World enews: Sony Xperia 5 III now shipping in the US, almost nine months after initial announcement

Sony’s Xperia 5 III, the compact counterpart to its Xperia 1 III, is now on sale in the US, almost nine months after the company initially announced the device in April 2021. The phone retails for $999.99 and will be available in black or green, with the latter exclusive to Sony’s own online store. The phone went on sale in the second half of last year in the UK and Europe.

The phone has seen some internal upgrades compared to the Xperia 1 II, which bring it more into line with mainstream handsets from 2021. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, runs Android 11 out of the box, and should also be able to benefit from at least some 5G connectivity in the US. Elsewhere, battery capacity has been upped to 4,500mAh, and Sony advertises that this larger battery can be charged to 50 percent in half an hour, like its predecessor.

A tall display paired with three rear cameras.

Image: Sony

Externally the Xperia 5 III has a similar design to the Xperia 5 II. Its 120Hz 6.1-inch display maintains Sony’s trademark 21:9 aspect ratio, and there are still three rear 12-megapixel cameras, which handle main, ultrawide, and telephoto duties, respectively. There’s support for taking photos at up to 20fps, with focus / exposure readings happening at 60fps, as well as support for recording 120fps 4K footage in HDR.

It’s a decent set of specs, and if the Xperia 1 III is anything to go by, the phone should have decent camera performance and a stunning screen. But $999 seems like a high price when, very soon, we’re going to start seeing phones releasing with Qualcomm’s newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.

The Xperia 5 III is shipping now, and Sony says that orders placed before February 27th will come with a pair of its WF-1000XM3 earbuds and 43,200 Call of Duty: Mobile CP points for free.