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New Sony Xperia 1 VII channels Alpha camera tech to up smartphone game

Written by Andy Stout | May 13, 2025 5:42:58 AM

Sony's latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1 VII, channels the tech and the expertise from the Alpha camera division and couples that with a large 48MP 1/1.56-inch sensor. The results are impressive.

The iPhone gets a lot of attention in the smartphone camera space, and deservedly so. But, as the saying goes, other options are available, and the new Sony Xperia 1 VII will be a very strong contender for anyone who fancies an Android alternative and has around €1499/£1399 to spare.

Currently no US dollar pricing as, currently, the handset isn't being made available in the US. That's not a tariff-based decision either, as the company also didn't launch the previous Xperia 1 VI in the US. 

 

Talking of its predecessor, the new 16 mm ultra wide-angle sensor is 2.1x larger than the previous model's at 1/1.56", and the 24 mm lens features a 1/1.35" Exmor T for mobile sensor. The upshot is that both cameras can deliver night shooting equivalent to full-frame cameras, with low noise and wide dynamic range. That's what Sony says anyway, and the early reviews seem to bear that out. 

The Xperia 1 VII adds a new 16 mm Ultra-wide lens to the standard 24 mm and 48 mm focal lengths, with Sony saying that the Telephoto lens features true optical zoom from 85 to 170 mm. The three lenses feature ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating, which contributes to the superior optical quality of images by minimising unwanted lens effects such as reflections. A 24 mm front camera completes the camera set-up.

Xperia 1 VII

You have new AI-powered tricks as is compulsory at the moment, primarily video stabilisation and framing, as well as Eye AF, but it's those similarities to the actual Alpha camera range that stand out. You get a similar menu structure, similar screen prompts (green square visualisations for focus points etc), Creative Look and S-Cinetone make colour and tonality much more typical of a professional camera than a smartphone, with better skin tones and cinematic highlight rolloff. You can shoot up to 30 frames per second with AF/AE burst shot and video at 4K 120fps HDR. 

The new Pro Photo and Pro Video camera interfaces have a rice lineage from Alpha cameras and allow you to capture RAW photographs while providing full manual control over shutter, exposure etc. It will even add bokeh.

For camera users to really feel at home there's a redesigned and enlarged shutter button. It's even been designed for 2-stage operation, with a half-press to activate AF focus lock, while you can press and hold the shutter button any time to launch the camera, even with the screen off. It even supports Sony's Creator's Cloud and live streaming to YouTube or other platforms that support RTMP.

Obviously there are all the smartphone headlines too, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a 120 Hz FHD+ HDR OLED (1080 x 2340) screen (Sony seems to have pulled back from supplying 4k screens), the ability to bump up storage to pretty much whatever you want with a microSD card, a headphone jack (yes, really) and more. 

There are probably more capable flagship cameraphones out there, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra for instance. But the seamless way that the Xperia 1 VII can mimic the operation of a Sony mirrorless camera and allow you to switch from one to the other with comparative ease is going to definitely appeal to some.

tl;dr

  • The Sony Xperia 1 VII features a 48MP sensor and offers impressive night shooting capabilities, rivaling full-frame cameras in low light conditions.
  • It includes a new 16 mm ultra-wide lens alongside standard 24 mm and 48 mm focal lengths, with true optical zoom on the telephoto lens, all enhanced by ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating.
  • The smartphone supports advanced photography features like RAW capture, full manual controls, and video recording at 4K 120fps HDR, alongside AI-powered enhancements for stabilization and framing.
  • A redesigned shutter button facilitates two-stage operation for focus lock and quick access to the camera, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and other smartphone features round out its high-end performance.