Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThis isn't the phone for everybody, and that's the point.
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2022
Edit, April 2023:
Just wanna say that after a bit over a year, almost a year and a half, this phone continues to serve me well. The software is still up to date, things are still running smoothly, and the battery continues to not be an issue.
I have it set to stop charging at 80% to keep the battery healthier for longer, and I've got no problems with battery life. I feel no need to carry a battery pack with me. Mind you, when the Galaxy S7 I carried in high school was at this point in its life, it'd hit 50% by lunchtime.
Let's be real: 20 minutes on the charger before and after work is not so bad.
And I still think the camera is just okay. On one hand, this phone kinda got me into photography. On the other hand, this phone made me buy a real camera. Take that as you will. Radar is still an extraordinarily good boy.
My original review, from February 2022:
Despite some doom-and-gloom headlines, I can't help but feel as if Sony has really found their market this time.
That market is media nerds who miss old phones... and who were pushed off the LG train.
But it's not just LG's departure from the market that makes this phone a hit, and there are a few notable differences separate the Mk.III's features from LG's mistakes.
Chief among them: intention and cohesion. The Mk.III is a phone with a purpose, and it goes about executing that purpose remarkably well. The headphone jack is present and sounds very nice, so that you can actually use your nice, wired headphones (although it is still a smartphone; don't expect to run an HD-600 out of it). The SIM tray is toolless and has a micro-SD slot, so that files (songs, pictures, videos, movies, etc), can be moved on to and off of the phone quickly and easily. The rectangular, notchless 4k, 120hz, 16:9 screen is perfect for watching movies with as few compromises as possible on a mobile devise. The camera's hardware is robust (if a bit over-engineered) and has an accompanying shutter button, and the software is aimed squarely at people who'd get use out of a good manual mode... and not so much those who wouldn't.
The Mk.III is a phone designed for nerds, and that's what the Xperia line has always been. Regular consumers are going to be turned off by it, but that's because it's not meant for them. Normal smartphone users don't care about the rectangular screen, the Cinema Pro app, or that it has a hi-res DAC, and they would almost certainly get more use out of something like a Pixel or a Galaxy.
LG's fatal mistake was forgetting that normal people aren't interested, and instead of sticking to one market or the other, they split the difference and got lost in the middle, with features that neither side was really all that interested in. I bet you didn't remember that the G5 had separate modules you could attach to a slot at the bottom, or that the V20 had a little second screen that could display app shortcuts, or that the G8 had a sensor that could read the blood vessels in your hand.
The Xperia line has gotten around this by completely ignoring the normal people that don't care, and instead catering directly to nerds, allowing them to wear expensive headphones and fiddle with their camera settings while also not forsaking flagship creature comforts like a top-of-the-line processor, metal and glass construction, wireless charging, and up-to-date software-- all things that are not guaranteed when buying the older or cheaper phones that share many of the Mk.III's most desired features.
Although the phone is by no means perfect (the cameras' auto mode needs work, the battery could be bigger, and some might find Sony's software skin to be a bit sparse), it more than achieves what it set out to do, and I am looking forward to keeping it by my side going forward.
Judge the photo sample as you will, but I think it does well. I haven't had a lot of interesting photo opportunities with this phone yet, and I am not a photographer, so some basic indoor dog pictures will have to suffice. His name is Radar and he's a very good boy.
