Sony's new Xperia 1 VII flagship phone has AI features, improved cameras, and a headphone jack

Sony's flagship offering has been refreshed, with the new Xperia 1 VII set to reach our shores in early July. We found its predecessor, the Xperia 1 VI, a great phone for mobile photography enthusiasts while offering niceties like a 3.5mm headphone port and a gorgeous display. The Xperia 1 VII is set to take things to a higher level with this year's improvements.

First, the phone has been updated with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which has impressed us in other 2025 flagship devices. We expect that Sony will retain the same LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage from before, and the phone will be available in a single 12GB+256GB configuration. Thankfully, the phone still supports expandable memory by way of a microSDXC card for up to 2TB of extra storage.

The display is unchanged, with a 6.5-inch 1080p FHD+ LTPO OLED display in the same 19.5:9 aspect ratio that was introduced last year. It will support an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate and HDR, and a new light sensor has been added to the back of the device to allow for more accurate recognition and adjustment of the screen.

The front is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, while the rear panel is Gorilla Glass Victus with a textured, frosted finish.

The camera array is mostly unchanged, but Sony has upgraded the 12MP ultrawide camera to a new 16mm lens (f/2 aperture) that is equipped with a larger 48MP 1/1.56-inch Exmor RS sensor. Additionally, there are two new AI-powered features called AI Camerawork and Auto Framing.

AI Camerawork helps to create stable videos where the subject is always centred, thanks to the phone's posture estimation technology that was introduced in the Xperia 1 VI. This is supposed to work even when the user is walking around and filming moving subjects.

As for Auto Framing, the name gives it away. Using a combination of cropping and AI tracking, the phone is able to capture moving subjects and keep them in frame without any external intervention. Two types of videos can be taken with Auto Framing, one showing the whole scene and another that is cropped to show a close-up of the subject.

Sony has incorporated their audio expertise in the phone as well, improving on the stereo speakers for an even clearer sound. New components have also been used in the audio circuits, which is supposed to translate to even better audio performance when using wired headphones with the 3.5mm headphone jack. Yes, this is a flagship smartphone in 2025 with a good old headphone jack.

A 5,000mAh battery powers everything, although charging speeds are slow by modern flagship Android phone standards at 30W wired and 15W wireless. Sony does claim that its proprietary charging optimisations will help to slow down battery capacity degradation over the years, however.

Sony will offer up to four years of software updates and six years of security updates, which bodes well for people who are looking to hold onto this phone for longer than the typical two or three years.

Availability and pricing

All this won't come cheap, however, with the phone priced at S$1,989. We do have to note that the price remains the same as last year's Xperia 1 VI, which is a bit of a relief. Additionally, Sony is running an early bird promotion from 13 May to 30 June 2025, with a free colour-matched phone case worth $50 as well as a pair of Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones bundled in.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is available in Slate Black, Moss Green and Orchid Purple, with preorders available at the Sony Store Online and authorised retailers.

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