Snapdragon 8 Elite performance is great for gamers, but you can find this in smartphones half the price. Battery life is excellent, but again that isn't uncommon in 2025 flagships. The Sony Xperia 1 VII mostly recycles camera hardware vs the Mark 6 and the new features aren't compelling enough. Of course, creators are well catered for as usual. Plus, the display tech etc has also been lifted from last year's phone.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/05/2025
Source: Mark Ellis Reviews

Let’s not pretend this phone is for everyone. It’s niche and it’s pricey, considerably so on that latter point at £1,399. There’s also no USA release planned yet, another Sony quirk. But if you’ve got this far in your Xperia research, and you’re the kind of person who watches Xperia reviews in July when everyone else is talking about upcoming iPhones or foldables, I’ve got good news: you won’t regret buying this phone. That being said, if you own the Mark 6, there’s not enough here to justify an upgrade. From the Mark 5? Maybe, but you’ll lose the 4K display if that bothers you. Sony continues to carve its own path in the smartphone world. And in a market increasingly dominated by boring, cookie-cutter designs and AI fluff, the Xperia 1 VII is a glorious oddball.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/31/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Digital Camera World

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is too expensive to be competitive; that's the simple truth. There's plenty to love; it features a slim design and an uninterrupted screen, free from notches or punch holes. It also sounds great and is powerful, making it brilliant for watching and gaming. Confusingly, given this is Sony, its main pitfall (other than its price) is its camera. The hardware is dated, and the processing can't save it. It's also uncannily similar to last year's model, with modest year-on-year upgrades. Therefore, until the price drops, the Xperia 1 VII remains a tough sell despite its highlights.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/28/2025
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 60% performance: 80% workmanship: 100%
Source: Mark Ellis Reviews

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/25/2025
Source: Tech Edit

After spending six weeks with the Sony Xperia 1 VII, my feelings are best described as complicated. On one hand, it's one of my favorite phones of 2025. Still, its eye-wateringly expensive price and a camera system that is its most disappointing aspect make it a tough sell over the much cheaper Xperia 1 VI. In this in-depth review, I explore the contradictions of the Xperia 1 VII. We'll cover the brilliant design choices that other manufacturers have abandoned, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack, front-firing speakers, and a beautiful, uninterrupted display with no notch or punch hole. We'll also discuss its surprisingly excellent gaming performance, thanks to a well-tuned chipset and ergonomics that are perfect for touchscreen and gamepad gaming.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 07/10/2025
Source: Phone Arena

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is not a bad phone. On the contrary — it's pretty good. The design and feel in the hand is great. The bloat-less software is a breath of fresh air as ever. The screen is good and the speakers are well above decent. And you get a headphone jack and microSD card slot, which are considered luxury nowadays. There are two points that make this phone hard to recommend. One is the price — £1,399 / €1,499 for 256 GB is quite the asking price. Yeah, sure, some markets get the Xperia 1 VII bundled with Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones, which are excellent and quite expensive on their own. But what if you don't want the headphones or don't get them in your area?
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 06/04/2025
Rating: Total score: 72% performance: 88% display: 80% mobility: 74% workmanship: 80%
Source: The Tech Chap

Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/26/2025
Source: Stuff TV

By religiously sticking to its guns, Sony has guaranteed Xperia die-hards will feel right at home here. The Xperia 1 VII is another creator-first phone with ample performance, a gorgeous screen, and features you just don’t see on rival flagships anymore, like expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone port. No rival does ultrawide photography quite as well as this, and its lead lens takes equally dynamic shots – whether you reach for the Pro settings or not. Mobile movie makers will appreciate the variable zoom telephoto, too, but it’s a shame stills sharpness now lags behind the very best cameraphones.As a long-time Xperia fan I really enjoyed my time with it, but equally I don’t think the 1 VII will win over many new fans.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/25/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Tech Spurt

The Sony Xperia 1 VII launched the same day as Samsung's S25 Edge, so lovers of extremely expensive smartphones were overjoyed. The Mark 7 isn't too different specs-wise vs the VI, but Sony's 2025 flagship does offer an upgraded telephoto camera sensor and Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming. So is the Sony Xperia 1 VII worth the £1399 asking price? Well, if you're absolutely minted, it looks like a competitive flagship - especially for audio lovers. No other premium phones boast this level of codec support in addition to a dedicated headphone jack. However, the Sony Xperia 1 VII offers very similar hardware to last year's model, including the same 5000mAh battery, a similar 6.5-inch FHD screen, and a design that's all but identical.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/16/2025
Source: GSM Arena

