Sony is bringing back the compact smartphone. Sort of.
The new Sony Xperia 5 features flagship-level specs including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of UFS storage, and a triple-lens camera system.
In fact, it has just about all the same features as the Sony Xperia 1 that launched earlier this year. But instead of a 6.5 inch, 3840 x 1644 display, the Xperia 5 has a smaller 6.1 inch, 2520 x 1080 pixel OLED display.
It’s not much smaller. But like Sony’s “compact” smartphones of years gone by, it basically offers similar experience to the company’s latest flagship, but in a package that takes up a bit less space.
Sony hasn’t announced pricing yet, but I expect the Sony Xperia 5 will also be little more affordable than its big sibling when it goes on sale in Europe this October, thanks to the smaller, lower-resolution display.
The Xperia 5 features a 3,140 mAh battery, an IP65/68 rating for protection from water and dust, an 8MP front-facing camera, and three rear cameras with 16mm, 26mm, and 52mm focal lengths for standard shots, wide-angle shots, and 2X telephoto zoom.
Other features include a microSD card reader, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 4G LTE Cat19 support, Dolby Atmos audio, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
Sony says the phone is designed to fit perfectly in the palm of your hand, but as you’d probably guess from the screen size, it’s only a little smaller Xperia 1:
- Xperia 5 dimensions: 158mm x 68mm x 8.2mm & 164 grams
- Xperia 1 dimensions:Â 167mm x 72mm x 8.2mm & 178 grams
That might be enough of a difference to matter to some folks. But I suspect a lower price tag could be a bigger selling point for others.
Way too big for me.
It’s pretty “medium sized”… but yeah, this is far from the Sony Compact sizes we are used to.