Xperia 1 III 256GB 5G Factory Unlocked Smartphone, Violet [U.S. Official w/Warranty]

Edit, April 2023: Just wanna say that after a bit over a year, almost a year and a half, this phone continues to serve me well. The software is still up to date, things are still running smoothly, and the battery continues to not be an issue. I have it set to stop charging at 80% to keep the battery healthier for longer, and I've got no problems with battery life. I feel no need to carry a battery pack with me. Mind you, when the Galaxy S7 I carried in high school was at this point in its life, it'd hit 50% by lunchtime. Let's be real: 20 minutes on the charger before and after work is not so bad. And I still think the camera is just okay. On one hand, this phone kinda got me into photography. On the other hand, this phone made me buy a real camera. Take that as you will. Radar is still an extraordinarily good boy. My original review, from February 2022: Despite some doom-and-gloom headlines, I can't help but feel as if Sony has really found their market this time. That market is media nerds who miss old phones... and who were pushed off the LG train. But it's not just LG's departure from the market that makes this phone a hit, and there are a few notable differences separate the Mk.III's features from LG's mistakes. Chief among them: intention and cohesion. The Mk.III is a phone with a purpose, and it goes about executing that purpose remarkably well. The headphone jack is present and sounds very nice, so that you can actually use your nice, wired headphones (although it is still a smartphone; don't expect to run an HD-600 out of it). The SIM tray is toolless and has a micro-SD slot, so that files (songs, pictures, videos, movies, etc), can be moved on to and off of the phone quickly and easily. The rectangular, notchless 4k, 120hz, 16:9 screen is perfect for watching movies with as few compromises as possible on a mobile devise. The camera's hardware is robust (if a bit over-engineered) and has an accompanying shutter button, and the software is aimed squarely at people who'd get use out of a good manual mode... and not so much those who wouldn't. The Mk.III is a phone designed for nerds, and that's what the Xperia line has always been. Regular consumers are going to be turned off by it, but that's because it's not meant for them. Normal smartphone users don't care about the rectangular screen, the Cinema Pro app, or that it has a hi-res DAC, and they would almost certainly get more use out of something like a Pixel or a Galaxy. LG's fatal mistake was forgetting that normal people aren't interested, and instead of sticking to one market or the other, they split the difference and got lost in the middle, with features that neither side was really all that interested in. I bet you didn't remember that the G5 had separate modules you could attach to a slot at the bottom, or that the V20 had a little second screen that could display app shortcuts, or that the G8 had a sensor that could read the blood vessels in your hand. The Xperia line has gotten around this by completely ignoring the normal people that don't care, and instead catering directly to nerds, allowing them to wear expensive headphones and fiddle with their camera settings while also not forsaking flagship creature comforts like a top-of-the-line processor, metal and glass construction, wireless charging, and up-to-date software-- all things that are not guaranteed when buying the older or cheaper phones that share many of the Mk.III's most desired features. Although the phone is by no means perfect (the cameras' auto mode needs work, the battery could be bigger, and some might find Sony's software skin to be a bit sparse), it more than achieves what it set out to do, and I am looking forward to keeping it by my side going forward. Judge the photo sample as you will, but I think it does well. I haven't had a lot of interesting photo opportunities with this phone yet, and I am not a photographer, so some basic indoor dog pictures will have to suffice. His name is Radar and he's a very good boy.

