Sony Xperia VII release date expectations, price estimates and upgrades
*thumbnail image courtesy of Multi Tech Media (render based on a leaked camera layout)
Sony has a rich history when it comes to phones, and since the inception of the Xperia brand back in 2008, the company has come up with dozens and dozens of interesting models.
Now, we're into the seventh generation of Xperia flagship phones after the big restart from 2019 when Sony decided to consolidate its lineup, which means we're going to talk about the Sony Xperia 1 VII.
The Japanese company made an interesting turn with the previous model, the Xperia 1 VI, ditching the 4K screen and the iconic 21:9 aspect ratio, so it will be very interesting to see what's cooking with the next Sony flagship.
It's 2025 already and Xperia 1 VII rumors are coming thick and fast, so we have some clues of what the Xperia 1 VII is shaping out to be.
Now, we're into the seventh generation of Xperia flagship phones after the big restart from 2019 when Sony decided to consolidate its lineup, which means we're going to talk about the Sony Xperia 1 VII.
It's 2025 already and Xperia 1 VII rumors are coming thick and fast, so we have some clues of what the Xperia 1 VII is shaping out to be.
Jump to:
Sony Xperia 1 VII release date
- Possible announcement in May 2025
- Possible market release in June 2025
| Device family | Announcement | Market release |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia 1 | February 25, 2019 | May 30, 2019 |
| Sony Xperia 1 II | February 24, 2020 | May 22, 2020 |
| Sony Xperia 1 III | April 14, 2021 | August 25, 2021 |
| Sony Xperia 1 IV | May 11, 2022 | June 11, 2022 |
| Sony Xperia 1 V | May 11, 2023 | July 28, 2023 |
| Sony Xperia 1 VI | May 15, 2024 | June 6, 2024 |
| Sony Xperia 1 VII | May, 2025* | June, 2025* |
* - probable dates
It's way too early to speak about announcement dates and market releases, but what we can do is extrapolate from the previous Xperia roadmaps. The Xperia 1 VII will most likely be announced sometime in May next year, and the follow-up release is expected a month later.
Sony did listen to fans and made the window between the official announcement and the actual market release much shorter than what we had previously, so there's no reason to think the company would start making changes. You can check the historical data of all Xperia announcements and releases since the Xperia 1 model in the table above.
Sony did listen to fans and made the window between the official announcement and the actual market release much shorter than what we had previously, so there's no reason to think the company would start making changes. You can check the historical data of all Xperia announcements and releases since the Xperia 1 model in the table above.
Sony Xperia 1 VII price and deals
- $1,399.99*
| Phone model | 128GB of storage | 256GB of storage | 512GB of storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xperia 1 | $949 | - | - |
| Xperia 1 II | - | $1,199 | - |
| Xperia 1 III | - | $1,299 | $1,399 |
| Xperia 1 IV | - | $1,599 | $1,699 |
| Xperia 1 V | - | $1,399 | $1,599 |
| Xperia 1 VI | - | $1,399 | $1,599 |
| Xperia 1 VII | - | $1,399* | $1,599* |
*- anticipated prices
Sony tripped with the pricing of the Xperia 1 IV, asking $1,599 for the base model and causing a substantial backlash. The following models mended the situation, falling back to the $1,399 status quo. We expect the same price tag to be stuck to the Xperia 1 VII, so a premium phone but not crazy expensive.
Sony Xperia 1 VII deals to expect:
Sadly, Sony phones aren't officially sold in the US. You can still buy them through big online retailers such as Amazon, but deals are pretty inconsistent and can vary wildly. That said, if we have to invoke our previous experience to help in the matter, we would say that normally, Xperia flagships get substantial discounts a couple of months after the official release date. So, no sudden movements at launch, guys!
Sony Xperia 1 VII camera
The first leaked render of Sony Xperia 1 VII's camera system | Image credit — Weibo
PhoneName camera setup:
- Main: 48MP Exmor T, 1/1.35" (1/1.43" in 4:3)
- Ultrawide: 12MP Exmor RS, 1/2.5", 16mm
- Periscope zoom: 12MP Exmor RS, 70-200mm
The camera system of the Sony Xperia 1 VII is the first area where leaks have already popped up. According to a post on the Chinese social platform Weibo, Sony is gearing up to further update and enhance the telephoto camera inside the Xperia 1 VII.
The previous model features an 85-170 mm continuous periscope zoom system, which is a nice feature that first showed up on the Xperia 1 III. The new lens will be able to do a 70-200 mm zoom range, and according to the leak, it's a 12 MP, 1/2.3-inch telephoto sensor.
