Sony Xperia 1 VIII Announced
Teardown Preview
It will be a while before we have a full video teardown, but Sony has provided some photos to media revealing the inside build. First a refresher of the Sony Xperia 1 VII internals. The code for the new model is PDX-267 for those wondering.
And now for the Xperia 1 VIII.
The construction of the new model is not entirely different to the previous one. The main panel with the display looks very similar on both models.
Using some photoshop magic, I have lined up some of the components to compare them. First up, the wireless charging coil, antennas. and bottom speaker assembly.
The design is similar but not a direct copy. I am not even sure if the wireless charging coil is re-used. If 2541 is the date code, then the coil is from early October 2025. There is no NFC logo on the rear of the new model, but the NFC coil (orange line) is still beside the camera bump as visible in the photo above.
Moving on, we have the internal battery and PCBs.
It looks like the lower PCB (sim card/SD) is identical in both models. The photo on the left for the VII is missing the small little PCB, but it is present in the actual phone. I am confident that the front camera assembly, 3,5mm jack assembly, and haptic motor are carried over, but this is where the similarities end. The main PCB has a different shape, and layout in the new model.
Finally the ribbon cables, rear camera modules. and the top speaker.
The 1 VIII photo includes the haptic motor, and the fingerprint sensor/button assembly. The 1 VII photo has the 3.5mm hack, and the additional small PCB from the lower part of the phone.
Nothing appears to be carried over from the old model, except maybe the USB-C port, and fingerprint sensor/button assembly . The ribbon cables are now split into 2,with the display cable now on its own. Even though the main and wide camera sensors are the same in both phones, the modules are completely different. Previously only one connector was used for both cameras, but the new model switched to 2 separate connections.
I am looking forwards to seeing a full teardown from Wekihome on their YouTube page.
New Style Cover
The new cover is more transparent than the previous cover on the 1 VII. This is obvious in the photo below from Tecstaff.jp. The price of the style cover is the same as in the old model.
The new model is not a major leap forward, but it does offer a significant improvement to the telephoto camera, a slight redesign, and new colours. From the teardown preview, it is clear that Sony has performed significant re-engineering on the inside as well, to make room for the new telephoto module. While the battery is the same capacity, the battery life does appear to be improved. A major negative point is the screen resolution being the same as last year’s model.
Overall, a good upgrade, just a shame it is not sold here.
