Sony says the 3.5mm headphone jack is still a hit, and its phone sales back it up

Aug 13, 2026 — 11:07 AM ET

• Sony says its recently launched flagship Xperia 1 has witnessed strong demand, despite a price hike in its home country, Japan.
• The company pins the phone’s success to its improved camera and distinct features, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD card slot.
• Besides these standout features, Sony attributes good sales numbers to the Xperia 1 VIII’s improved cameras.

Most smartphones have long been bereft of features such as the 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot, with only a handful of phones still carrying on the tradition. One of them is the new Sony Xperia 1 VIII, which launches in May and is available to buy across Japan, Europe, and the UK. Sony believes that despite the industry having almost forgotten these features, the headphone jack and microSD card remain “integral” to their flagship device.

Japanese publication IT Media (via GSMArena) recently spoke to two Sony representatives about the Xperia 1 VIII’s sales in Japan. Despite a price hike in the home country, where the price goes past the 200,000 yen mark, the phone’s “sales have remained strong, and customer satisfaction is very high,” the representatives said in the interview. The team says demand is high, especially for high storage capacity models, such as 1TB, and the new gold color. The sales trend continues across different markets.

Do you miss 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD slot on phones?

Other features that, according to Sony, have augmented Sony Xperia 1 VIII’s sales across markets include the massive leaps in camera. The new phone gets a new telephoto camera with a 48MP sensor that’s twice as big as the previous generation. Sony also adds an AI Assistant feature in the Camera app, which recommends ideal settings while keeping details close to what you see with your eyes. Sony also reworked the camera’s design to keep the phone slim.

Despite storage options going up to 1TB, the phone supports a microSD card slot — an extremely rare sight among high-end devices — so owners can keep clicking photos without worrying about storage. The representatives also said the storage expansion slot, as well as the 3.5mm headphone jack, remain “integral” to the Xperia’s unique identity, also suggesting that Sony would continue to feature them for upcoming devices. The decision to retain these features also stems from customer surveys that Sony routinely conducts.

“While many smartphones aim to appeal to a wide audience with their rounded designs, these are important elements that form the distinctive edge of Xperia, and I think they are one of the things that make Xperia unique and should never be lost,” one of the representatives said.

Sony doesn’t reveal the actual sales numbers, so we can’t objectively compare it to other more commonplace devices, such as the Galaxy S26 series. And therefore, we will have to trust Sony’s word for it.

Besides these features, Sony is among the few brands that continue to offer a bloat-free experience with minimal AI additives, which makes the phone worth loving. But there are some limitations, such as its small-ish battery, which can prevent some of the love from reaching it.