The 1 VII does remain a capable photographic tool despite its less than perfect telephoto, of course. The main camera is plenty nice, the selfies are pretty great, and the new ultrawide is quite possibly the current top performer in its field. All that is operated from a feature-packed camera app with tons of controls and all the smarts you can think of. Perhaps it's not the best cameraphone altogether, but it could very well be the best cameraphone for a specific type of user. Which, in fact, is what the Xperia 1 VII is in its entirety, probably more so than any other phone - a very specifically tailored device that may be a tough sell to the mass audience, but its feature set can be spot-on for you. And you know who you are.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/13/2025
Rating: Total score: 86%
Source: GSM Arena

The Sony Xperia VII has just made its official debut, and we've had one for a while now testing just how well it's keeping up with the times.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/13/2025
Foreign Reviews
Source: Smartzone
DE→ENSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/12/2025
Rating: Total score: 83% performance: 80% display: 75% mobility: 90% workmanship: 85%
Source: WinFuture
DE→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/25/2025
Source: Tablet Blog
DE→ENSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/02/2025
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Quotidiano Hardware Upgrade
IT→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/06/2025
Source: Smart World
IT→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/01/2025
Rating: Total score: 75% price: 50% features: 85% display: 85% mobility: 70% workmanship: 90% ergonomy: 90%
Source: Andrea Galeazzi
IT→ENSingle Review, online available, Short, Date: 06/28/2025
Rating: Total score: 82% price: 65% display: 87% mobility: 88% workmanship: 85%
Source: Techprincess IT
IT→ENPositive: Premium design; excellent display; impressive cameras; powerful hardware. Negative: Short battery life; high price.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/21/2025
Source: Evo smart
IT→ENPositive: Premium design; solid workmanship; bright OLED display; powerful processor; high performance; excellent cameras; stereo speakers; large battery capacity; smart AI Features. Negative: Unsupported FM radio; 256GB ROM only; high price.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 07/14/2025
Source: Evo smart
IT→ENPositive: Premium design; bright display; waterproof and dust avoiding; headphone jack; excellent cameras; long battery life. Negative: High price; 256GB ROM only.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 06/26/2025
Source: Diskidee.nl
NL→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/21/2025
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Les Mobiles
FR→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/08/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Journal du Geek
FR→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/05/2025
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Les Numeriques
FR→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 07/02/2025
Rating: Total score: 80% performance: 100% display: 100% mobility: 80% workmanship: 100% ergonomy: 100%
Source: Co Nowego
PL→ENSingle Review, online available, Short, Date: 08/06/2025
Rating: Total score: 69% price: 50% performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 60%
Source: GSM Online PL
PL→ENPositive: Excellent cameras; memory card slot; headphone jack. Negative: Thick frames; slow charging; expensive.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 06/30/2025
Source: MobilArena HU
HU→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/08/2025
Rating: price: 60% display: 90% mobility: 80% workmanship: 100%
Source: Tinh Te
VN→ENPositive: Premium design; beautiful OLED display; powerful hardware; high performance; large battery capacity; quick charging; smart AI cameras; waterproof IP68. Negative: Thick frames; no charger included.
Hands-On, online available, Very Long, Date: 06/01/2025
Source: Tek.no
NO→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 08/08/2025
Rating: Total score: 87%
Source: Komputer for alle
DA→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 08/08/2025
Rating: Total score: 87%
Source: M3 PC för alla
SV→ENSingle Review, online available, Long, Date: 06/17/2025
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Mobil.se
SV→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/27/2025
Rating: Total score: 80% display: 90%
Source: Mobile-com JP
JA→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/29/2025
Rating: performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 100% workmanship: 100%
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Excellent speakers; beautiful display; nice interface.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 06/05/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Excellent cameras; long battery life; support dual eSIM. Negative: Overheats while using; weak connectivity.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/21/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Great display; headphone jack; stereo speakers; excellent cameras.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/16/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Excellent cameras; nice display; smooth performance. Negative: Relatively high price.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/14/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Premium design; excellent cameras; beautiful display; powerful hardware; high performance; good speakers.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/13/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Premium design; great built quality; beautiful display; nice cameras; decent hardware; smooth performance; large battery capacity.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/09/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Stylish design; slim size; light weight; good fingerprint sensor; nice cameras; great video recording.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/26/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Powerful processor; high performance; excellent display; nice cameras; great speakers. Negative: Relatively high price.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/25/2025
Source: Gadget leaker 64
JA→ENPositive: Nice cameras; slim size; light weight; beautiful display. Negative: High price.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/03/2025
Comment
Qualcomm Adreno 830: Integrated graphics unit in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC for smartphones with three slices with 1.1 GHz each. Integrated 12 MB shared cache for the three slices. According to Qualcomm, 40% faster than the previous generation (Adreno 750).
Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
SD 8 Elite: High-end SoC (System on a Chip) for smartphones which was presented at the end of 2024. It integrates two fast Oryon Gen 2 Prime Cores with up to 4.32 GHz and 6 smaller Oryon Gen 2 Performance Cores with up to 3.53 GHz.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.