Over the last few years, Sony phones landed in the United States like lead balloons. His phones don’t get a lot of support from carriers or room on retail shelves. But with the new Xperia 1 Mark III, Sony could be ready for a big comeback.
The Xperia 1 III has the minimalist style signed by Sony, but comes with the world’s first variable telephoto lens on a phone and also with the first 4K HDR OLED mobile screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz.
The Xperia 1 III’s new variable telephoto camera marks a big step forward for smartphone photography, because instead of using multiple cameras to provide different focal lengths, Sony is able to offer a 2.9x (70mm) zoom and a 4x zoom (105mm) using a single-camera sensor, which relies on moving optical elements to switch between the two zoom ranges at will. Unfortunately, the Xperia 1 III still can’t choose a zoom between the two focal lengths, as you would on a traditional camera with a typical zoom lens, but for people worried about the growing size of today’s smartphone modules, Sony’s implementation presents a much more elegant and sophisticated way of support a wide range of magnifications.
Moreover, by borrowing technology from the industry’s leading focustracking it on its mirrorless Alpha cameras, Sony now supports real-time Eye AF on all Xperia 1 III rear cameras (12 MP main lens, 12 MP telephoto lens, 12 MP ultra-wide and a time-of-flight depth bonus sensor), with burst shooting rates of up to 20 fps.
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Sony has even redesigned its camera app to give users more control over photo settings, while adding new streamlined shooting modes to prevent people from being overwhelmed when they just want to take a quick photo.
And when you want to look at photos and videos, the 6.5-inch OLED screen of the Xperia 1 Mark III has a 120Hz refresh rate, 4K resolution and support for HDR, 10-bit color and courtesy of Bravia TVs. at Sony, which should provide a viewing experience right up there with the best Samsung phones. And similar to what Sony did for Xperia Pro, you can even connect the Xperia 1 III to some cameras using an HDMI cable to USB-C and you can use the phone as an external monitor.
Xperia 1 III is packed with premium specifications, including a Snapdragon 888 chip, 12 GB of RAM, at least 256 GB of storage space and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, in addition to features such as a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot, of which things that Samsung has focused on recent Galaxy S phones. Sony still includes a handy shutter button to drive home the phone’s camera skills.
And while the sound is an area often overlooked on phones, Sony says Xperia 1 III front-facing stereo speakers are 40% louder than before, while supporting the new 360 Reality Audio and Space Audio designed to provide a richer and more engaging listening experience. Hell, Sony even included a 4,500 mAh battery (which is big by Sony standards) and 30W faster cable charging, with Qi wireless charging and reverse reverse charging thrown for good measure.
I didn’t get a chance to check the more Xperia 1 III I see personally, the more I learn, the more excited I am about Sony’s next flagship mobile device. Check almost all the boxes when it comes to what I’m looking for in a state-of-the-art phone and it even comes with things like a headphone jack that other big names like Samsung, OnePlus and others have dropped in. lately. And with Sony incorporating even more technology from its other gadget divisions, it really feels like Sony could have finally created a complete and compelling package in Xperia 1 Mark III. (I’d still like to see a little more influence from the PlayStation team.)
If you like the overall design and specifications of the Xperia 1 Mark III, but you would prefer something more compact, Sony also announces the Xperia 5 Mark III, which is about the same phone (minus the telephoto camera), but with a screen smaller than 6 inches.
Right now, my only concern is that even on Verizon (which is Sony’s favorite carrier in the US), the Xperia 1 III will only support sub-6Ghz 5G, but not mmWave 5G, even if Snapdragon 888 technically accepts both. And for models unlocked from other carriers, the Xperia 1 III will be limited to 4G LTE only, which could be a major problem for anyone who intends to keep the phone for more than a few years and will probably affect the general availability of sales with retail. .
Unfortunately, Sony has not yet announced specific pricing or availability information for both the Xperia 1 Mark III and the Xperia 5 Mark III, but you can bet they’re blindfolded.