Sony's New Xperia Phones Claim a Trio of World's First Features

It's not often we see a new smartphone launched that can boast having a "world's first," but Sony's managed to do that thrice today with new Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III handsets.

"Today we’re introducing two new Xperia models that are significant for both Sony and the industry as a whole," commented Neal Manowitz, President and COO, Sony Electronics Inc. "Drawing on our leadership in imaging, display and audio technology, we’re proud to debut the world’s first smartphone with a 4K 120Hz display and the world’s first smartphone with a variable telephoto lens."

Both the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III include a variable telephoto lens (with Dual PD sensor) of up to 105mm and two focal lengths in one telephoto module, allowing the focal lens and the AF lens to work in unison when switching from 70mm to 105mm. The other world first comes in the form of the display used on the new Xperia 1. It's a 6.5-inch 21:9 CinemaWide OLED panel with 4K HDR visuals, but it also uses a 120Hz refresh rate. The Xperia 5 differs, shipping with a 6.1-inch 21:9 CinemaWide OLED panel and 120Hz refresh rate, but it's not 4K, only FHD+ (2520-by-1080).

Under the hood, both phones use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip (Kryo 680 CPU and Adreno 660 GPU), a generous 4,500mAh battery (with a 50% charge taking just 30 minutes), triple lens 12MP camera system on the back, and an 8MP selfie camera on the front. And as this is Sony, you get PS4 Remote Play, DualShock 4 controller compatibility, and Game enhancer features (including a new audio equalizer, an optimized V.C microphone, and high frame rate recording feature).

Where the phones differ is in weight, with the larger Xperia 1 weighing in at 187 grams compared to the Xperia 5 at 169 grams. The Xperia 1 also uses Gorilla Glass Victus on the front, Gorilla Glass 6 on the rear, and comes equipped with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Xperia 5 only uses Gorilla Glass 6 and comes equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

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The third and final world's first Sony is claiming relates to the audio on these phones. Both are the first to take advantage of 360 Reality Audio, which Sony says produces audio that's, "as real as if you are there at a live concert or with the artist recording in a studio." Of course, you need a compatible music streaming service to take full advantage of it, but they already exist in the form fo Deezer, Tidal, and Nugs.net.

Both phones are expected to launch in the US this summer, but pricing hasn't been revealed yet. The Xperia 1 III will be available in Frosted Black and Frosted Purple, while the Xperia 5 III will be available in Black and Green. They both ship with Android 11.