Sony's AI Camera Assistant, launched with the Xperia 1 VIII, has proven to be as underwhelming as the sample photos Sony itself shared during the announcement. After a week of testing, the feature delivers mostly poor results, with aggressive filters, inconsistent suggestions, and noticeable performance degradation.
How the AI Camera Assistant Works
The AI Camera Assistant is integrated into the default camera mode of the Xperia 1 VIII. When composing a shot, a small box appears in the viewfinder showing an alternate version of the photo with AI-suggested settings. Users can tap to apply those settings or swipe to see up to three other options. Unlike Google's Camera Coach, which offers framing and focus advice, Sony's assistant simply applies filters without explaining what changes are made.
The feature does not work on the selfie camera and often fails to appear in challenging lighting conditions, such as when pointing at a bright light or backlit window. It inconsistently offers suggestions for macro shots and behaves unpredictably—for example, it may suggest options for a palm but not for the same hand turned sideways.
Aggressive and Unpredictable Filters
Most suggestions involve adjustments to exposure, white balance, contrast, and saturation, often pushed to extremes. The assistant frequently recommends sepia tones, warm yellow casts, or oversaturated colors. It may also enable artificial bokeh or brighten the subject while darkening the background. However, Sony's claim that it can suggest switching lenses or finding the best angle was not observed during testing.
Out of hundreds of shots, only a handful were worth keeping, and fewer than that were shareable on social media. The assistant occasionally improved photos in poor lighting, but even then, results were rarely better than the default camera settings.
Performance Issues
The AI assistant appears to strain the Xperia 1 VIII's hardware, despite its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. The camera app opens slowly, freezes when switching lenses, and can hang for several seconds. The entire camera crashed once during the review period. Turning off the assistant alleviated these issues.
The Xperia 1 VIII itself has a capable camera system with large sensors across three rear lenses, offering competitive hardware against Apple and Google. Its processing style, with slightly boosted contrast, is generally well-received. The AI assistant, however, undermines this quality.
Comparison to Other AI Features
Unlike Apple's iOS 27 AI tools that edit objects out or reframe photos, Sony's assistant does not raise ethical questions about photo authenticity. Instead, it simply applies filters reminiscent of Instagram's early days—though Instagram's filters have become more subtle over 16 years. The assistant's dynamic adjustments, meant to react to the scene, fail in practice.
According to the reviewer, the AI Camera Assistant makes one wonder if Sony's Xperia team understands what makes a good photo. The feature is easily turned off, which is likely the best course of action for users.
