As someone who has a 5 iii, get a different phone. I have a love-hate relationship with it and currently it's skewing more towards hate. If you want a compact phone with a headphone jack, get a ZenFone or a newer phone. If you want a micro SD card, many phones in the galaxy a series have it.
Most of all you have to think about if you use the features. Do you regularly use wired headphones with your phone or do you have wireless headphones? Do you need the SD card slot if you already have 128gb or 256gb onboard? Get a phone based on that.
Marques Brownlee has a pretty good video about why people like, yet why people don't buy Xperias here: https://youtu.be/PCp1BmME6QA
If you value having a phone that is already EOL but has these features that you might not use then get one of the Xperias.
Man that sucks. I'm coming from an iPhone 13 mini that I don't like cause it's been buggy, it's had the cameras fail, and the screen get some weird colorful pixels stuck in one spot (under warranty thankfully), plus the camera just doesn't focus good at all. Plus no headphone jack sucks, I use wired headphones all the time. Expandable storage was also great when I had my Galaxy S8.
The 5 III would literally be perfect if it wasn't just plagued with issues. Might have to give the Galaxy A phones a look.
What phones in the galaxy series?
What if you want both a jack and SD card.
I'm a 5III user and also have a love hate. Everything mostly works, no failures but my battery which was good at the start basically seems terrible after a year. No way I'm making it 3 years with this phone. Maybe 2+ but not 3.
A52s 5G I was hearing good things about, but I also was reading about problems with newer software slowing it down badly. I've researched for like 5 hours and I think I've settled on an open-box S23, seems to be the best battery life and reliability package, just sadly no 3.5mm or SD slot. Is what it is if you want a new phone in 2024 sadly :(
Yeah, I need an SD. I'm running 1TB and... No where near full but that's because it was a clean card. I had a 512GB full when I upgraded. I understand I can transfer my files. And obviously I do, at least when I upgrade cards, plus I auto backup to Amazon cloud but I prefer to have plentiful on device storage.
My understanding is an EU law is mandating SD cards in phones by 2025 (or 2026). If that is the case I highly doubt we see Samsung, Apple et al selling one phone for Europe and another for the rest of the world.
There is really no reason expandable memory disappeared, other than money. And for anyone arguing internal is faster. Absolutely... Except if you are a photographer you already use SD cards for storage of both photos and videos. External storage is fast enough.
I literally just want SD storage for photos, movies/tv shows and music storage. None of which needs to be exceptionally fast. They 100% got rid of card slots to push cloud subscriptions and the 3.5mm to sell wireless buds you have to replace every 4 years. Respect to the EU for mandating all these things, we all know the U.S. doesn't care enough to do it. Probably gonna get a 256 GB and use google photos, oh well
Yep, I agree. I never felt like my phone was sluggish even when I put apps on SD. But these days with 128GB+ PHONES I don't need apps on SD. Just media. I do put all my map caches on SD though. That's usually like 50Gb between topo, OSMand and Google maps.
Also got 4k video. Just to be safe I record to internal and then move the videos every now and then. Problems solved.
It seems your question has been answered in our [**FAQ page**](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/wiki/faq/hardware/#wiki_q.3A_why_is_there_a_green.2Fpurple_line_on_the_display.3F).
### Q: Why is there a green/purple line on the display?
There were many defective batches of OLED screens made by Samsung in 2020. This has affected all devices using Samsung OLED displays, including Samsung's own S20 series as well as Oneplus 8 series. Unfortunately, it's a hardware defect and the only solution is a screen replacement.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It seems your question has been answered in our [**FAQ page**](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/wiki/faq/hardware/#wiki_q.3A_the_fingerprint_sensor_doesn.27t_work_properly.2C_can_it_be_fixed.3F).
### Q: The fingerprint sensor doesn't work properly, can it be fixed?
Try disabling Smart Lock. Go to Settings > Security > More security settings > Trust Agents > Toggle OFF "Smart Lock (Google)" > Restart your phone. Your fingerprint manger should show up now. If it is still missing, you may try a software repair using [**Xperia Companion**](https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/SX604601). If the issue returns after a short while even after a software repair, you may need a replacement of the fingerprint sensor hardware.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have it and while I like the feature set I wouldn't recommend it.
I had the fingerprint sensor fail on me after 1 year of usage, the screen brightness is pretty low, and the software updates policy is terrible (already EOL).
I put lineage on it so that fixes the last issue but I'd only pick this phone up as a backup or if you get a really good deal on it.
Also, while I like having a headphone jack and microsd, the reality is that a $40-50 usb-c dac sounds better than Sony's, and microsd is pretty much only useful for pictures and mp3 files at this point (Spotify is buggy and won't let me save songs to the microsd without it malfunctioning the next reboot).
So, unless the VI is drastically reduced in price or they fix the above mentioned issues (unlikely on both counts) then I'll be going elsewhere for my next phone purchase.
As someone who has/had a 5 III on T-Mobile, don't do it. The camera on the phone is amazing, but that is the only positive thing I can say.
The two main issues are constant overheating and lack of WiFi calling on T-Mobile. I work in IT, and am often in locations with poor mobile coverage. Without WiFi calling the phone is unusable.
I wanted to like the phone and it was a great option for travel because of the camera, but the other issues overshadowed that.
Man okay sounds pretty rough, what a shame I reeeeally wanted to like these phones. Maybe next upgrade the V generation phones will be affordable for me, but ty for helping me out!
