Sony's most recent flagship phone was the Sony Xperia 1 II – that's the Xperia 1 Mark 2, if you're a little confused – and it looks as though work is well underway on what we're presuming is going to be the Sony Xperia 1 III.
According to a reasonably reliable Japanese source (via GSMArena), one of the key upgrades with next year's handset will involve the screen, which is set to be some 15% brighter than the one sported by its predecessor.
Sony phones are well known for the quality of their displays, with all that TV tech expertise coming into play, and we're pleased to hear they're getting better still. Sony is also the only phone maker to offer 4K displays on its premium handsets, an innovation we hope it sticks with next time around.
- Get ready for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 2
- The OnePlus 8T Pro won't be happening
- Solve every one of your iOS 14 problems
The other upgrade mentioned in the report is to do with the selfie camera: we're apparently going to get a camera with a wider aperture, which should mean more flexibility in photo-taking, and improved performance in low light.
Xperia by the numbers
Despite all the numbers and digits, Sony's smartphone lineup is actually relatively easy to understand at the moment. You've got the Xperia 1 phones as the flagships, the Xperia 5 phones as the more compact mid-rangers, and the Xperia 10 range as the budget choice.
The last handset to be released was the Sony Xperia 5 II (or Mark 2), another phone that we were mostly impressed by. With so much quality in the display and camera sensor departments, it's hard to go wrong with an Xperia phone.
Sony's difficulty is in getting more people to realize this and to switch from the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google. If the Xperia 1 III is its next attempt, we should be seeing it sometime in February, if Sony follows the same schedule in 2021 as it did in 2020 (though that's by no means certain).
The only other whisper we've heard about the Xperia 1 III to date is that it might come in several different versions and sizes, which would match what Apple and Samsung are doing with their flagship phone lines. No doubt there are more leaks and rumors to come in the months ahead, so stay tuned.
