Sony Xperia 5 V review

The Sony Xperia 5 V is a compact and powerful smartphone that offers a cinematic experience with its 21:9 aspect ratio, a professional-grade camera with its Photo Pro and Cinema Pro apps, and a smooth and vibrant display with its 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support.

The phone is a great choice for movie and gaming enthusiasts, as well as anyone who appreciates a compact and powerful device.

Design

The Sony Xperia 5 V has a metal and glass body, with a dual camera module on the back and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

It also retains the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD card slot, both rare - and welcome - features in today’s flagships.

The phone is IP65/68 rated for water and dust resistance, which adds to its durability. However, the phone also has some potential drawbacks in terms of design.

The phone has thick bezels on the top and bottom of the screen, which make it look a little boxy compared to other phones with razor-thin dimensions and notch or punch-hole displays to house the front-facing camera.

The phone is also quite chunky, measuring 9.3mm in thickness and weighing 183g.

The phone’s elongated shape may not be comfortable for everyone to hold or use with one hand, but the matte rear makes this phone a lot less prone to slips than the recent Xperia 1 V.

The phone uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back, which contains an average of 22% pre-consumer recycled materials, while maintaining superior scratch resistance and improved drop protection on rougher surfaces.

Screen and audio

The Sony Xperia 5 V has a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2520 x 1080 pixels, which translates to a pixel density of 449ppi - smaller but still impressive versus the Xperia 1 V.

The screen supports HDR10+ and has a refresh rate of 120Hz, making for smooth and vibrant visuals.

The screen also houses some bespoke features to enhance the viewing experience, such as Sony's Creator Mode, which adjusts the color settings according to the content, and Video Image Optimization, which improves the contrast and sharpness of videos.

The screen also has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection, which makes it resistant to scratches and drops.

The screen’s brightness is not particularly high however - especially in outdoor conditions - which makes it a little harder to view in direct sunlight.

The screen also has a blue tint when viewed from certain angles, which affects color accuracy. The screen’s resolution is also a tad lower than some of its competitors, which have QHD or higher displays, but more than good enough for consumption of content. The Sony Xperia 5 V has booming stereo speakers on the top and bottom of the phone, which produce loud and clear sound. The Xperia 5 V's speakers also support Dolby Atmos and DSEE Ultimate technologies, further enhancing sound quality and detail.

The speakers also have a Dynamic Vibration System, which adds haptic feedback to the audio output - slightly gimmicky on first use, but fast becomes an unexpected enhancement to watching movies and video.

Shoutout to the 3.5mm headphone jack once again, which makes connecting wired headphones a breeze.

The phone also supports LDAC and aptX HD codecs, which improve the wireless audio quality to studio levels for those looking for the best quality aural experience.

Interface and operating system

The Sony Xperia 5 V runs on Android 13 out of the box, with Sony’s custom interface sprinkled on top. The interface is lightweight and minimalist, without any bloatware or ads.

The interface also offers some useful features, such as Side Sense, which allows users to access shortcuts and apps by tapping or swiping on the edge of the screen; Game Enhancer, which optimizes the performance and settings for gaming; Video Creator, which helps users edit and share their videos; Bravia Core for Xperia, which offers access to Sony’s streaming service; and Sony's fantastic Cinema Pro, Photo Pro, and Video Pro apps, which provide professional-grade controls for capturing photos and videos.

However, the interface also has some things that would benefit from refinement. The interface lacks some customization options, such as changing the icon shape or size by default, or applying custom themes or fonts.

The interface also has some bugs and glitches that affect the stability and performance of the phone.

The interface also has a weak update policy, as Sony only guarantees two years of Android OS updates and three years of security patches for its phones, while Samsung offers four years of security patches and three years of Android OS updates for its flagships.

This means that the Sony Xperia 5 V may not receive any new features or security enhancements after Android 15, which may affect its longevity and usability.

Storage and memory

The Sony Xperia 5 V comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage as standard. This is enough for most users to run multiple apps smoothly and store their photos, videos, music, games, and other files.

However, some users may find this storage capacity insufficient for their needs, especially if they capture a lot of high-resolution photos and videos, or download a lot of large apps and games.

