Sony has launched a new flagship phone, the Xperia 1 VIII, with its most notable features revolving around photography. The phone comes with the brand’s new AI Camera Assistant powered by Xperia Intelligence. Sony says the assistant can suggest changes to your settings based on what you’re photographing. When you point the camera at your subject, the assistant is supposed to automatically recognize the scene, the subject itself and the weather conditions to make suggestions on the best color tones, lens and bokeh effects to use. You can then tap on the suggestion to apply it to your photo.
The new Xperia also features a new 1/1.56‑inch image sensor in its telephoto camera. Sony says it’s approximately four times larger than the one it used in the previous model and enables detailed images even in low-light conditions. The phone applies RAW multi-frame processing, HDR and noise reduction for photos taken in low light. All of the device’s rear cameras are now arranged in a square rather than on a vertical island. In front, there’s a 12-megapixel camera for selfies. Aside from its photography-focused capabilities, another standout feature is the 3.5mm audio jack for wired headphones, which you rarely find on modern smartphones.
Sony’s Xperia 1 VIII has a 6.5-inch OLED display and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform. It will be available in Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red and Native Gold colors for 1,499 euros or £1,399 for the 12GB RAM/256GB storage configuration and for 1999 euros / £1,849 for the 16GB RAM/1TB storage configuration. You can pre-order the phone starting today and get it in June at the earliest, but only if you’re in Europe. Sony has no plans to bring it to the US at the moment. If you do pre-order, you’ll get Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones for free.