Sony Xperia 10 III review - A compact 5G smartphone with IP certification
The Sony Xperia 10 III is the direct successor of the Xperia 10 II. Compared to last year's model, Sony has performed a lot of fine tuning, particularly managing to fit a more powerful battery into an almost identical case size. In addition, the ports were updated and now stand out from most other models in this price segment.
The Xperia 10 III starts from a recommended retail price of 429 Euros (~$507), which is slightly higher than last year's. While our test quickly shows that the additional premium is quite justified, the Sony smartphone also shows some weakness in one core discipline.
Possible Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83.4 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | Sony Xperia 10 III SD 690 5G, Adreno 619L | 169 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.00" | 2520x1080 | |
| 83.1 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) SD 750G 5G, Adreno 619 | 170 g | 256 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.43" | 2400x1080 | |
| 83 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2021 | Samsung Galaxy A52 5G SD 750G 5G, Adreno 619 | 189 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.50" | 2400x1080 | |
| 82.1 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2021 | Oppo A94 5G Dimensity 800U, Mali-G57 MP3 | 173 g | 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | 6.43" | 2400x1080 | |
| 85.9 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2021 | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G SD 780G 5G, Adreno 642 | 159 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.55" | 2400x1080 | |
| 85.2 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2020 | Apple iPhone SE 2020 A13 Bionic, A13 Bionic GPU | 148 g | 128 GB NVMe | 4.70" | 1334x750 |
Case - With Gorilla Glass 6 and waterproofing
In addition to the classic black and white, the Sony Xperia 10 III is also available in more colorful versions such as blue and pink. While the front and back are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6, the frame is surrounded by a matte plastic, but this does not take away anything from the high-quality impression of the Xperia's exterior.
The workmanship of the Sony smartphone is very good. The gaps are tight and even. Attempts of twisting the smartphone case remain unsuccessful, without leading to any creaks. The cameras only protrude 0.8 mm (~0.03 in) from the case, so that any wobbling on a flat surface will turn out minimal.
As its predecessor, the Xperia 10 is dustproof according to IP6X and waterproof according to IPX5/IPX8. The card slot is flush with the frame and can be opened without having to use any tools.
Equipment - The Xperia 10 III includes an audio port, microSD, and USB 3.2
The equipment of the Sony Xperia 10 III makes some other, supposedly high-end smartphones look pale in comparison. In addition to the audio port, there is also an option to expand the storage via microSD card. Particularly the USB port stands out from the masses, since Sony uses USB 3.2 (Gen. 1), allowing for high data transfer rates of up to 5 Gbit/s if you provide the corresponding cable. Via an optional adapter to DisplayPort or HDMI, wired display output of up to 1440p is also possible.
There is even a notification LED on board, and the only things lacking are an IR blaster or a radio receiver.
microSD Card Reader
The microSD slot supports all the usual storage cards as well as the exFAT file format, but they cannot be formatted as internal storage. The transfer rates in the Cross Platform Disk Test using our Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 reference storage card are good, but they turn out only average in the copy test.
| SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501) | |
| Oppo A94 5G (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501) | |
Cross Platform Disk Test (CPDT)
Software - Android 11 with slim Xperia UI
The Sony Xperia 10 III is delivered with Google's Android 11, with the inhouse Xperia UI added by the manufacturer. This looks very clean, only offering few changes from the stock Android.
During the installation, it asks about installing third-party and additional apps from Google, but even if you deselect everything, you will still find Facebook, Netflix, and LinkedIn on the smartphone. However, you can then uninstall these apps.
The coming Android 12 has already been confirmed for the Xperia 10 III, and there are supposed to be at least two years of quarterly security updates. At the time of our test, these are at the level of May 1, 2021. Here, Sony could surely have offered another year of updates.
Communication and GNSS - Single-band GNSS and Wi-Fi 5 for the Xperia 10 III
In terms of connecting to the mobile data net, the Xperia 10 III supports all the current mobile network standards including 5G. The frequency coverage offers all the usual bands for Europe and more for 5G, but the connection options aren't really abundant in this area. The reception characteristics are inconspicuous in our test.
As far as WLAN goes, Sony does not make full use of all the capabilities of the Qualcomm chipset and only offers Wi-Fi 5 with MIMO antenna technology. However, in combination with our Netgear Nighthawk AX12 reference router, this shows some good and particularly very stable transfer rates. On the other hand, competitors such as the Mi 11 Lite 5G or the iPhone SE already support the faster Wi-Fi 6 standard.
