Sony Xperia I VII camera score revealed: What is Sony doing?

Phone Arena

04-06-2025

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is here, and it's Sony's latest grasp at relevancy in a modern smartphone market that has seemingly left the Xperia lineup in the past.
With modest upgrades on board, the new Xperia comes with a new higher-res ultrawide camera, but still relies on the same 48MP main camera and 12MP telephoto with variable focal length that can provides optical zoom at 3.5 and 7.1X zoom levels (85 to 170mm in 35mm film equivalent).
Sony has put a new 48MP ultrawide in its latest Xperia flagship, an improvement over the 12MP one available on the older Xperia 1 VI flagship phone. However, the other two cameras are pretty much identical to their predecessor, but Sony has shaken up the image-processing algorithms in order to get closer to some of its bigger competitors, which are also using Sony's sensors.
And don't get fooled by Sony's naming scheme: the Exmor T and Exmor RS sensors here are equivalent to the new LYTIA ones that are making the rounds on pretty much any high-profile flagship out there at the moment. How does this all pan out for the Sony Xperia 1 VII ?
Well, with a total score of 136, the latest Xperia isn't really doing great. Broken down, this result is made of a mostly okay still photo result of 142 points, but a disappointing video score of 130 points. That's in the ballpark of the old Xperia flagship, but slightly lower in comparison, which isn't the way camera evolution is supposed to go.
Now, compared to most of its direct rivals from the midst of the Big Three––Samsung, Apple, and Google––the Xperia 1 VII isn't doing particularly good. It achieves a significantly lower score than more capable cameraphones that are also significantly more affordable, like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. While this isn't great for Sony, what's actually concerning here is that the Xperia 1 VII fares slightly worse than last year's Xperia 1 VI in our tests. This is indicative that the changes in the image-processing aren't in the correct direction, which is sad to see.
Let's delve deeper and take a look at some camera samples.
Sony Xperia 1 VII camera spider chart
The main camera delivers images with true-to-life colors and dynamics that look very realistic. Details are okay, but you can notice some oversharpening artifacts here and there. Auto exposure leaves something to be desired, as it has some issues with nailing the correct exposure level. The dynamic range is okay, but sometimes highlights tend to burn out. There are also some nasty HDR artifacts here and there.
3.7X
7.1X
3.7X
7.1X
The telephoto is good, delivering good detail at both the native 3.7X and 7.1X optical zoom levels. There is minimal oversharpening and good sharpness at both zoom levels.
The ultrawide camera here is a noticeable improvement over the one on the Xperia 1 VI, so at least we have palpable improvements here. The detail and corner sharpness have been improved, but some oversharpening tends to creep in now as well.
The front-facing camera is just okay. It sometimes struggles to determine the correct exposure setting, leading to slightly overexposed facial features. Detail is lacking in comparison with most of the phone's direct rivals.
The main camera delivers decent exposure, good dynamic range, and okay details with minimal amounts of oversharpening. Still, most rivals of the device deliver better footage with their respective main cameras.
3.7X
At the shorter 3.7X zoom level, videos are perfectly usable, with decent quality.
7.1X
At 7.1X, a general loss of quality and worse detail can be observed.
While the ultrawide is great in photos, it's so-so in videos. Corner-sharpness leaves a lot to be desired, and the exposure errs on the side of overexposing the image.
The front camera delivers lifeless videos that lack both character and detail. Definitely among the worse front-facing cameras we've tested this year.
The Sony Xperia 1 VII will easily feel like more of the same to seasoned Xperia fans. It offers nothing groundbreaking in the camera department, doesn't stand out with any particularly intriguing new feature, and you could even make the case that the overall image capabilities of the camera have deteriorated in comparison with the previous model as well as the direct rivals.
While the camera will do fine in most situations you may find yourself, it will rarely excite or inspire you to create more.
While Sony definitely has a galactic level of know-how when it comes to camera sensors, this knowledge fails to translate well to the real-life camera performance of its flagship phones.\
The Xperia 1 VII's rivals easily beat it in the camera department, while carrying significantly lower price tags.