Sony Xperia 1 III: What we want to see

Sony Xperia 1 II back hero shot 2

At a whopping $ 1,200, the Sony Xperia 1 II isn’t the cheapest flagship on the market. Even so, it’s hard to say that for the most part, you’re not getting a well-rounded premium experience.

Between the powerful chipset, high-resolution screen, water resistance, wireless charging, and pro-focused camera software, there is certainly a lot to like about the early 2020 flagship.

There is definitely room for improvement, however. So here’s what we want from the Sony Xperia 1 III or whatever the new Sony phone is called for 2021.

An optimized camera experience

Sony Xperia 1 II rear camera macro 1

The Sony Xperia 1 II came with three camera-related apps with your standard camera app, a Photo Pro app and a Cinema Pro app. From the start, we want the brand to combine the Photo and Cinema Pro apps into one Pro app for simplicity.

It is understandable that Sony would want to use two separate camera apps, one for casual use and the other for a pro-level experience. What is incomprehensible, however, are some other bizarre choices like limiting HDR to the Pro app. The main camera app doesn’t automatically switch between lenses when zooming in and out, so you’ll have to switch manually instead. You would expect the main camera app to offer both options.

Connected: The Sony Xperia 1 II camera is a case study of nonsensical software design

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen strange camera app choices from the company, as they previously opted to make 4K a separate mode instead of a video quality option in earlier years. Hopefully the Xperia 1 III marks the beginning of more sensible camera app design.

More photography smart

Google Pixel 4 double exposure controls

Sony offers multi-frame processing functions such as HDR and a night mode on the Xperia 1 II. But there is definitely room for smarter photography functions that reduce the need to jump into an editing suite.

See also: The best Sony cameras you can spend your money on

For one, we’d love to see the brand deliver something similar to the pixel’s double exposure control. This allows you to adjust the shadow levels before taking this shot. We’d also like to see features that will help newbies get a grip on advanced camera settings (e.g. ISO, exposure, etc.). For example, LG offered the Graphy app on its recent high-end phones, which featured a variety of great photos and associated camera settings. Best of all, this app allows you to quickly apply these settings to your camera app for similar results.

We would also add improved selfie quality to our Xperia 1 III wish list, as selfie snapshots on the Xperia 1 II were rather disappointing.

Please keep the headphone jack

Sony Xperia 1 II headphone jack

The Xperia 1 II is one of the few times that a smartphone maker has revived the 3.5mm headphone jack for its flagship phones after previously killing it. We definitely applaud the company for this, even if their reasoning was a bit strange.

Read more: The best smartphones with a headphone jack

So we’re definitely adding the 3.5mm port to our Xperia 1 III wish list, and the presence of the port on the Xperia 5 II gives us hope that Sony will keep it this time around. Our own Rob Triggs also wants Sony to do away with additional headphone apps and integrate support directly into the platform.

A high refresh rate

Sony Xperia 1 II in the lower front of the display

The Xperia flagship from early 2020 follows in the footsteps of the Xperia 1 and Premium line and offers a 4K display. We don’t blame you if you think this is a pointless move as many consumers cannot tell the difference between QHD + and 4K resolution at this screen size. Even so, they are the only major brand to offer this option these days. We therefore expect them for the Xperia 1 III.

We keep our fingers crossed that a 4K display is also accompanied by a high refresh rate. The high refresh rate doesn’t have to take effect at 4K either, as this would likely lead to extreme battery drain. We would be very happy if it were used with a lower resolution such as FHD + or QHD +. A high refresh rate support would definitely be useful for remote play via the PS5. Speaking of …

Improve PlayStation connectivity

PlayStation Remote Play

Microsoft is bringing Xbox Game Pass and its associated cloud gaming capabilities to Android, so subscribers can stream a wide library of games on their mobile devices. Sony also offers Remote Play for Android, but unfortunately it is not compatible with the PlayStation Now streaming service.

Connected: A PlayStation Phone should be Sony’s answer to streaming Xbox games

We definitely added PlayStation Now Remote Play to our wish-list for the Xperia 1 III so that subscribers can play PlayStation titles without actually having to own a Sony console. We would also like Sony to integrate its PlayStation controller / accessories and messaging apps into the platform itself rather than downloading them separately.

Faster loading speed

Orange cable with USB-C connector

Sony improved its charging situation in 2020: the Xperia 1 II delivers 21 W wired charging and 15 W wired charging. The latter is pretty solid these days, but we’d definitely want improved wired charging in 2021.

Faster charging generally carries a higher risk of damaging the battery even faster. However, there is no need to charge 65W or 100W here. Even charging with 30 W or 40 W would be a welcome improvement over the current 21 W charging solution. Faster charging is an essential part even today as battery capacity increases in the 5G era.


That’s it for our Sony Xperia 1 III wish list! What would you like to see of Sony’s flagship 2021? Take part in our survey!

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