SONY

New Sony Xperia phone appears in first image leak

Fall is approaching fast, and with it, the second Xperia phone of the year. Sony has already announced a launch event for next week and just a few days before that, we’re now getting our first look at the Sony Xperia 10 VIII in an official looking promo image. Seems like Sony fans are not getting any major changes with this years Xperia midranger.

After Sony announced a launch event last week for what we believe will be the successor to the Xperia 10 VII, we are now getting a first glimpse of what will likely be unveiled upcoming Tuesday. A first design leak shows the new Sony mid-range phone, presumably named Xperia 10 VIII, in a promotional image, discovered by Android Headlines.

The Xperia Android line has kept its cameras vertically stacked in one corner since the first-generation Xperia 5 in 2019, with only rare exceptions like the standalone Xperia Pro-I. But the 10 VII reinvents that design language with a horizontal camera pair mounted in a pill-shaped raised bar that stretches across the phone’s back. The matte plastic body comes in black, white, or turquoise, and looks like no Xperia phone before it. It looks a little more like Google’s Pixel phones, a design also aped by Apple’s iPhone Air this week.

Things are more recognizable from the front, with Sony’s familiar insistence on a chunky bezel above and below the display. That means the phone isn’t quite as compact as its 120Hz 6.1-inch display would suggest, but it’s still smaller and lighter than most. It also follows the recent Xperia 1 models in ditching what used to be a trademark 21:9 aspect ratio, now using boxier and more traditional 19.5:9 proportions.

There are a few other standard Sony touches though. Most welcome for some will be the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the same crowd are likely to love the expandable microSD storage. The big bezel packs front-facing stereo speakers too, and the joint IP65 / 68 rating is better than most offer. There’s also a side-mounted single-stage camera shutter button — a feature that’s less unique than it used to be. 

Since Sony changed the camera design from the 6th-generation Xperia 10 in 2024 to the Xperia 10 VII last year, it makes sense that the Japanese manufacturer didn’t opt for another redesign in 2026. At least from the back, the Xperia 10 VII appears completely unchanged to last year, the only difference being in the color tone apparently. The pure white from last year (see above) has apparently given way to a slightly greenish-shimmering white tone, as you can see below.

So what changed from the Xperia 10 VII to the Xperia 10 VIII? To be honest we cannot tell you that yet, since a recent geekbench leak points to another year with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and 8 GB of RAM. Since none of the other specs, for instance in the camera department, have leaked yet, it currently looks like the Xperia 1 MK8 will be largely unchanged from last years Sony midranger.

In Geekbench...The successor to the Xperia 10 VII bears the internal codename MK8 and appears on the benchmark platform under the model number XQ-GH54. Those hoping for cutting-edge hardware might be slightly disappointed, as Sony has opted for the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, a chip released by Qualcomm in 2024.

Consequently, the Japanese manufacturer's mid-range device is expected to feature the same processor as last year's model. In Geekbench CPU tests, the smartphone scored 871 points in single-core performance and 3,028 in multi-core performance. The device was tested running Android 16.

Sony has done a good job of keeping its smartphone secrets under wraps, and little information regarding the Xperia 10 VIII has surfaced so far. An FCC certification—from the US agency that performs a role similar to Brazil's Anatel—indicates that the phone will include a 3.5mm headphone jack, a rarity in modern smartphones.

Despite its long absence from the Brazilian smartphone market, Sony appears to have achieved considerable success with its flagship Xperia 1 VII. The company recently celebrated sales figures for the device, which was launched in May.

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