Sony puts an end to the painful US wait for the Xperia 5 III
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Well, this didn't take long. It was only nine months ago that Sony formally unveiled the Xperia 5 III beast (alongside the similarly powerful Xperia 1 III), and the extra-tall 6.1-inch Android 11 handset is already shipping stateside.
All irony aside, while this excruciating wait is certainly hard to understand, especially after the Xperia 5 III made its commercial debut in select European countries months ago, a belated release still beats an LG-style industry retirement or an HTC-style exit from key markets like the US.
After all, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is also late to stores compared to Samsung's original plan reported over the last six months or so, and there still seems to be some decent interest around that particular 6.4-inch powerhouse.
Just like the S21 FE, the Sony Xperia 5 III packs a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 888 processor... from last year, which means that the Galaxy S22 family will leave this thing in the dust from a raw speed standpoint as early as next month.
Unlike Samsung's affordable new high-ender, which is even cheaper when purchased from Best Buy, Sony's latest flagship starts at a prohibitive $999.99 at "authorized retailers" nationwide. For the time being, Best Buy is still listing the unlocked Xperia 5 III as "coming soon" in a single black color, while B&H Photo Video can take your orders and deliver the same overpriced model right away.
To sweeten the deal (a tad), all those "authorized" US retailers will throw in a complimentary pair of Sony's WF-1000XM3 noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds and a whopping 43,200 Call of Duty: Mobile CP Points by February 27.
On paper, that amounts to a combined value of more than $700 in gifts included with absolutely no strings attached, but it remains to be seen if said freebies will be enough to seal the deal for many Android power users.
Keep in mind that an official Android 12 update is probably right around the corner, and in addition to an unusual 21:9 screen aspect ratio, the Xperia 5 III also has a triple 12MP rear-facing camera system with a variable telephoto lens going for it as a unique selling point over most other high-end smartphones available today.
Unfortunately, it's not entirely clear if the unlocked variant sold stateside will actually be compatible with any US 5G networks while almost certainly supporting 4G LTE speeds on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. There's an eye-catching green version you might be interested in as well, but that one is set for exclusive availability through Sony's own regional e-store.
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