Sony Xperia 1 III
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Product Overview
The Xperia 1 III is Sony's 2021 flagship smartphone. Sharing much of the same design and feature elements with the Xperia 1 II, the Xperia 1 III can be seen as a refinement while staying true to Sony's heritage.
On the display front, the Xperia 1 III finally embraces 120Hz refresh rate. The same 6.5-inch diagonal and 4K HDR OLED format are retained.
On the camera front, Sony upgrades the telephoto lens with optical zoom. As it has been the case with the Xperia 1 II, the main cameras in the Xperia 1 III are able to shoot at 20fps continuously with autofocus and auto exposure, including real-time tracking and real-time Eye AF. The smartphone is also capable of recording 4K videos at 120fps and FHD at 240fps. Naturally, the lenses wear the Zeiss brand and feature ZEISS T* coating for flare resistance.
On the audio front, the Xperia 1 III is one of the last flagship smartphones to feature the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset powers the device with 12GB of memory.
Sony also introduced the Xperia 5 III and Xperia 10 III with similar launch dates.
Ratings
What we found
Pros
- The best camera on a Sony phone
- Great battery life
- Good camera performance
- Great autofocus
Cons
- Nothing in particular
What external reviewers found
External score 74%
Pros
- Good performance
- Superb 120Hz refresh rate
- Great stereo speakers
- Superb 4K 120Hz screen
- Excellent audio and video performance
Cons
- No software update support
- No 5G support
- Slow charging
- No wireless charging
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Price Comparison
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Specifications
Related Products
External Reviews
androidauthority[1]
Reviewer score 64% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Sony Xperia 1 III is a really expensive handset. The $1,299 price tag is a full $100 more than the previous-gen model. Sony's apps are fine for their purposes, but emulating the layout of its professional-grade cameras results in a lack of shared design language. The camera's low light and selfie capabilities are not quite up to scratch.
Pros
- The best camera system in the business
- Excellent performance
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- No 5G mmWave
- No headphone jack
gsmarena[2]
Reviewer score 61% (normalized by Neofiliac)Xperia 1 III launches with an asking price of $1300/€1300. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is the more well-rounded and overall superior cameraphone. The Mi 11 Ultra isn't sold in the US, and getting one in Europe won't be cheap or easy.
Pros
- Gorgeous 120Hz display
- Good battery life
- Good performance
Cons
- No wireless charging
- No 120Hz refresh rate
- No headphone jack
laptopmag[3]
Reviewer score 88% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Sony Xperia 1 III runs Android 11 and has no bloatware except for a link to a free 3-month Tidal subscription. Supported by CineAlta, the rear camera can shoot up to 4K HDR at 120 fps, along with its video slo-mo that can capture 120fps in 4K. The eye-detection feature for sharp focus and hand gesture recognition to take pictures by waving are also a nice touch. Sony does stumble with software update support, and history suggests you’ll only get two years of updates.
Pros
- Gorgeous 120Hz display
- Superb 120Hz refresh rate
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- No software update support
- No wireless charging
nextpit[4]
Reviewer score 71% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Sony Xperia 1 III has a 12-megapixel camera with a variable telephoto lens. The triple camera at the back offers four optical focal lengths, with telephoto camera even switching between two focal lengths. The pictures rarely look as though they were taken with a smartphone. Sony's 4,500 mAh battery is currently considered as average for today's smartphones.
Pros
- 120Hz display with 120Hz refresh rate
- Long battery life
- Fast charging
Cons
- No wireless charging or reverse wireless charging
- Average camera performance
notebookcheck[5]
Reviewer score 74% (normalized by Neofiliac)The camera takes great pictures and the new telephoto lens allows zooming into objects in good quality. The display is very accurate and sharp, but you cannot lower the resolution, which should lead to increased battery consumption. The battery, compared to the Sony Xperia 1 II, has grown by 500 to 4,500 mAh, which also extends the runtime in our WLAN test.
Pros
- High-quality display
- Fast UFS 3.1 storage
- Very good battery life
- Very fast Wi-Fi
Cons
- No 120 Hz mode
- No wireless charging
techradar[6]
Reviewer score 82% (normalized by Neofiliac)The Xperia 1 III is equipped to offer flagship performance, with the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 running the show. You can pick up the handset with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, but unlike in previous generations you'll get 12GB of RAM with both. Images contain impressive levels of detail, and colors feel true to life. Sony has included a larger battery here than in the Xperia 1 II, and it makes a noticeable difference.
Pros
- Top-end performance
- Fast autofocus
- Good battery life
Cons
- No wireless charging
- No headphone jack
theverge[7]
Reviewer score 69% (normalized by Neofiliac)Sony has created a sophisticated device that both looks good and delivers flagship-level performance. It offers sophisticated camera hardware and software and a lovely high-resolution OLED. But none of these features go far enough above and beyond what you can get with an iPhone or Galaxy flagship to make the Xperia stand out.
Pros
- Gorgeous OLED screen
- Excellent camera performance
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- No 5G support
- No headphone jack
trustedreviews[8]
Reviewer score 77% (normalized by Neofiliac)Front-firing stereo speakers are great and easily among the best I have used on a phone this thin. Sony has scaled back its Android interface in recent years, going with a far more Google-esque look. There is a selection of Sony tweaks, but many of these actually work quite well. There’s a Side Sense shortcut bar that packs more apps onto your home screen and a helpful one-handed mode.
Pros
- Gorgeous 21:9 screen
- Great stereo speakers
- Great battery life
Cons
- Slow charging
- No wireless charging
whathifi[9]
Reviewer score 86% (normalized by Neofiliac)World's first 4K 120Hz phone screen sounds good on paper and it looks even better in reality. The shape of the phone takes a little getting used to for day to day use but makes perfect sense when using the screen in landscape mode. Sony borrows plenty of technology from its Alpha camera range with that telephoto set-up offering 2.9x and 4.4x zoom magnifications.
Pros
- Superb 4K 120Hz screen
- Excellent audio and video performance
- Great battery life
Cons
- No waterproofing
- No wireless charging
References
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review: Elegant, exhilarating, expensive. [androidauthority].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review. [gsmarena].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review: For the creators. [laptopmag].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review: The final enthusiast smartphone. [nextpit].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III smartphone review - Camera phone with variable telephoto focal length. [notebookcheck].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review. [techradar].
- ^ Sony’s Xperia 1 III is pricey, performant, and perplexing. [theverge].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III Review. [trustedreviews].
- ^ Sony Xperia 1 III review. [whathifi].
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