Best Buy finally reveals Sony Xperia 5 III 5G US price, no release date listed just yet
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Sony is notoriously slow compared to the competition when it comes to both officially announcing and commercially releasing new high-end smartphones, and unfortunately, the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have followed the example of their forerunners this year.
Unveiled several months after Samsung's Galaxy S21 family, the two extra-tall Snapdragon 888 powerhouses are still not shipping stateside, and while the larger variant can at least be pre-ordered, the smaller model was not even confirmed for an impending US debut... until today.
At long last, the 5G-enabled Sony Xperia 5 III has (quietly) surfaced on the website of a major US retailer, and although Best Buy is not yet ready to commit to any sort of delivery estimate, we now know the 6.1-inch handset is coming (relatively) soon at a price of $999.99.
That makes this bad boy a solid 300 bucks more affordable than its 6.5-inch sibling, but it obviously remains to be seen if Sony will be able to sweeten the Xperia 5 III 5G deal with a free pair of WF-1000XM3 true wireless earbuds or any other gift of that sort when pre-orders actually kick off.
For the time being, the (relatively) compact device is listed as "sold out" over at Best Buy, as well as "coming soon" at B&H Photo Video, while Sony can only offer to email you when the phone becomes available if you sign up through the manufacturer's official US e-store.
At $999.99, the Xperia 5 III is $50 costlier than last year's Xperia 5 II, a premium that could easily be justified if 5G speeds are actually supported in the US this time around, at least on AT&T and T-Mobile's low and mid-band networks.
Naturally, the list of upgrades is considerably lengthier than that, including a faster processor (duh!), bigger battery, faster charging, and perhaps most importantly, a much more versatile triple rear-facing camera system with a variable telephoto lens in addition to a primary Zeiss-powered shooter and a nice 12MP ultra-wide-angle sensor.
With a silky smooth 120Hz OLED display, top-shelf water resistance, good old fashioned headphone jack and microSD card slot in tow, as well as a decent 8GB RAM and 128GB storage space, the Xperia 5 III 5G looks like the kind of device that could have easily earned its spot on our list of the overall best phones money can buy... back in February or March.
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