Sony Xperia 1 VII launched, it is a phone we deserve but cannot get

India Today

14-05-2025

The last Sony Xperia phones to ever release in India were the Xperia R1 and R1 Plus, back in 2017. The last one to launch in the US was the Xperia 1 V, back in 2023. And while I don't have enough time to go through each and every country from where Sony started withdrawing over the past few years — one thing's clear: if you want an Xperia phone today, there are very few places in the world where you can get one. Limited availability though, Sony is still selling its Xperia 1, 10 and 5 series in a few places around the world.advertisementThe latest release is Sony's Xperia 1 VII flagship smartphone, and it is available for pre-order in Europe, Japan and the UK. Now, why did Sony withdraw from markets over the years? Why did its market share shrink? Why didn't Sony adapt to the ever-evolving changes in the smartphone world? That's a debate for a different time. For now, the Xperia 1 VII is the kind of phone that — if Sony were still releasing its phones for the masses — would've sold like hotcakes.The Xperia 1 VII looks exactly how you'd expect a Sony flagship to look — tall, sleek and minimalist. It's available in three elegant colour options: Moss Green, Orchid Purple, and Slate Black. The design continues Sony's signature 21:9 aspect ratio — first seen on the OG Xperia 1 from 2019 with a 4K resolution display — which makes the phone look more cinematic than most flagships out there.advertisement
Powering the phone is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. There's no higher variant, but you do get microSD card support up to 2TB, which is again a rare sight in flagships these days.What makes the Xperia 1 VII stand out is how Sony brings in its other hardware divisions to help make this phone feel truly premium. The camera system has been developed in collaboration with the company's Alpha team — the same people behind Sony's top-end mirrorless cameras. There's also input from the Bravia team for the display and, for the first time ever, the Walkman division for the audio experience.The phone retains a 3.5mm headphone jack (thank you, Sony), and this time, they've even gone as far as adding gold to the soldering on the audio circuit to reduce signal loss. In simple terms, if you care about wired audio — and chances are, if you're a Sony fan, you do — this is a treat.Then there's the camera. A no-nonsense triple-lens setup: a 48-megapixel primary sensor, another 48 megapixel ultra-wide, and a 12-megapixel telephoto. But the real magic is in the software — something Sony's calling Xperia Intelligence. It includes features like Human Pose Estimation, Real-time Eye Autofocus, Subject Recognition, and Depth Estimation. These are meant to make it easier for anyone to shoot like a pro. Of course, I can't comment on the actual quality of the results, but over the years, with all the videos I've watched about Sony's Xperia 1 flagship phones — I've only heard great things about the camera, and I hope nothing has changed with the latest generation model.advertisementOn the software front, the Xperia 1 VII ships with Android 15 out of the box. Sony promises four years of Android OS updates and six years of security patches. Not quite on par with Samsung or Google, but still respectable.And here's the part that stings — it's not coming to India. It might not even come to the US. Speaking of which, at the time of writing, Sony hasn't confirmed anything about the US launch. For now, it's up for pre-order only in Japan, Europe and the UK, priced at 1,399 Pounds (roughly Rs 1,59,200) — which is 100 Pounds more than the previous generation.Honestly, it's a shame. Because this phone, with all its audio and camera smarts, the gorgeous display, and that clean, industrial look — would've had its own fanbase here. Maybe not massive, but loyal for sure. Maybe the pricing would've also been adjusted to the Indian market. Who knows. But it's just unfortunate that most of us can't buy it.