Sony presented its new Xperia 5 V premium compact smartphone on IFA 2023. nextpit went hands-on with the device that is positioned for content creators and checked a couple of features Sony brought to it to remain relevant in the smartphone market.
Sony Xperia 5 V release date and price
The Xperia 5 V (or 5 mark V) is the 2023 edition of Sony’s not established compact flagship smartphone range, completing the Japanese company’s lineup for the year after the premium Xperia 1 V and the mid-range 10 V.
In usual Sony fashion, the new Xperia 5 is in many ways a miniaturized version of the premiere model, packing the same processor, a tall and thin 21:9 OLED display, 3.5mm audio jack, dual-stage camera shutter button, microSD reader, and a couple of Sony-exclusive camera apps for both photo and video.
Breaking its past tradition of announcing phones weeks (sometimes months) before availability, Sony already opened pre-orders for the Xperia 5 V in Europe at €999, with shipments scheduled for mid-September. Launch and pricing for North America are still to be confirmed.
Design and screen
Sony brought modest changes to a formula it has been using for quite a few years on the Xperia 5 line.
The usual tall design is back, with the same 21:9 aspect ratio the company has been advocating for years. The matte finish still feels premium to the touch, and the proportions fit nicely on smaller to medium-sized hands.
The biggest change design-wise is rather discrete, with a new oval camera module on the back replacing the pill-shaped island we saw in the previous generations. The new module houses another change that we will cover in the camera section.
Overall, the Xperia 5 V will feel very familiar to anyone who used one of its predecessors, with easy-to-reach buttons on the right side. The right side also includes the two-level shutter button, one of the Xperia line mainstays.
Other Sony smartphone traditions can be seen on the top and bottom parts, with the upper side housing the 3.5 mm headphone jack, while the bottom face features the tray for nano SIM and microSD cards.
Sony Xperia 5 V performance
Sony didn’t skimp in the performance department, equipping the Xperia 5 V with the fastest SoC available to the Android ecosystem. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 takes over processing duties, powered by the same memory combination of 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
On our brief time with the phone, it was not possible to check whether it presented the tendency to overheat like in the Xperia 5 IV Matt tested in 2022. Despite that, we remain cautiously optimistic since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on that phone tended to overheat in many devices that used it, while its successors 8+ Gen 1 and the 8 Gen 2 on the Xperia 5 V had better thermal control, even if sometimes the price was some thermal throttling.
For full performance impressions, we will have to wait for the full review. Hopefully, Sony learned the lessons from the Xperia 5 IV and equipped the 2023 model with better heat dissipation to not waste such a powerful processor.
Sony Xperia 5 V camera
The camera department brings once again Sony’s expertise in the field, with not only the pro apps developed with input from the Alpha camera line engineers but also the Sony IMX sensors that other brands feature prominently in their own smartphone spec sheets.
New to the Xperia 5 V is a more modest dual-camera setup, ditching the telephoto lens in favor of a more compact camera island. That change wasn’t accompanied by a nifty variable focal length like in the telephoto camera on III and IV generations, resulting in a less versatile camera experience on the 2023 model.
On the other hand, The Xperia 5 V features Sony’s latest generation camera sensor, the Exmor T. The 1/1.3”-sized component sits on the back of the main camera lens—24mm equivalent—with its 48 megapixels binned to a 12 MP image by default. The Xperia 5 V uses the high resolution of its big sensor to also offer a 2x optical zoom using the original unbinned pixels for a 48mm equivalent image.
The other camera on the back is a 12-megapixel ultrawide, also capable of 120 fps recording and also featuring autofocus. In true Sony fashion, the Xperia 5 V features a dual-stage camera shutter button, another flagship Sony tradition that will surely please longtime fans.
The Exmor T promises better light capture, especially in low-light scenarios, with an innovative dual-layer built that separates the photodiode and transistor, with more area to capture light. Sony once again tried to compare the camera capabilities on the Xperia 5 V with a full-frame camera, but we will know better with an upcoming review.
Sony Xperia 5 V technical specifications
| 2023 Flagship | |
|---|---|
| Product | |
| Picture |  |
| Screen | 6.1” OLED |
| FHD+ resolution | |
| 120 Hz refresh rate | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB ROM |
| Expandable storage | ✔️ |
| OS | Android 13 |
| Camera | Main: 48 MP, f/1.9 OIS Ultra-wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2 |
| Selfie | 12 MP |
| Battery | 5000 mAh |
| 30 W wired charging 15 W wireless charging | |
| Connectivity | 5G / LTE / Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi Direct / Bluetooth 5.3 / NFC |
| eSIM | ✔️ |
| Audio | Stereo speakers 3.5 mm headphone jack |
| IP Certification | IP68 |
| Colors | Black, blue, silver |
| Dimensions and weight | 154 x 68 x 8.6 mm, 17x g |
Early Verdict
With a brief look at the Xperia 5 V, we couldn’t draw conclusions regarding it. The Sony phone still features many impressive features in a single package, but its design is starting to show its age. Likewise, a few of the app additions look dated on top of the stock Android 13 interface, with some design touches inherited from the Xperia Z days.
On the other hand, it is good to see that Sony is soldiering on features that were abandoned long ago on other flagship phones, like the headphone jack or microSD slot.
We will take a closer look at the Sony Xperia 5 V soon after spending more time with the device and will update this page with a full review, so make sure to follow nextpit’s front page and social media channels!
Sony Xperia 5 V
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