XPERIA 5 iii Review: The Little Smartphone That Could!

SomeGadgetGuy's Gear List

--------------------------------------

Links on this page may be affiliate links which help support production on this website.

[guyinkognito]

The Sony 5 and 1 are literally the last flagship phones with all essential features. Vote with your wallet, guys.

[JojoLim]

Thanks for being one of those very few tech channels that are doing real and honest review of mobile devices. Your review on Xperia Pro-I was one of the reasons I got the phone/camera. Ha! Got it cheaper than a 512GB iPhone 13 Pro from a mobile network here in HK. It's bundled with Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds, and a 2-year warranty. I just laugh every time people say Xperia Pro-I is so expensive. Lols!

[Casual-Enthusiast]

You are honestly the only tech channel I can be arsed to watch anymore. You're more grounded and to the actual point, incorporating what real world uses are and what real people would make of a product.
Cheers man.

[arkimde]

Upgraded to the Xperia 5 III last month and I couldn't be happier. Thanks for covering Xperias. Amazing work.

[moakrameleyan]

Your coverage for many non influencers paid tech is really appreciated. Especially Sony products. I still see the 1 III is a better overall package, I understand the compelling reasons for a compact device, the narrow nature of both makes it so close than we think. In addition to the bigger screen with 4K.

[Serbofreak]

After having a fair amount of flagships go through my hands, I use the Xperia 5 mk2 on a daily basis. For most people, the choice comes down to a Chinese phone (they're all exactly the same), or a Samsung.
The Xperia 5 is easy to handle, the display is the best out there, forward facing speakers, awesome battery, and battery longevity; grand camera that relies on hardware and shows you real life rather than a wannabe HDR Instagram sham.
The reason I stuck with mk2 and not mk3 is because the 865 heats up less than the 888, and the performance is pretty much the same. Maybe they should have put an 870 in the mk3. Everything else between phones is pretty much the same.

[howequalspeace]

These are the phones to get if you want a premium phone that isn't huge that also has an awesome camera - this whole family of phones starting with the X5 ii is just awesome. The X5 ii is hands down the best phone experience I've had.

[alpineassault]

Can't believe I'm able to say this but I'm watching this video on my 5 iii 😁 Absolutely love it. Been having so much fun playing and consuming content because of the great NOTCHLESS AND PUNCHHOLELESS SCREEN with the front-firing speakers. No weird disturbance in the screen and no need for me to hold the phone in an uncomfortable way just so I don't block bottom-firing speakers. I'm in media consumption heaven right now. I was also able to pair my dual shock controller to it and I haven't been gaming the same since then lol. Tried to turn off the high refresh rate setting to maybe try and squeeze out a little more screen-on time but I just couldn't do 60 fps anymore. 120 actually spoiled me.

Oh I have a question though. Where do I find that toggle to be able to go to 240Hz?

[MrMozkoZrout]

Oh my dude finally. I thought i was weird or out of touch or something when i watched all of these reviews and videos about Xperia 5 III. I ended up buying it and i absolutely love it and i came from Samsung Galaxy S8 so yeah you actually summed up all of my reasons to choose Sony. I really feel like rest of tech tubers just hate it or something. Awesome video.

[MemelordSupreme]

3:38 THANK Everyone needs to hear this!

[mikebest]

Your carrier comments are on point... The only options that my carrier offers that aren't Samsung or apple, are pixels or tcl's.

[mlb]

I have an Xperia 1 III (kind of the same phone), and overall I love it so far. One gripe I have is with the onboard microphone gain control. I'm a musician and I tried recording a video myself playing drums in my basement. I used to do this with my XZ2 Premium and it handled that loud audio surprisingly very well. This new Xperia? The sound is so bad. I can't imagine how bad it would be trying to record video of a full live band. Luckily that headphone jack does support connecting my good Zoom H2N stereo microphone via TRRS, which is what I have to do to get good audio. The audio is obviously very good with this microphone, but for the sake of simplicity for a quick video, it'd be nice if this Xperia had a better auto gain control, or if it just let me adjust it manually (the Cinema Pro app appears to have this feature, but in reality it doesn't actually lower the gain it just lowers the playback volume, which is useless).

[Genshinaction]

I would love get the Pro-I. Was on the fence about it and the 1iii. I caught a used 1iii for 740 and thought it was a steal. Once the Pro-I falls under 1k, I'll try again.

[xicofir]

Vote with your wallet.
That's the only reason I pull the trigger on the Xperia 5 III. The only thing a regret was the price. This phone is too expensive, but dispite that it's one of the last phones that have all the features I want.
The only alternatives I know are the zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 flip.

[natskar]

I just bought one on Amazon. First time in YEARS I've been excited about a smartphone. Easy to hold in the hand, Basically THE only option to still have a micro SD card support and I can load up all of my lossless & hi-res music and enjoy it on an app (or of course use my DAC) that comes on the phone and it'll actually play those files instead of pretending to like on my pixel 4a, also the headphone jack is a welcome surprise. And then a no frills HDR-bandwaggon camera that can deliver me pictures true to life looking for nature shots. All in all this is the upgrade I've been waiting for, a phone that absolutely kills it in every way for what I want, thank you sony

[Southpaw]

Really nice review.
I have Sony Xperia 5 II, and after one year I cannot complain about anything. It's buttery smooth, no stutters. I love the 21:9 ratio. I often use the split-screen, so the display ratio gives you the additional space you need when using that.
I was tempting myself to get the 5 III, but I don't think it's worth the upgrade yet. I'll wait for 5 IV. 🤞🙂

[abesh]

It's a clear phone!
I love it's concept and seems a genuine option for people who want smaller phones!
Sony's smartphone lineup is solid and not confusing
And as always great assessment!

[lunaelriku]

Watching this with 5iii. I luv the game enhancer and photo pro apps..just one thing, I hope they fix the heat increasing

[schneints_keebs]

Hey Juan, as an alternative to xperia 5 iii, I would definitely recommend looking into a Zenfone 8 from Asus. The only thing we missing out on will be the micro sd expansion. But hey, the camera app and pro video feature kinda reminisced me on my old LG g6. Also, it has a headphone jack! :)

[Sabundy]

I feel like Sony Xperia is the Mazda of smartphones. Not as popular and well known as it's contemporaries, but ridiculously underrated and quietly bringing the heat and quality.