Sony RX100 VII vs Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI — Which Is Better?

The Sony RX100 VII and the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI are pocket compacts built around a fixed zoom lens and a 1-inch sensor, aimed at photographers who want a travel camera that slips into a jacket. Sony released the VI in 2018 and the VII a year later, in 2019, as a direct update.

The two bodies measure an identical 102 x 58 x 43 mm, so either fits the same small space in a bag. Weight is effectively level too, with the VII at 302 g and the VI at 301 g, just one gram apart.

Still image quality starts from the same foundation in both cameras: a 20 MP 1-inch CMOS sensor, the Bionz X processor, in-body stabilisation, and a 1/2000 second maximum shutter. That shared 20 MP resolution means both give you the same pixel count for cropping a distant subject or making large prints.

The VII brings more autofocus points, 357 against 315, useful for tracking an erratically moving subject like a toddler or a pet. The VI counters with a higher maximum burst rating, 24 fps against 20 fps, giving more frames to choose from at a peak moment. The VII also starts at 100 ISO rather than 125 ISO, a lower base sensitivity for bright daylight work.

For slowing fast action, neither camera has a headline advantage: the top recording resolution on both is 4K, and the maximum frame rate on both is 120 fps. A tennis swing or a diving bird therefore reaches the same top-end slow-motion limit on either body. Both record in MPEG-4, AVCHD and XAVC S file formats.

The editing convenience difference is timelapse: the VII has it built in, so you can capture a sunset or drifting clouds as a finished sequence without external gear. The VI does not, so you would need to assemble frames yourself in post.

The RX100 VI serves the travelling photographer better in two ways the VII does not. It has GPS for geotagging a photo hike, and it has weather sealing for shooting in damp or dusty conditions. The VII offers neither of those.

The rear screens differ in detail: the VI has 1,228,800 dots against 921,000 on the VII, a finer view for checking focus and composition. Screen use is otherwise a close match, with a shared 3-inch size, touch control, a flipping panel for self-portraits or waist-level shooting, and Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth for wireless transfer.

Battery endurance in the rated test slightly favours the VII at 260 shots against 250 shots for the VI. Both run on the same NP-BX1 battery and both charge over USB, so topping up from a power bank works the same way with either camera.

Storage choices are similar but not identical: both accept SD, SDHC and SDXC cards alongside Memory Stick Pro Duo, while the VI also accepts Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo. Neither camera has a second card slot, so a spare card is the only overflow option on both.