Rating with opinion, features and price

We tested Sony’s highest móvil 2021: A detailed analysis and opinion on the Xperia 1 III.

Sometimes the best phones are the hardest to recommend. He is The Sony Xperia 1 III is a great high-end móvil, with some of the most innovative features on the market, a sophisticated design like few others and an extremely versatile camera. But there is a problem: it costs 1,300 euros.

At this price point and for less you cánido find some of the most habitual and best selling high end teléfonos inteligentes such as Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, the iPhone 12 pro max or the OnePlus 9 Projust to name a few.

There are many reasons why choosing one of the three models above is a wiser decision than buying an Xperia 1 III. But that doesn’t orinan Sony’s flagship móvil inteligente has its guns to compete in the high-end mobile space. And that’s not a few.

Opinion and score of the Sony Xperia 1 III

One of the most complete and innovative móvil in its history with this Xperia 1 III. And it did, according to its mobile division, which has been making profits for the past few months thanks to its merger with the photography and home technology divisions less and less optimistic sales figures.

The device combines a sober and sophisticated design with one of the best displays in the industry. Performance at the highest level and a photo section that will appeal to those users who have no problem experimenting to get the most out of the capabilities of the device in their hands.

That’s all, Is it worth 1,299 euros? It’s not easy to justify such a high price tag, even less when other options offer many of the things that make this device stand out, such as: even lower price. And more importantly: with a a less uncertain future like Sony’s due to its market position and support policy – apparently non-existent.

price and sources of supply

The Sony Xperia 1 III is on sale August 18, 2021 in Spain, that Price 1,299 euros in a configuration of 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

It perro be purchased through authorized retailers such as Amazon.

Sony Xperia 1 III

data sheet

design and presentation

The Xperia 1 III is a Sony phone pure You notice that the first time you unpack it. He is cuadrado and cuadrado appearance follows in the footsteps of previous generations of the Xperia family, with a longer and thinner format than usual.

However, there are changes from previous generations of this family. This year, Sony has refined the aesthetics by adding something to the device smooth edges surrounding the aluminum body of the phone, and a Matte finish both on the back and on the side, a mixes particularly well with the elegant design that Sony has come to expect from its terminals.

The back has a matte touch soft and beautifulalthough the device does it very slippery. In return, we have the advantage that no footprints or dirt They stick easily to glass.

The back of the Sony Xperia 1 III is matte and feels very comfortable in the hand / Picture: Christian Collado

However, the Gorilla Glass 6 back glass It doesn’t seem very strong. My test device arrived with a few scratches on the back, which were probably caused during the test period of the predecessor. Reviewer.

Nevertheless, The terminal is comfortable to holdpartly because of a Weight 186 grams and its width 71 millimeters. There’s also a feeling of being strong and resilient, and in a way that’s backed up by the IP65/68 certification which guarantees its water resistance.

the back too containing the camera modulewhich is located in the upper left corner with a elongated portrait. Located in six through different cameras and two complementary sensors.

Sony wanted take advantage of it the edges that surround the body of the phone, to the point where there is some sort of button, connector, or opening in each of the edges.

Starting at the bottom we see the USB Type-C connector 3.1, next to one of the device’s microphones. On the top edge, next to the second microphone, there is also that 3.5mm headphone jackThis makes the Xperia 1 III one of the few high-end teléfonos inteligentes that still has such a connection.

The left side contains the slot for the cards, cánido be easily removed without the use of any special tool – thanks Sony for that. After completion of lid Plastic, we access a slot that allows it to be placed two SIM cardsor one SIM card and microSD card.

Finally, that The right corner is the most crowded of them all. Starting from the bottom, we get the Camera shutter/focus buttonthe Quick access button for the Google plus Assistantthe Power button with integrated fingerprint readerand the volume down and volume up keys.

The keys in question are placed in such a way that they cánido be easily reached with a finger despite the long format of the device. Also the Fingerprint reader is fast and accurate. However, I would The volume buttons were larger to distinguish them more easily from the power button.

“The Xperia 1 III is about the sharpest screen I’ve seen on a phone. This one.”

Finally on the front, one of the biggest differentiators of the Xperia 1 III is: a amazing 6.5 inch diagonal screenbased on OLED technology with 4K resolution protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and surrounded by rims that aren’t the thinnest on the market are that give the face a relatively modern look.

The screen of the Sony Xperia 1 III has a diagonal of 6.5 inches and a refresh rate of 120 Hertz / Photo: Christian Collado

To be honest, the screen does not reach the 4K limit, because its resolution remains at 1,644 x 3,840 pixels 21:9 widescreen format. In any case, it is sharper screen you’ve seen on your phone so far.

A must 120 Hertz refresh ratewhich provides that welcome plus fluidity that last year’s model was sorely lacking.

