Sony Xperia 1 VII vs Xperia 1 VI: Sony’s last attempt?

The Sony Xperia lineup has been going through some difficult times recently, with the company scrapping the Xperia 5 series and postponing the official announcement of the flagship Xperia 1. Some Xperia fans were even concerned about the future of Xperia phones, but it seems that we’re going to get at least one more Xperia 1 model.The Xperia 1 VII is right around the corner, and even though we don’t have official confirmation yet, there are some credible leaks and rumors about Sony’s latest flagship, so we’re pretty sure this model is happening.

With that said, it will be interesting and important to compare the upcoming Xperia 1 VII with its predecessor, the Mark VI device, as the latter brought some radical changes to the Xperia experience (what a tongue twister).

The Xperia 1 VI ditched the 4K display and the 21:9 aspect ratio in favor of a more traditional (or should we say widespread) 19.5:9 aspect ratio and an FHD+ resolution. This created a bit of a backlash from avid Sony fans, and now it seems that Sony’s backtracking some of these changes with the Xperia 1 VII.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This preliminary comparison will explore in detail all the differences (and similarities) between these two models. When Sony launches the Xperia 1 VII, we will update the article with all the tests and benchmarks, camera samples, and a final verdict, but for now, let’s pit those two against each other based on the available information.

Xperia 1 VII vs Xperia 1 VI expected similarities and differences:

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Last year Sony changed the aspect ratio of the Xperia 1 VII, which led to a slightly different form factor. For better or for worse, the design remained unchanged for another consecutive year, and the phone carried Xperia’s classic features—a flat rectangular design, some might even call it boxy.
It seems that the Japanese company is sticking to its guns, design-wise, when it comes to the Xperia 1 VII. The phone leaked in 5K renders, and they show little to no difference from the predecessor.

We have the same rectangular design with two bezels on the top and bottom of the display. The camera bump looks almost identical to the one on the Xperia 1 VII as well, and the placement of the buttons is also exactly the same.

In terms of dimensions and weight, the latest rumors suggest the Xperia 1 VII will come in at 161.9 x 74.5 x 8.5mm. That’s just fractions of a millimeter wider and shorter than the last model, but also a bit thicker. The increase in thickness might be due to the new telephoto camera and potentially bigger battery.

In terms of colors, there’s nothing exciting about the last couple of generations, and we don’t expect that to change with the Xperia 1 VII. Sony has been pretty conservative with the flagship series, with some more vibrant color options coming to the budget Xperia 10 series instead. 

The renders show the phone in black, which unsurprisingly will be one of the available colors. In comparison, the Xperia 1 VII was available at launch in Black, Platinum Silver, and Khaki Green, with an additional special Scar Red color added at a later date.

The Xperia 1 VI downgraded the resolution to FHD+ (1080×2340) while keeping the 6.5-inch diagonal. This resulted in a rather mediocre pixel density of around 396 PPI. The aspect ratio was changed as well from 21:9 to 19.5:9, but on the positive side, the panel was a true LTPO with a 1-120 Hz dynamic refresh rate.

It seems that Sony has succumbed to the pressure and the backlash after the Xperia 1 VI release, and now the company is reverting to a 4K panel on the Xperia 1 VII. We don’t know details, and we’re still not sure if the aspect ratio will remain 19.5:9 (seems likely), but the switch will get the pixel density on the new model back to the quite impressive 643 PPI.

No word on LTPO tech at the moment, but we expect the Xperia 1 VII to keep the dynamic refresh rate of its predecessor despite the switch to 4K resolution. In terms of brightness (which is the new arms race in smartphone tech), the Xperia 1 VI managed to produce 1,500 nits at 100% APL, which is an impressive result. We expect the new model to be able to match this, but we have to wait for display tests to add some hard numbers here.

The biometrics remain the same on the Xperia 1 VII, which means that the side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner is back for yet another year. Sony refuses to switch to under-display fingerprint readers for some reason, and even though the side-mounted capacitive variant caused Xperia phones some issues in the past, the one on the Xperia 1 VI seems to work just fine. So, we don’t expect major changes in this area with the Xperia 1 VII.

There are no big surprises on the hardware front. Sony traditionally equips its flagships with the latest Qualcomm silicon available, and this was the case with the Xperia 1 VI. We expect the same to happen with the Xperia 1 VII, more specifically, the phone to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite hardware platform.The previous model featured a redesigned vapor chamber, and it actually made a difference in the performance and temperature under load, so we expect this to be carried over to the Xperia 1 VII. There’s no information on such specifics at the moment, but given our experience with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, we expect the Xperia 1 VII to be a powerhouse.

