Sony Xperia 1 III could arrive sooner than you think

Sony Xperia 1 III could get in sooner than you think

(Image credit: Sony)

It looks like the Sony Xperia 1 III is nearly gear up for testify time. As spotted by Droid Life, Sony has updated the banner on its Xperia YouTube channel to include reference to an upcoming issue in just two weeks' fourth dimension.

"Xperia New Production Announcement," the imprint reads. "14 April 2021, sixteen:xxx JST / 09:30 CEST." That ways you're looking at iii:30am ET, or 12:30am PT.

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While that'south obviously extremely vague, the Xperia brand is purely used for phones and tablets. Since Sony hasn't released a tablet since 2015 with the Xperia Z4 Tablet, it'due south near sure to be a phone, and the Xperia 1 Three seems the most likely candidate, thanks to recent leaked details.

Weibo leaker ZACKBUKS published full specifications of Sony'south latest flagship yesterday and, if true, they're certainly the kind of affair that should requite the Samsung Galaxy S21 a run for its money.

As is standard for a 2021 flagship smartphone, it seems the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC will be running the show, backed by a massive 12GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Plainly Sony volition also exist releasing a premium version with 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage, simply that seems unnecessary for most people's needs, unless there are other differences ZACKBUKS hasn't flagged.

Like contempo members of the Xperia family, the Xperia 1 III volition stick with an unusual 21:9 aspect ratio – something Sony previously justified by noting that 69% of Netflix movies are shot in this format. This means yous're looking at a screen that'due south tall and thin, but it should be a treat for the eyes, with OLED technology and a 120Hz refresh charge per unit. Similar previous Sony flagships, information technology'due south also reportedly going to back up resolutions of upward to 4K, though whether anybody will be able to spot that on a screen then pocket-size remains to be seen.

The most heady specs are in the camera department, notwithstanding. According to ZACKBUKS, Sony volition be introducing a periscope zoom camera built by the company's Cyber-shot division, potentially allowing the phone to eclipse the 3x optical zoom achieved by the Xperia 1 Ii. There volition besides apparently exist a principal 64MP wide-bending lens and a 12MP ultra-broad sensor.

Information technology'southward no secret that Sony has struggled for smartphone marketplace share, and that'south not been helped by what you lot might telephone call 'optimistic' pricing. Unfortunately, if the leak is correct, it doesn't seem similar the visitor is fix to enter a price state of war to accept the battle to Samsung and Apple, with ZACKBUKS quoting a toll of 8999 Yuan. That comes to effectually $1,370, which would make the Sony Xperia ane Three nigh $200 more than than the Samsung Galaxy S21 UItra and $300 more than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Hopefully this will prove to be a miscommunication, and Sony ends upwards revealing a more than competitively priced device when it unveils the latest fellow member of the Xperia family on April 14.

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Freelance correspondent Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are establish all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When non weighing upward the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games excess. Or, more than likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.