World’s first smartphone with a variable telephoto lens and 4K@120Hz display

[Mr.Meerkat]

Summary:

Sony announces the Xperia 1 III and 5 III. The 1 III finally gets it's long over-due 120Hz at 4K and both the X1 III/X5 III will contain a new periscope telephoto with a variable focal length of 70mm f2.3 to 105mm f2.8. Other key features include HDMI input over type-C (note: input), real-time auto-focus tracking and still notable features (albeit the X1 II/X5 II already had them) such as 4K120 with HDR and 20fps burst. Oh, it also has a micro SD card slot, front-firing stereo speakers and a headphone jack. On the note of the headphone jack, audiophiles will be pleased to hear that both the DAC/AMP has been improved over last gen.

 

Quotes:

Quote

"The two phones have unique variable telephoto cameras that can switch between 70mm and 105mm, which equates to around 2.9x and 4.4x optical zoom.

The shooter itself uses a 12MP 1/2.9" Sony sensor with f/2.3 or f/2.8 aperture depending on the focal length you use and optical image stabilization."

"Sony is also enabling a special mode for the USB-C port that allows you to use a special cable to take an HD-resolution video signal from an SLR camera so you can use it as a monitor"

"World’s first smartphone with a 4K HDR 120Hz Refresh rate display crafted from Gorilla® Glass Victus™"

"The audio volume through audio-out (via the 3.5mm audio jack) has also been improved by approximately 40 percent, while sound quality has improved with less distortion near the maximum output level."

 

My thoughts:

Happy to see Sony innovating again. I jokingly predicted Sony would put a 1-inch sensor in the 1/5 III with a variable zoom (as in variable focal) and am glad to see that I was partially correct. Granted, the 70-105mm lens is fixed to just those two positions (70mm and 105mm) with everything in-between requiring digital zoom however, if it proves successful, it could mean one day smartphones can go back to just 1 big sensor on the back with an variable focal lens.

 

Yes, these phones do still target a rather niche segment (audiophiles, photo/video enthusiasts) but a lot of the features are still useful to the mass consumers (notably headphone jack and micro SD slot). Sony, you really do know how to make me want to switch phones every single year.

 

Sources:
 

Spoiler

https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1_iii_and_5_iii_announced_with_revolutionary_cameras-news-48642.php

https://9to5google.com/2021/04/14/sony-xperia-1-iii-goes-official-w-120hz-4k-display-variable-telephoto-lens-more/

https://www.dpreview.com/news/1686332610/sony-s-xperia-1-and-5-mark-iii-introduce-1st-ever-variable-optical-zoom

 

Updates:

Sony has confirmed the 5 III will be supporting HDMI-in via type C, has something called "object tracking" alongside eye AF (albeit not X1 III's "real-time tracking") 

 

[TrigrH]

I'm so down for a notchless "small" phone with a 4500mah battery, headphone jack, stereo speakers and expandable storage.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

TBH these names are a joke.

Like who names a phone the 1 III?

[TrigrH]

1 minute ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

TBH these names are a joke.

Like who names a phone the 1 III?

I was hoping for it to be: 1ii³

[Mr.Meerkat]

4 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

TBH these names are a joke.

Like who names a phone the 1 III?

Sony and their alpha division  

Sony A7, A7 II (mark 2), A7 III (mark 3), bring it across to their xperia line with the 1, 1 II (mark 2), 1 III (mark 3) 

[Arika]

3 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

TBH these names are a joke.

Like who names a phone the 1 III?

let me introduce you to OnePlus

[Fragment323]

I always loved Xperia design - since Xperia S days and Sony Ericsson bar phones before it. Their last phones just weren't as exciting for me. But this... This I can see as my first Xperia sice L many years ago. I'll see after local pricing is available.

[Drama Lama]

who needs 4K on a phone?

[Doobeedoo]

Overall, great specs and phone design it self. 120Hz is much welcomed improvement, faster charging too. Good to see 5G mmWave support as well.

Pricey indeed, but really all flagships are quite expensive though.

I'm quite excited to see more about this phone, am in need of a new phone and currently, this one fits the most things for me so far.

[Mr.Meerkat]

5 hours ago, Drama Lama said:

who needs 4K on a phone?

On the flipside, why not? It's like why 8K recording on a phone? Because big numbers = good for advertising. 

[dizmo]

...meh. It's good the 1iii got the 120hz display, but there's hardly anything different with the 5iii over the 5ii. Overall it's rather disappointing.

Not a phone I'd ever consider given that aspect ratio either.

[Mr.Meerkat]

22 minutes ago, dizmo said:

...meh. It's good the 1iii got the 120hz display, but there's hardly anything different with the 5iii over the 5ii. Overall it's rather disappointing.

Not a phone I'd ever consider given that aspect ratio either.

Yes and no. The 5 III do miss out some of the upgrades (when comparing 1II/1III to 5II/5III) such as real-time tracking (albeit it still has eye-AF) or the better stereo speakers but the new periscope variable focal length tele, getting stacked CMOS sensors for all three sensors, HDMI over type C* and upgraded DAC/AMP are all present it seems so IMO it's still a decent upgrade. 

 

*TBC, Sony's press release has been worded in a way where it neither confirms or denies that the Xperia 5III will get HDMI input. I would like to think they'd include but we'll never know until the official announcement of the 5III in full comes out. 

[Bombastinator]

The only reason I can think of to have 4k on a phone is if it was being used for VR strapped to your face (which people admittedly do do)

Edited April 17, 2021 by Bombastinator

[Jet_ski]

What’s with the aspect ratio?! Does that even fit in any pockets?

