Each dot is one review, adjusted for how that publication usually scores; the line is our consensus. The closer the dots sit to the line, the more the reviewers agree.
Where the reviewers agree
Battery life is weak or below rivals, and charging is slow at 30W. — PC-Welt, The Verge, Tweakers, Phonandroid, Trusted Reviews
The distinctive matte, textured design is praised, with a good grip. — PC-Welt, The Verge, Phonandroid, Trusted Reviews
The 3.5 mm headphone jack and microSD slot are retained. — PC-Welt, The Verge, Tweakers, Phonandroid, Trusted Reviews
Camera hardware is strong, especially telephoto and daylight photos, but results are uneven. — PC-Welt, The Verge, Tweakers, Phonandroid
Where they disagree
Performance: The Verge and PC-Welt report stutters, heat and throttling, while the other reviewers do not raise performance as a main issue. — The Verge, PC-Welt
Software: Trusted Reviews and Phonandroid praise the lightly customised, mostly AI-free Android experience, while Tweakers says the software feels dated. — Trusted Reviews, Phonandroid, Tweakers
Price: Tweakers and Trusted Reviews call the phone too expensive, while PC-Welt calls it a good buy for Sony fans. — Tweakers, Trusted Reviews, PC-Welt
Bottom line: Suits Sony fans who want a distinctive design, a headphone jack, microSD storage and strong camera hardware. The main trade-offs are weak battery life, slow 30W charging, uneven performance and a high price.
Summarised with AI from the 5 reviews below — each one is linked in full.
Photos belong to the publications credited; each links to the full review.
Key specs
Released
June 2026
Launch price (USD)
$1,599
Launch price (UK)
£1,399
Launch price (Europe)
€1,499
Form factor
Standard
OS
Android
Display
6.5″
Main camera
48 MP
Telephoto lens
Yes
Battery
5,000 mAh
Wired charging
30 W
Chipset
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Base storage
256 GB
Weight
200 g
Water resistance
IP68
Software updates
4 years
Sold in
US, UK, Europe
What the reviewers said
Tweakers NL
No scoreSep 2, 2026
A distinctive high-end Xperia with a 3.5mm jack, expandable storage and a great shutter button, but it feels dated in software and display, has inconsistent cameras, and costs too much.
Practical design with useful extras like microSD and 3.5mm jack
Two-stage physical shutter button is very pleasant to use
A well-designed, improved Xperia with excellent display and a strong camera setup, but held back by average performance, battery size and charging. A good buy for Sony fans.
Distinctive matte stone-like design with strong grip
Excellent display with wide color gamut and 120 Hz
Strong camera hardware with pro modes and AI guide
Pure Android 16 with minimal interface changes
Keeps 3.5 mm jack, camera button and microSD slot
Performance trails other flagships, with heat and throttling
Only 5000 mAh battery, below competitors
Slow 30 W wired charging; no charger included
Only four years of OS updates
Zoom lacks AI upscaling; not the best phone camera
A fascinating but deeply flawed flagship with great colour and creator controls, held back by rough build, laggy camera app, weak battery life and high price.
Gorgeous minimalist design
Retains 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD slot
Lightweight, mostly AI-free software
Realistic camera textures and detail
Deep, warm display colour with Creator Mode
Expensive for what it offers
Poor battery life for its specs
Camera app bugs cause unresponsiveness
Slow charging for the price
Rough build and rough-textured back, sharp camera edges
A striking redesign and a much-improved telephoto make it Sony's best camera phone yet, but uneven performance, weak battery life, a pushy AI camera feature and short update support keep…
Striking, distinctive new design with textured finish
Headphone jack and microSD card slot retained
Large telephoto and ultrawide sensors deliver strong camera quality
Verdicts, pros and cons are short summaries in our words of each publisher's review; scores are as the publisher gave them. Specs are taken from the reviews' spec boxes — where they differ, we show the value most of them give; price is the US launch price of the base model. Read the originals for the full picture.