In terms of RAM, there might be a slight bump up from 12GB to 16GB, at least on the 512GB variant. The Xperia 1 VI launched with two memory options—12/256GB and 12/512GB—so we might as well get that once more. But it will depend on the software situation as well, whether there will be an on-device AI system or not.

Speaking of which, in the era of AI and LLMs, every smartphone manufacturer is pushing like crazy to create its own AI system. We have Galaxy AI, Apple Intelligence, Awesome Intelligence, Xiaomi’s Hyper AI, and so on and so forth.

Sony seems to be taking a different approach, keeping the AI features and tools in the background. Now, while we think this might be the best way to do it in the long run (when the AI hype wears off, most systems will remain in the background doing what they’re doing without much of a fuss and bombastic abbreviations), in the short term, Sony might suffer a bit.

But the weakest point in the software department for several generations now has been the support cycle. Sony gives two major OS updates to its phones, and this is just not enough in a world where even midrangers now get seven years of support. We don’t know if the Xperia 1 VII will try to address that, but we certainly hope so.

The only hardware difference between the Xperia 1 VI and its predecessor in the camera department was the extended zoom range on the new model. The telephoto on the 1 Mark VI offered 85–170mm focal length with everything in between, as it’s a true continuous zoom with every step in the focal length available. 

This year Sony is again focusing on further developing this system, and we expect the Xperia 1 VII to offer an even wider zoom range of 70-200mm. In relation to the main camera, which is expected to be 24mm, this equals an 8.3X zoom level. Quite impressive, but we hope Sony polishes the algorithms and post-processing, as we felt the system was still rough around the edges the last time we tested it.

We don’t expect changes in the main camera; it will most likely use the same 1/1.35″ Exmor T sensor for mobile with a 1.12 μm pixel size, sitting under a lens with an F1.9 aperture. The same goes for the ultrawide camera—a 12MP, 1/2.5″ sensor with an F2.2 lens, the same as the one on the Xperia 1 VI.

These are just specs, and we need to test the Xperia 1 VII in real life to compare it to its predecessor, but we’re very excited about the new telephoto, so stay tuned!

Sony has been slapping front-facing stereo speakers on its phones for many generations now, and we really enjoy the experience of getting the sound directed toward you, especially when you’re watching a movie or a clip.There are no surprises here as well; we expect a very similar audio system on the Xperia 1 VII as the one used on the predecessor. The latter features a quality pair of speakers, even though the loudness wasn’t the best out there. 

One cool thing about Xperia phones is that Sony just refuses to retire the 3.5 mm headphone jack. It’s a great feature and an added bonus to be able to plug in your wired audiophile headphones at will, and we expect the 3.5 mm jack to be present on the Xperia VII as well.

In terms of haptics, the vibration motor inside the Xperia flagships has always been on the weaker side, not anything drastic, but not as strong and snappy as some other flagships on the market.

Sony advertised last year’s Xperia 1 VI as a “two-day phone” mainly because of the switch to a lower-resolution screen. Our tests showed a massive improvement in stamina compared to the Mark V, even though both phones come with the same 5,000 mAh battery.

So, what about the Xperia 1 VII? Some leaks and rumors suggest that Sony will slightly bump up the capacity of the battery, probably up to around 5,100 mAh. However, the return of the 4K panel might eat up that difference and then some.

We don’t know how the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the 4K display will play with the battery inside the Xperia 1 VII, but we suspect the new model will have a slightly shorter battery life compared to its predecessor.

On the charging front, things seem to be frozen in time. The last model featured 30W wired charging, and the same is expected on the Xperia 1 VII. There will be wireless charging as well, probably of the not-very-fast variety—15W, just like the predecessor.

Given the difficult market situation and the sales figures from the last two years (a 40% drop in sales for the Xperia lineup), the Xperia 1 VII might be one of the last attempts (if not the last) of Sony at the flagship smartphone idea.

According to the latest rumors, Sony is trying to mitigate some of the damage the company did with the changes on the previous model, especially the downgrade to an FHD screen. Meanwhile, the new Xperia 1 VII is perfecting the quite innovative and absolutely unique continuous zoom system, offering a stunning 70-200 focal range, with everything in between as well.

It’s always difficult to predict how this one will turn out, but compared to the Xperia 1 VI, the new phone looks like a solid upgrade. We will update this comparison with tests, camera samples, and a final verdict, but even at this stage, the Xperia 1 VII looks like the better choice. Plus, it might be the last phone Sony makes, so it’s a chance for you to own a piece of history.