Sony Xperia 1 III
A superb camera and all the flagship features you’d expect, even if the price is hard to swallow
SCORE ★★★★
PRICE £999 (£1,199 inc VAT) from sony.co.uk
The Sony Xperia 1 II ( see issue 312, p62) was one of 2020’s most memorable phones, albeit a rather expensive one at £1,099. The Xperia 1 III is even more costly but, after spending a couple of weeks with Sony’s new flagship, I can state without fear of contradiction that this is one of 2021’s standout phones. And that’s mainly due to the camera.
The rear camera array incorporates a trio of 12MP lenses, all at different focal lengths. Sitting at the top is an ultrawide unit, which has an equivalent focal length of 16mm. The main sensor in the centre is optically stabilised and has a focal length of 24mm and an f/1.7 aperture.
The most exciting thing about this phone, however, is the third camera: a 12MP telephoto lens that’s capable of switching between 70mm and 105mm focal lengths at the push of a button. Offering an equivalent optical zoom range of 2.9x and 4.4x, this “Variable Optical Zoom” system is achieved through a moveable lens element that’s placed on top of the camera’s 1/2.9in sensor. The boffins at Sony have cooked up something unique here.
■ Real-world snaps
During a misty walk in Ditchling Beacon in the South Downs, I captured exceptional landscape shots overflowing with intricate details, including wispy cloud layers and leaf-packed tree foliage. But I was most impressed by the Xperia 1 III’s ability to render colours almost exactly as you see them.
As with its predecessor, the Xperia 1 III also has real-time eye autofocus and up to 20fps burst-mode focus tracking. Using this, I snapped some impressive pictures of inquisitive geese cooling off in Poplar Dock Marina on a sunny evening.
Portrait pictures looked equally terrific. There’s no dedicated portrait mode for the rear cameras (only the 8MP selfie camera gets one of those), but you can apply and adjust the bokeh before you capture an image. Outlines around the subject are crisp, while facial details are spot-on.
Capturing pictures of this calibre is almost effortless, too. Aside from the portrait, I took the photos opposite using the phone’s “basic” shooting mode in the Photography Pro camera app. For those who like to take finer control, the app is filled with features and advanced options, with a similar UI and settings to Sony’s full-frame Alpha cameras.
My one complaint is of micro-blurring when using the zoom lens, but even this is only noticeable in extremely sunny environments if you crop into the image.
As for video capture, the Xperia 1 III can record at up to 4K resolution at a variety of frame rates, including 24, 30 and 60fps, with the option for 120fps slow-mo shooting at 4K with EIS engaged as well. Video is mostly crisp and judder-free, even during rapid camera panning.
■ Unique design
“Long and thin” sums up everything you need to know about the design of Sony’s Xperia 1. Its screen has an aspect ratio of 21:9 and this means that, while it’s 165mm tall – roughly the same as the plus-sized Galaxy Note 20 Ultra ( see issue 313, p58) – it’s nowhere near as wide, measuring only 71mm across.
If you wear jeans with small pockets, you might find that the Xperia 1 III pops awkwardly out of the top. But it fits nicely in the hand and I didn’t have any issues reaching across the screen with my thumb when using the phone one-handed. Even if I had, Sony’s floating “Side Sense” dock can help: double-tap the highlighted area of the screen and you can access a list of your most-used apps.
Design-wise, the Xperia 1 III is a carbon copy of last year’s version but that’s no bad thing. The “Frosted Black” model I received for review befits its premium price: it looks good, feels good, and thanks to a new matte finish it doesn’t show fingerprints.
A thumbprint sensor is helpfully embedded in the phone’s power button on the right edge of the phone and the dedicated camera shutter button, which can be half-pressed to focus, is another great addition. It’s nice to use a phone that doesn’t have a notch eating its way into the screen, too – the selfie camera is instead located within a slim bezel at the top of the display.
The Xperia 1 III also includes a 3.5mm audio jack, which is a rarity in top-end phones nowadays. According to Sony, the Dolby Atmos-tuned “full stage” stereo speakers are 40% louder
“The 6.5in OLED screen is as good as it gets, with 10-bit colours, support for HDR10 content, and a maximum resolution of 1,644 x 3,840”
than last year’s, and they support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, too.
■ 4K display
Sony remains the only smartphone maker to include a 4K display on its flagship phones. The Xperia 1 III’s 6.5in OLED screen is as good as it gets, with 10-bit colours, support for HDR10 content, and a maximum resolution of 1,644 x 3,840.
I use the word “maximum” here because, depending on the settings you choose, the phone won’t always display a 4K image. In fact, if you want to deploy the Xperia 1 III’s new 120Hz refresh mode, it automatically drops to FHD+ resolution. I expect this is a battery-saving measure, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra doesn’t need to do this th to run the display at 120Hz.
Colour reproduction is strong, with an average Delta E of 1.15 in the phone’s “Creator” display mode, which targets the BT.2020 colour gamut. That means even the most exacting of eyeballs won’t spot any inaccuracies.
The only small negative is that the Xperia 1 III’s display isn’t particularly bright. With a measured peak luminance of 450cd/m2 in HDR video, the Xperia 1 III isn’t the best for watching HDR movies. As a point of reference, the iPhone 12 Pro, which also has an AMOLED display, is capable of reaching HDR brightness levels of well over 1,000cd/m2.
■ Flagship speed
Inside, Qualcomm’s latest flagship mobile processor, the Snapdragon 888, is clocked at a speedy 2.84GHz and it works side-by-side with a frankly ludicrous 12GB of RAM. This his much memory is overkill for any smartphone, despite what Sony might say.
Scores of 1,134 and 3,672 in Geekbench 5 are a match for other top-end phones. It’s games where the Xperia 1 III edges ahead ad of the competition: with the 120Hz refresh setting enabled (and, therefore, with FHD+ resolution enabled), the Xperia 1 III averaged 116fps in the onscreen GFXBench Manhattan 3 test, outperforming the Galaxy S21 Ultra by 23fps. The caveat here, of course, is that the Samsung was tested at its native QHD+ resolution.
Unfortunately, the Xperia 1 III’s larger 4,500mAh battery has done little to improve the Xperia 1 II’s woeful battery life. Surviving for a 14hrs 43mins in our video-rundown test, the Xperia 1 III’s stamina is weak compared with its main rivals, with the Galaxy S21 Ultra outlasting Sony’s battery-hungry flagship by more than eight hours.
■ Final decision
The Sony Xperia 1 III’s poor stamina is disappointing because it’s otherwise a truly exceptional handset. All Sony needs to do now is swallow its pride, ask for less than what Samsung and Apple are currently charging, and ditch the pointless 4K display in favour of better battery life. Do that, and there’s nothing to prevent Sony’s phones from standing side-by-side with the best phones around.
For the time being, however, the Xperia 1 III is simply too expensive and too short-lived to recommend.
SPECIFICATIONS
8-core 2.84GHz/2.42GHz/1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset 12GB RAM Adreno 660 graphics 120Hz 6.5in OLED screen, 1,644 x 3,840 resolution 256GB storage microSD slot quad 12MP/12MP/ 12MP/0.3MP rear cameras 8MP front camera Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 NFC USB-C 4,500mAh battery Android 11 71 x 8.2 x 165mm (WDH) 186g 1yr limited warranty