Gorilla Glass covers both faces of Sony’s Xperia 1 VIII, and that glass is the part Sony keeps putting in front of buyers this fall, months after the phone went on sale in the UK on June 19.
Sony still doesn’t sell it here, though. A US buyer’s way in is an Amazon import: the unlocked international 256GB model in Graphite Black. That makes the glass more important than usual, because nobody in the US will fix it under warranty.
Price: $1,499.99 (international 256GB model, Graphite Black, no US warranty)
Where to Buy: Amazon
What’s protecting the screen and the back?
Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and frosted Gorilla Glass Victus on the back, in a frame rated IP65 and IP68. Sony’s case for the front panel is better survival when the phone lands on rough surfaces like concrete and asphalt, which is where real-world screens crack.
Can you buy one in the US?
Yes, through import sellers on Amazon. The listing is the international XQ-GE74 model, unlocked, with no US warranty.
Sony’s own UK store charges £1,399 for the base phone and £1,849 for the 1TB Native Gold version, so the import undercuts Sony’s own price.
What do the three cameras add?
A telephoto that finally pulls its weight. All three rear cameras are 48 megapixels, at 16mm, 24mm and 70mm, and the telephoto sensor is nearly four times larger than the one it replaces, while the main camera carries over.
Sony’s AI Camera Assistant reads the scene and offers four looks, each pairing a lens with its own color, exposure and bokeh. The two-stage shutter button still half-presses to focus.
Which old-school parts did Sony keep?
All of them. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD slot that takes cards up to 2TB, a tool-free SIM tray, and front-facing stereo speakers set into real bezels. A Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a 5,000mAh battery that Sony rates for two days run underneath.
The full spec sheet is in our Xperia 1 VIII announcement coverage, and the five features Sony kept that rivals dropped explains why they still earn a place.
Who should import one?
Buy it at $1,499.99 if the jack, the card slot and the shutter button are the three things your next phone has to have, and you can live without a US warranty.
Everyone else should get Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra, unlocked at $949.99 on Amazon. It carries a US warranty and drops all three of those parts, and it costs $550 less.
Price: $1,499.99 (international 256GB model, Graphite Black, no US warranty)
Where to Buy: Amazon
For Sony’s buyers, that glass is the insurance the missing warranty isn’t.
