Sony unveiled the Xperia 5 III in April alongside the Xperia 1 III. While the Xperia 1 III has been available for a few months, Sony has continued to sell the Xperia 5 II instead of its third-generation successor. In fact, it has taken Sony until late September to introduce the Xperia 5 III in the UK. The device is not yet shipping in Germany or the US either, mind you.
We would forgive you for missing an announcement about the Xperia 5 III's UK release, too. As far as we can tell, Sony has published a solitary tweet to market the Xperia 5 III, followed by another on Facebook. According to Sony, the Xperia 5 III should cost £899 with a pair of complimentary WH-H910N headphones. Sony sells the WH-H910N for £250, but they are available for under £170 on Amazon.
Theoretically, that offer makes the Xperia 5 III decent value money, even if it has taken Sony five months to bring the device to market. Bizarrely, Sony has decided to only sell the handset through carriers at launch, which will not allow you to buy it outright.
Hence, the Xperia 5 III can only be purchased with the contract. As it stands, the device is purchasable through EE, O2 and Vodafone. Sony has hinted that it will have improved Xperia 5 III availability eventually, but it has not committed itself to a date yet.