The first look at the Sony Xperia 10 III shows it's playing it safe

Sony is preparing to launch its updated smartphone lineup for 2021, and among them is the mid-range Xperia 10 III. Leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer managed to snag a few renders of the upcoming smartphone, and they could easily be mistaken for last year's Xperia 10 II.

The upcoming Xperia 10 III looks nearly identical to its predecessor, with the same tall display with the 21:9 cinematic aspect ratio, sizeable top and bottom bezel flanking the display, a rounded frame, and a triple camera setup on the back.

According to Hemmerstoffer, the device will see a minor spec update compared to the Xperia 10 II. While he's not sure about the specs, it's rumored that the display will measure the same 6-inches and the camera setup will also be the same, with a 12MP main, 8MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto.

Fortunately the large bezels mean Sony looks to be keeping the front-facing stereo speakers. And with any luck, Sony will at least increase the refresh rate of the display like it did with the Xperia 5 II, and include a 5G chipset like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 690, which no doubt will begin to crop up in many of this year's best cheap Android phones.

If last year's timeline is being followed, the Xperia 10 III could be announced sometime next month, along with the flagship Xperia 1 III. While we don't have any information on the latter, this leak would suggest Sony doesn't plan to rock the boat when it comes to design.