Sony has launched a new flagship phone, the Xperia 1 VIII, whose most notable features revolve around photography. The phone comes with the brand new AI Camera Assistant powered by Xperia Intelligence. Sony says the Assistant can suggest changes to your settings depending on the photo you’re taking. When you point the camera at your subject, the Assistant automatically recognizes the scene, subject, and weather conditions to provide suggestions on the best color tones, lenses, and Bokeh effects to use. You can then tap the suggestion to apply it to your photo.
The telephoto camera on the new Xperia also features a new 1/1.56‑inch image sensor. Sony says it is about four times larger than the model used in previous models and is capable of taking detailed photos even in low light conditions. The phone applies RAW multi-frame processing, HDR and noise reduction for photos taken in low light. All the rear cameras of the device are now arranged in a square instead of a vertical island. There is a 12 megapixel camera on the front for selfie. Apart from its photography-centric capabilities, another standout feature is the 3.5mm audio jack for wired headphones, which you rarely find on modern smartphones.
Sony’s Xperia 1 VIII features a 6.5-inch OLED display and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform. It will be available in Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red and Native Gold colors for 1,499 Euros or £1,399 for the 12GB RAM/256GB storage configuration and 1999 Euros/£1,849 for the 16GB RAM/1TB storage configuration. You can pre-order the phone from today and get it as soon as June, but only if you’re in Europe. Sony currently has no plans to bring it to the US. If you pre-order, you will get Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones for free.
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