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by Samuel Buchmann
Sony Xperia 1 VII: more powerful chip and longer update periods
13.5.2025
Translation: machine translated
The new flagship smartphone from Sony has undergone a few, but decisive innovations. In addition to hardware upgrades, the manufacturer is finally promising longer update periods. But you'll have to dig deep into your pockets.
The improvements to the new Sony Xperia 1 VII compared to the predecessor model are not too great. They primarily concern the chipset and the camera.
One special feature that Sony has retained from its predecessors is the jack connection for headphones. If this is too old-fashioned for you, the supplier offers the latest Bluetooth: 6.0.
First of all, to all those based in Switzerland: as things stand, the smartphone will not make it across the Swiss border. If that changes, I'll let you know here.
Design and display: Sony remains true to itself
With a size of 16.2 × 7.4 × 0.8 centimetres and a weight of 197 grams, the Sony Xperia 1 VII is one of the slimmer and lighter smartphones. The housing is also protected against water and dust in accordance with IP68. In other words: a dive in fresh water up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes is no problem.
Sony has not changed the design, you can only choose a new colour. In addition to khaki and black, there is now a reddish purple colour called Orchid Purple.
Source: Sony
Sony has installed a 6.5-inch OLED display in a 19.5:9 format here. The format has become slightly wider since the last model than in previous years, but is still narrower than comparable devices. The resolution is 1080 x 2340 pixels. This is not outstanding, but is good enough for a sharp picture. The refresh rate is a maximum of 120 Hertz and adapts to the current situation. When playing games, for example, the smartphone uses the full 120. The display remains the same overall as its predecessor.
The Xperia 1 VII is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and Victus on the back. The specially processed glass is designed to protect the smartphone particularly well from drops and scratches.
Hardware: Performance boost thanks to Elite chip
The Sony Xperia 1 VII is equipped with the latest high-end chip from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It also has 12 gigabytes of RAM and 256 internal memory. You can expand the latter with a microSD card.
The battery has a capacity of 5000 mAh and supports fast charging. Sony claims up to two days of battery life. Looking back at my test with the Sony Xperia 1 VI, this could well be the case, especially due to the efficient chip. At that time, the Xperia 1 VI managed a runtime of 18 hours.
Source: Sony
There are three cameras on the back of the Sony Xperia 1 VII. Sony has updated the wide-angle camera: It now offers 50 megapixels (MP) instead of 12 as on the predecessor. The sensor of the telephoto camera has also become larger; last year it was 1/2.5 inch, now it is 1/1.35 inch.
- Main camera: 52 MP, 1/1.35-inch sensor (24/48 mm)
- Wide-angle: 50 MP, 1/1.56-inch sensor (16mm)
- telephoto camera: 12 MP, 1/1.35-inch sensor, optical zoom (85-170 mm)
- Front camera: 12 MP, 1/2.9-inch sensor
The image sensor «Exmor T» from previous years is also installed in the main camera this time. According to Sony, it should be particularly light-sensitive, but did not stand out in my tests at the time. What is new are the AI functions. One of these automatically adjusts the detail in videos to focus on the subject.
Software: longer update periods at last
Sony delivers the Xperia 1 VII with Android 15. In recent years, the manufacturer has only delivered three updates for Android and four years of security patches. For a high-end smartphone in this price range, this was too little and my biggest criticism. Now the manufacturer is finally upping the ante: four Android upgrades are planned as well as six years of security updates.
Price and availability
The Sony Xperia 1 VII is now available for a recommended retail price of 1499 euros. It is not yet clear whether it will make its way to Switzerland. If we get the device in the shop, I'll let you know here and link to the product
Header image: Sony
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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