Sony launched the Xperia 1 II in early 2020 and followed suit with the Xperia 5 II in the second half of the year. However, the company doesn't wait until 2021 as it launches the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III at the same time.
As we saw with Sony's flagships last year, the Xperia 5 III is what you need if you value a phone that is more reasonably sized than today's big flagships. Meanwhile, the Xperia 1 III is slightly larger and heavier and more in line with the flagship of the competition.
Sony Xperia 1 III: premium offer
The biggest difference between the Sony Xperia 5 III and Sony Xperia 1 III phones is the screen category. The Xperia 1 III has a 6.5-inch 4K OLED panel (21: 9), while the Xperia 5 III has a 6.1-inch FHD + OLED display (21: 9). This difference is in line with their predecessors, which offered screens of the same size and in many respects the same size. Thankfully, both panels offer 120Hz refresh rates, unlike last year when the Xperia 1 II stayed at 60Hz.
Other notable features of the Xperia 1 II that the small phone lacks are Gorilla Glass Victus (the Xperia 5 II gets Gorilla Glass 6 instead), wireless charging and wireless reverse charging, and improved speakers and sensor. 3D ToF with tracking. focus in real time. ...
The larger Sony phone also has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, compared to 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage on the Xperia 5 III. We've already established that the Xperia 5 III doesn't support expandable storage, but it turns out the phone does support microSD.
Sony Xperia 1 III and 5 III: a lot of DNA in common
Otherwise, these two phones have a lot in common. That means the flagship Snapdragon 888 processor, sub-6GHz 5G (no mmWave here), 4500mAh battery, 30W charging cable, side fingerprint reader and IP65 / 68 protection. Sony also guarantees three years of battery life. the battery is not significantly discharged during use over time.
Sony's flagships offer similar cameras with a selfie camera with an 8MP thin bezel and three 12MP rear shooters. The three rear cameras consist of a 12MP main camera (1: 1.7, OIS), a 12MP ultra wide-angle sensor (1: 2.2) and a 12MP periscope camera.
The latest camera has lenses that can zoom to f / 2.3 aperture at 70mm (~ 3x) or f / 2.8 at 105mm (~ 5X), although they can't reach intermediate apertures and focal lengths. In simple terms, this means you have a periscope camera that can zoom from 3x to 5x, which means fewer shooters with a focus on zoom are required.
We've seen Oppo showcase this kind of technology before, but Sony claims it's the world's first commercially available smartphone. Anyway, this is a very smart addition and we would love to try it.
One potential problem with this periscope camera is that zoom quality can suffer from 3x to 5x, as the camera is unlikely to be able to combine separate 3x and 5x sequences to achieve decent results. Presumably for this reason, Sony is using AI-based ultra-high-resolution upscaling technology that also achieves focal lengths up to 300mm (approximately 12x magnification).
Price
Sony has not yet announced any pricing for the Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 III or Xperia 10 III. However, the Xperia 1 III will be the most expensive, followed by the Xperia 5 III, and the Xperia 10 III will likely cost about half the price of the Xperia 5 III.
The Xperia 1 II costs over £ 1000 in the UK while the Xperia 5 II starts at £ 799 in the UK. In the UK, the Xperia 10 II costs £ 329. We don't expect the third generation models to be too different from their predecessors.
Design
Sony Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 III, and Xperia 10 III share a similar design language. All three are tall and narrow in design, flat in design, and have rounded corners. The Xperia 1 III has more angular edges than the Xperia 5 III and Xperia 10 III, while the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have a Google Assistant button on the right edge compared to the Xperia 10 III.
However, a fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power switch on the right edge of all three devices. All have a camera housing in the upper left corner of the buttocks and are all IP65 / 68 waterproof. Water and dust.
The Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have a better finish than the Xperia 10 III, but all have a glass back and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Xperia 1 III is the largest and heaviest, while the Xperia 5 III and Xperia 10 III are more compact and closer together in size and weight.
The Xperia 1 III is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, while the Xperia 5 III and Xperia 10 III have the Corning Gorilla Glass 6.
The Xperia 1 III is available in the colors Frost Black, Frost Gray and Frost Purple. The Xperia 5 III is available in black, green and pink, while the Xperia 10 III is available in black, white, pink and blue.
Equipment and specifications
Sony Xperia 1 III and Sony Xperia 5 III are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, while Xperia 10 III is powered by Snapdragon 690G. This means that the Xperia 1 III and 5 III will be more powerful devices, although the Xperia 10 III is still more than capable and all three offer 5G connectivity.
The Xperia 1 III has 12 GB of RAM and a choice of 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, while the Xperia 5 III has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage. The Xperia 10 III reduces the RAM to 6 GB and has only one storage option: 128 GB.
All three devices are equipped with a 4,500 mAh battery. The Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III support 30W fast charging, wireless charging and wireless reverse charging, but the Xperia 10 III does not. Not.
As mentioned earlier, all three devices have a 3.5mm headphone jack. All also support Hi-Res Audio and DSEE Ultimate. The Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III both have Sony 360 Reality Audio over speakers and 360 Spatial Sound.