Sony is currently the underdog in the Android mobile market. Their sales have dwindled (though the division now turns annual profits). They don't get anywhere near the mind-share of Samsung or Apple, or even companies like One Plus. Practically every tech reviewer out there has been saying "this phone is overpriced." So why do I like this phone? Am I the weird one who thinks it's worth the money? I don't think so - and here's my case. USER EXPERIENCE The Snapdragon 888 SoC and 12gb of system RAM mean this phone absolutely flies through Android 11 (Sony has promised a minimum of 2 OS updates as well). The user experience is fast and buttery, and it can handle even the most taxing games with aplomb. The 256gb of on board memory means you will likely not worry about app storage or photo storage for quite some time. Android is near stock, but a raft of Sony improvements are available, such as "side sense" and multi-window switch, which make running two apps simultaneously on the tall screen a breeze. SCREEN and SPEAKERS As you can see in the above LOTR picture, this screen is really spectacular when it comes to media. It is 21:9, and video apps intelligently zoom to fit is when using that cinematic aspect ratio. The level of detail and the pop from HDR is palpable. The screen can do 120hz in 4K resolution, but I find 60hz perfectly smooth. The speakers are the best I've heard on a mobile device. Loud, clear up to top volume, and even a little bassy. Terrific for YouTube or podcasts even if you're in, say, a noisy kitchen. CAMERA Sony has brought its Alpha camera interface (pictured) to the Xperia line (though not to worry, there is a standard "Basic" mode enabled by default as well). This affords the user control of basically everything - ISO, white balance, shutter speed, manual focus, and so on. The camera features four native focal lengths to shoot in - 16mm ultrawide, 24mm standard, 70mm 3.7x zoom, and 105mm 4.4x zoom (which I have demonstrated in my attached skyline pictures, all taken from the same position). Results are impressive, and make this phone a real point and shoot replacement. Eye Autofocus detection is a major boon to parents of fast moving children or pets, and it works wonderfully. The camera is also capable of 4K/120fps video, and includes the Cinema Pro app to let your inner film director fly free in 21:9 aspect ratio with all sorts of manual control of camera settings and color timing. UNIQUE FEATURES The Xperia line has two unique selling points that are massively important to me. First and foremost is expandable storage. You can pop a 1tb micro SD card into this phone to store photos, music, movies, whatever. Also, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack - not important to some people, but for those with high quality headphones or a desire to use an external mic, this is a must. Now, I wish these features were not unique in the smartphone world, but they are now, thanks to Apple. CONCLUSION This phone has the same MSRP as the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It performs equally with them in terms of user experience and camera, but adds expandable storage, a 4K/120hz screen, and a headphone jack. There's even a deal currently to get free Sony noise canceling earbuds. so is this a "bad deal?" Only insofar as any current flagship is a bad deal. This phone is tailored for a specific sort of user - one who likes a lot of features, customization, and user control. If that's not you, this phone isn't for you. But if it is, I have a hard time imagining you being disappointed by it.

Sony Xperia 1 iii is a flagship phone for advanced users. It is widely criticized for it's price, however I think it is not correct. It is expensive like any other flagship phone, however it come unlocked with 3.5 mm jack, micro SD card slot (upto 1 TB), dual sim, wireless charging. It has OLED 4k display and has refresh rate of 120 Hz if required. It has 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of internal storage space and powered by Qualcomm 888 processor. You will not find any phone with these many features for this price. Example: Refer iPhone 13 Pro max, Google Pixel 6 Pro, Samsung Note - you may pay more to get all these features. This phone weigh 185 g and feel comfortable in hands as it is long and not wide. The Google Pixel, iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Note 20 ultra all weigh more than this. Another outstanding experience is watching moving in Netflix and Amazon prime. It is 21:9 aspect ratio and hence fill screen with no black bars. Sound is outstanding. You will really love it. Regarding the camera the best feature I found is the camera shutter button. It is really helpful and will get the experience of a point and shoot camera. It has optical zoom and has Sony's Photo pro app and Cinema pro app. It is highly customizable and I have never seen anything like this in any phone. Now, regarding the negatives from 2 weeks of use. I use Google Fi and it has occasional connectivity issues. Google Fi confirmed it is not certified with this phone. Sometimes it is getting hot while charging and I wrote to Sony support. I am yet to get an answer. The power button has fingerprint reader also in it. As I hold the phone, I always accidentally touch the power button and phone reports too many fingerprint attempts. All the buttons are on one side which bring another issue of placing the phone in a phone holder or vlogging tripod. The only place you can use for phone holder is between Google Assistant and camera shutter button. In short, it may not work with all phone holders if it is wide. Camera has tons of options, however in order to use it you really need to know it or understand basics of photography or videography. There is a point and click option which Sony named as BASIC mode and it works well. However, to really get the full potential of camera one may need to really learn using it. So far all my day time photos came really good with Auto option. The colors are very close to real. When compared with iPhone 13 pro max with the same subject, iPhone colors were not real even though the photo was beautiful. Sony photos were good with true color. The videos also came really good. Low light photos is comparable to my Pixel. Nothing outstanding. Another challenge I had is with macro photography. I cannot get it sharp to the level I expected. I am still experimenting and investigating the same. In general, I won't say camera is truly outstanding. It meets expectation. Attached some photos. To conclude, it is a good phone but not perfect. I will call this a camera which has phone feature added. Those who love simplicity, it is better with other phones.

