The Sony Xperia 1 VII will not help Sony grow out of its niche market position – last week’s poll makes it pretty clear that £1,400/€1,500 is too much for a non-folding flagship, especially one with only 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage.
The Mark 7 offers a unique combination of features, but as one commenter points out, many of them aren’t exactly expensive – the microSD card slot and the 3.5mm headphone jack don’t add much to the production cost. The same goes for the flat display without a notch or punch hole. To be clear, while some people really value those features, they don’t justify a higher price tag than just about any non-folding flagship.
The Xperia 1 VII does have some pricey features – like that variable focal length telephoto lens and the newly-upgraded ultra-wide camera. But people wish that Sony had spent its time and money on upgrading the telephoto camera, not the ultra-wide.
The extended support period – 4 OS updates and two more years of security patches – is nice, but it could have been longer, since at the end of it, you will have to spend another £1,400/€1,500 (or more!) to get the latest Xperia 1.
The extended support could end up helping the Mark 7 in the long run, though. Many people in the comments mentioned that they are happy with the hardware of the Mark 6 – but that will only get 3 OS updates total and one extra year of security patches. This means that the Mark 6 will get Android 17 as its last OS update and security patches will dry up in 2028. The Mark 7, meanwhile, will end up on Android 19 with the last security patch coming out sometime in 2031.
Sony Xperia flagships tend to keep their prices pretty high, even months after they launch – by the time significant discounts are available, the next generation has arrived or is just around the corner. This means that the Xperia 1 VII could see an uptick in interest later on in its life, but early sales will likely be limited to well-heeled fans of the brand.
If the 28% of voters who voted in favor of the Mark 7 follow through and pick up a unit (now or later), this could end up being a small success for Sony. But then again, the Mark 6 got similar poll results and it’s rare to see one in the wild.
