Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
The Sony Xperia 1 VIII scores 7.8 in our rating, and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max scores 8.1. The Sony Xperia 1 VIII leads in performance, while the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is ahead in camera and battery. The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is the newer phone, announced May 13, 2026.
Key differences
Why choose the Sony Xperia 1 VIII
- Newer model May 13, 2026 vs Sep 9, 2025
- More RAM 12 GB / 16 GB vs 12 GB
- Lighter 200 g vs 233 g
- Thinner 8.3 mm vs 8.75 mm
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
- microSD card slot
Why choose the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
- Bigger battery 5,088 mAh vs 5,000 mAh
- Faster wired charging 40 W vs 30 W
- Bigger screen 6.9 inches vs 6.5 inches
- Longer optical zoom 4× vs 2.9×
- Faster wireless charging 25 W vs 15 W
- More storage 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB / 2 TB vs 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
PhoneRanked scores
Calculated from specs, relative to phones from the same year and price range. How we rate phones
Value for money marked “est.” is an estimate: that phone has no official US launch price, so it is not highlighted against the others.
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Overall
7.8
8.1
Display
8.5
8.5
Performance
9.0
8.7
Camera
8.1
8.6
Battery
5.8
7.2
Design
8.5
8.4
Software support
7.4
7.4
Value for money
6.0 est.
6.1
Display
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Size
6.5 inches
6.9 inches
Type
OLED
OLED, Super Retina XDR
Resolution
1080 × 2340 px
1320 × 2868 px
Pixel density
—
460 ppi
Refresh rate
120 Hz
120 Hz
Adaptive refresh
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Peak brightness
—
3,000 nits
HDR
—
HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision
Protection
Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Ceramic Shield 2
Performance
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Process
3 nm
3 nm
Max CPU clock
4.6 GHz
—
GPU
Adreno 840
Apple 6-core GPU with Neural Accelerators
RAM
12 GB / 16 GB
12 GB
Storage
256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB / 2 TB
microSD slot
✓ Yes
✕ No
Cameras
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Main camera
48 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.35"
48 MP, f/1.78
Optical stabilization
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Ultrawide
48 MP
48 MP
Telephoto
48 MP, 2.9× optical
48 MP, 4× optical, periscope
Optical zoom
2.9×
4×
Rear cameras
3
3
Rear video
4K@120
4K@120
Front camera
12 MP
18 MP
Front video
—
4K@60
Battery and charging
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,088 mAh
Battery type
—
Li-Ion
Wired charging
30 W
40 W
Wireless charging
15 W
25 W
Reverse wireless
✓ Yes
✕ No
Charger in box
—
✕ No
Design and build
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Dimensions
162 × 74 × 8.3 mm
163.4 × 78 × 8.75 mm
Thickness
8.3 mm
8.75 mm
Weight
200 g
233 g
Form factor
Bar
Bar
Frame
—
Aluminum
Back
Glass
Metal
Water resistance
IP68
IP68
Fingerprint
Side-mounted
None
3D face unlock
✕ No
✓ Yes
SIM
Nano-SIM + eSIM
eSIM only
Colors
Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red, Native Gold
Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue, Silver
Connectivity and features
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
5G
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
6.0
6.0
USB
USB-C 3.x
USB-C 3.x
NFC
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
3.5 mm jack
✓ Yes
✕ No
Stereo speakers
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Satellite
✕ No
✓ Yes
IR blaster
✕ No
✕ No
Software
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
OS at launch
Android 16
iOS 26
OS updates
4 years
—
Security updates
6 years
5 years
Launch and price
Spec
Sony Xperia 1 VIIIApple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Announced
May 13, 2026
Sep 9, 2025
Released
Jun 11, 2026
Sep 19, 2025
Status
Released
Discontinued
US launch price
—
$1,199
Green marks the stronger value in a row. Specs come from official manufacturer data, cross-checked with established tech media; each phone page lists its sources. Report an error
vs
vs
