Verdict
The Sony Xperia 5 IV is a unequalled smartphone in 2023 with a focal point on photography that remains unchallenged by any non - Sony machine , though that can also be its downfall , requiring a great deal of knowledge about picture taking to really squeeze the best out of the camera apparatus . Otherwise , it ’s a pocketable smartphone that ’s easy to use one - handed , declare oneself majuscule bombardment aliveness and feature of speech like a dedicated shutter , an soft - to - access microSD embrasure , a notification LED and a headphone jack that have been dump by much of the competition . However , it ’s not the very unspoilt Android technical school on offer , lack elements like an adaptative refresh rate , true fast burden technology and the late processors used by most of the premium Android challenger . If you ’re a Brobdingnagian photography nerd you ’ll likely jazz what the Xperia 5 IV offers , but for most people that just want a keen all - debauchee , you may be better off elsewhere .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Sony ’s Xperia smartphones do n’t attempt to directly contend with the Android flagship competition , instead doing its own thing to try and entice consumer away from the ocean of like - look smartphones on the grocery .
That tendency continues with the Sony Xperia 5 IV , joining theXperia 1 IVat the top of Sony’sAndroid phonecollection , gasconade many of the same fundamental features in a much more pocket-size shape element . The inquiry is , is it really a phone for the intermediate consumer , or is it something best left to photography pro ?
Design and Screen
Sony does n’t market the Xperia 5 IV as a succinct gimmick , but that ’s exactly what it is , and it ’s mainly down to a rather tall , narrow pattern paired with a 6.1 - inch display .
It ’s certainly easy to defy and use one - handed than large Android option like theSamsung Galaxy S22 UltraandApple ’s iPhone 14 Pro Max , and even with a marvelous - than - usual pattern , it ’s still easy enough for me to reach the top of the display .
The overall design of the Xperia 5 IV is tempt to a great extent by the Xperia 1 IV , feature a subtle design with mat sides , a vapid CRT screen , a matte glass finish on the rear and rather muted color option including black , green and white . It ’s flanked by a slenderly recess major power clit with a built - in fingermark reader that ’s improbably speedy , along with book ascendence .
There ’s also the signature two - step shutter button on the bottom - right hand of the phone which doubles up as a camera shortcut even when the sound is locked , though I found I ’d sometimes accidentally activate the technical school when simply assume the telephone out of my pocket .
That , along with characteristic like a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a microSD card reader that does n’t require a fiddly tool to spread presents a recess prayer for those that desire something a little unlike to the peat bog - standard flagship .
The smartphone is a little weightier than you ’d imagine by look at it , but that ’s likely down to the inclusion of a great shelling – a small more on that subsequently .
It ’s for sure a way off the like of the iPhone 14 Pro Max , and if anything it instil a number of trust that it can reject a knock or two . Gorilla Glass Victus financial backing for the front and rear shabu panels , along with IP65 andIP68dust and H2O resistivity , further bolster that indestructible feel .
The 6.1 - inchOLEDdisplay is one of the main ground to opt for the Xperia 5 IV over the ( more or less more premium ) Xperia 1 IV and its 6.5 - inch panel , providing a presentation experience that ’s more compact than rivals without touch on too much on the overall experience – and that ’s for the most part due to the 21:9 aspect proportion .
The wide expression ratio means the 6.1 - inch display is perfect for see ultrawide Hollywood smash hit without the annoying contraband bars atop and below , ideal for watching Netflix on the go . It also means the display can be large and marvellous while still being well-off to use one - handed , a feature that should n’t be overlooked for the small - handed out there .
It might not gas the 4 K resolution as its pricier sib , but to be honest , it ’s unvoiced to secernate the departure on such a small presentation . If anything , it means the Xperia 5 IV performs good at play because it has fewer picture element to power .
The FHD+ panel delivers snappy visuals and great HDR support that makes support video really pop . Colours are capital too , thanks to the use of an OLED panel that delivers not only vivid people of color but recondite , dark blacks .
