Sony Xperia 1 VIII AI Camera Assistant images are so bad people think they were mislabeled

[midian182]

WTF?! Sony's recently unveiled Xperia 1 VIII has some elements you wouldn't expect to see on a flagship phone, including a headphone jack, thick bezels, and a microSD slot. What it does have is AI, of course, though judging by its AI Camera Assistant comparison images, dropping the tech would have been a good idea. The "after" photos are so bad that Nothing CEO Carl Pei thinks the post is "engagement farming."

Sony was quick to show off the abilities of its new AI Camera Assistant with Xperia Intelligence following the reveal of the Xperia 1 VIII this week.

Sadly for Sony, the after photos looked quite atrocious next to the originals. They're vastly overexposed, with washed-out contrast, lost detail, less realism, and an overprocessed HDR look. The after image of the sandwich compared to the original is especially bad.

– Sony | Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 14, 2026

Nothing CEO Carl Pei jumped on rival Sony's misfortune, reposting the photos and questioning whether it was engagement farming on the Japanese giant's part.

– Carl Pei (@getpeid) May 14, 2026

There has been plenty of mockery from other users, along with a lot of complaints about how this proves AI can often make images much, much worse.

– Fan Technologii 📱♿ (@Fan_Technologii) May 14, 2026

There are a few explanations here. Perhaps Pei is correct and Sony really is just trolling people to increase engagement. If that's the case, it seems to have worked, but making your new and very expensive (equivalent to $1,743 in the EU) phone look bad seems like a weird marketing ploy.

Another explanation, which does seem more plausible, is that Sony somehow managed to mislabel the before and after images, switching them around. But that raises the question: why hasn't Sony already deleted the post and explained its mistake? Update: They have tweeted an explanation this morning, see below.

– Sony | Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 15, 2026

Sony's explanation is that happens when you run your images through the AI Camera Assistant, it shows you four enhancement options. If that's the case, the good news is that it's an optional feature that can be disabled.

Beyond what seems to be a drunk camera AI tool, the Xperia 1 VIII features a 6.5-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a 2,340 × 1,080 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.

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Sony Xperia 1 VIII AI Camera Assistant images are so bad people think they were mislabeled

 

[Watzupken]

While Chinese phone makers are getting into partnership with the likes of Zeiss, Leica, etc, Sony probably got an intern with no interest in photography to either do this marketing or the image enhancement. The “enhanced” images just looks like an over exposed version of the original.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I never use filters or enhancements for my photos.

 

[guillejp]

HOW!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

And Sony continues their long tradition of royally screwing their cameras up with software.....

 

[MarkHughes]

"Another explanation, which does seem more plausible, is that Sony somehow managed to mislabel the before and after images"

If that is the case, How come the pic of the yellow flower has more background details than "before" ? How did it figure out what was visible through that window ?

 

[The Talking Tech]

Sony is just plain awful on everything they do lately! Their decisions made on their products have been completely off. From their phones, TV's and even the PlayStation systems they need better leadership.

 

[Endymio]

Once again we see a news story literally intentionally written to deceive and demonize AI. The software wasn't badly editing photos: it was merely suggesting a series of four different settings, of which some may appear better, some worse

 

[MasterMace]

Somehow Sony shits the bed again with a 1080 screen. Take note: this Mark 8 has a 2340 × 1080 resolution, where even the Mark 5 had a 3840 x 1644 screen. Imagine, a half a TB phone with a 1080 screen for $2000.

 

[godrilla]

I never use filters or enhancements for my photos.

I personally don't mind using it if it corrects contrast and improves the hdr image. I have been using it on my Samsung phones since Galaxy ultra 23 and now 25 ultra. One from today. Lol

 

[Homerlovesbeer]

While Chinese phone makers are getting into partnership with the likes of Zeiss, Leica, etc, Sony probably got an intern with no interest in photography to either do this marketing or the image enhancement. The “enhanced” images just looks like an over exposed version of the original.

Sony Xperia products have had Zeiss lenses for years so it would appear you're the one who is the intern with no interest in photography.

 

[p51d007]

Including my d-slr & phone, I shoot everything in raw. I just prefer to post process my photos in photoshop to come out how I WANT them to look, not what some "AI" software garbage thinks they should look.

 

[Homerlovesbeer]

An update.....this is a Google AI feature, not an exclusive Sony feature.

 

[airbornex]

Sony accidentally made the strongest possible argument for keeping manual camera controls alive. The “AI enhanced” shots look like every overprocessed Instagram filter from 2017 fused into one algorithm.

 

[mbrowne5061]

While Chinese phone makers are getting into partnership with the likes of Zeiss, Leica, etc, Sony probably got an intern with no interest in photography to either do this marketing or the image enhancement. The “enhanced” images just looks like an over exposed version of the original.

Alternative hypotheses: whoever made the before-after comparison selection had an uncalibrated monitor.