Sony is announcing two new phones today, the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III. Both are the latest in Sony’s campaign to redefine the Xperia brand as a kind of sibling to its well-regarded Alpha digital cameras. The Xperia 1 III recalls the Xperia Z will the Xperia Z1 from the 2013 period, and takes some of the better characteristics of both products—and encapsulates a sort of camcorder killer smartphone.
Don't worry that CNET’s David Katzmaier did not personally test the phones. He asked if we were able put the phones through our rigorous testing regimen. We answered in the affirmative and sent the phones to David for testing. Disclaimer: we caught Katzmaier day three of this weekend's Connecticut MotoGP race.
Sony Xperia 1™ ($472.99 on Amazon)
The "Phablet": The $472.99 Xperia 1 now comes with a 1080p 4 inch display and Amazon's "Adaptive Display" feature that uses the device's internal sensors to automatically bring up its black. It features 3G and Wi-Fi radio.
The phone itself is 13.8mm thick and weighs just 139 grams. On the documentation for the phone (page 4) the manufacturer says the thickest part is the Lower Front Portion of the Device (below 4.30 inch):
▪ Camera and Video. • A 21MP Sony sensor with five-element lens gets a sensor size of 1/2.3 inch. • The camera has a 4.5K video mode that lets you take 4K video and image. • 1/1.7-inch Full HD video at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. • 10.1MP images capture full 80,000 content. • A 5MP orientation camera captures images in 360 degrees, including up to 9 vertical 360-degree images. • 4GB of RAM.
the Xperia Ultra ($398 on Amazon)
It goes without saying that both the Xperia phones have a 5-megapixel camera—but the Ultra has a 15-megapixel sensor that captures 32MP images while the SoC is a 733MHz quad-core Exynos 5417. They have the same 2GB of RAM and 16GB onboard storage. In the box, the Ultra has 4G LTE, key mobile broadband connectivity (related), Bluetooth 4.0 L2.1, and a micro-USB port with advanced charging.
The handset's build is a traditional "cat-and-mouse" design, design play that borrows a lot from the Xperia Z1 and its Android 4.2.2-based foundations. Sony didn't deserve to be left out, so it
Don't worry that CNET’s David Katzmaier did not personally test the phones. He asked if we were able put the phones through our rigorous testing regimen. We answered in the affirmative and sent the phones to David for testing. Disclaimer: we caught Katzmaier day three of this weekend's Connecticut MotoGP race.
Sony Xperia 1™ ($472.99 on Amazon)
The "Phablet": The $472.99 Xperia 1 now comes with a 1080p 4 inch display and Amazon's "Adaptive Display" feature that uses the device's internal sensors to automatically bring up its black. It features 3G and Wi-Fi radio.
The phone itself is 13.8mm thick and weighs just 139 grams. On the documentation for the phone (page 4) the manufacturer says the thickest part is the Lower Front Portion of the Device (below 4.30 inch):
▪ Camera and Video. • A 21MP Sony sensor with five-element lens gets a sensor size of 1/2.3 inch. • The camera has a 4.5K video mode that lets you take 4K video and image. • 1/1.7-inch Full HD video at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. • 10.1MP images capture full 80,000 content. • A 5MP orientation camera captures images in 360 degrees, including up to 9 vertical 360-degree images. • 4GB of RAM.
the Xperia Ultra ($398 on Amazon)
It goes without saying that both the Xperia phones have a 5-megapixel camera—but the Ultra has a 15-megapixel sensor that captures 32MP images while the SoC is a 733MHz quad-core Exynos 5417. They have the same 2GB of RAM and 16GB onboard storage. In the box, the Ultra has 4G LTE, key mobile broadband connectivity (related), Bluetooth 4.0 L2.1, and a micro-USB port with advanced charging.
The handset's build is a traditional "cat-and-mouse" design, design play that borrows a lot from the Xperia Z1 and its Android 4.2.2-based foundations. Sony didn't deserve to be left out, so it
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