Initially, I attained this device to move to 5G after my N-C cell service hounded me to upgrade, but was told this unit isn't compatible on their network. So, please forgive any bitterness going forward. I've only had this Xperia unit less than a month, so I'm still not fully aware of all functions yet. Of what I have used so far, however, I can understand why this device sold out on its initial release. The speed on this is outstanding! Upon changing service providers, the abilities began to appear. I don't really use the photography functions (yet) as it is game upon the Xperia 1 mk III, but it is EXCEPTIONAL!! Others might not be a huge fan of a 21:9 layout, but it works for a LOT of games, so it is worth it alone! As for the OS & functions, the ingrained fingerprint sensor on the side is very ingenious as one needn't worry of ruining a screen w/a sensor. Audio also comes with a rumble feature that is very reminiscent of the rumble from the PS4 controllers, too. And, as for time with the battery, it can last all day, pending activities. A heavy game session can drain it pretty quickly if not plugged, but great otherwise. All in all, despite claims of the Xperia 1 mk III being a "niche" device, it actually is an exceptional smartphone, if not for the price point. But, as my prior was the 1st 1tb phone from Samsung that was bought w/o a plan, it made it $300 cheaper than than my prior unit's cost, so I welcomed it. This is definitely worth your consideration.

I have the phone for 5 months now .. coming from LG V60, which I had hard time replacing as on USA market there is only one phone what has dedicated DAC, the Asus ROG 5S, but it is not good for everyday use as there is no IP water resisyance rating on it, any water splash would kill it. So, that leaves me with only Sony Xperia 1 Mk3 as the phone to get, closest to LG V60 in my features list. Sans DAC, but has dual sim, which is very handy. Sony is very good phone overall, wish it had wi-fi calling on T-Mobile USA, wider screen, dedicated DAC, and ability to have dual sim and microsd card all in one setup. Well, other then those items in the wish list, everything else is great, screen, touch screen digitizer, camera, weigth, battery, water resistance, clear loud sound from ear speaker, speakers, charging, GUI stability, buttons, dedicated photo shutter with half-press for focus, full-press to take a picture, all is working great. Modem is strong as well, picks the radio transmission signal well for voice conversations, on T-Mobile USA and overseas carriers, very good antenna set up, works well. Overall, if you last phone was LG V60, there is nothing else on the market closer to V60. Apple makes great phones, but I like Android file system accessibility better. Samsung is crippled Apple-wanna-be on Android now. Huawei is out of reach. So, so much for the choices, Xperia 1 Mk3 or Asus ROG 5s, I had chosen Sony, need a daily phone to use, not a gaming rig. So far, works great. Case used with Mr. Shield glass is Sucnakp Case Shock Absorption Anti Scratch Heavy Duty Durable LT Black, the only case I had found with the grip similar to the old-school Speck Presidio Grip, the one with rubber grooves grips, not the shitty plastic newer ones. Great tandem, this glass and that case. Survived many drops already. update June 2023 phone works great, no overheating, case holds the drops well, battery capacity holds well.

