Sony Xperia 1 III vs Google Pixel 6
57
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Sony Xperia 1 III (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) that was released on April 14, 2021, against the Google Pixel 6, which is powered by Google Tensor and came out 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 III
- The rear camera has a 4.4x optical zoom
- 56% higher pixel density (643 vs 411 PPI)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- 24% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1232K versus 990K)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- Weighs 21 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 23% longer battery life (18:55 vs 15:23 hours)
- Delivers 52% higher peak brightness (849 against 560 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 13
- The phone is 7 months newer
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1644 x 3840 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 21:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 643 ppi | 411 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 385 nits | 500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 620 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 120 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.2% | 83.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 476 Hz | 397 Hz |
| Response time | 7.5 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 165 mm (6.5 inches) | 158.6 mm (6.24 inches) |
| Width | 71 mm (2.8 inches) | 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 186 g (6.56 oz) | 207 g (7.3 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gray, Purple | Black, Blue, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Google Tensor |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2800 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex A55 - 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 4 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 780 | Tensor Processing Unit |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Mali-G78 MP20 |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 850 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1290.2 GFLOPS | ~1085.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4494 | 7318 |
| Single-core score | 1528 | 1438 |
| Multi-core score | 3917 | 3372 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 435324 | 381525 |
| GPU | 228692 | 162416 |
| Memory | 219361 | 178605 |
| UX | 348823 | 267677 |
| Total score | 1232200 | 990213 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [11 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 77% | 63% |
| Graphics test | 4 FPS | 5 FPS |
| Graphics score | 505 | 704 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 70% | 60% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1485 | 1907 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 12641 | 7877 |
| Video editing | 7747 | 6652 |
| Photo editing | 31867 | 18508 |
| Data manipulation | 11659 | 10427 |
| Writing score | 17464 | 13858 |
Recent User Tests
Sony Xperia 1 III
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-02-22 (semga) | AnTuTu 11 | 1245240 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 4494 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1528 / 3917 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | AnTuTu 11 | 1232200 |
| 📘 2025-09-30 (desomorphine) | AnTuTu 11 | 1179636 |
Google Pixel 6
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-13 (Vladi♂️Slave♂️) | AnTuTu 12 | 1281085 |
| 📘 2026-08-17 -> Paranoid _Antost | AnTuTu 11 | 930801 |
| 📘 2026-04-05 (Ethan Winters) | AnTuTu 11 | 927237 |
| 📘 2026-02-25 (Adora) | AnTuTu 11 | 933576 |
| 📘 2026-01-29 (Stormchasing) | AnTuTu 11 | 990213 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | - | Stock Android |
| OS size | 16 GB | 17.6 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4614 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes | Yes (21 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (41% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:53 hr |
| Web browsing | 05:20 hr | 07:07 hr |
| Watching video | 08:56 hr | 13:13 hr |
| Gaming | 04:04 hr | 05:02 hr |
| Standby | 82 hr | 85 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 4.4x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 124° | 114° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth: 0.3 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 25 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX557 | Samsung GN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 inch) | 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.8 micron | 1.2 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.3 | - |
| Focal length | 70 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX663 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 17 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX363 | Sony IMX386 Exmor RS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 60 | 65 |
| Preview | 57 | 65 |
| Zoom | 104 | 79 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Sony Xperia 1 III from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 6 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3840 x 2160 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K4H7 | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 130 |
| Video | - | 127 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | April 2021 | October 2021 |
| Release date | June 2021 | October 2021 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1200 | $600 |
| Successor | - Sony Xperia 1 VII | - Google Pixel 10 |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 30 W | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, gaming, battery life, and software are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 6. But if the display, performance, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Sony Xperia 1 III.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 103