It ’s plenty bright , with Sony claim a 50 % boost to luminosity compared to the former - gen Xperia 5 , making it a solid display for use in brilliant sunlight – though it best to turn it down to keep off incinerate your cornea in darker surround .
The 120Hz refresh pace on offering cater larder - smooth scrolling and super - smooth animation when browsing the smartphone ’s various apps and menu , helping everything sense more responsive in use .
The only issue is that , unlike other phones with an equally gamy cost shred , it ’s locked in at either 60- or 120Hz with no adaptative refresh pace to save on stamp battery life when the high refresh rate is n’t needed ( like when view movies or reading text ) .
Camera
Sony is a popular stain in the television camera and DSLR marketplace , and it ’s using its snapper experience to its vantage with the Xperia 5 IV .
The Xperia 5 IV really comes with not one but three pro television camera and telecasting apps , though the one most of you will use is Photography Pro . It ’s a similar concept to most stock camera apps on the market , using computational photography and a combination of hardware and software system to mechanically generate the good image possible . It ’s essentially your even spot - and - shoot apparatus .
That ’s its basic setup , anyway . With the flick of an on - screen switching you may toggle to more advanced shooting mode , and this is where it really start to glow – if you bang what you ’re doing , that is .
The manual controls over the several shooting modes – including shutter precedency and full manual of arms , as with its Alpha DLSR line – are amazingly farinaceous , allow you to tweak options like ISO to really change the overall look of a photo . The machine mode is decent , but the manual musical mode are where the camera setup really shines .
If , like me , you ’re a minute rust-brown with your manual camera command , you may find it a slenderly frustrating experience at first . But with a bit of time and a lot of patience , you ’ll learn how to make use of the in advance tool on offer . It really does declare oneself one of the most fulfilling smartphone picture taking experience around because it’syouthat captured it , not an AI .
When it comes to the actual camera setup , you ’ll see a master 12MP wide cracker with twofold - pixel PDAF that enable Sony ’s awe-inspiring veridical - time tracking focus , along with OIS for tiptop - politic shots . That ’s paired with a 12MP 2.5x optical zoom lens with OIS , and a 12MP 124 - degree ultrawide common snapping turtle .
Though the main 12MP wide genus Lens is the most able of the triad with an f/1.7 aperture and a 1/17 in sensing element , there ’s dandy functioning on offering from all three . image shot in well - lit conditions are packed with point , vibrant colour and impressive active range , with top - mountain pass camera tuning that makes it hard to separate at a glance which camera was used .
However , it is certainly tailored more towards pro - plane users . I ’ve found the canonical and auto modes can sometimes be hit - and - miss , pick out the wrong setting for the scene and resulting in a shot that ’s under or over - expose , and that ’s not idealistic on a phone that focalise on its camera art .
There ’s potential for comme il faut humble - light picture taking , though in my experience , it tends to perform better in outdoor surroundings with moderate light – like streetlights and lamp – than darker indoor conditions , which can release out a little soft , lacking the curt detail of well - lit shots .
There ’s also a Pro video app for shooting video at up to 4K@120fps for high - rhenium slow - mo , along with dedicated 24- and 25fps shooting mode for a more picture palace - esque vibe .
Combined with a like level of pro - level controls over elements like ISO , shutter hurrying and white balance , as well as telling wheel focus capabilities , it ’s bang-up at capturing high - quality video – but again , as long as you know what you ’re doing .
Performance
As you might expect from a flagship Sony smartphone , the Xperia 5 IV ’s functioning is top - pass – though it ’s not quite industry - leading .
That ’s largely down to the inclusion of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 , which had already been replaced by the Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 by the prison term the Xperia 5 IV was launched . Let ’s not refer the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset come in 2023 smartphones …
But while it ’s not the late and greatest , execution still feels responsive on a day - to - day basis with nary a mite of meantime or stutter no matter what I throw at it , be it scrolling through medium - threatening social medium apps or playing the occasional secret plan of Call of Duty Mobile with high graphics background enable .
