Sony Xperia 1 VII goes official with periscope zoom and familiar design

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is finally official. And to no one’s surprise, the design hasn’t changed much. Sony’s sticking to its usual formula, but under the hood, there’s some good news, especially for camera nerds.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII still looks boxy, with flat edges, flat front and back, and top/bottom bezels instead of a hole-punch. That means no interruptions on the 6.5-inch OLED panel. The bezels are thicker than what you’d find on other 2025 flagships, but that’s Sony’s thing, and fans probably prefer it that way.

All the buttons are still on the right edge—volume, power/fingerprint combo, and of course, a physical shutter button. Around the back, a trio of cameras sit in a vertical stack, slightly raised from the rear plate. If you’ve seen any Xperia flagship since 2020, this will feel very familiar.

What’s changed is inside. Sony’s packed in the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It’s one of the few phones left with microSD support, expandable up to 2TB. It also runs Android 15 out of the box with a promise of 4 OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches—a solid long-term package.

Battery’s solid too: 5,000mAh with 30W wired charging and Qi wireless support. No charger in the box though. You still get stereo speakers, an actual headphone jack, and IP68 water/dust resistance. Sony didn’t cut corners there.

That being said, the highlight of the phone has to be its camera setup. The Xperia 1 VII packs a 48MP main sensor, a 48MP ultrawide, and a 12MP periscope zoom that offers 3.5x to 7.1x optical zoom, with up to 21.3x hybrid. The periscope unit also supports variable aperture. On paper, it’s one of the most flexible zoom systems available on a phone.

The phone weighs 192g and is just 8.2mm thick. Color options include Moss Green, Orchid Purple, and Slate Black. Pricing is steep at €1,499 (around $1,665), and it’s now up for pre-order in Europe. Shipments will start June 4.

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