Sony released the Xperia 1 VII, its latest flagship smartphone, in early June, and immediately started receiving a lot of negative feedback from buyers who were experiencing random reboots, shutdowns, and even an inability for the device to power on.
After pausing sales of the phone globally and investigating for a bit, the company announced a replacement program in July, whereby all buyers would receive a new, fixed unit. At the core of the problems was a faulty circuit board, and new units started being produced with it fixed. A few days ago we heard that the Xperia 1 VII would be back on sale in Europe starting this week, and now the company has announced the same thing for Japan as well, while outlining the steps it’s taking to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
The Xperia 1 VII will go back on sale in Japan today. In an official statement (see the Source linked below) in Japanese, the company has profusely apologized for the inconvenience it’s caused with the aforementioned issue, as well as how long it took for some customers to get their replacement units.
Sony Xperia 1 VII 5G
Sony promises to strengthen the quality control system it uses for Xperia products, with a new management system behind it which will ensure “the verification and evaluation of risks affecting quality in the manufacturing process”. This new system is already in operation for the Xperia 1 VII replacement units and the ones currently on sale. Sony promises to expand it to all future Xperia devices.
If there still are customers who purchased an Xperia 1 VII before July 4, they are eligible to get a free replacement. Sony says it takes the harsh criticism it’s received regarding this matter very seriously and strives to do its best to deliver products that can earn its customers’ trust again.
If you’re interested in the Xperia 1 VII, check out our video review embedded above, and if you want to go in-depth, don’t miss our comprehensive written review.
Source (in Japanese)