Xperia 1 III - Audio Experience & Price

Описание: Sony Xperia 1 III: Software
Out of the box, this Xperia 1 III unit did not include Google apps, but they can be easily installed. I downloaded the Google Play Store APK, and within a minute, I was installing apps from Google’s store. Once Google was set up, the phone almost looks and behaves like any other Android phone, except for some additional Sony software like a floating bar (Sony calls it “Side Sense”) that sits at the edge of the screen and a Baidu search bar at the bottom of the homescreen that, frustratingly, cannot be removed. The only other phone with a homescreen search bar that won’t go away are Google’s own Pixel phones.

Sony Xperia 1 III: Cameras
Sony’s recent flagship phones have tried to mimic the experience of using a Sony digital camera. This ranges from the camera shutter sound to the dedicated shutter button that supports a half-press to focus, to the small green boxes that pop up in the camera viewfinder to show focus point.
Sony also offers two camera apps: a standard one and “Cinema Pro” which offers full-on manual controls for video shooting. Even the standard camera mode offers more granular control over everything from ISO to shutter speed.

This is great if you know what you’re doing — a knowledgeable photographer can easily tweak a few settings to get the exact exposure they want in a shot. But most people are not camera experts and would prefer to point-and-shoot. This was where Sony’s last flagship phone fell short — I found the Xperia 1 II’s auto mode to be consistently lagging behind what Apple and Samsung’s cameras can do.

The good news is the Xperia 1 III improves matters. In most point-and-shoot scenarios, even in challenging lighting conditions such as against harsh backlight, the Sony Xperia 1 III produces good-looking images.

Xperia 1 III, main camera
In this set of photos, the Sony Xperia 1 III held up well against the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 Ultra. It’s a relatively challenging shot, with strong light coming through the window. The Xperia 1 III’s warm tone represented the room the best in my opinion. If you zoom in and pixel peep, Sony’s shot is also noticeably sharper than the iPhone 12’s.

iPhone 12, main camera.
But its HDR processing still noticeably falls short of the iPhone 12’s. To be fair, Apple’s photo looks a bit unrealistic — my eyes at the time could not see the clouds that clearly as the sunlight was so harsh, but most would agree it’s a more aesthetically pleasing shot.

Xperia 1 III, ultra-wide
But what let me down was the variable Periscope zoom lens. It does work as advertised, being able to produce sharp 2.9x zoom and 4.4x photos. Dial that zoom up to 10x, however, and the Xperia 1 III’s image falls far short of what the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s zoom lens can do.

Sony Xperia 1 III: Early impressions
The Sony Xperia 1 III is relatively pricey at 8,449 yuan ($1,334) for the 256 GB model and 9,499 yuan ($1,491) for the 512 GB model, but early sales numbers in China have reportedly been impressive, which perhaps isn’t surprising considering how much this phone stands out from the pack with its loud front-facing speakers, a headphone jack, a 4K/120Hz screen (although I can’t see the need for 4K, it’s more appealing on paper), and a dedicated camera shutter button