Sony’s newly launched Xperia 1 VIII was supposed to highlight the company’s continued focus on creators and mobile photography. Instead, much of the conversation online this week has ended up revolving around a few badly received demo images.
The Xperia 1 VIII launched on May 13 with flagship hardware, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, ZEISS-branded cameras, expandable storage, and even a headphone jack — features Sony continues to keep around while most brands have moved on. But shortly after launch, Sony’s official Xperia account on X posted a set of “before and after” images to showcase the phone’s new AI Camera Assistant feature, and things quickly went sideways.
Rather than looking improved, the AI-processed shots appeared massively overexposed. Highlights were blown out, colors looked washed, and in some examples, details nearly disappeared entirely. One portrait sample in particular drew attention because the subject’s face looked almost faded away after processing.
The reaction online was immediate. Nothing CEO Carl Pei reposted the images with the comment, “This must be engagement farming??” Other creators joined in as well, and before long, social media had turned the whole thing into a meme. Users started posting exaggerated “AI enhanced” edits of their own, some reduced to completely white images with sarcastic captions thanking Sony for the upgrade.
Sony later clarified that the AI Camera Assistant is not meant to automatically edit photos after capture. The feature instead suggests different shooting styles and settings based on the scene, including exposure, color tone, lens effects, and bokeh adjustments. Users can then pick one of those styles or ignore them entirely.
The company also shared additional examples afterward that looked considerably more reasonable than the originals.
Whether it was simply a poor marketing example or indeed an engagement farming, the situation ended up overshadowing part of the Xperia 1 VIII launch. Ironically, the phone itself is still receiving fairly positive reactions for its hardware and camera-focused approach.
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