Sony Xperia 1 VIII / Apple iPhone Air

Sony Xperia 1 VIII: XQ-GE54 · 12 GB / 256 GB

Apple iPhone Air: 256 GB · Sky Blue; model number varies by market (US A3260)

SpecificationSony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone Air
Release year20262025
Announcement13 May 2026 Sony—
ProcessorSnapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Sony—
Memory / storage12 GB RAM / 256 GB UFS Sony—
ExpansionmicroSDXC; up to 2 TB Sony—
Display6.5-inch OLED · 1080 × 2340 · 19.5:9 Sony6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (6.55 inches as a standard rectangle); 2736 × 1260, 460 ppi; Dynamic Island, Always-On

Because the corners are rounded, the visible area is slightly smaller than the rectangular measurement.

Apple
Refresh rateUp to 120 Hz SonyProMotion, adaptive up to 120 Hz

The panel varies its rate with the content, keeping scrolling smooth and lowering the rate for still images and Always-On to save power.

Apple
Front / rear glassGorilla Glass Victus 2 / Victus Sony—
Resistance ratingIPX5 / IPX8; IP6X

Laboratory conditions; water resistance is not permanent.

Sony		—
Main camera24 mm equivalent · f/1.9 · 1/1.35-inch Exmor T · 48 MP effective Sony—
Telephoto70 mm equivalent · f/2.8 · 1/1.56-inch Exmor RS

48 MP effective sensor; 12 MP photo recording.

Sony		—
Ultrawide16 mm equivalent · f/2 · 1/1.56-inch Exmor RS

48 MP effective sensor; 12 MP photo recording.

Sony		—
Front camera12 MP · f/2 · 1/2.9-inch Sony18 MP Center Stage, f/1.9; 4K Dolby Vision up to 60 fps

Center Stage automatically widens and shifts the frame, allowing landscape-style framing while holding the phone upright.

Apple
Video4K HDR; 24/30/60/120 fps Sony4K Dolby Vision at 24/25/30/60 fps; 1080p slo-mo at 120/240 fps; Action mode up to 2.8K 60 fps Apple
Photo formatsJPEG and RAW DNG Sony—
Battery5000 mAh SonyUp to 27 hours of video, up to 22 hours of streamed video playback

With the separately sold iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, video playback rises to 40 hours. Apple does not give capacity in mAh; GSMArena reports 3149 mAh.

Apple
ChargingUSB PD; Qi; Battery Share Sony—
USBUSB-C · USB 3.2 5 Gbit/s; DisplayPort 4K/60 output SonyUSB-C; charging and USB 2 (up to 480 Mbit/s)

The USB 2 speed slows wired transfers of large video files to a computer.

Apple
SIMnanoSIM + eSIM or two eSIMs SonyeSIM only; two active eSIMs, eight or more stored

Physical SIM cards cannot be used; eSIM needs carrier support.

Apple
WirelessWi-Fi 7; Bluetooth 6.0; NFC SonyApple N1 chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6, Thread; second-generation Ultra Wideband; NFC with reader mode

Wi-Fi 7 availability varies by country; Thread connects to compatible smart-home devices.

Apple
Audio3.5 mm headphone jack; stereo speakers Sony—
Launch system / supportAndroid 16; up to 4 OS upgrades and 6 years of security Sony—
Dimensions / weight162 × 74 × 8.3 mm; 200 g Sony—
Brightness—1000 nits typical, 1600 nits peak HDR, 3000 nits peak outdoor; 1 nit minimum

3000 nits is a short-term peak reached in strong sunlight, not a sustained full-screen brightness.

Apple
Front and back glass—Ceramic Shield 2 front, Ceramic Shield back; fingerprint-resistant and anti-reflective coating Apple
Frame—Titanium

GSMArena reports the frame is grade 5 titanium.

Apple
Chip—A19 Pro; 6-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency), 5-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, 16-core Neural Engine; hardware ray tracing

The A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro models uses a 6-core GPU; the Air's version has 5 GPU cores.

Apple
Storage—256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB

Apple says a standard setup uses about 12–24 GB for iOS and deletable apps, and Apple Intelligence models about 7 GB. GSMArena reports 12 GB of RAM in all versions; Apple does not publish RAM size.

Apple
Rear camera—48 MP Fusion main camera (26 mm, f/1.6, sensor-shift stabilisation); 12 MP optical-quality 2x (52 mm); up to 10x digital zoom; sapphire lens cover

There is a single rear camera; the 2x view uses the centre of the 48 MP sensor rather than a separate telephoto lens. There is no ultrawide or macro camera.

Apple
Wired charging—About 50% in 30 minutes with a 20 W or higher USB-C adapter

No adapter is included; the box has a 1 m USB-C cable.

Apple
Wireless charging—Up to 20 W with MagSafe and Qi2

MagSafe needs a 30 W or higher adapter for 20 W.

Apple
Cellular modem—Apple C1X; 5G (sub-6 GHz) and Gigabit LTE, 4x4 MIMO

mmWave 5G support is not listed.

Apple
Satellite features—Emergency SOS and messaging via satellite

Satellite features work only in supported countries; some require a carrier plan.

Apple
Durability—IP68 (IEC 60529); up to 6 metres for up to 30 minutes

Tested under lab conditions; resistance is not permanent and liquid damage is not covered by warranty.

Apple
Buttons—Action button and Camera Control

Camera Control adjusts exposure, depth, zoom and styles with a slide.

Apple
Dimensions and weight—156.2 × 74.7 × 5.64 mm; 165 g

The thickness is for the body and excludes the camera plateau.

Apple
Software—Current boxes ship with iOS 27

According to GSMArena's review, the phone went on sale in September 2025 with iOS 26.

Apple
Colours—Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue Apple