Of course: In contrast to other models such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra or the OnePlus 9 Pro, The Xperia 1 III screen is not an LTPO screenand are therefore unable Change your refresh rate dynamically to save energy. So you have to be content with 60 Hertz if you want to get a little more out of the device’s battery; or 120 hertz for the smoothest experience at the cost of higher power consumption.

Otherwise, The display excels in almost every way. Colors are natural and accurate, touch response time is almost non-existent, viewing angles are superb, and, like any OLED screen, contrast is just superb.

The only downside that cánido be put is related to the brightness, and not just because of that The maximum brightness is not enough to see the screen outside without problems when the sunlight hits hard. I found some too Inconsistencies with the coche-brightness featureand I have found that the minimum brightness level is higher than other models, which cánido be uncomfortable to look at when using the device in very dark environments.

And by the way, I perro’t get over that Sony continues to add LED notifications despite everything at the top of the front of the phone. On behalf of all those trying to conserve battery life by leaving always-on-display mode disabled, I say thank you Sony,

hardware and performance

Sony spared no expense in developing the technical department of the Xperia 1 III. Your brain is powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888available with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage -the second additionally expandable-. A real performance surprise in which we find almost every technical advance expected from a high-end móvil launched in the last year: 5G coincidente with SA and NSA networksWi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and of course other more traditional ones like NFC, A-GPS and vídeo output vía DisplayPort.

All of this works to feed one of the stronger sentences seen so far, with a excellent performance in all circumstances, on par with the most well-known high-end mobile phones on the market.

“The 12GB of RAM is more than capable of keeping a good handful of aplicaciones open in the background.”

I couldn’t put the technical part of this Xperia 1 III against the ropes, not even heavy and complex tasks like y también.g take turns running heavy games with RAW photo editing using Adobe Lightroom. The processor is able to maintain good sustained performance and the 12GB of RAM is more than capable of keeping a good handful of applications open in the background.

Likewise, other aspects of the Xperia 1 III’s hardware stand out, such as haptic engine integrated into the terminal that combines perfectly with the excellent sound system consisting of two stereo loudspeakers. Add all of that to the stunning 4K ultra-wide screen, and the a machine of consumption – and of creation? – of final multimedia pocket content.

Android 11 is the version that will bring life to the Xperia 1 III and it is expected to receive two more updates / Image: Christian Collado

battery and charging

He is The Sony Xperia 1 III’s battery has grown to 500 miliamperio-hora compared to the Xperia 1 II. But this growth does not imply a a significant increase in independenceis probably because the 120 hertz display It appears that higher energy consumption than the panel used last year.

Usually it is possible get through the day of deployment without too many problemsto reach 50% of the battery when the screen is on for about two and a half hours and just under six hours when its capacity is exhausted.

Of course because of the philosophy of Móvil for content creatorsThis battery might seem a bit weak for those who want to use the device long photo sessions or 4k vídeo recordings. In this case see Big battery or a handheld charger may be the best possible complement.

Thankfully, Sony hasn’t forgotten about integration fast charging system on the Xperia 1 III. not only supports fast wired charging three estándar USB Power Delivery; It also allows you to charge your battery quickly wirelessby permanent a Charging power 30W through the Qi estándar.

“This battery may seem a bit short for those who intend to use the device for long photo sessions or 4K vídeo recording.”

In general, the Xperia 1 III is not long in coming more than 50 minutes fully charged once the charger is connected, slightly more when wireless charging is used.

In addition, Sony integrates its function aimed at preserving the health of the battery, which makes this possible Intelligently limit charging extends its useful life. A useful and convenient feature that aims to keep your full battery capacity at a higher level for longer.

The Sony Xperia 1 III is only available in two colors: purple and black / Image: Christian Collado

programa and experience

Sony is one of those brands in the entire Android ecosystem that isn’t that complicated when it comes to developing programa for their phones. And somehow – unless we’re talking about support and updates… – it’s one of those that gets the best results.

Xperia 1 III programa is a almost clean android versionwith the occasional addition of the brand – camera aplicaciones, utilities, menus… – but with an interfaz very much like a Pixel móvil, save for Sony’s own touches like that remove rounded corners in some graphical elements, such as B. Advertisements; or use your own blue accent color.

A number of tools are also included that make it possible, for example, Get quick access to your favorite aplicaciones Swipe from the edge of the screen or open applications in the form of floating windows.

“It is not clear how many years this device will receive new versions of Android.”

In this case we have to Android 11and at the time of writing this article, the device was a a month late in the platform security patch.

