Sony joins the Android 12 club, updates the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III

Good news for Sony Xperia fans.

What you need to know

• Sony details its Android 12 update, which has begun rolling out.
• The Xperia 1 III and 5 III models in Russia are the first to receive the new update.
• It's unclear when other regions or devices will receive the update.

While Samsung is in the middle of furiously updating its vast smartphone lineup across devices and regions, Sony is finally arriving to the party with the stable Android 12 build for the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III flagships.

An Android 12 support page was found on Sony's website, highlighting some of the changes arriving alongside the update. That includes features like native scrolling screenshots, privacy indicators for the camera and mic, approximate location, and improved one-handed use, which is ideal for a phone as tall as the Xperia 1 III.

Essentially, these are all features we see on Google's Pixel 6 phones, which isn't surprising since Sony keeps a pretty vanilla version of Android. However, the page notably doesn't mention features like Dynamic Color, although we expect Sony will implement this on its phones as well.

As noted by XDA-Developers, the Android 12 update is currently arriving on Russian dual-sim variants of the Xperia 1 III and 5 III. Since Sony has yet to provide a timeline for its Android 12 rollout, we'll have to wait to see when it arrives in other regions and on other Xperia models like the newer and much more expensive Xperia Pro-I.

Sony doesn't have nearly as many phones to update as Samsung, so it should hopefully arrive across its lineup sooner rather than later. That said, Sony's best camera phones were notably absent from the Android 12 beta program.

Pro cameraSony Xperia 1 III

$1298 at Amazon$1300 at Best Buy

For the pros

If you're a photographer and a fan of Sony products, you may want to consider the Xperia 1 III. It features a large, gorgeous 4K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and impressively versatile cameras that professionals should be familiar with.