Sony announces Xperia 1, Xperia 5 III with telephoto lenses, 120Hz screens

While the cameras are almost the same on the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III, what is different on the two devices is the screens.

While the Xperia 1 III goes all out, the Xperia 5 III is a flagship that aims to deliver top-notch user experience in a more compact form. (GSMArena)

Sony's launched three new Xperia devices, and two of them are its latest flagships - the Sony Xperia 1 III and the Sony Xperia 5 III. While the Xperia 1 III goes all out, the Xperia 5 III is a flagship that aims to deliver top-notch user experience in a more compact form. These two new Xperia devices come with variable telephoto lenses that can switch between 70mm and 105mm (that's roughly about 2.9x and 4.4x optical zoom).

The camera uses a 12MP 1/2.9-inch Sony sensor with f/2.3 or f/2.8 aperture depending on the focal length you use and optical image stabilisation. Digital zoom on these devices can now reach the equivalent of 300mm, compared to 200mm on the Xperia 1 II and 5 II and Sony calls this the AI super-resolution zoom. The main camera uses the 12MP 1/1.7-inch sensor coupled with an f/1.7 OIS lens while the ultrawide snapper has a 12MP 1/2.6-inch imager, f/2.2 aperture, and autofocus.

For optimal performance on these cameras, Sony has put in ZEISS lenses with T coating. Additional software on these new Xperia devices includes real-time Eye AF on top of the already existing Eye AF that works on both animals and humans, Optical SteadyShot, and 4K recording at 120fps. For selfies, there is an 8MP camera on the front, unchanged from the older iterations of these devices launched last year. The main difference this year is that there is the 3D ToF camera which is exclusive to the Xperia 1 III.

While the cameras are almost the same on the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III, what is different on the two devices is the screens. The Xperia 1 III uses a 6.5-inch 4K OLED panel that comes with a 21:9 aspect ratio and can run at 120Hz and display HDR content. On the other hand, while the Xperia 5 III can also run at 120Hz, it is a 6.1-inch OLED panel that comes with Full HD resolution, HDR support and the same 21:9 aspect ratio.

For optimal performance on these cameras, Sony has put in ZEISS lenses with T coating. Additional software on these new Xperia devices includes real-time Eye AF on top of the already existing Eye AF that works on both animals and humans, Optical SteadyShot, and 4K recording at 120fps. (GSMArena)

For optimal performance on these cameras, Sony has put in ZEISS lenses with T coating. Additional software on these new Xperia devices includes real-time Eye AF on top of the already existing Eye AF that works on both animals and humans, Optical SteadyShot, and 4K recording at 120fps. (GSMArena)

Both the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III are powered by the Snapdragon 888 but the former comes with 128GB of RAM and 256 or 512GB storage and the latter comes in 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB variants. Both the smartphones come with hybrid dual SIM slots so you can increase the storage on these with microSD cards. The battery on both the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III is the same - a 4,500mAh - which comes with a 30W fast charge support which claims to charge 50% in 30 mins and a three-yearlong life promise. The Xperia 1 III comes with wireless charging support but the Xperia 5 III does not.

Both the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III come with powerful speakers and 240Hz motion blur reduction in supported games. There is also a low gamma raiser which helps with visibility in shadows, while sound equaliser helps you better hear gunshots and footsteps. Sony has also made an extra effort to improve the microphone input during voice chat - removing background noise and clearing up speech. Game recording is also available at up to 1080p@120fps. Besides this, there's a feature Sony calls Rewind time recording which is similar to Nvidia's highlight recording, where it constantly records the last 30 seconds during gameplay. So if you want to save highlights of the game, you can just hit record and the software rewinds the last 30 seconds and saves them.

The Xperia 1 III comes with Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and Gorilla Glass 6 on the back. The Xperia 5 III comes with Gorilla Glass 6 on both sides. Both the devices are rated IP65/68 for protection from dust and water.

The Xperia 1 III comes in Frosted Black, Frosted Grey, and Frosted Purple colours and the Xperia 5 III comes in Black, Green, and Pink. Sony has not confirmed the prices of the devices yet but has said that it is going to be available at the start of summer.