Outdoors, the Sony smartphone instantly succeeds in connecting to the satellites, determining its location very accurately. Indoors, this can take quite long and then also needs to level itself out for a bit. It becomes noticeable here, that the Xperia 10 III has a single-band support exclusively.
The Xperia smartphone is compared to the Garmin Edge 500 on a short bike tour in our test. While the smartphone at times also likes to take a completely new route, it mostly sticks to the correct route. With a deviation of 170 meters (~558 ft) on a total route of almost 10 kilometers (~6.2 miles), this remains within an acceptable range.
Telephone Functions and Voice Quality
Sony uses the standard Android app for phone calls, which also allows you to use SIP accounts to make calls. In addition, VoLTE and WLAN calling is supported, but not an eSIM. The hybrid card tray is able to accept either two Nano-SIM cards or a microSD instead of the second SIM card.
We like the voice quality of the Xperia 10 III very much. Using the earpiece, the smartphone convinces by transmitting the voice of our conversation partner clearly, and the quality of the noise suppression is also satisfactory. Only with very loud noises, it can take a moment until they are filtered out completely, and it can also happen that the voice of the Xperia user sounds slightly metallic for a short time. The speaker does not create any echo, but transfers the voice slightly more dull. However, it still offers a good alternative also for longer phone calls.
Cameras - Fairly complete but sluggish
At 8 MP, the front camera of the Sony Xperia 10 III has a relatively low resolution but still succeeds in taking good selfies in adequate light conditions. However, they can quickly become noisy in low light conditions. Videos can be recorded in Full HD resolution at best, with the available formats being 16:9 and 21:9.
For the main camera on the back, Sony does not use highly resolving sensors as well, but a similar setup as in the previous year. Nominally, the only change is the aperture of the wide-angle lens. While this is able to convince with a very balanced and natural image composition, it could use a tad more dynamic. The low resolution of the ultra wide-angle lens is noticeable, and particularly the areas at the edges show some blurriness and some slight aberrations. The third lens is a 2x optical zoom (maximum of 10x digital zoom) that occasionally tends toward producing a red tint. Overall, the triple camera system succeeds in taking good quality pictures during the day, even if the quality is not very attractive and marred by blurriness and image noise under weak light conditions. However, the biggest fault of the camera system is the long shutter delay. You shouldn't even think about taking snapshots of moving objects with the Xperia 10 III. The weak point in this case appears to be an undersized ISP (Qualcomm Spectra 355L), since the delays are also quite long using other camera apps.
Videos can be recorded in Ultra HD resolution (30 FPS) at best, and you can additionally also select the 21:9 format. Those who want to save higher frame rates have to be content with Full HD, which only offers the 16:9 format. The electronic image stabilization isn't particularly effective, but it is also possible to switch between the different lenses while recording.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
WeitwinkelWeitwinkelUltraweitwinkel5-facher ZoomLow-Light
Under controlled light conditions, the Xperia 10 III also succeeds in offering a very natural color reproduction without there being any outliers. Our test chart is reproduced very sharp in the center, and the drop in sharpness in the edge areas also remains within limits. However, the noisiness becomes quite noticeable at full zoom level.
Accessories and Warranty - The absolutely necessary and a lot of paper
The box of the Sony Xperia 10 III also contains a modular charger (up to 7.5 watts), a USB cable (Type-A to Type-C), and numerous little leaflets in up to 15 languages.
The warranty covers 24 months for the smartphone and 12 months for the accessories.
Input Devices and Operation - Xperia with a scalable User Interface
The capacitive touchscreen of the Sony Xperia 10 III recognizes up to 10 touch points simultaneously and responds to inputs quickly and very accurately. The glass surface offers attractive sliding characteristics and can be cleaned easily. Google's GBoard is preinstalled as the keyboard layout, but it can also be replaced by another keyboard from the Play Store.
For biometric security, there is a fingerprint sensor that is integrated into the power button. Its speed and recognition rates are good. Face recognition is not supported.
The physical buttons sit tightly in the frame, offering a short hub as well as a crisp pressure point. The power button is slightly recessed to prevent accidental pressing. You can also use it to start the camera via a double press. Those who have installed another camera app are also given a choice which of the apps to start. The dedicated Google button is smaller and also slightly recessed, but there is no option to configure it. The vibration motor is powerful, giving a comfortable feedback that is also easily audible.
Even if the display is relatively small at 6.0 inches, due to the tall sides, you might have to stretch out your thumbs at times. However, since there is a single-hand mode, this is doable, and the integrated side sense function also shortens the input paths and is easily accessible.
While the Xperia user interface appears very clean at first glance, the icons are also very small. Those for whom they are too small can adjust the display size in five steps using the display settings.
