Sony Xperia 5V Smartphone Review – The Sony Xperia 5 V has finally launched with some much-needed changes to compete with other flagships of late 2023. It was launched in September 2023 and the smartphone will also be available globally, but only in a select few regions including Europe. It’s a 5G powerhouse that comes with flagship specs inside a body that is not too big. The smartphone from Sony arrives with an impressive display and a massive battery to attract potential buyers.
It can be a perfect smartphone for those who want the power to do it all in a smaller package. The Xperia 5V also follows similar design languages as their other smartphone. That means a boxy design and sharp edges that fans of Xperia absolutely adore. Today, we will review the Sony Xperia 5V and see what improvements it brings to the table and how it can compete with other flagship smartphones in the market. So without any further ado, let’s begin with a detailed review of the Sony Xperia 5 V smartphone.
Table of Contents
Sony Xperia 5V Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Sony Xperia 5V features a 6.1 inches OLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate.
- Sony Xperia 5V is powered by the newest and greatest 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for flagship performance.
- The smartphone runs on the latest Android 13 OS with a stock user interface for a clean and bloatware-free experience.
- The Sony Xperia 5V features a 48MP dual-camera system on the back and a 12MP selfie camera at the front.
- The smartphone features a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery with 30W fast wired charging along with wireless charging support.
Design and Display
We see a fair bit of design changes on the Sony Xperia 5V from the Xperia 5 IV. The new smartphone now follows the design language of the Xperia 1V which was also launched mid-2023. The difference between the Xperia 5V and 1V is that the Xperia 5V comes with flagship but reasonable skills while the Xperia 1V goes for the highest-end components. Stuffing such high-end components is also impossible in a smaller package. Hence, the Xperia 1V is considerably larger than the Xperia 5V and not for everyone.
The Xperia 5V, on the other hand, is a well-balanced smartphone that’s made for everyone. It’s light, small, and easier to hold. The smartphone features an aluminum side and middle frame, which provides the smartphone with its rigidity. The rear panel is made of glass, which not only makes the smartphone a lot more premium but also allows Sony to incorporate wireless charging, more on that later. The smartphone is protected by IP65/IP68 dust and water resistance.
On the front, the Sony Xperia 5V features a 6.1 inches FullHD+ OLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate, 1 Billion colors, and HDR10. The display also supports the industry-standard HDR10 wide color gamut. All in all, it’s a flagship display and will provide a superior user experience. Apart from this, the device lacks better nits brightness so the outdoor experience can be a bit compromising. However, you will be glad to know that the display is protected by Corning’s best-in-class Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. Furthermore, the device is available in three colors – Black, Blue, and Platinum Silver.
Memory and Internal
Sony has incorporated the Xperia 5V with the fastest Android chipset in the world, the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The chipset has enough power for those who prefer to do it all on their smartphone as the SoC can reach up to a 1×3.2GHz clocking speed. The smartphone comes with the latest Android 13 OS with a stock user interface, so users will get a clean Android experience. That means there will be no bloatware, ads, or any other unnecessary apps on the smartphone.
You will get to experience the pure Android 13 experience with all its goodness. Now, let’s talk about the gaming side of things. Inside this chipset, you will find the Adreno 740 GPU, which can easily run modern games like Genshin Impact, CODm, and PUBG with high framerate and that too smoothly without consuming too much battery.
The chipset also has support for 5G connectivity, so you can enjoy gigabit speeds and download your movies and TV series in a jiffy. When it comes to memory and storage, the Xperia 5V can be purchased with 8GB of RAM and 128GB to 256GB of internal storage. It also has support for a hybrid MicroSDXC card, which can further expand the storage. All in all, the Xperia 5V has everything to deliver a flagship experience.
Camera
The Sony Xperia 5V has a dual rear camera system that features a 48MP primary sensor with OIS and a 12MP ultrawide-angle sensor. Now, you may have noticed that a telephoto sensor is missing and that’s because Sony chose to omit this sensor which was available in the Xperia 5 IV. Let’s talk about the primary sensor. The 48MP sensor is capable of taking images that have great detail levels with Sony’s signature color tone, exceptional detail levels, and a high dynamic range.
The quality of these images can easily go toe to toe with other flagships released this year. The 12MP ultra-wide sensor also manages to take some similarly amazing shots and this camera performance is also visible during the night. The sensors are optimized to capture twice as much light, so the photos taken during the night have more details than other flagship smartphones available. This is especially true for the primary camera, which has a 5-axis OIS system and it helps stabilize the sensor to capture more light than otherwise possible.
The selfie camera at the front has a 12MP sensor, which can capture selfies with perfect skin tones. For video recording, the Sony Xperia 5V can shoot up to 4K videos@120FPS from the main rear camera, but the selfie camera maxes out at 4K@30FPS. Also, the rear cameras have support for OIS and 5-axis gyro-EIS, allowing you to record video with extreme stability, while the selfie camera only has support for 5-axis gyro-EIS.
Battery and Others
The Sony Xperia 5V has a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery capacity that can last about 1 – 2 days of light and medium usage. However, if you are a heavy user and take a lot of pictures and videos or play a lot of games, the smartphone will lose battery quicker than that and the smartphone may not last a full day. But when you do run out of battery, you will be glad to know that it has support for both wired and wireless charging.
The smartphone supports up to 30W of wired fast charging, which should charge the battery to 50% in just 30 minutes. There’s support for wireless charging as well but Sony hasn’t mentioned the power so it’s most probably capable of just 5W of power. The wireless charging will be slow but you can use it during overnight charging and when you do need faster charging, you can just plug in the 30W wired charging cable.
You can even charge your wireless earbuds through its reverse wireless charging protocol. Apart from that, the smartphone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, the newest tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC for contactless payments, stereo speakers, audio jack, GPS, and a USB Type C port for charging. The price of the smartphone starts at $840 (Rs 70,099 in India) approx.
Sony Xperia 5V Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Sony Xperia 5V smartphone.
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia 5V is a proper flagship smartphone that did bring some necessary improvements in every department, including design, display protection, performance, camera, and even battery but it was not without some downsides as well. The design improvements were needed and the smartphone needed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 had a bad reputation for being power-hungry and heating.
So, the changes in the chipset are certainly appreciated and it has also resulted in better battery life. The downside is that the smartphone now lost its telephoto lens that was present in the Xperia 5IV. Apart from this, the refresh rate support could have been better and also the smartphone disappoints in terms of better nits brightness. Besides this, rest everything seems manageable.
Not to mention, other smartphones do still have telephoto lenses and at a much lower price tag. However, you lose the Xperia value and its unique camera features, its storage expanding capability, or the 3.5mm headphone jack that is still retained. Not to mention, it’s much more of a compact smartphone. In our opinion, the smartphone arrives with a decent set of specs but still, the pricing seems to be overpriced. If you are looking for an alternative check out the Apple iPhone 15 Pro, however, the final decision is up to you and your requirements.