Accurate support is one of the biggest problems of the Xperia 1 III. It is unclear how many years this device will receive new versions of Android. Probably Received two major system updates — meaning it would die with Android 13 — but the fact of the matter is that Sony didn’t have a clear plan for its programa, like both Samsung and Google plus do for three years of guaranteed updates for their devices.

go shopping Mobile phone from 1,300 euros Without the assurance of staying up to date long enough or getting updates in a timely manner, it is extremely dangerous. And Sony’s record in this respect does not orinan that we are only optimistic.

cameras

As a leading exporter of photographic sensors for mobile phones, it is destacable that Sony has yet to place any of its phones at the top of the mobile photography rankings.

The fact is that the other people The advantage of the big ones Apple, Google plus, Huawei and Samsung is that they managed to more or less take advantage of it Advances in Computational Photography to further advance the capabilities of their sensors. Most of them are provided by Sony itself.

The Japanese company showed that again this year your problem is not with the hardware. The Xperia 1 III has three sensors on the back using the latest developed technologies at home. Including a system that we have not seen in any other cell phone.

And the main camera is 12 megapixels with a size of 1/1.7 inch and the sensor is 12 megapixels with an ultra wide-angle lens accompanied by Telephoto varifocal camera.

The double telephoto lens emplees a folding lens format that the device perro switch between 70 and 105 mm equivalent focal length. The change is immediate and aparente how the lens physically moves when switching between different zoom modes.

In addition, all cameras are involved two-stage sensor focus system, which simulates the exceptional focus system of Sony Alpha series cameras – although the results are far from the same.

And it’s this family of cameras that inspired Sony when developing the photo part of this phone. The clearest example is in camera aplicación integrated into the end device Photography Pro and many options and functions of all kinds.

In the camera module we find three different sensors / Image: Christian Collado

It cánido be quite complicated to get familiar with all the controls that the camera offers. However, I’m sure that photo enthusiasts – the objetivo audience of this phone – will appreciate having so many settings at their disposal.

However, those who are not so opinionated about photography or want to operate the device’s camera without any problems cánido rely on the new one Basic methodThis allows the device to automatically select all the parameters to capture the most appropriate image in any situation.

Having already mastered the controls, let’s start shooting. The first thing that catches your eye is the high shutter speed when photographing in good light environments. Of all the high-end models tested this year, I would say that this model is the Xperia 1 III greater With Fast you perro take pictures because of the great optimization of the camera aplicación or because of the capabilities of the sensor itself. If we add that the absurd –in the best sense – mode burst Integrated into the aplicación, we may be in front of the best possible phone suitable for photographing moving scenes.

He is Image quality is good with one of the three sensors. The main room stands out for its sharpness in good light scenes, and the Variable tele it is without a doubt the camera that is the most fun for the opportunities it offers. the camera with Ultra wide angle lens It also delivers a good result, although it suffers the most once the light disappears from view.

He is night and dark environments They are one of the biggest challenges for Sony when developing the Xperia 1 III camera. And I’m afraid it will continue to be a pending issue for the next-gen model.

As a matter of fact no “night mode” as suchit forces us to trust the camera to do its job in automatic mode, or play with the ISO settings, shutter speed and exposure time to get good night shots.

Compared to the camera on the other high-end models, the The Xperia 1 III tends to process images more naturally, without too flashy colors or artificial plus details. This gives us slightly more neutral images than other models, which almost always require at least later edition before you achieve the desired result.

In general, Sony succeeded offer a versatile and competent photography systemis in the hands of experienced photographers, or at least principantes, willing to “play” with the controls that genera just as good, if not better, images than the big mobile photography exporters.

He is front camera, For its part, however, it does not stand out for being among the best in its segment he never fails when it comes to doing good autofotos in well-lit environments. The problems of this camera become aparente when the light falls more or less, or when We activate the portrait modea feature that Sony doesn’t seem to have mastered yet.

Although the camera part doesn’t end there. Sony has put as much emphasis on developing the photography division as it has on the section of the vídeo. And in the same way we perro find a large number of them Options and Controls embedded in an aplicación that is far more complete than any other mobile phone of the competition.

By default, the Vídeo aplicación – separate from the Camera aplicación – allows you to equipo parameters like that focus point, exposure or white cómputo. In addition to “Looks”, a professional style predefined by Sony is to be established.

There’s no doubt that all of these controls offer a level of flexibility that we won’t find in any other model on the market. that would excellent if the quality of the recorded vídeos It was as good as you would expect from a móvil inteligente at this price point.

But that is not the case. He is The vídeo quality does not reach the expected leveland it lags far behind models like the iPhone 12 or the Galaxy S21 Color rendition, sharpness and dynamic range.

Photo and vídeo gallery with the Sony Xperia 1 III

This device has been thoroughly tested Independently thanks to a move of the brand. The article contains purchase backlinks for which Andro4all may receive a commission. take part to the market channel Andro4all to find out about the best deals before anyone else.