The Sony Xperia 1 III is an Android

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

manufactured by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

. Designed to be the new flagship of Sony's Xperia series, the phone was announced along with the compact flagship Xperia 5 III and the mid-range Xperia 10 III on April 14, 2021.

Design

The Xperia 1 III improves on the design used on its predecessor, the Xperia 1 II. It now features a matte frame and slightly smaller bezels all around. The phone has Corning

Gorilla Glass Gorilla Glass is a brand of chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning Inc. Currently in its ninth generation, it is designed to be thin, light, and damage-resistant. Its surface strength and crack-resistance are achieve ...

Victus protection on the front and Corning

6 on the back with a frosted glass finish as well as IP65 and IP68 certifications for water resistance. The build has a pair of symmetrical bezels on the top and the bottom, where the front-facing dual stereo speakers and the front camera are placed. The left side of the phone contains the SIM card tray and microSD card slot, while the right side contains a fingerprint reader embedded into the power button, a volume rocker, a customisable shortcut button, and a shutter button with an embossed finish. The rear cameras are arranged in a vertical strip like its predecessor. The phone will be available in three colors: Frosted Black, Frosted Gray, and Frosted Purple.

Specifications

Hardware

The Xperia 1 III has a

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

Snapdragon 888 SoC and an

Adreno Adreno is a series of graphics processing unit (GPU) semiconductor intellectual property cores developed by Qualcomm and used in many of their SoCs. History Adreno is an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) within Qualcomm's Snapdrago ...

660 GPU, accompanied by 12GB of RAM, 256 GB storage space (which can be expanded up to 1 TB via the

microSD Secure Digital (SD) is a proprietary hardware, proprietary, non-volatile memory, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of port ...

card slot), and single/dual-hybrid nano- SIM card slot depending on region. The phone features a 21:9, world's first CinemaWide 4K HDR 10-bit 120Hz

OLED An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in respon ...

display in a smartphone. The touch sampling rate is 240 Hz. The phone has a 4500 mAh battery, and supports 30W Fast Charging alongside

Qi wireless charging Qi ( ) is an open standard for inductive charging developed by the Wireless Power Consortium. It allows compatible devices, such as smartphones, to receive power when placed on a Qi charger, which can be effective over distances up to 4 cm (1.6 i ...

with reverse wireless charging support. The phone has front-facing dual stereo speakers with support for 360 Reality Audio, which Sony claims is now 40% louder than the predecessor. There is also a 3.5 mm audio jack up top just like its predecessor. The Japanese carrier and SIM-unlocked versions of the Xperia 1 III support the Japanese mobile payment standard Osaifu-Keitai in conjunction with the Sony-developed mobile

smart card A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

standard

Mobile FeliCa FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for ''Felicity Card''. First utilized in the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, the technology is used in a variety of cards ...

as well as regular

NFC NFC usually refers to: * Near-field communication, a set of communication protocols for electronic devices * National Football Conference, part of US National Football League NFC may also refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychol ...

, however, unlike the vast majority of carrier-branded flagship Android phones sold in Japan up to that point, the Xperia 1 III does not support the

1seg is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and the Philippines. Service began experimentally during 2005 and commercially on April 1, 2006. It is designe ...

mobile television Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device, typically developed for that purpose. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satel ...

standard.

Camera

The phone has a triple 12 MP camera setup and a 3D iToF sensor on the back, and an 8 MP camera on the front. The rear cameras comprise the main lens (24 mm ''f''/1.7), the

ultra wide angle lens An ultra wide-angle lens is a Photographic lens, lens whose focal length is shorter than that of an average wide-angle lens, providing an even wider view. The term denotes a different range of lenses, relative to the size of the sensor in the c ...

(16 mm ''f''/2.2), and the world's first variable

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

telephoto lens A telephoto lens, also known as telelens, is a specific type of a long-focus lens used in photography and cinematography, in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens ...

that can switch between 70mm and 105mm; all of which use

ZEISS Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss Sta ...

' T✻ (T-Star) anti-reflective coating. Digital zoom can now reach the equivalent of 300mm, compared to 200mm on the Xperia 1 II and 5 II with a new enhanced algorithm which Sony calls "AI super resolution zoom". The phone still has support for 4K video recording for up to 120 FPS and 2K for up to 120 FPS like its predecessor. Sony introduced "Realtime Tracking" which now allows users to tap on a subject and have the phone continuously track it without ever losing focus of what is important.

Software

The Xperia 1 III runs on

Android 11 Android 11 is the eleventh major release and 18th version of Android, the mobile operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. It was released on September 8, 2020. The first phone launched in Europe with Android 11 ...

. It is also equipped with a "Photo Pro" mode developed by Sony's camera division α (Alpha) and a "Cinema Pro" mode developed by Sony's cinematography division

CineAlta CineAlta cameras are a series of professional digital movie cameras produced by Sony that replicate many of the same features of 35 mm movie film, 35mm film Movie camera, motion picture cameras. Concept CineAlta is a brand name used by Sony ...

, just like its predecessor. The old camera app has been integrated with "Photo Pro" and was renamed as "Basic Mode".Updates are provided for two years..

Color

Reception

The Xperia 1 III has been described by Engadget as a "love letter to photography nerds" because of its camera features.

Notes

References

{{Sony phones Android (operating system) devices Discontinued flagship smartphones Sony smartphones Mobile phones introduced in 2021 Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras Mobile phones with 4K video recording