Further down the camera specs sheet, we expect the Xperia 1 VII to retain the 48MP ExmorT sensor from its predecessor, which is not a bad thing; the Xperia 1 VI proved very capable, especially in low-light conditions.
The same goes for the ultrawide camera; we expect the same 12MP Exmor RS, 1/2.5", 16mm camera to make rounds on the new model.
When it comes to software and AI (as it's a big talking point nowadays), the previous model ditched the Pro camera and video apps and offered a consolidated camera experience through the main camera app. We expect the same treatment on the Xperia 1 VII. As for AI, Sony keeps AI algorithms working in the background when it comes to smartphone photography, so we don't know if we're going to get things like AI photo and video editing tools.
The previous model features an 85-170 mm continuous periscope zoom system, which is a nice feature that first showed up on the Xperia 1 III. The new lens will be able to do a 70-200 mm zoom range, and according to the leak, it's a 12 MP, 1/2.3-inch telephoto sensor.
Further down the camera specs sheet, we expect the Xperia 1 VII to retain the 48MP ExmorT sensor from its predecessor, which is not a bad thing; the Xperia 1 VI proved very capable, especially in low-light conditions.
When it comes to software and AI (as it's a big talking point nowadays), the previous model ditched the Pro camera and video apps and offered a consolidated camera experience through the main camera app. We expect the same treatment on the Xperia 1 VII. As for AI, Sony keeps AI algorithms working in the background when it comes to smartphone photography, so we don't know if we're going to get things like AI photo and video editing tools.
Sony Xperia 1 VII storage
Sony Xperia 1 VII storage capacity:
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1TB (Possibly?)
The past couple of generations, the Xperia 1 flagship has been pretty conservative with its storage, but let's not forget the microSD card slot, which is still present. Now, we expect the base two storage configurations to stay the same, more specifically a 256GB base model and a 512GB premium version.
Whether or not we're going to get a 1GB model is not certain at the moment, and it might depend on the aforementioned microSD card slot or its presence. If Sony decides to remove the microSD card slot, it might be logical to offer a 1TB model, especially considering the photo and video capabilities of the phone.
Whether or not we're going to get a 1GB model is not certain at the moment, and it might depend on the aforementioned microSD card slot or its presence. If Sony decides to remove the microSD card slot, it might be logical to offer a 1TB model, especially considering the photo and video capabilities of the phone.
Sony Xperia 1 VII design
When it comes to the design of the Sony Xperia 1 VII, we don't have anything to report yet. Leaks and rumors are almost non-existent at this point, apart from the camera tip we talked about earlier.
Judging from the previous model, though, we can make some assumptions. Sony made a substantial design tweak with the Xperia 1 VI, ditching the 21:9 aspect ratio and moving to a much more popular 19.5:9 screen ratio. We expect the company to stick to this decision with the Xperia 1 Mark VII.
The other notable design cues are probably going to remain the same, namely the ridged frame and the textured glass back, mimicking a DSLR camera. One additional design change could come in the form of a new camera arrangement on the back, if the Chinese leak is to be believed. Instead of a vertically positioned oval, we might get two separate rows of cameras, with the big telephoto on the left and the main and ultrawide on the right.
As for expected colors, Sony has been pretty conservative with the coloring scheme of past Xperia 1 flagships. We're surely getting the mandatory black mode, probably alongside a white-ish version, and maybe khaki green again.
Judging from the previous model, though, we can make some assumptions. Sony made a substantial design tweak with the Xperia 1 VI, ditching the 21:9 aspect ratio and moving to a much more popular 19.5:9 screen ratio. We expect the company to stick to this decision with the Xperia 1 Mark VII.
The other notable design cues are probably going to remain the same, namely the ridged frame and the textured glass back, mimicking a DSLR camera. One additional design change could come in the form of a new camera arrangement on the back, if the Chinese leak is to be believed. Instead of a vertically positioned oval, we might get two separate rows of cameras, with the big telephoto on the left and the main and ultrawide on the right.
Sony Xperia 1 VII display
The situation with the display of the Xperia 1 VII is still not very clear; there's no information about it at this point. Again, we could try and extrapolate from the last model, and Sony did a huge downgrade with it when it comes to resolution. The 4K display disappeared on the Xperia 1 VI, and it was replaced by an FHD+ panel. This didn't please Xperia fans, to put it mildly, as the $1,399 flagship featured just around 396 PPI pixel density as a result.
