Sony’s AI Camera Assistant is exactly as bad as it looks

When Sony announced the Xperia 1 VIII past month, it promoted the telephone by sharing immoderate of the worst photos taken connected a Sony camera successful years. These weren’t conscionable immoderate photos, though: they were taken pinch Sony’s caller AI Camera Assistant. After a week pinch the Xperia 1 VIII, I’m present to show you that the AI adjunct is precisely arsenic bad arsenic Sony made it look.

After Sony first showed maine the AI Camera Assistant during a property briefing for the Xperia 1 VIII, I said it looked “like an improved type of Google’s Camera Coach.” It’s beautiful clear I sewage that wrong. Camera Coach, recovered connected the latest Pixel phones, is simply a dedicated camera mode that talks you done framing a shot, asking what you want to attraction connected and giving circumstantial tips connected framing, positioning, which camera lens to use, and whether to usage Portrait mode aliases not. I recovered it underwhelming erstwhile I reviewed the Pixel 10A, but it does intelligibly service arsenic a basal photography coach.

Sony’s AI Camera Assistant is different. It’s embedded straight into the camera app’s default mode, and pops up automatically while you’re trying to return a photograph — though Sony does let you to move it disconnected entirely. While you’re trying to return a photograph a mini container pops up successful the viewfinder showing what the photograph would look for illustration pinch alternate settings suggested by Sony’s AI. A speedy pat enables those settings, aliases you tin swipe down to flick done different 3 alternate options.

The suggestions popular up earlier you really return the changeable — this isn’t for editing photos you’ve already taken. Unlike Google’s Camera Coach, the Assistant doesn’t connection immoderate proposal connected framing aliases focus, it conscionable applies a select and leaves the remainder to you. It doesn’t moreover show you what effects it’s applying, truthful you won’t study thing astir why the image looks that measurement aliases really to execute the effect yourself.

The suggestions don’t look consistently. They’re not supported astatine each connected the selfie camera, though I’ve nary thought why. Pointing the camera straight astatine a agleam ray aliases a backlit model usually doesn’t bring up immoderate AI suggestions, nor does looking astatine a blank wall. It doesn’t thin to connection options for macro shots, but occasionally it does. If I effort to return a photograph of the thenar of my manus the AI Assistant has plentifulness of ideas; if I move my manus sideways aliases backwards, those options disappear. If there’s a logic being followed here, I couldn’t show you what it is.

The overwhelming mostly of the changes the AI Assistant suggests are adjustments to exposure, achromatic balance, contrast, and different basal image settings — and usually fierce adjustments, astatine that. Sometimes it will propose darkening a photograph until it’s murky and moody, different times it will crank up the highlights until they’re blown beyond recognition. It loves to propose a sepia effect, aliases move the achromatic equilibrium towards yellowish to create a warmer last photo. There’s usually astatine slightest 1 action pinch the saturation pushed up to make everything pop.

Beyond colour and vulnerability adjustments, the AI Assistant will sometimes alteration an artificial bokeh effect too, blurring the inheritance arsenic successful image mode. In its smarter moments, it mightiness brighten the taxable of an image, while darkening the background, to thief them guidelines out. Sony claims it tin propose swapping betwixt the phone’s 3 rear lenses aliases moreover thief you find “the astir photogenic angle,” though aft a week of testing I’ve yet to spot this hap once.

You cognize wherever other we’ve seen effects for illustration this? Instagram. It’s had photograph filters for 16 years, only its filters person gotten subtler than these. What’s particularly unusual is that, for illustration astir phones, the Xperia has filters excessively — a scope of five, including a movie simulation and a much vivid mode. The cardinal quality is that alternatively than suggesting preset visuals, the AI Camera Assistant is ostensibly reacting to the scene, subject, and lighting to dynamically propose the champion alterations for that circumstantial infinitesimal — that’s the AI of it all. In mentation that’s not the worst idea, successful believe the existent results render it unusable.

The Assistant has only generated a fistful of photos I’d ordinarily deem worthy keeping, less than that worthy sharing connected societal media, and conscionable 1 aliases 2 that person a reliable declare to being amended than the original. I’ve recovered it tends to beryllium much useful the worse the lighting is, simply because the default camera settings are much apt to struggle. But moreover here, you’ll beryllium fortunate to person 1 aliases 2 photos worthy taking.

This isn’t the camera’s fault. While I wouldn’t opportunity that the Xperia 1 VIII has the champion camera successful a smartphone correct now, it surely has a bully one. With ample sensors crossed each 3 rear lenses it has hardware that outclasses Apple and Google’s, and a unique processing style, pinch conscionable somewhat amped up contrast, of which I’m mostly a fan. This is Sony’s champion Xperia camera yet, and competitory pinch different phones astatine its elevated value constituent — the balanced of $1,850, though the telephone isn’t really launching successful the US. It’s that value elsewhere that makes the AI adjunct each the much bemusing.

Sony’s determination to make its suggestions before you return the photo, alternatively than after, has seemingly had immoderate unwelcome knock-on effects to performance. Despite utilizing the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the Xperia 1 VIII runs unevenly astatine the champion of times, and has a propensity to overheat. Running the AI Camera Assistant seems to adhd to the strain. The camera app often opens slowly, and tin frost aliases bent for respective seconds astatine a clip erstwhile switching lenses, accessing the AI suggestions, aliases taking a photo. The full camera collapsed erstwhile while I was penning this article. Turning the camera adjunct disconnected seems to person alleviated those issues.

Perhaps we should beryllium thankful. Sony’s effort astatine injecting AI into its camera doesn’t impact editing objects retired of photos, expanding images to see specifications that weren’t there, aliases reframing existent shots wholly — each included successful Apple’s caller iOS 27 update. Unlike those AI options, and countless others from Google and Samsung, Sony’s AI Camera Assistant doesn’t raise immoderate uncomfortable questions astir what a photograph is. It conscionable makes maine wonderment if anyone successful Sony’s Xperia squad knows what makes a photograph good.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge