At its Xperia event held today, Sony introduced three new phones with two of them being full-fledged flagships – Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III. As we all know right from the start, the latter is targeted at fans of compact phones without sacrificing anything in terms of user experience. The two handset offers unique variable telephoto cameras that can switch between 70mm and 105mm, which equates to around 2.9x and 4.4x optical zoom.

Sony Xperia 1 III launched

Xperia 1 III Launched

Photography

Sony’s phones are well-known for their dexterity in cameras. The shooter itself uses a 12MP 1/2.9″ Sony sensor with f/2.3 or f/2.8 aperture depending on the focal length you use and optical image stabilization. Digital zoom can now reach the equivalent of 300mm, compared to 200mm on the Xperia 1 II and 5 II and Sony calls it AI super resolution zoom.

The main camera uses the good old 12MP 1/1.7″ sensor coupled with an f/1.7 OIS lens while the ultrawide snapper has a 12MP 1/2.6″ imager, f/2.2 aperture and autofocus, which is not that common on ultrawide units even among flagships.

Sony Xperia 1 III rear camera

For optimal performance on those precious cameras, Sony has put ZEISS lenses with T coating. Additional software features include real-time Eye AF on top of the already existing Eye AF that works on animals and humans, Optical SteadyShot and 4K recording at 120fps for those crisp slow motion takes.

The front camera seemingly remains unchanged from last year – using the same 8MP sensor. The only difference in the camera department is the 3D ToF camera, which is exclusive to the Xperia 1 III. This means it’s also the only one to support real-time Eye autofocus tracking, although the Xperia 5 III still has the real-time Eye AF.

Hardware

The Xperia 1 III uses a 6.5-inch 4K OLED panel with a cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio and is capable of running at 120Hz and displaying HDR content. It uses Gorilla Glass Victus for the front and frosted Gorilla Glass 6 for the back. The phone is also rated IP65/68 for protection from dust and water.

It is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage. The phone has hybrid dual SIM slot for memory expansion through a microSD card if you need to.

The phone is fueled by battery capacity of 4,500mAh unit with support for up to 30W fast charging (50% in 30 minutes) promising 3-year-long life. The Xperia 1 III also adds wireless charging.

Multimedia And Gaming on Xperia 1 III

It wouldn’t be a proper flagship release if multimedia and gaming features were left out so Sony doesn’t disappoint there as well. The device boast powerful stereo loudspeakers and 240Hz motion blur reduction in supported games. Low gamma raiser helps with visibility in shadows, while sound equalizer helps you better hear gunshots and footsteps. Sony has also made extra effort to improve the microphone input during voice chat – removing background noise and clears up the speech.

Game recording is also available at up to 1080p@120fps and there’s one neat feature Sony calls Rewind time recording. It’s similar to Nvidia’s highlight recording, where it constantly records the last 30 seconds during gameplay. So if you want to save your highlight of the game, just hit record and the software rewinds the last 30 seconds and saves them.

Sony Xperia 1 III

Sony Xperia 1 III Specifications

Network Properties

  • 2G bands: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
  • 3G bands: HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
  • 4G bands: LTE
  • 5G bands: SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave
  • Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A, 5G

Launch

  • Announced: 2021, April 14
  • Status: Exp. release 2021, Q2

Design

  • Dimensions: 165 x 71 x 8.2 mm (6.50 x 2.80 x 0.32 in)
  • Weight: 186 g (6.56 oz)
  • Build: Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 6), aluminum frame
  • Colors: Frosted Black, Frosted Gray, Frosted Purple
  • SIM: Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
  • IP65/IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)

Display

  • Type: OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR BT.2020
  • Size: 6.5 inches, 98.6 cm2 (~84.2% screen-to-body ratio)
  • Resolution: 1644 x 3840 pixels, 21:9 ratio (~643 ppi density)
  • Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

Operating System

  • Android 11

Hardware

  • Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm)
  • CPU: Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680)
  • GPU: Adreno 660
  • RAM: 12GB
  • Internal Storage: 256GB, 512GB
  • Memory Card slot: microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot)
  • UFS 3.X

Cameras

  • Main Camera: Quad
    • 12 MP, f/1.7, 24mm (wide), 1/1.7″, 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS
    • 12 MP, f/2.3, 70mm (telephoto), f/2.8, 105mm (telephoto), 1/2.9″, Dual Pixel PDAF, 3x/4.4x optical zoom, OIS
    • 12 MP, f/2.2, 124Ëš, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/2.6″, Dual Pixel PDAF
    • 3 MP, TOF 3D, (depth)
  • Features: Zeiss optics, Zeiss T* lens coating, LED flash, panorama, HDR, eye tracking
  • Video: 4K@24/25/30/60/120fps HDR, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps; 5-axis gyro-EIS, OIS
  • Selfie Camera: Single – 8 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/4″, 1.12µm
  • Features: HDR
  • Video: 1080p@30fps, 5-axis gyro-EIS

Multimedia

  • Radio: No
  • Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers
  • Audio 5mm jack: Yes
  • 24-bit/192kHz audio
  • Dynamic vibration system

Connectivity

  • WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
  • Bluetooth: 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
  • GPS: Yes, with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
  • NFC: Yes
  • USB: USB Type-C 3.1; USB On-The-Go, video output

Features

  • Sensors: Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass, color spectrum
  • Native Sony Alpha camera support

Battery

  • Battery Type and Capacity: Li-Po 4500 mAh, non-removable
  • Charging: Fast charging 30W, 50% in 30 min (advertised)
  • Fast wireless charging
  • Reverse wireless charging
  • USB Power Delivery

Sony Xperia 1 III Price and Availability

Sony Xperia 1 III in colors

The Xperia 1 III comes in Frosted Black, Frosted Gray and Frosted Purple color options and will be available at the start of summer. Pricing yet to be confirmed.

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