Sony Xperia 5 IV review

Sony has nailed it with the Xperia 5 IV (mark 4), even when that could be a terribly complicated identify for a telephone.

The corporate has determined its smartphones aren’t going to be crowdpleasers anymore. It’s obtained PlayStation for that.

As an alternative, the Xperia telephones at the moment are extensions of the corporate’s Alpha digicam merchandise, with bits of its Bravia TV and Walkman heritage thrown in for good measure. To some, that may be very attractive.

This path gained’t attraction to everybody, and that’s OK with Sony. It’s not right here to compete with Samsung or Apple, and even Oppo or Xiaomi. It’s simply right here doing what it, and its hardcore followers, love.

If you would like a telephone with an excellent show, a headphone jack that helps hi-res audio, strong battery life, wi-fi charging, a notification LED, and cameras that don’t depend on software program processing, then that is the telephone for you.

Design & construct

The Xperia 5 IV is a premium product as quickly as you are taking it out the field, even when the field is comprised of recycled paper and there’s no charger and even USB-C cable included. This can be a good factor for the setting however isn’t an expensive reveal for what’s a really high-end machine.

My assessment unit was a utilitarian (boring) black, although there are white and inexperienced model too. The rear matt glass is the most effective feeling I’ve used on any telephone – the correct mix of sentimental but additionally grippy. This can be a no fingerprint zone.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Aluminium rails add to this pretty really feel. They’re damaged up with antennae bands, a USB-C port, a quantity rocker, and a bodily energy button with a fingerprint sensor in-built, the latter nonetheless a massively underrated and underused means of doing biometrics on a telephone. I discovered it very persistently responsive, and higher than on the Xperia 1 IV.

Together with this can be a two-stage shutter button for the digicam. It’s so welcome on a telephone like this designed across the cameras, and I miss it when utilizing different telephones.

There’s additionally a headphone jack, a rarity on premium telephones today. The triple digicam module on the again is simple within the prime left nook, with a textured Sony brand and really faint NFC, Xperia, and different EU regulatory branding on the again.

The telephone is slim and tall to the good thing about panorama use greater than portrait. My small fingers imply I can kind (nearly) with one hand, however my thumb reaches nowhere close to the highest of the show. When typing, the haptics are sturdy and sharp with good suggestions.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Show & audio

The show is a smidge too tall, however the payoff is full display video in 21:9. Sony is sticking with its determination to distinguish on this means, however it’s nice when watching films, a lot of which at the moment are shot in 21:9. Watching Man Richie movie The Gents on the Xperia 5 IV was a deal with, with the total panorama display used with no letterboxing or any content material reduce off.

Many sequence and older movies will nonetheless letterbox, however the 6.1in OLED is pin sharp. It’s solely 1080p, although the 4K decision on the bigger Xperia 1 IV is overkill. Hardly any apps stream video in 4K.

You possibly can set the show to 120Hz for smoother scrolling, which together with the tallness advantages scrolling via social media apps, becoming plenty of fluid shifting pictures and texts onto what continues to be fairly a compact show.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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This setting is turned off by default, suggesting Sony thinks you’ll be able to get pleasure from this telephone at 60Hz, and you’ll. The show shouldn’t be LTPO, a know-how that may preserve energy and change between refresh charges, so when you activate 120Hz it hits the battery considerably. It appears to be like lush although, and it’s protected by top-of-the-line Gorilla Glass Victus, as is the again glass, so it ought to resist scratches nicely.

Add to that IP68 water and mud resistance and a microSD card slot in a SIM tray you’ll be able to take away along with your fingernail reasonably than a fiddly pin, and also you’ve obtained one heck of a completely featured telephone. This consists of entrance dealing with twin stereo audio system, which sound full and wealthy and solely distort on the highest volumes and aren’t obstructed when holding the telephone panorama to observe video.

The headphone jack can be able to outputting hi-res audio, which I gladly took benefit of with hi-res recordsdata downloaded onto the telephone. It additionally supported hi-res wi-fi audio although it’s trickier to reap the benefits of this with out appropriate headphones or streaming companies.

Specs & efficiency

As of the Xperia’s September 2022 launch, the most effective cellular chip from Qualcomm is the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, however the Sony is caught with the marginally older 8 Gen 1. This isn’t a foul factor because it’s nonetheless a supremely highly effective chip that may deal with the whole lot I threw at it whereas testing.