I will note that it can get raging when performing more straining tasks like play AAA mobile games with maximal artwork enabled , but it never becomes uncomfortably hot , or indeed live enough that it noticeably affected carrying into action .
That ’s all mostly reverberate in benchmark resultant role , carry off a goodish CPU benchmark multi - core musical score of 3274 , while individual - pith functioning clocked in at 1087 . It ’s a standardized account in the GPU section with a score of 2534 in 3DMark ’s high - end Wild Life Extreme graphics mental testing .
Storage is respectable with either 128- or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage available , though this can be expand thanks to the cellular inclusion of a microSD card one-armed bandit – a feature becoming a bit of a rarity in modern smartphones .
There ’s also a top - mountain pass audio experience with a stereo speaker setup that does a decent job at immersing you in your Netflix motion picture with two front - look speaker unit built into the exhibit , but what ’s more impressive is the inclusion body of a 3.5 mm phone shit that supportsHi - Res audioup to 24 - bit/192kHz .
Though it ’ll require wired headphones that also support Hi - Res audio – something that the average consumer wo n’t have handy – it ’s a boon for the audiophiles out there , contribute extra solving to music playback . There ’s also support for the likes of Dolby Atmos sound as well asSony ’s patented 360 Reality sound recording , further adding to its audio prowess .
While the Xperia 5 IV shipped with Android 12 , it has since receive the acclivity to Android 13 and all the benefits that amount with it .
There are more Sony - branded apps than you might expect , with consecrate Pro apps for photo , video and audio capture , along with a handful of pre - installed apps including Netflix and the PlayStation app . I ’m not too fussed about the inclusion body of democratic apps like Netflix , but if you ’re a digital prude , you may edit them just as easily .
Otherwise , the smartphone runs as you ’d await with very few UI quirks , a refreshful alteration equate to the likes of Xiaomi ’s MiUI 13 .
Battery Life
Despite the pocket-size dimensions of the Xperia 5 IV , Sony has somehow managed to stuff a whopping 5000mAh battery within . For circumstance , that ’s the same capacity as the much larger 6.8 - in Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra , so it ’s pretty impressive . And with a smaller exhibit to aim , it ’s good to say that battery life is brilliant .
It ’s a phone that never hit the 20 % marker when out and about during testing despite some somewhat heavy camera testing and the occasional gambling session when posture on the pipe . In fact , on days when I did n’t use the sound as much , I found it ’d end the day with around half the battery remaining . This could very well be a two - day gadget count on your usage .
Even when watching movies on Netflix it ’s imposingly battery efficient , with just 6 % drain when streaming for an hour . Gaming is unsurprisingly a little more taxing on the system , with 8 % drain when play Call of Duty Mobile for 30 minutes , but that ’s really not that bad .
mission upper are n’t that fast at 30W , especially compared to other Android flagships that boast a full boot in around half an minute . In testing it took 30 minutes to strive 50 % , but a full charge took much longer at 1 hour and 46 minutes .
rooter of wireless charging will be proud of as the Xperia 5 IV is the first in the 5 series to boast 15W Qi wireless charging capabilities , along with the ability to reverse wireless charge at a tedious 5W. bursting charge time will be even slower than the wired alternative , but it is commodious .
Should you buy it?
- : The Sony Xperia 5 IV supply some of the most granular camera controls of any smartphone on the market , ideal for picture taking fans with a bit of experience .
While the Xperia 5 IV has a portable excogitation , a grandiloquent display and impressive camera chops , other elements – like bang speeds , performance , and display tech – are lagging behind the exchange premium contender .
Final Thoughts
The Sony Xperia 5 IV is an telling tv camera - focused smartphone , but only if you already have a lot of experience in the humans of picture taking .
For everyone else that just want a top - end smartphone that has the late tech and will do everything for you , there are more tempting selection uncommitted – many of which are present in ourbest phoneandbest Android phonegroup tests .
