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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?
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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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