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Sony is unfashionably late to the Android flagship party yet again, putting its first Snapdragon 888 powerhouse up for pre-order stateside several months after the commercial debut of many of 2021's best phones, including the similarly impressive Samsung Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 9 families.
Sony plans to begin shipping this 4K HDR OLED 120Hz content playing machine as soon as August 19, which is... not a lot better. To make up for keeping you waiting since April, the company is ready to throw in its very popular WF-1000XM3 true wireless earbuds, as well as no less than 43,200 Call of Duty: Mobile CP Points, with Xperia 1 III orders placed by September 26 at "participating Sony authorized retailers."
Although the combined value of those two freebies sits at an incredible $770, with the gaming offer alone estimated at a whopping 540 bucks, the $1,299.99 list price of the smartphone itself may still feel like a decidedly hard pill to swallow for many people.
Granted, the Xperia 1 III comes with a truly unrivaled display in tow, at least in theory, as well as a very interesting triple rear-facing camera system including the world's first variable smartphone telephoto lens with a Dual PD sensor. But we're not entirely sure everyday consumers will be impressed by that kind of stuff when asked to cough up one thousand and three hundred dollars for a device whose "5G network and availability may vary depending on country, carrier, software version, and user environment."
Key Sony Xperia 1 III specs and features
While you're likely to be able to get this bad boy working on AT&T, T-Mobile, and possibly even Verizon when it comes to 4G LTE connectivity, US 5G support could prove spotty... at best, which is simply unacceptable in this day and age at $400 and up, not to mention the $1,000+ segment.
On the bright side, the unlocked Sony Xperia 1 III also features everything from a good old fashioned headphone jack to a microSD card slot, fast wired and wireless charging, IP68 water resistance, stereo speakers, and a hefty 12GB RAM count paired with an equally generous 256 gigs of internal storage space. Oh, and did we mention that those complimentary WF-1000XM3 just so happen to be among the very best true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation money can buy right now?
Curiously enough, we can't seem to be able to find the phone's official Amazon product listing yet, while Best Buy doesn't appear to have kicked off its pre-orders at the time of this writing. That means you can be one of the first to secure your Frosted Black-only unit over at B&H... or you can take your business directly to Sony's US e-store and choose between black and Frosted Purple paint jobs, the latter of which will remain exclusive to that particular website.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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