Display - Last year's good OLED display gets an extension
At 6.0 inches, the OLED display of the Sony Xperia 10 III is one of the smaller models, and with its side ratio of 21:9, the smartphone also maintains a small exotic format. Due to its 2520 x 1080 pixel resolution, it achieves a very high pixel density, causing the contents to be displayed sharp and crisp. Holding on to the 60 Hz frame rate represents a small disappointment, and particularly in this price class Sony could have at least offered 90 Hz.
Compared to last year's model, the brightness has slightly decreased, reaching 536 cd/m² in the center of the screen with full-area content and activated brightness sensor. Up to 329 cd/m² are available if you manually adjust the brightness. With an even distribution of bright and dark areas (APL50), the brightness increases up to 682 cd/m². A slightly higher brightness level would have been nice not only for the supported HLG or HDR10. Also considering the competitors from Samsung and Xiaomi, this performance is disappointing.
At brightness levels adjusted to less than 61%, the OLED flickering frequencies vary between 119.0 and 242.7 Hz, making it quite possible for sensitive persons to encounter some difficulties. In addition, the panel falls into a 60-Hz mode. Sony does not offer DC dimming.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 97 %
Center on Battery: 536 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.1 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 1.3 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
99.7% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.27
| Sony Xperia 10 III OLED, 2520x1080, 6" | OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.4" | Samsung Galaxy A52 5G Super AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.5" | Oppo A94 5G AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.4" | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.6" | Apple iPhone SE 2020 IPS, 1334x750, 4.7" | Sony Xperia 10 II OLED, 2520x1080, 6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | -36% | -59% | -74% | -75% | 1% | -33% | |
| Brightness middle | 536 | 590 10% | 744 39% | 577 8% | 863 61% | 688 28% | 591 10% |
| Brightness | 540 | 596 10% | 749 39% | 586 9% | 860 59% | 659 22% | 590 9% |
| Brightness Distribution | 97 | 97 0% | 98 1% | 96 -1% | 93 -4% | 92 -5% | 97 0% |
| Black Level * | 0.28 | ||||||
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.1 | 1.9 -73% | 2.2 -100% | 2.7 -145% | 3.2 -191% | 1 9% | 1.42 -29% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 1.9 | 3.8 -100% | 7 -268% | 7 -268% | 5.2 -174% | 2.2 -16% | 3.83 -102% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.3 | 2.1 -62% | 2.1 -62% | 1.9 -46% | 3.9 -200% | 1.7 -31% | 2.4 -85% |
| Gamma | 2.27 97% | 2.13 103% | 2.06 107% | 2.25 98% | 2.33 94% | 2.25 98% | 2.215 99% |
| CCT | 6494 100% | 6698 97% | 6516 100% | 6617 98% | 7299 89% | 6790 96% | 9014 72% |
| Contrast | 2457 |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 242.7 Hz | ≤ 61 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 242.7 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 61 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 242.7 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Sony made some improvements in the calibration of the panel, which can display absolute black due to the OLED technology and offers brilliant contrasts.
In the standard settings, the color reproduction is slightly too cool and the colors are very saturated. Those who prefer display colors that are more natural should change to the original mode and manually adjust the white balance (see screenshot). Then the Xperia 10 III succeeds in offering an almost flawless color and grayscale reproduction.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 12 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 5.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 2.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 2.8 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 14 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Outdoors, the Sony Xperia 10 III does a very good job, and the brightness sensor is able to quickly adjust to new light conditions. While there are some reflections on the glass surface, they are rarely annoying. The offered brightness is only insufficient on very sunny days.
The viewing angle stability of the OLED panel is good. From steep viewing angles, the display turns slightly cooler, and the OLED-typical shimmering may become apparent. However, both effects are not very strong.
Performance - The Xperia smartphone offers a Snapdragon 690 5G
The Sony Xperia 10 III is equipped with a current Snapdragon 690 5G with 6 GB of LPDDR4x working memory. The 8-nm SoC has 8 cores, two of which are the fast Cortex A77 cores (up to 2.0 GHz) and the remaining six, the more efficient Cortex-A55 (up to 1.7 GHz). The integrated Adreno 619L is a slightly slower representative of the Adreno 619 and part of the lower performance class. The SoC should be placed in the lower mid-range, without being much slower than the Snapdragon 750, though. There is sufficient performance particularly for everyday system operation, as long as multi-tasking is not in the foreground.
Compared to the Nord N10 5G, which uses the same chipset, the CPU performance is only a minimally worse in the benchmarks. On the other hand, the performance turns out better in the graphics computations, and the measured values are significantly higher particularly in terms of AI performance.
