Sony Xperia 1 III

Best phone camera ever?

● Now near, now far Sony supplies many of its rivals with camera sensors, but one thing it’s kept back for itself is the Xperia 1 III’S variable telephoto lens. It’s paired with a 12MP sensor and instantly switches between f/2.3 70mm and f/2.8 105mm focal lengths, so you can zoom in and out instantly and still get pictures packed with detail. There’s also AI super-resolution zoom, which claims to restore definition that’s lost when using digital zoom.

● Relative waheys Sony’s penchant for tall and thin screens already makes its phones stand out, but the 1 III also comes with a world-first 4K HDR 120Hz display. That’ll make the 6.5in OLED a real treat for the peepers when watching video, especially when you throw in 240Hz motion-blur reduction. This will also help with gaming, although perhaps not as much as the 240Hz touch-scanning rate, which should mean your fingers aren’t behind the on-screen action. Throw in speakers that are 40% louder than its predecessor’s, plus support for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, and it’s shaping up to be quite the entertainer.

● Another Corning stoner With power provided by the mighty Snapdragon 888 5G processor, 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, Sony hasn’t scrimped on the vitals, plus there’s a 4500mah battery in there that you can bypass when gaming while plugged in to prevent things from overheating. That might help to stop you from dropping it… but if you do, there’s Gorilla Glass Victus on the front, plus it’s rated IP65/68 for general toughness. Will all this be enough to make up some ground on Samsung, Apple and co? We’ll find out when it goes on sale in the summer.