One difficulty is the 8 Gen 1 doesn’t handle thermals all that nicely, and a number of other telephones we’ve examined with it get scorching whereas charging, together with the Xperia 5 IV. The 8+ Gen 1 has significantly better thermal administration, however this telephone should have been finalised concurrently the Xperia 1 IV, which additionally has the older chipset.

I didn’t discover it a difficulty, and all telephones get heat when you quick cost them or use the digicam for an prolonged interval. If you happen to’ve heard elsewhere that Sony telephones run dangerously scorching, that’s an overstatement. The 5 IV will get scorching below load, however to not harmful ranges. My iPhone 13 mini will get scorching when it costs through a cable with the display off. It’s physics.

In benchmarks, the Xperia 5 IV outperformed the Xperia 1 IV on most check utilizing the CPU Geekbench check and the GFXBench graphics exams.

In (extra essential) actual world use, I had no points with the 5 IV. It felt very fluid, apps stayed in reminiscence permitting me to change between them successfully, and AAA video games similar to Name of Obligation Cell and Asphalt 9 ran with out a hitch.

The one model accessible has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, although the latter is expandable. There’s solely a single SIM slot, however you’ll be able to add a second line through eSIM.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Battery & charging

Sony has one way or the other stuffed a big 5,000mAh battery on this telephone, and it has excellent battery life. I at all times obtained via a heavy day’s use, and by no means hit 20% earlier than mattress. That’s regardless of taking pictures tons of images and video, texting, video calls, and watching movies. Plenty of video!

The telephone scored a powerful 13 hours and 11 minutes in PC Mark’s managed battery check. That’s among the best scores ever for a flagship-grade machine we’ve examined, overwhelmed lately solely by the equally priced Asus Zenfone 9. That’s additionally a smaller than common telephone – good work, Sony and Asus.

There’s additionally wi-fi Qi charging right here for the primary time on an Xperia 5 sequence telephone. Rejoice.

Sadly, charging is gradual at 30W in comparison with different Android telephones on this worth vary that may prime as much as 100% in about half an hour. I charged the Xperia 5 IV to 47% in that point.

Digicam & video

To get probably the most out of the Xperia 5 IV’s superb cameras, you’ll need to know – or study – the right way to use guide controls.

Sony has three completely different digicam apps on the Xperia 5 IV, one in every of which known as Pictures Professional. That is the go-to level and shoot digicam app that, like each different telephone available on the market, makes use of a ‘fundamental’ mode to seize photos after which course of them with software program.

That is referred to as computational pictures and telephone makers use it of their cameras to make up for the deficiencies of essentially small sensors in telephone cameras. Fashionable telephones pair {hardware} and software program to provide the most effective picture potential.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Sony’s computational pictures has improved markedly during the last three years and the Xperia 5 IV is a strong point-and-shoot in auto mode. Apart from the essential mode, the Picture Professional app additionally has an auto mode and a number of other guide modes. That is the place it will get very guide certainly, and Sony ditches the reliance on software program at hand full guide controls to you because the photographer as you’ll have with a Sony Alpha DSLR digicam.

If you happen to aren’t conversant in the right way to use guide controls on a digicam, then you will see that the modes baffling and irritating. I’ve a Nikon DSLR, however I discovered a steep studying curve with the deep menus of choices and altering ISO, shutter pace, and aperture was daunting. I took tons of terrible images earlier than moving into the groove.

However after I did, I discovered the telephone some of the rewarding to shoot on. ‘Mainstream’ digicam telephones just like the iPhone 14 Professional or Galaxy S22 Extremely provide you with a specific amount of guide management, however additionally they do many of the give you the results you want. Having management over ISO on the Xperia is nice enjoyable and allowed me to alter the temper of a scene by altering how a lot gentle to let into the lens.

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If you understand what you’re doing, this may very well be probably the most versatile smartphone digicam going, together with the Xperia 1 IV. You don’t get that telephone’s bodily shifting optical lens on the 5 IV although, however it’s no huge loss. Pictures have superior dynamic vary, and the extent of element is the most effective it’s ever been on a Sony telephone, with a really pure look to photographs that I like. You may also shoot in RAW format if you wish to edit images later.

A speedy taking pictures mode on the principle lens can take 20 pictures per second. Different telephones can’t do that! It’s one other nice level of differentiation to seize fast paced topics. This sensor can be superb at rack focus, which may deal with topics in foreground or background, and hold the opposite aircraft blurred. Apple does this on the iPhone 13 and 14 and calls it Cinematic Mode, however the Xperia 5 IV can do it too.