 

I guess it’s movie aspect ratio. It seems like it’s tailored for people who use Sony cameras to use it as a camera screen. Like what RED wanted to do with their smartphones.

[WolframaticAlpha]

On 4/14/2021 at 9:13 PM, Drama Lama said:

who needs 4K on a phone?

why do people need 144hz monitors?

 

If we start asking that then lmg will go bankrupt.

[Drama Lama]

34 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

why do people need 144hz monitors?

 

If we start asking that then lmg will go bankrupt.

yeah but there is a reason we don't find 4K displays on modern flagship smartphones even though the first smartphone with a 4K screen came out in 2015 (the Sony Xperia Z5).

[Murasaki]

Higher refresh rate panels on phones are getting more and more common. Wonder how long until they're on every standard phone. Imma get spoiled one day and will have to upgrade my monitors to higher Hz

[Bombastinator]

4 hours ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

why do people need 144hz monitors?

 

If we start asking that then lmg will go bankrupt.

144hz or over 100hz anyway makes sense to me.  It’s 240hz that seems to be pointless for most situations.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Bombastinator

[WolframaticAlpha]

3 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

144hz or over 100hz anyway makes sense to me.  It’s 240hz that seems to be pointless for most situations.

why bother when the hooman eye cant see over 24hz/s

 

but in all seriousness, 4k computer monitors are overkill. 144 hz is fine, if you are a gamer, but if you are someone like me who stares at emacs, vsc and intellij all day, then 1080p@60hz is fine. Also I sent back a 90 hz phone back because of  the drain, and went to a 60 hertz phone. Not that hard at all.vIts like going back to a hard disk from a dram less ssd

[Commodus]

15 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

why bother when the hooman eye cant see over 24hz/s

 

but in all seriousness, 4k computer monitors are overkill. 144 hz is fine, if you are a gamer, but if you are someone like me who stares at emacs, vsc and intellij all day, then 1080p@60hz is fine. Also I sent back a 90 hz phone back because of  the drain, and went to a 60 hertz phone. Not that hard at all.vIts like going back to a hard disk from a dram less ssd

I wouldn't say 4K monitors are overkill. I'm writing this on a 5K iMac and it not only looks gorgeous, but helps me pick out minor details when I'm editing photos. However, you won't get much out of 4K on a laptop, tablet, and certainly not a phone. I could only see 4K taking off with phones when there's virtually zero penalty involved.

[Vishera]

Not 4K,It's missing a lot of pixels due to it's aspect ratio.

By the way,I have a 16:9 smartphone from 2015 (5" display)

 

4K (3840x2160):  8,294,400 pixels

Sony's phone(3840x1644): 6,312,960

 

That's a difference of 1,981,440 pixels,almost 2 million!

 

Also,Sony didn't abandon the headphone jack,so if you like them jacks and hate dongles - a Sony phone can do that.

[LAwLz]

That's gonna use a ton of power.

[Mr.Meerkat]

17 hours ago, Vishera said:

Not 4K,It's missing a lot of pixels due to it's aspect ratio.

By the way,I have a 16:9 smartphone from 2015 (5" display)

 

4K (3840x2160):  8,294,400 pixels

Sony's phone(3840x1644): 6,312,960

 

That's a difference of 1,981,440 pixels,almost 2 million!

 

Also,Sony didn't abandon the headphone jack,so if you like them jacks and hate dongles - a Sony phone can do that.

IMO, because 4K is more recognised for the "3840" part than the "2160" part, I personally think it's fine to say that Sony's 3840x1644 to be "4K" in a 21:9 aspect ratio. I mean movies on a "true" 4K (UHD) display will end up being approximately 3840x1600-ish anyway. Is it marketing? Yep, for sure but I mean 3840x1644 will always be "hard to advertise" (in the sense it doesn't fall into a pre-existing definition) as yes, monitor manufacturers slap "WQHD+" on their 3840x1600 UW monitors but to me, (W)QHD+ is 3440x1440 (or lower on mobiles), which if you took a mobile resolution (say the S20s), you'll end up with 50% more pixels, which IMO is more than significant enough to be classified at a higher "marketing level". 

 

33 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

That's gonna use a ton of power.

I'm not so sure to be honest. Sony is great with power management and my Xperia 1 with the 4K 60Hz display and a 3330mAh battery easily lasted a day (IIRC, I averaged 6.5 hours of screen on, which ain't too bad) so with a 4500mAh battery, I can easily see it being a 1.5 day phone with moderate to heavy usage. I mean my X5 II with her 4000mAh battery and 1080p 120Hz can get well over 8 hours of screen on time with a full charge (or about 6.5 to 7 hours at 80% charge limit). Mind you, there is a massive caveat to that. Sony AFAIK had to add an additional chip for 120Hz at 4K (the 888 can't do 4K@120Hz) so that may end up draining the battery quite a bit. 

 

It is kind of funny how everyone is going "hurr durr, look at how fast our phones can charge" and Sony's just like "we've restricted your battery charging speed to prolong it's life and feel free to set a hard limit to slow degradation even more!"  

[Arika]

59 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

That's gonna use a ton of power.

bUt MiNeRs UsE mOrE pOwEr, ThE eNvIrOnMeNt!!!!

[Moonzy]

People who complained about the aspect ratio:

I present to you, multi tasking on a phone (xperia 5 ii)

Spoiler

I love it, I can't imagine going without it anymore, it's like having two screens

 

It fits in my pocket just fine