In everyday operation, the snapdragon shows a good performance and we only rarely see any small stutters.
| UL Procyon AI Inference for Android - Overall Score NNAPI (sort by value) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G () | |
| Average of class Smartphone (1267 - 75143, n=150, last 2 years) | |
In the browser benchmarks, the Xperia 10 III can always be found in the lower third of the comparison field, even ending up in last place sometimes. However, this is not very noticeable in everyday operation. Although the loading of pages in complex websites can be quite a bit slower, we would not perceive this as any limitation.
| Jetstream 2 - Total Score | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (13.8 - 387, n=169, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Chrome 91) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (16.4 - 45.4, n=2) | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| Oppo A94 5G (Chrome 90) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Chrome 91) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (23.8 - 82.5, n=2) | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| Speedometer 2.0 - Result | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (15.2 - 569, n=152, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Chrome 91) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (13.3 - 41.2, n=2) | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
| Average of class Smartphone (38 - 347, n=80, last 2 years) | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Chrome 91) | |
| Oppo A94 5G (Chrome 90) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (29 - 74, n=2) | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=210, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Oppo A94 5G (Chrome 90) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (4395 - 16866, n=2) | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
| OnePlus Nord N10 5G (Chrome 87) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (2506 - 12192, n=2) | |
| Oppo A94 5G (Chrome 90) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III (Chrome 91) | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (Chrome 89) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) (Chrome 91.0.4472.120) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (277 - 28190, n=167, last 2 years) | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 (Safari Mobile 13.1) | |
* ... smaller is better
With the Xperia 10 III, Sony makes the overdue change to faster UFS 2.1 storage, which more than doubles its speed compared to the Xperia 10 II. While in most other areas, the Sony smartphone continues to place last in terms of transfer speeds, it is able to move ahead of all the competitors when writing small data blocks.
| Sony Xperia 10 III | OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) | Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | Oppo A94 5G | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | Average 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 5% | 5% | -1% | 27% | -21% | 126% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 840 | 951 13% | 927 10% | 941 12% | 949 13% | 760 ? -10% | 1887 ? 125% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 400.8 | 466 16% | 484.6 21% | 465.9 16% | 710 77% | 297 ? -26% | 1474 ? 268% |
| Random Read 4KB | 172.3 | 187.6 9% | 176.1 2% | 163.2 -5% | 207.9 21% | 152.9 ? -11% | 279 ? 62% |
| Random Write 4KB | 210.7 | 168.1 -20% | 179.2 -15% | 156.1 -26% | 206.9 -2% | 131.6 ? -38% | 312 ? 48% |
Gaming - Not for hardcore gamers
While the Adreno 619L is surely not a rocket among the graphics unit, it should be easily sufficient for simple, casual gaming. Even current games from the Play Store such as "League of Legends" are playable at maximum details, but the brakes are engaged in more demanding games such as "PUBG" and you cannot even select the higher graphics settings (HDR and Ultra HD). On the other hand, the Xperia 10 III turns out very stable in the lower settings in our test with GameBench.
With the small display, the overview shown while gaming is correspondingly small, and in the landscape format the mono speaker can also be easily covered by the hand.
Emissions - The Xperia 10 III only offers a mono speaker
Temperature
The surface temperatures of the Sony Xperia 10 III remain at a comfortable level at all times and even under constant load, it will only reach a maximum temperature of 38 °C (100 °F) in some spots.
Apparently the Snapdragon does not create any problems for the cooling of the Sony smartphone, since neither in GFXBench nor in 3DMark can we determine any drops in the performance during the stress test.
| 3DMark | |
| Wild Life Stress Test Stability | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | |
| Oppo A94 5G | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 | |
| Wild Life Extreme Stress Test | |
| Oppo A94 5G | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Nord Core Edition) | |
| Sony Xperia 10 III | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Apple iPhone SE 2020 | |
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35.6 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 38 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.1 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Although the Xperia 10 III only offers one mono speaker at the bottom of the display, it does its job fairly well. At medium volume levels, it is quite sufficient to briefly listen to some music or watch some short videos. However, if you turn up the volume, the sound becomes too imbalanced.
As an alternative for optional headphones, in addition to the USB-C connection, there is also a 3.5-mm audio port, for which Sony promises High-Res quality. Indeed at 102.67 dBFS, the signal-to-noise ratio is actually at an excellent level.
For wireless multimedia enjoyment via Bluetooth, the SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC standards are supported, but you have to live without aptX Adaptive and TWS+.