Sony has used three 12Mp sensors for its fundamental, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses to efficiently hold colors constant throughout all three and zooming between lenses when taking pictures video is easy.

Consistent with the true digicam vibe, Sony labels the lenses 16mm, 24mm, and 60mm within the digicam apps. The 60mm telephoto offers nice pure bokeh for portrait pictures utilizing simply {hardware}, however you’ll be able to add extra blur with a software program portrait mode too, as you’ll be able to on the succesful entrance dealing with 12Mp digicam.

All three fundamental lenses help real-time object monitoring to maintain a topic locked in focus, in addition to eye autofocus for preserving folks and animals trying sharp. All three lenses also can file 4K video at 60fps in gradual movement, which may be very spectacular.

Videography Professional permits for extra granular video controls and you’ll even dwell stream to YouTube proper from the app. I recorded over half-hour of 4K video within the app and the telephone obtained just a little heat, however it didn’t overheat or cease working.

There’s additionally a Cinema Professional that provides you cinematic video filters and bunch extra gentle controls and readouts. This can be a very nerdy digicam telephone however in case you are into it, there needs to be no different selection (bar the Xperia 1 IV!) for the flexibility and performance on supply. You possibly can even hook up the telephone to an Alpha digicam and use the telephone as a monitor.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Software program & updates

My fundamental grievance with the Xperia 5 IV is that Sony is just providing two years of Android platform and safety software program updates. That is far too low for a telephone that prices close to to a grand – it needs to be extra like 4 years. It stops me wholeheartedly recommending the telephone.

Sony’s Android 12 software program is sort of plain and near ‘inventory’ Android, no matter that’s today. It retains out the best way and performs nicely. A software program aspect bar helps you to shortly launch two apps in cut up display view, which is sensible on a show this tall. I watched soccer in a (tiny) window on the prime whereas texting mates in WhatsApp.

Sony additionally consists of in its Music Professional app, which recreates a studio recording arrange. You possibly can file audio utilizing the telephone’s mic or an exterior mic through the headphone jack. From there, you need to use paid-for studio tuning instruments to separate audio, de-noise, simulate microphones, and different spectacular smarts.

Worth & availability

The Xperia 5 IV with 128GB storage prices £949 within the UK and is obtainable direct from Sony or from Amazon, Very, and Clove.

That’s pricy however places it £150 cheaper than the 128GB iPhone 14 Professional, and £200 lower than the 128GB Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely. It’s additionally a greater deal than Sony’s personal Xperia 1 IV, which prices a loopy £1,299.

The Xperia 5 IV prices €1,049 in Europe from Amazon. Within the US it’ll be launched on October 2022 for $999.99 direct from Sony.

Verdict

Shopping for a Sony telephone at the moment is sort of intentional. You in all probability gained’t be swayed to get the reasonably specialist Xperia 5 IV when you had your eyes on an iPhone 14 initially.

However if you’d like a telephone that packs in each characteristic you’ll be able to consider with out compromising on efficiency, construct, or battery life, then this can be a nice selection.

Contemplating Sony doesn’t make many alternative telephones anymore, I implore the corporate to increase software program help for telephones just like the 5 IV – two years is insultingly little time for such a succesful machine to be thought-about updated with trendy Android options and safety.

Repair that, and I may advocate the Xperia 5 IV to a wider viewers than I at the moment can. If you would like a telephone from the highest drawer with an incredible display, headphone jack, and cameras that act like precise cameras that don’t overly depend on software program processing, it’s an excellent selection.

Specs

• 6.1in 120Hz 21:9 OLED show
• Gorilla Glass Victus (back and front)
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• microSD expandable as much as 1TB
• Rear digicam:
• 12Mp f/2.2. 16mm ultrawide w/ dual-PDAF
• 12Mp f/1.7 24mm fundamental w/ dual-PDAF & OIS
• 12Mp f/2.4 telephoto w/ dual-PDAF & OIS
• 12Mp f/2.0 front-facing digicam (1/2.9in sensor)
• Stereo audio system
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Dolby Atmos
• Excessive-Res Audio help (wired & wi-fi)
• 360 Actuality Audio (headphones & audio system)
• Devoted shutter button
• IP68 mud/water resistance
• Twin-SIM (bodily and eSIM)
• 5G
• WiFi 6E
• NFC
• Bluetooth 5.2
• 5000mAh battery
• 30W wired charging
• Wi-fi charging & reverse wi-fi charging
• Android 12
• 172g
• 156 x 67 x 8.2 mm