Sony Xperia 5 III review

Android 11, Xperia style

The Xperia 5 III boots Android 11, and as is customary for Sonys, the user interface has a very stock feel. Underneath that, there are a fair bit of in-house touches 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 basic too, 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).

Lockscreen • Always on display

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 the 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 is a widget to control the Sony headphones app - handy if you have those.

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, but available on the 1 III, Sony's Game Enhancer is part of the 5 III's software package as well. It's a comprehensive utility for dealing with 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 provide just enough power to 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 - or limit distractions in other words.

There are also screenshot and video capture features.

Game Enhancer

Synthetic benchmarks

The Xperia 5 III, just like the 1 III, is equipped with the Snapdragon 888 chipset. That means top-tier performance under both CPU and GPU intense tasks, as well as 5G connectivity from the SD888's built-in modem. Unlike the 1 III and its 12GB of RAM, the 5 III comes with 8GB - while more has to be better, enough can be enough. Two storage versions are available - 128GB and 256GB and we have the base version for review.

The Xperia 5 III posted more or less expected results throughout the benchmarks we ran. In GeekBench, it ranked around the middle of the pack of SD888 devices we have in the database, though the differences between these are small enough to be irrelevant.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  3749
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  3710
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  3636
• Asus Zenfone 8
  3604
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  3582
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  3549
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  3515
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  3489
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  3316
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  3301
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  3244
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  3238

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  1143
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  1130
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  1126
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  1124
• Asus Zenfone 8
  1118
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  1117
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  1110
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  1109
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  1085
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  1032
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  926
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  890

There was more of a gap in Antutu 9, where the Xperia 5 III scored lower than what its hardware is capable of and lower than the already unremarkable score of the Xperia 1 III. The Zenfone 8 puts out better numbers here, but then the Galaxy S21 5G (in Exynos trim) is even lower than the Xperia.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  836826
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  804626
• Asus Zenfone 8
  799738
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  749132
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  708394
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  650829

In graphics benchmarks, the Xperia is about on par with the Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos), and a bit behind the Zenfone 8, mostly in onscreen tests. For what it's worth, the 5 III often inches ahead of the 1 III - a frame per second here, a frame per second there. It's not a gap worth talking about, but it's enough to prove the 5 is no worse than 1.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  122
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  119
• vivo X60 Pro+
  119
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  118
• Asus Zenfone 8
  117
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  113
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  113
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  111
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  111
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  109
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  97
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  86

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 8
  105
• vivo X60 Pro+
  105
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  103
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  95
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  93
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  92
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  91
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  71
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  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

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  71
• vivo X60 Pro+
  71
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  70
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  70
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  69
• Asus Zenfone 8
  69
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  69
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  68
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  67
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  66
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  60
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  51

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  62
• Asus Zenfone 8
  61
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  59
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  54
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  54
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  54
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  53
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  41
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  36
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  33
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  33

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Asus Zenfone 8
  45
• vivo X60 Pro+
  44
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  43
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  41
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  29
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  29
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  27
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  24
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  24
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  23

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  43
• Asus Zenfone 8
  41
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  40
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  39
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  38
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  37
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  36
• Sony Xperia 5 II
  28
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  24
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  23
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  22

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  32
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  31
• vivo X60 Pro+
  31
• Asus Zenfone 8
  30
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  29
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  29
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  28
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  28
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  14

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 9 Pro
  28
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  28
• vivo X60 Pro+
  28
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  27
• Sony Xperia 1 III
  27
• Asus Zenfone 8
  27
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  27
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  25
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  25

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia 1 III
  5807
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  5744
• Sony Xperia 5 III
  5742
• ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G
  5714
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  5701
• vivo X60 Pro+
  5695
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  5673
• Asus Zenfone 8
  5666
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  5653
• Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  5547
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
  5412

As we observed on the 1 III, the Xperia 5 III has a tendency to throttle the CPU speeds under load and does so quickly and significantly. Passively cooled modern high-end smartphones typically throttle a lot, so the Xperia isn't alone in this, but we'd say it's a worse offender than most. For comparison, the Zenfone 8's stability score in the 3D Mark Wild Life stress test is 85%, while the Xperia's is 55% - not great.

CPU throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test

Posting the good benchmark numbers expected from its hardware, the Xperia 5 III also behaves predictably when it comes to heat management and struggles to put out its otherwise top-tier performance for very long. Others can beat it by a little in this benchmark or that one, but if you're looking for sustained performance, the Xperia loses by a lot.