The hashtag #3in2 stands for crop zoom without losing data
The new hashtag #3in2 appears to have been first discovered by Japanese fan site Sumahodigest, which also has a fairly straightforward explanation. According to this, Sony is referring to a kind of virtual zoom that uses cropping zoom to simulate a possible 2x zoom, such as the one Samsung recently added to the Galaxy S23 series with a software update. Other competitors, such as Apple, Google and Xiaomi, are now using this “sensor zoom” extensively to offer a high-quality alternative to the missing digital zoom.
After Sony switched from a 12MP sensor in the main camera to a larger 48MP sensor in the Xperia 1 V (available here from Amazon), it can be assumed that the Xperia 5 V will also use this or a similar sensor, which will then offer 2x zoom without Losing at least as a replacement for the missing telephoto optics. This has not been officially confirmed yet, but the new hashtag is definitely a strong indication of this feature in the Xperia 5 V, which will be presented next week, on September 1, 2023.