I've had this phone for around a year now. The only credit I can give this phone is about the few things I actually do like about it, like the camera and the fact it comes with an auxiliary port. For the price I paid, the phone has had way too many flaws during the time I've had it. I'll start with the battery, if you get this phone, don't even expect to make it a full day without having to charge it, especially if you're planning on using it. It's TERRIBLE and can't handle the hardware the phone comes with. It has been terrible since day 1, even after factory resetting the device. Not to mention the glitches/bugs that I have ran into, from apps randomly crashing to the phone continuously telling me "System U.I. has stopped responding", which has also happened since day one. I would have given it two starts if it weren't for the issue I now have with the phone. After a year and not even TWO WEEKS of ownership, the phone began restarting itself over and over again, and every time it turns on it either crashes again or I can't turn on WiFi or mobile data. I've factory reset the device countless times, tried Sony's "software repair tool", and contacted Sony about the issue multiple times with no helpful advice/fix. I didn't pay for the ridiculous $300 for the extended protection plan since I was already paying so much for the phone, so I stuck with the 1 year warranty. But since the phone is 2 WEEKS out of warranty, Sony is refusing to repair or replace the device. I was given a number of an independent phone repair facility within my country and was told to call them. I'm not putting anymore money into it to have it still be a horrible phone. I wouldn't recommend buying this phone at all.

The fingerprint sensor is a little finicky. It took several attempts to get my thumbprint set up upon initial device setup as, for somw reason, if it failed to recognize my print once it would refuse to scan the thumb additional times. For a system that requires you to scan the finger you'd like to add numerous times this was a little problematic. After this, however, the fingerprint sensor works flawlessly and almost every time. It seems a little more sensitive to moisture than my Pixel 5s sensor was, but problems with that are few and far between and are usually solved by giving my thumb a quick wipe against clothes to dry it off. The camera is a bit more difficult to use to get good photos than the likes of Pixel without Google's additional processing backing it up, but the additional options for taking photos, I quite like. There is a bit of a learning curve, but I like the direction Sony is going. Having a camera shutter button is nearly a game changer. It is amazing having a physical button that I know and can feel for the location of. That alone makes the camera one of the easiest to use I've encountered, despite the fact that I am still working on matching the quality of photos my Pixel 5's software could self-process. There have been some buggy instances of software, say when I do things like accidentally activate certain feature add-ons Sony placed on Android 12, but for what the phone offers me I'd happily endure this in the place of the Pixel like where all three phones I owned died in just over a year. The phone isn't perfect by any means, but at this point what phone is? To me, this phone is the closest to perfect I've had in a very long time. Flagship quality phone with a headphone jack and SD expansion in 2022? I should have done this YEARS ago.

This is a very good phone over all. Pricey but everything is here. Headphone jack, 30W charger, decent camera, front firing speakers, notification light, slim 21:9 size, 4k display, fast charging, fingerprint reader, 5G. Cons: Things i don't like so far is the front firing speakers don't sound all that great for the money, Samsung Galaxy lastest phone had louder better sounding speakers. The front camera also isn't the best quality. So if your a selfie addict it will disappoint you. The ability to lower your resolution to conserve power. My Galaxy S10 plus had this feature and was great when i knew I wouldn't be able to charge my phone for 2 days. Camera isn't very amateur friendly either. It's a good camera but it's not "point and shoot" like iPhones. You have to have a good understanding of camera settings to really unlock the potential of this phones camera, when you do, the pictures come out very good. I will stick to buying Sony phones so as long as they keep all the consumer friendly features it seems like they are the last company doing so. [2023 UPDATE] My fingerprint reader randomly stopped working. At first it took several tries to unlock, then after a few days it would just not even be an option for unlocking, restarting phone would usually make it work again for about 5 attempts then revert to not even showing up on the lock screen anymore. Now it's been 2 weeks and have spoken with support, it's completely gone. Not even resetting the phone will make it work. I strongly believe it's most likely a software update issue. Until they fix this issue I will no be returning to Sony.

Great item, well wrapped and wellingness of helping customer for their concerned. More than willing purchase with them next time.

Satisfied