The phone does have a microSD card slot, which allows users to expand the storage up to 1TB, but this may not be as fast or reliable as the internal storage.

Processor and performance

The Sony Xperia 5 V is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is one of the most powerful chipsets in the market.

The processor has an octa-core CPU with a clock speed of up to 2.94GHz, and an Adreno 740 GPU for graphics.

The processor also supports 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and GPS. The processor delivers excellent performance in daily tasks, such as browsing, messaging, social media, streaming, and productivity.

The processor also handles gaming very well, as it can run most games at high settings and frame rates without any lag or stutter.

The processor generates a lot of heat when under heavy load, which makes the phone uncomfortable to hold and may cause thermal throttling. The processor also consumes a lot of battery power, which reduces the battery life of the phone.

Camera and video quality

The Sony Xperia 5 V has a dual camera system on the back, consisting of a 12MP main camera with an f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilisation (OIS), and dual pixel phase detection autofocus (PDAF); and a 12MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 124-degree field of view.

The phone does not have a telephoto camera, unlike its predecessor - it seems to be reserved for its flagship counterpart in the 1 V.

The phone does has an 8MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture on the front, however.

The phone’s main camera remains its highlight, as it produces stunning photos with excellent detail, dynamic range, colour accuracy, and low-light performance.

The main camera also supports various modes and features, such as HDR, Night Mode, Portrait Mode, Panorama Mode, Manual Mode, and AI Scene Recognition. The main camera also supports video recording up to 4K resolution at 60fps or Full HD resolution at 120fps, with OIS and EIS for stabilization.

The main camera also offers professional-grade controls for video recording through the Cinema Pro app, which allows users to adjust the exposure, white balance, focus, shutter speed, ISO, color profile, and aspect ratio.

However, the phone’s other cameras are not as impressive as the main camera. The ultra-wide camera suffers from distortion at the edges, noise in low-light conditions, and lack of autofocus or stabilization.

The ultra-wide camera also does not support video recording above Full HD resolution at 30fps. The selfie camera is decent for casual selfies and video calls, but it lacks detail and dynamic range compared to the main camera. The selfie camera also does not support HDR or Night Mode.

Battery life

The Sony Xperia 5 V has a 5,000mAh battery that supports fast charging up to 30W with the included charger. The battery life of the phone is decent enough to last through a day of moderate usage with some juice left over.

The phone can handle tasks such as browsing, messaging, social media, streaming, and productivity without draining too much battery power.

However, the battery life of the phone is not very impressive compared to some of its competitors, which have larger batteries or more efficient processors.

The phone’s battery life understandably dips when using the 120Hz refresh rate, 5G connectivity, or gaming, which consume a lot of power.

The phone also supports both wireless and reverse wireless charging, both convenient features that are available in leading flagships.

UK pricing

The Sony Xperia 5 V is priced at £849 in the UK, which is right up there with flagship rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 and a shade higher (£50) than the base model of iPhone 15, despite a similar amount of memory.

The phone offers a lot of value for its price however, boasting a powerful processor, a stunning main camera, a smooth OLED display, and a compact design.

Final verdict

The Sony Xperia 5 V is a compact and powerful smartphone that offers a cinematic experience with its 21:9 aspect ratio, a professional-grade camera with its Photo Pro and Cinema Pro apps, and a smooth and vibrant display with its 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support.

The phone also runs on Android 13 with a minimalist interface that has some useful features from Sony, such as Bravia Core for Xperia, Game Enhancer, and Video Creator.

However, the phone also has some drawbacks, such as thick bezels, a chunky body, and a slightly less-than-stellar ultra-wide camera.

The phone is priced at £849 in the UK, which is reasonable for its quality and value, but it also faces some competition from cheaper, equally specced alternatives.

The phone also has a shorter update policy, as Sony only guarantees two years of Android OS updates and three years of security patches for its phones, while Samsung offers four years of security patches and three years of Android OS updates for its flagships.

In summary, the Sony Xperia 5 V is a great choice for movie and gaming enthusiasts, as well as anyone who appreciates a compact and powerful device.