Sony’s New Phones Have a Variable Telephoto Camera

Sony is revamping its top-end phones. The company has announced all-new Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 models, and they offer some pretty stellar features that should appeal to longtime Sony mobile fans.

The Xperia 1 III is the flagship device among the two, but the Xperia 5 III closely follows it in terms of overall features and experience. Neither of the two devices offers a radical new design, and you’ll immediately recognize them if you’ve seen a Sony phone before. But they do offer some fancy new features that you might appreciate.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Sony Xperia 1 III

First up is the Xperia 1 III, and it’s a real 2021 flagship device. It has everything you would expect from a high-end phone, including a Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, with a microSD card slot for expanded storage.

On the front of the device, you’ll get a 6.5-inch display with a massive 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. That’s a first in the smartphone business, and while display quality is about more than just specs, offering incredible specs is a step in the right direction. Of course, it remains to be seen how those specs affect battery life. The battery on the device sits in at 4,500mAh.

Perhaps even cooler is the fact that the phone has some awesome camera tech. Notably, it has a variable telephoto lens, which is another first in the smartphone business. The telephoto cameras on the phones can offer either a 70mm or a 105mm focal length. The lens elements can’t be in between those two focal lengths — it’s either one or the other. But the tech should still make for a more versatile telephoto experience. Apart from the variable telephoto camera, the device also has a 12-megapixel primary camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. On the front, there’s an 8-megapixel selfie camera.

The Xperia 1 III has other features that might appeal to those that don’t appreciate current smartphone trends. For example, it keeps the headphone jack and doesn’t have a hole-punch cutout for the front-facing camera.

Pricing for the Xperia 1 III has yet to be revealed. However, considering last year’s Xperia 1 II was $1,200, the new device may end up with a similar price.

Sony Xperia 5 III

The Sony Xperia 5 III is very similar to the Xperia 1 III, but it’s shrunken down and not quite as high-end. The device has the processor, but there’s 8GB of RAM instead of 12GB, and the display sits in at 6.1 inches with a 1,080p resolution instead of a 4K resolution. Thankfully, it still has the new variable telephoto zoom feature.

We also don’t know about pricing for the Xperia 5 III, nor do we know exactly when it will be released. Hopefully, we’ll find that information out in the near future.

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