Promo videos offer a detailed first look at Sony's new Xperia Mark III phones

2021-04-14

You can watch a replay of Sony’s Xperia Mark III announcement, it was an action-packed event that introduced three new phones in about half an hour. But there’s yet more to see from the new trio.

Let’s look at the official Sony Xperia 1 III product video first. It starts off with the unique feature – four focal lengths from three cameras. The new periscope lens has a variable magnification and is able to switch between 70 mm and 105 mm focal length.

The video touches on other pillars of the Xperia flagship line – gaming, audio and movie watching, but the biggest segments are photography and cinematography. Of course, the phone comes with the Photo Pro and Cinema Pro apps that leverage Sony’s digital camera expertise.

The next minute-long video focuses on Xperia 1 III’s design, which pushes back against the mainstream.

Unlike last year, there’s no wait time for the smaller flagship – Sony is launching the Xperia 5 III simultaneously with the larger model. Its promo video tells much the same story – photography and cinematography are the main attractions and they bookend the phone’s other skills (audio, gaming and movies).

Of course, what sets the Xperia 5 III apart from the 1 III is its size, which is the main theme of the next minute-long video:

Moving past the promos, the next video is a 10 minute first look at the Xperia 1 III and 5 III. It offers more details for the camera features, including ones borrowed from the Alpha line.

The video also covers the extensive list of display features, borrowing ideas from Bravia and CineAlta. The Xperia 1 III has the first 4K OLED 120 Hz display on the smartphone market (the 1 II had a 4K 60 Hz screen, the 5 II an FHD 120 Hz one).

That’s a boon for gaming, as is the improved audio – the Xperia 1 III produces 40% louder sound than its predecessor, be it from the 3.5 mm headphone jack or its front-facing stereo speakers.

When it comes to gaming, Sony has added a few user-controlled tweaks to give you an edge. You can active the motion blur reduction, you can boost gamma to see what lurks in the shadows and tune the 10-band equalizer (co-developed with a pro gaming team) to get the best out of audio cues.

There is a lot more to learn about the Xperia 1 III and 5 III from this video – for example, the surprising fact that Sony managed to squeeze in a 4,500 mAh battery in both phones.

Sony is yet to reveal the prices of the Mark III flagships, but we don’t imagine they will be cheap. For price-sensitive Sony fans, the company unveiled its first 5G mid-ranger, the Xperia 10 III (unfortunately, there’s no pricing for this one either).

Like the 5 III, the 10-series model has a 21:9 OLED display, a 3.5 mm jack, a triple camera, 4,500 mAh battery, water resistance and (as mentioned) 5G. It’s lacking in some advanced features, however, and the Snapdragon 888 chipset of the other two gives way to the S690.

The next video goes into more details about the Xperia 10 III, including the improvements over its predecessor.

The Xperia 1 III and 5 III will be available at the start of summer, the Xperia 10 III is scheduled for an early summer launch as well.