Sony Xperia 1 III review

Android 11, Xperia style

The Xperia 1 III boots Android 11, and as is customary for Sonys, the user interface has a very stock feel. Looking deeper, though, there are several touches from Sony that add extra functionality.

Starting with some of the basics, there's an Always-on display feature (AOD) with a limited set of customization options. The lockscreen is business as usual with a clock (that you can customize), a shortcut to the camera and another one for Google Assistant (a bit redundant when there's a hardware key for that already).

Always on display • Lockscreen

The homescreen, too, is as standard as they come. The Google feed is the leftmost pane, but you can disable it if it's not your thing. The quick toggles/notification area is Google's stock too. With this version of Android, you get Notification history and the Bubbles shortcuts as part of the Conversations features - both available on the Xperia, unlike some more heavily customized UIs.

Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Quick toggles • Notification settings

This brings us to one of the Sony exclusives, already available on the previous generation, the Multi-window switch. Split-screen multi-window implementation is one of the bits Google changes most often, but the current one has stuck for a couple of years, and it's a really clunky one, so Sony intervened.

You access Multi-window switch from the task switcher or from the dedicated shortcut icon on the homescreen, and you get sort of like two stacked task switcher rolodexes with your currently opened apps to pick one for the top half and one for the bottom half of the screen. The rightmost pane in each half lets you launch another app, not just pick from the already running ones. The phone remembers three previously used pairs so you can access them directly, though we couldn't find a way to save custom app pair presets. It's worth mentioning that the window split can be done in almost any arbitrary ratio, not just 50/50.

Task switcher • Multi-window switcher

Side sense is another of the in-house Sony features. A bar shortcut on either side of the phone opens up a menu of shortcuts to apps and features, most of them user-configurable. The 21:9 multi-window pairs can be customized here, but they don't go into the three pair shortcuts in the regular task switcher. A new addition to the menu a widget to control the Sony headphones app - handy if you have Sony headphones.

Side sense

There's a fairly standard set of gestures for call handling, as well as a one-handed mode and smart backlight control. It's in this menu that you'll find the navigation options with the two basic types available - gestures or a navbar.

Gesture settings

Missing on the midrange Xperia 10 III, Sony's Game Enhancer is part of the 1 III's software package. It's a comprehensive utility for dealing with.. well, games, and comprises of two interfaces - a game hub/launcher, and an overlay you pull out from the side while in a game.

Performance profiles (or Game Mode) can be set on a per-game basis, and it's in here that you get to set the screen refresh rate and lock it at 120Hz regardless of whether the game supports it (though, obviously, it would make sense on the games that do). Additional sliders let you select Touch response speed and touch tracking accuracy.

H.S. power control is the setting that deals with power management, and it won't charge the battery but will only essentially meet your current power consumption to avoid unnecessary heat generation - H.S. stands for Heat Suppression.

The Focus settings is an array of toggles that let you disable pesky notifications, turn off adaptive brightness, disable the camera button and the side sense functionality - limit distractions.

There are also screenshot and video capture features.

Game Enhancer

Synthetic benchmarks

The Xperia 1 III is powered by the Snapdragon 888 - no surprises there. Qualcomm's current top-level chipset comes with tons of raw power in both the CPU and graphics departments and has a built-in 5G modem, plus all the efficiency benefits of the 5nm manufacturing process.

Having said that, the Xperia 1 III put out low to average results, with the notable exception of single-core GeekBench, where it was towards the top of the chart.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  3749
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  3704
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  3673
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  3636
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  3582
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  3518
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  3515
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  3489
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  3476
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  3318
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  3316
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  3275
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  3244
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  3191

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  1143
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  1130
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  1126
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  1126
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  1126
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  1124
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  1109
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  1107
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  1091
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  1085
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  1020
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  926
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  920
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  897

Antutu didn't show the Xperia 1 III in the best possible light, with both v8 and v9 of the benchmark placing it at the bottom of the current pack of flagships.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  734811
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  703270
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  691055
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  688720
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  686835
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  675851
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  668722
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  657273
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  657150
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  656467
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  622276
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  607423
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  534701
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  531270

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  836826
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  804626
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  797484
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  794016
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  749132

Graphics benchmarks treat the Xperia a bit more favorably thanks in part to the 1080p resolution which the phone renders onscreen benchmarks in. The Xperia even manages to snach a narrow victory in the 3DMark Wild Life benchmark.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 9 Pro
  119
• vivo X60 Pro+
  119
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  118
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  118
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  116
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  113
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  111
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  111
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  111
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  109
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  107
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  97
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  84

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  105
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  104
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  100
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  93
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  91
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  64
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  60
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  59
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  58
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  58
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  57
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  57
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  55

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  71
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  70
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  70
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  69
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  69
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  69
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  68
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  67
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  66
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  66
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  64
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  56
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  51

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  62
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  62
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  54
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  54
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  54
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  39
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  36
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  34
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  33
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  33
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  33
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  25

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  45
• vivo X60 Pro+
  44
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  41
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  37
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  27
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  25
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  24
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  24
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  23
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  20
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  17

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  43
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  43
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  41
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  39
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  36
• Sony Xperia 1 II
  27
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  26
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  24
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  24
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  23
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  23
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  22

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 40 Pro
  6170
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  5807
• Galaxy S21+ 5G
  5757
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  5714
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  5701
• vivo X60 Pro+
  5695
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  5691
• Asus Zenfone 8 Flip
  5677
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  5676
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  5673
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  5653
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  5547

These numbers you see above are obtained on the first benchmark runs on a cool phone. However, scores drop rapidly with repeated runs and drop pretty badly - by 20%, even 25%, in Antutu. We ran a couple of throttling/stability tests only to confirm the significant decline in performance under sustained load.

CPU throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test

The phone also heats up to uncomfortable levels - that's good in a way because it means heat is being dissipated, but it's apparently not being dissipated efficiently enough. All in all, the Xperia 1 III's performance leaves us wanting.