We don't think the 4K panel is coming back on the Xperia 1 VII, though. We might get a bump up in brightness, as switching to a lower resolution made it possible for more energy to be fed to the pixels, so expect the Xperia 1 VII to kind of catch up and participate in the display brightness wars of late.
Switching to an FHD+ resolution also came with another benefit in the face of the dynamic refresh rate we've been waiting for on Xperia flagships for ages. The previous model was able to go from 1-120Hz, and we expect the same for the new phone. Finally, we don't expect major changes to the screen size; the Xperia 1 VII will most likely retain the same 6.5-inch screen diagonal from its predecessor.
Sony Xperia 1 VII battery
There's a trend in the smartphone industry concerning the batteries. Many companies now move toward a new technology (or should we say upgraded technology?). This trend started with the Honor Magic 5 Pro, which launched in China with a silicon-carbon battery. Without getting too geeky, it's a technique where you imbue silicon in the anode of a traditional graphite-based lithium-ion battery to get more capacity. Check out our explainer article for more detail.
So, will the Xperia 1 VII feature this new silicon-carbon battery tech? We don't know, but the Japanese company has been pretty conservative with the battery and charging of the Xperia lineup, sticking to 5,000 mAh cells in the Xperia 1 models and 30W wired charging. Stay tuned for additional details as we learn more on the subject.
Sony Xperia 1 VII features and software
The Xperia 1 VII will run Android OS, no doubt about it, and judging by the expected release date, it will most certainly be Android 15. We don't expect the OS to be too different from stock Android; there are just a couple of minor quality-of-life tweaks here and there, such as the Side Sense slider menu, split mode, etc.
Now, when it comes to support, there's room for improvement. Sony backed the Xperia 1 VI for only three years when it comes to major Android versions and one additional year of software patches. In a smartphone world where Apple, Samsung, and Google offer twice as long, it's just not competitive.
Another big talking point here is AI and large language models. We don't expect Sony to start building one from scratch; the more plausible version is that the company will rely on Gemini (most likely), giving a free Gemini Advanced subscription with every Xperia 1 VII purchase.
Now, when it comes to support, there's room for improvement. Sony backed the Xperia 1 VI for only three years when it comes to major Android versions and one additional year of software patches. In a smartphone world where Apple, Samsung, and Google offer twice as long, it's just not competitive.
Another big talking point here is AI and large language models. We don't expect Sony to start building one from scratch; the more plausible version is that the company will rely on Gemini (most likely), giving a free Gemini Advanced subscription with every Xperia 1 VII purchase.
Sony Xperia 1 VII hardware and specs
Sony Xperia 1 VII's specs:
- CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
- RAM: 12GB (16GB is a possibility)
- Battery: 5,000 mAh
- Charging: 30W wired, 15W wireless
- Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB (possible)
- Camera setup: 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP periscope telephoto (70-200mm)
As far as hardware is concerned, the Xperia 1 VII is expected to feature the latest and greatest Qualcomm silicon, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. We've already tested the chipset on several smartphones (the ROG Phone 9 Pro included), and it's a real beast and also a serious competitor for the smartphone computational crown.
One area where we like to see an improvement is the fingerprint scanner. It's about time for Sony to switch to an ultrasonic solution, much like the Galaxy flagships of late. Sony phones did have some hardware problems with proximity sensors behaving funny and the side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner registering ghost touches, so we hope this time around Sony will polish the experience and be in line with the Xperia name of the smartphone brand, pun intended.
Should I wait for the Sony Xperia 1 VII?
- You should wait for the Sony Xperia 1 VII if you're a dedicated Sony fan and you want to stand out in the normal Samsung and Apple crowd. If you also value continuous optical zoom, the Xperia flagship phones are your only option. If you're coming from a much older device, let's say the Xperia 1 III or Xperia 1 IV, upgrading to the Xperia 1 VII can be a huge step up, especially if you want to stay loyal to Sony.
- You should not wait for the Sony Xperia 1 VII if you don't fancy the new FHD+ screen, the Galaxy-like aspect ratio and the premium price tag that still goes with the phone, despite the downgrades. If you own and love an Xperia 1 V device, you should probably stick with it or move to something different (a Pixel 9 Pro will last you seven years, for example). For the Xperia 1 VI owners out there, there's probably little to no reason to upgrade, as Sony will most likely stick to the same 19.5:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ screen with minor upgrades to the camera.
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