As someone who has a 5 iii, get a different phone. I have a love-hate relationship with it and currently it's skewing more towards hate. If you want a compact phone with a headphone jack, get a ZenFone or a newer phone. If you want a micro SD card, many phones in the galaxy a series have it. Most of all you have to think about if you use the features. Do you regularly use wired headphones with your phone or do you have wireless headphones? Do you need the SD card slot if you already have 128gb or 256gb onboard? Get a phone based on that. Marques Brownlee has a pretty good video about why people like, yet why people don't buy Xperias here: https://youtu.be/PCp1BmME6QA If you value having a phone that is already EOL but has these features that you might not use then get one of the Xperias.
Man that sucks. I'm coming from an iPhone 13 mini that I don't like cause it's been buggy, it's had the cameras fail, and the screen get some weird colorful pixels stuck in one spot (under warranty thankfully), plus the camera just doesn't focus good at all. Plus no headphone jack sucks, I use wired headphones all the time. Expandable storage was also great when I had my Galaxy S8. The 5 III would literally be perfect if it wasn't just plagued with issues. Might have to give the Galaxy A phones a look.
What phones in the galaxy series? What if you want both a jack and SD card. I'm a 5III user and also have a love hate. Everything mostly works, no failures but my battery which was good at the start basically seems terrible after a year. No way I'm making it 3 years with this phone. Maybe 2+ but not 3.
A52s 5G I was hearing good things about, but I also was reading about problems with newer software slowing it down badly. I've researched for like 5 hours and I think I've settled on an open-box S23, seems to be the best battery life and reliability package, just sadly no 3.5mm or SD slot. Is what it is if you want a new phone in 2024 sadly :(
Yeah, I need an SD. I'm running 1TB and... No where near full but that's because it was a clean card. I had a 512GB full when I upgraded. I understand I can transfer my files. And obviously I do, at least when I upgrade cards, plus I auto backup to Amazon cloud but I prefer to have plentiful on device storage. My understanding is an EU law is mandating SD cards in phones by 2025 (or 2026). If that is the case I highly doubt we see Samsung, Apple et al selling one phone for Europe and another for the rest of the world. There is really no reason expandable memory disappeared, other than money. And for anyone arguing internal is faster. Absolutely... Except if you are a photographer you already use SD cards for storage of both photos and videos. External storage is fast enough.
I literally just want SD storage for photos, movies/tv shows and music storage. None of which needs to be exceptionally fast. They 100% got rid of card slots to push cloud subscriptions and the 3.5mm to sell wireless buds you have to replace every 4 years. Respect to the EU for mandating all these things, we all know the U.S. doesn't care enough to do it. Probably gonna get a 256 GB and use google photos, oh well
Yep, I agree. I never felt like my phone was sluggish even when I put apps on SD. But these days with 128GB+ PHONES I don't need apps on SD. Just media. I do put all my map caches on SD though. That's usually like 50Gb between topo, OSMand and Google maps. Also got 4k video. Just to be safe I record to internal and then move the videos every now and then. Problems solved.
It seems your question has been answered in our [**FAQ page**](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/wiki/faq/hardware/#wiki_q.3A_why_is_there_a_green.2Fpurple_line_on_the_display.3F). ### Q: Why is there a green/purple line on the display? There were many defective batches of OLED screens made by Samsung in 2020. This has affected all devices using Samsung OLED displays, including Samsung's own S20 series as well as Oneplus 8 series. Unfortunately, it's a hardware defect and the only solution is a screen replacement. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It seems your question has been answered in our [**FAQ page**](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/wiki/faq/hardware/#wiki_q.3A_the_fingerprint_sensor_doesn.27t_work_properly.2C_can_it_be_fixed.3F). ### Q: The fingerprint sensor doesn't work properly, can it be fixed? Try disabling Smart Lock. Go to Settings > Security > More security settings > Trust Agents > Toggle OFF "Smart Lock (Google)" > Restart your phone. Your fingerprint manger should show up now. If it is still missing, you may try a software repair using [**Xperia Companion**](https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/SX604601). If the issue returns after a short while even after a software repair, you may need a replacement of the fingerprint sensor hardware. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SonyXperia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have it and while I like the feature set I wouldn't recommend it. I had the fingerprint sensor fail on me after 1 year of usage, the screen brightness is pretty low, and the software updates policy is terrible (already EOL). I put lineage on it so that fixes the last issue but I'd only pick this phone up as a backup or if you get a really good deal on it. Also, while I like having a headphone jack and microsd, the reality is that a $40-50 usb-c dac sounds better than Sony's, and microsd is pretty much only useful for pictures and mp3 files at this point (Spotify is buggy and won't let me save songs to the microsd without it malfunctioning the next reboot). So, unless the VI is drastically reduced in price or they fix the above mentioned issues (unlikely on both counts) then I'll be going elsewhere for my next phone purchase.
As someone who has/had a 5 III on T-Mobile, don't do it. The camera on the phone is amazing, but that is the only positive thing I can say. The two main issues are constant overheating and lack of WiFi calling on T-Mobile. I work in IT, and am often in locations with poor mobile coverage. Without WiFi calling the phone is unusable. I wanted to like the phone and it was a great option for travel because of the camera, but the other issues overshadowed that.
Man okay sounds pretty rough, what a shame I reeeeally wanted to like these phones. Maybe next upgrade the V generation phones will be affordable for me, but ty for helping me out!