The Sony Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 III, and Xperia 10 III are coming to Malaysia in 2021

Sony has announced that the latest iterations of its Xperia phones are coming to Malaysia, with three models to be available: the Sony Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 III, and the more affordable Xperia 10 III. As per usual with the Xperia lineup, the focus here appears to be on mobile photography, with Sony saying that the Xperia 1 III and 5 III will feature the “world’s first variable smartphone telephoto lens paired with a Dual-PD sensor”.

Regardless, if you’re keen to pick one of the new Xperia models up, Sony has confirmed that these are coming to Malaysia soon. Here’s what you need to know.

Price and availability

The Sony Xperia 1 III will be available in Malaysia at the end of July 2021, although pricing will only be announced at a later date. Meanwhile, the Xperia 5 III will only be available in September, and again, pricing is not available at this moment. The Xperia 10 III will hit Malaysian stores in August 2021—and again, no official pricing for now.

Xperia 1 III & Xperia 5 III

For Sony’s flagship offerings, you get more-or-less the expected set of specs you’d expect on a premium Android smartphone. This includes a Snapdragon 888 under the hood, 5G support, as well as an impressive 6.5″ 4K OLED display pushing a 120Hz refresh rate on the Xperia 1 III (Gorilla Victus, too). The Xperia 5 III, meanwhile, misses out on the 4K resolution, but retains the 120Hz refresh rate on the 6.1″ Full HD screen. Both feature the Xperia’s signature 21:9 aspect ratio.

There’s also a 4,500mAh battery for both models, with Sony promising that you can juice the phones up from 0–50 percent in just half an hour with the bundled charger. Something called Xperia Adaptive Charging is also supposed to extend the lifespan of the battery by up to three years (compared to two years on predecessors), to ensure that the battery isn’t “overworked” when charging. Plus, these support Qi-compatible wireless charging, and IP68 certification water and dust resistance.

Clearly, however, the big headliner here is the variable telephoto lens. Both the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III feature triple 12MP sensors on the rear of the phone, with OIS supported for both wide and telephoto shooters. The variable telephoto lens is paired with a Dual PD sensor that reaches a focal length of up to 105mm, which means that only 70mm and 105mm are supported here—anything in between would involve digital zoom.

Overall, three fixed focal lengths are available: 16mm (f/2.2 ultra-wide), 24mm (f/1.7 wide), and 70mm (f/2.3 telephoto).

Regardless, both phones can capture video at 120fps in 4K with HDR, and there is now real-time eye-tracking autofocus. Sony’s “pro” mode is also back, and if you’re familiar with Sony cameras, the interface should be fairly familiar to you.

Xperia 10 III

Next up, the Xperia 10 III—the phone “for the mass market”, as Sony puts it. You don’t get fancy variable zoom lenses here, but Sony has improved its base model with a larger 4,500mAh battery, as well as IP68 certification and Gorilla Glass 6. You still get the 21:9 aspect ratio on the 6″ FHD+ OLED display, and HDR support is available, too. Under the hood, the mid-range Snapdragon 690 powers the device.

As for photography, the Xperia 10 III features a triple-camera setup that has supposedly been optimised for low-light photography and moving subjects. You’re looking at an ultra-wide 16mm lens, a 27mm wide shooter, and a 54mm telephoto lens—which Sony says will be ideal for taking portrait shots. 4K recording is available as well, while Sony has now included automatic animal detection—so your phone’s camera will be able to adjust various elements to capture your fast-moving pet.

There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack (yay!), while DSEE Ultimate is available to upscale compressed audio files to “near High-Resolution Audio quality”. All three models—the Sony Xperia 1 III, Xperia 5 III, and Xperia 10 III—will ship with Android 11 out of the box. For now, however, pricing has yet to be revealed, so it’s a little difficult to judge if these are worth a look. In the meantime, if you’re a photographer, do these scratch the itch? What do you think about the new variable telephoto lens?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.