Sony Xperia 5 III

Reliable rear camera ; Well laid out Pro camera app ; Decent battery life

Screen’s atypical aspect ration causes some apps to look weird ; A little expensive

Last updated: October 20, 2021 (

Excellent camera system ; 21:9 CinemaWide display ; Fast performance

Battery life could be better ; Slippy glass design ; Confusing array of buttons

If you want a compact phone that doesn’t skimp on hardware then the Sony Xperia 5 III will be a great choice. It has a high-end processor, takes excellent photos and even though it is quite small, the screen is good too. You won’t get days and days of...

Powerful Snapdragon 888 chip ; Solid battery life ; Gorgeous 21:9 display ; Strong cameras...

...but pro camera apps are not easy to use ; Gets very hot, very fast ; No wireless charging ; Not much improvement over the Xperia 5 II

Great display and design ; Good audio offering ; Plenty of power in its compact form

Phantom touches on fingerprint scanner ; Camera's leaning towards pro offerings might alienate some users ; Display could be brighter ; Expensive

Flagship power in a compact form, but with a price that's stepped up for this generation, making it fairly expensive. The design and build is great, as are the audio and display, but the camera - while offering lots of advanced controls - isn't the...

One of the last truly small Android phones ; Great dual-telephoto lens ; Android 12 is a delight on the Xperia 5 III ; Battery life is much better than Xperia 1 III

Price is still high for what you get ; Display could be brighter ; Lacks wireless charging ; Selfie camera feels forgotten

Beautiful display ; Excellent audio ; Small size ; IP65/58 water-resistance

No wireless charging ; Camera app is difficult to use ; Overheating limits performance ; Expensive

There’s a lot to like in the Xperia 5 III, which has top specs in a compact size. It's expensive though, and despite all the hardware it's difficult to get the best out of the camera thanks to software built solely with pro users in mind.

— Reliable cameras, good battery life, powerful processor

What we didn’t like — Atypical aspect ratio, quite costly

The Sony Xperia 5 III is a solid all-round Android smartphone that delivers the goods in key areas including the camera, the performance, the battery, and the screen. That said, the unusual aspect ratio will prove to be divisive, and it’s not a cheap...

Strong battery life ; Easy to use one-handed ; Front-facing stereo speakers

Can run quite hot ; Unreliable cameras ; Screen aspect ratio not the best for some content

In its heyday, in partnership with Ericsson, Sony was one of the biggest players in the mobile market. Ever since it split and entered the Android space on its own, it has been consistently trying (and sometimes succeeding) to reinvent the wheel to...

Media machine ; Impressive gaming support ; Compact design ; Photo Pro

Expensive ; No wireless charging ; Heating issues

The Xperia 5 III is a feature-packed smartphone, but not much of an improvement over last year’s model